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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11276-0.txt b/11276-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d8735f --- /dev/null +++ b/11276-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14002 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11276 *** + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT +IN THE UNITED STATES +CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS + +BY + +JOHN FISKE + + [Greek: Aissomai pai Zaevos Heleutheroiu, + Imeran eurnsthene amphipolei, Soteira Tucha + tiv gar en ponto kubernontai thoai + naes, en cherso te laipsaeroi polemoi + kagorai boulaphoroi.] + + PINDAR, _Olymp_. xii. + + Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! + Sail on, O Union, strong and great!... + Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee,--are all with thee! + + LONGFELLOW. + + + +1890 + +BY JOHN FISKE. + + +_Dedication_ + +This little book is dedicated, with the author's best wishes and +sincere regard, to the many hundreds of young friends whom he has +found it so pleasant to meet in years past, and also to those whom he +looks forward to meeting in years to come, in studies and readings +upon the rich and fruitful history of our beloved country. + +PREFACE. + +Some time ago, my friends, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., requested +me to write a small book on Civil Government in the United States, +which might be useful as a text-book, and at the same time serviceable +and suggestive to the general reader interested in American history. +In preparing the book certain points have been kept especially in +view, and deserve some mention here. + +It seemed desirable to adopt a historical method of exposition, not +simply describing our political institutions in their present shape, +but pointing out their origin, indicating some of the processes +through which they have acquired that present shape, and thus keeping +before the student's mind the fact that government is perpetually +undergoing modifications in adapting itself to new conditions. +Inasmuch as such gradual changes in government do not make themselves, +but are made by men--and made either for better or for worse--it is +obvious that the history of political institutions has serious lessons +to teach us. The student should as soon as possible come to understand +that every institution is the outgrowth of experiences. One probably +gets but little benefit from abstract definitions and axioms +concerning the rights of men and the nature of civil society, such as +we often find at the beginning of books on government. Metaphysical +generalizations are well enough in their place, but to start with such +things--as the French philosophers of the eighteenth century were fond +of doing--is to get the cart before the horse. It is better to have +our story first, and thus find out what government in its concrete +reality has been, and is. Then we may finish up with the metaphysics, +or do as I have done--leave it for somebody else. + +I was advised to avoid the extremely systematic, intrusively +symmetrical, style of exposition, which is sometimes deemed +indispensable in a book of this sort. It was thought that students +would be more likely to become interested in the subject if it were +treated in the same informal manner into which one naturally falls in +giving lectures to young people. I have endeavoured to bear this in +mind without sacrificing that lucidity in the arrangement of topics +which is always the supreme consideration. For many years I have been +in the habit of lecturing on history to college students in different +parts of the United States, to young ladies in private schools, and +occasionally to the pupils in high and normal schools, and in writing +this little book I have imagined an audience of these earnest and +intelligent young friends gathered before me. + +I was especially advised--by my friend, Mr. James MacAlister, +superintendent of schools in Philadelphia, for whose judgment I have +the highest respect--to make it a _little_ book, less than three +hundred pages in length, if possible. Teachers and pupils do not have +time enough to deal properly with large treatises. Brevity, therefore, +is golden. A concise manual is the desideratum, touching lightly upon +the various points, bringing out their relationships distinctly, and +referring to more elaborate treatises, monographs, and documents, for +the use of those who wish to pursue the study at greater length. + +Within limits thus restricted, it will probably seem strange to +some that so much space is given to the treatment of local +institutions,--comprising the governments of town, county, and city. +It may be observed, by the way, that some persons apparently conceive +of the state also as a "local institution." In a recent review of +Professor Howard's admirable "Local Constitutional History of the +United States," we read, the first volume, which is all that is yet +published, treats of the development of the township, hundred, and +shire; the second volume, we suppose, being designed to treat of +the State Constitutions. The reviewer forgets that there is such a +subject as the "development of the city and local magistracies" (which +is to be the subject of that second volume), and lets us see that in +his apprehension the American state is an institution of the same +order as the town and county. We can thus readily assent when we +are told that many youth have grown to manhood with so little +appreciation of the political importance of the state as to believe +it nothing more than a geographical division.[1] In its historic +genesis, the American state is not an institution of the same order +as the town and county, nor has it as yet become depressed or +"mediatized" to that degree. The state, while it does not possess such +attributes of sovereignty as were by our Federal Constitution granted +to the United States, does, nevertheless, possess many very important +and essential characteristics of a sovereign body, as is here +pointed out on pages 172-177. The study of our state governments is +inextricably wrapped up with the study of our national government, +in such wise that both are parts of one subject, which cannot be +understood unless both parts are studied. Whether in the course of our +country's future development we shall ever arrive at a stage in which +this is not the case, must be left for future events to determine. +But, if we ever do arrive at such a stage, "American institutions" +will present a very different aspect from those with which we are now +familiar, and which we have always been accustomed (even, perhaps, +without always understanding them) to admire. + +[Footnote 1: Young's _Government Class Book_, p. iv.] + +The study of local government properly includes town, county, and +city. To this part of the subject I have devoted about half of my +limited space, quite unheedful of the warning which I find in the +preface of a certain popular text-book, that "to learn the duties of +town, city, and county officers, has nothing whatever to do with the +grand and noble subject of Civil Government," and that "to attempt +class drill on petty town and county offices, would be simply +burlesque of the whole subject." But, suppose one were to say, with +an air of ineffable scorn, that petty experiments on terrestrial +gravitation and radiant heat, such as can be made with commonplace +pendulums and tea-kettles, have nothing whatever to do with the grand +and noble subject of Physical Astronomy! Science would not have got +very far on that plan, I fancy. The truth is, that science, while it +is perpetually dealing with questions of magnitude, and knows very +well what is large and what is small, knows nothing whatever of any +such distinction as that between things that are "grand" and things +that are "petty." When we try to study things in a scientific spirit, +to learn their modes of genesis and their present aspects, in order +that we may foresee their tendencies, and make our volitions count +for something in modifying them, there is nothing which we may safely +disregard as trivial. This is true of whatever we can study; it is +eminently true of the history of institutions. Government is not a +royal mystery, to be shut off, like old Deiokes,[2] by a sevenfold +wall from the ordinary business of life. Questions of civil government +are practical business questions, the principles of which are as often +and as forcibly illustrated in a city council or a county board of +supervisors, as in the House of Representatives at Washington. It is +partly because too many of our citizens fail to realize that local +government is a worthy study, that we find it making so much trouble +for us. The "bummers" and "boodlers" do not find the subject beneath +their notice; the Master who inspires them is wide awake and--for a +creature that divides the hoof--extremely intelligent. + +[Footnote 2: Herodotus, i. 98.] + +It is, moreover, the mental training gained through contact with +local government that enables the people of a community to conduct +successfully, through their representatives, the government of the +state and the nation. And so it makes a great deal of difference +whether the government of a town or county is of one sort or another. +If the average character of our local governments for the past quarter +of a century had been _quite_ as high as that of the Boston +town-meeting or the Virginia boards of county magistrates, in the days +of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, who can doubt that many an airy +demagogue, who, through session after session, has played his pranks +at the national capital, would long ago have been abruptly recalled to +his native heath, a sadder if not a wiser man? We cannot expect the +nature of the aggregate to be much better than the average natures +of its units. One may hear people gravely discussing the difference +between Frenchmen and Englishmen in political efficiency, and +resorting to assumed ethnological causes to explain it, when, very +likely, to save their lives they could not describe the difference +between a French commune and an English parish. To comprehend the +interesting contrasts between Gambetta in the Chamber of Deputies, and +Gladstone in the House of Commons, one should begin with a historical +inquiry into the causes, operating through forty generations, which +have frittered away self-government in the rural districts and small +towns of France, until there is very little left. If things in America +ever come to such a pass that the city council of Cambridge must ask +Congress each year how much money it can be allowed to spend for +municipal purposes, while the mayor of Cambridge holds his office +subject to removal by the President of the United States, we may +safely predict further extensive changes in the character of the +American people and their government. It was not for nothing that our +profoundest political thinker, Thomas Jefferson, attached so much +importance to the study of the township. + +In determining the order of exposition, I have placed local government +first, beginning with the township as the simplest unit. It is well to +try to understand what is near and simple, before dealing with what is +remote and complex. In teaching geography with maps, it is wise to get +the pupil interested in the streets of his own town, the country roads +running out of it, and the neighbouring hills and streams, before +burdening his attention with the topographical details of Borrioboola +Gha. To study grand generalizations about government, before attending +to such of its features as come most directly before us, is to run the +risk of achieving a result like that attained by the New Hampshire +school-boy, who had studied geology in a text-book, but was not aware +that he had ever set eyes upon an igneous rock. + +After the township, naturally comes the county. The city, as is here +shown, is not simply a larger town, but is much more complex in +organization. Historically, many cities have been, or still are, +equivalent to counties; and the development of the county must be +studied before we can understand that of the city. It has been briefly +indicated how these forms of local government grew up in England, and +how they have become variously modified in adapting themselves to +different social conditions in different parts of the United States. + +Next in order come the general governments, those which possess and +exert, in one way or another, attributes of sovereignty. First, the +various colonial governments have been considered, and some features +of their metamorphosis into our modern state governments have been +described. In the course of this study, our attention is called to +the most original and striking feature of the development of civil +government upon American soil,--the written constitution, with the +accompanying power of the courts in certain cases to annul the acts +of the legislature. This is not only the most original feature of our +government, but it is in some respects the most important. Without the +Supreme Court, it is not likely that the Federal Union could have been +held together, since Congress has now and then passed an act which the +people in some of the states have regarded as unconstitutional and +tyrannical; and in the absence of a judicial method of settling such +questions, the only available remedy would have been nullification. I +have devoted a brief chapter to the origin and development of written +constitutions, and the connection of our colonial charters therewith. + +Lastly, we come to the completed structure, the Federal Union; and by +this time we have examined so many points in the general theory +of American government, that our Federal Constitution can be more +concisely described, and (I believe) more quickly understood, than if +we had made it the subject of the first chapter instead of the last. +In conclusion, there have been added a few brief hints and suggestions +with reference to our political history. These remarks have been +intentionally limited. It is no part of the purpose of this book +to give an account of the doings of political parties under the +Constitution. But its study may fitly be supplemented by that of +Professor Alexander Johnston's "History of American Politics." + +This arrangement not only proceeds from the simpler forms of +government to the more complex, but it follows the historical order of +development. From time immemorial, and down into the lowest strata +of savagery that have come within our ken, there have been clans and +tribes; and, as is here shown, a township was originally a stationary +clan, and a county was originally a stationary tribe. There were +townships and counties (or equivalent forms of organization) before +there were cities. In like manner there were townships, counties, and +cities long before there was anything in the world that could properly +be called a state. I have remarked below upon the way in which English +shires coalesced into little states, and in course of time the English +nation was formed by the union of such little states, which lost their +statehood (_i.e._, their functions of sovereignty, though not +their self-government within certain limits) in the process. Finally, +in America, we see an enormous nationality formed by the federation +of states which partially retain their statehood; and some of these +states are themselves of national dimensions, as, for example, New +York, which is nearly equal in area, quite equal in population, and +far superior in wealth, to Shakespeare's England. + +In studying the local institutions of our different states, I have been +greatly helped by the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and +Politics," of which the eighth annual series is now in course of +publication. In the course of the pages below I have frequent occasion +to acknowledge my indebtedness to these learned and sometimes profoundly +suggestive monographs; but I cannot leave the subject without a special +word of gratitude to my friend, Dr. Herbert Adams, the editor of the +series, for the noble work which he is doing in promoting the study of +American history. It had always seemed to me that the mere existence of +printed questions in text-books proves that the publishers must have +rather a poor opinion of the average intelligence of teachers; and it +also seemed as if the practical effect of such questions must often be +to make the exercise of recitation more mechanical for both teachers and +pupils, and to encourage the besetting sin of "learning by heart." +Nevertheless, there are usually two sides to a case; and, in deference +to the prevailing custom, for which, no doubt, there is much to be said, +full sets of questions have been appended to each chapter and section. +It seemed desirable that such questions should be prepared by some one +especially familiar with the use of school-books; and for these I have +to thank Mr. F.A. Hill, Head Master of the Cambridge English High +School. I confess that Mr. Hill's questions have considerably modified +my opinion as to the merits of such apparatus. They seem to add very +materially to the usefulness of the book. + +It will be observed that there are two sets of these questions, +entirely distinct in character and purpose. The first set--"Questions +on the Text"--is appended to each _section_, so as to be as near +the text as possible. These questions furnish an excellent topical +analysis of the text.[3] In a certain sense they ask "what the book +says," but the teacher is advised emphatically to discourage any such +thing as committing the text to memory. The tendency to rote-learning +is very strong. I had to contend with it in teaching history to +seniors at Harvard twenty years ago, but much has since been done +to check it through the development of the modern German seminary +methods. (For an explanation of these methods, see Dr. Herbert +Adams on "Seminary Libraries and University Extension," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., xi.) With younger students the tendency is of course +stronger. It is only through much exercise that the mind learns how +to let itself--as Matthew Arnold used to say--"play freely about the +facts." + +[Footnote 3: "This," says Mr. Hill, "will please those who prefer the +topical method, while it does not forbid the easy transformation +of topics to questions, which others may demand." In the table of +contents I have made a pretty full topical analysis of the book, which +may prove useful for comparison with Mr. Hill's.] + +In order to supply the pupil with some wholesome exercise of this +sort, Mr. Hill has added, at the end of each _chapter_, a set of +"Suggestive Questions and Directions." Here he has thoroughly divined +the purpose of the book and done much to further it. + +Problems or cases are suggested for the student to consider, and +questions are asked which cannot be disposed of by a direct appeal to +the text. Sometimes the questions go quite outside of the text, and +relate to topics concerning which it provides no information whatever. +This has been done with a purpose. The pupil should learn how to go +outside of the book and gather from scattered sources information +concerning questions that the book suggests. In other words, he should +begin to learn _how to make researches_, for that is coming to be +one of the useful arts, not merely for scholars, but for men and +women in many sorts of avocations. It is always useful, as well as +ennobling, to be able to trace knowledge to its sources. Work of this +sort involves more or less conference and discussion among classmates, +and calls for active aid from the teacher; and if the teacher does not +at first feel at home in these methods, practice will nevertheless +bring familiarity, and will prove most wholesome training. For the aid +of teachers and pupils, as well as of the general reader who wishes to +pursue the subject, I have added a bibliographical note at the end of +each chapter, immediately after Mr. Hill's "Suggestive Questions and +Directions." + +This particular purpose in my book must be carefully borne in mind. +It explains the omission of many details which some text-books on the +same subject would be sure to include. To make a manual complete and +self-sufficing is precisely what I have not intended. The book is +designed to be suggestive and stimulating, to leave the reader with +scant information on some points, to make him (as Mr. Samuel Weller +says) "vish there wos more," and to show him how to go on by himself. +I am well aware that, in making an experiment in this somewhat new +direction, nothing is easier than to fall into errors of judgment. I +can hardly suppose that this book is free from such errors; but if in +spite thereof it shall turn out to be in any way helpful in bringing +the knowledge and use of the German seminary method into our higher +schools, I shall be more than satisfied. + +Just here, let me say to young people in all parts of our country:--If +you have not already done so, it would be well worth while for you +to organize a debating society in your town or village, for the +discussion of such historical and practical questions relating to the +government of the United States as are suggested in the course of this +book. Once started, there need be no end of interesting and profitable +subjects for discussion. As a further guide to the books you need +in studying such subjects, use Mr. W.E. Foster's "References to the +Constitution of the United States," the invaluable pamphlet mentioned +below on page 277. If you cannot afford to buy the books, get the +public library of your town or village to buy them; or, perhaps, +organize a small special library for your society or club. Librarians +will naturally feel interested in such a matter, and will often +be able to help with advice. A few hours every week spent in such +wholesome studies cannot fail to do much toward the political +education of the local community, and thus toward the general +improvement of the American people. For the amelioration of things +will doubtless continue to be effected in the future, as it has been +effected in the past, not by ambitious schemes of sudden and universal +reform (which the sagacious man always suspects, just as he +suspects all schemes for returning a fabulously large interest upon +investments), but by the gradual and cumulative efforts of innumerable +individuals, each doing something to help or instruct those to whom +his influence extends. He who makes two clear ideas grow where there +was only one hazy one before, is the true benefactor of his species. + +In conclusion, I must express my sincere thanks to Mr. Thomas Emerson, +superintendent of schools in Newton, for the very kind interest he has +shown in my work, in discussing its plan with me at the outset, in +reading the completed manuscript, and in offering valuable criticisms. + +CAMBRIDGE, _August_ 5, 1890. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + +"Too much taxes". + +What is taxation? + +Taxation and eminent domain. + +What is government? + +The "ship of state". + +"The government". + +Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which imposes +taxes. + +Difference between taxation and robbery. + +Sometimes taxation is robbery. + +The study of history is full of practical lessons, and helpful to +those who would be good citizens. + +Perpetual vigilance is the price of liberty. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +The most ancient and simple form of government. + +New England settled by church congregations. + +Policy of the early Massachusetts government as to land grants. + +Smallness of the farms + +Township and village + +Social position of the settlers + +The town-meeting + +Selectmen; town-clerk + +Town-treasurer; constables; assessors of taxes and overseers of the +poor + +Act of 1647 establishing public schools + +School committees + +Field-drivers and pound-keepers; fence-viewers; other town officers + +Calling the town-meeting + +Town, county, and state taxes + +Poll-tax + +Taxes on real-estate; taxes on personal property + +When and where taxes are assessed + +Tax-lists + +Cheating the government + +The rate of taxation + +Undervaluation; the burden of taxation + +The "magic-fund" delusion + +Educational value of the town-meeting + +By-laws + + +Power and responsibility + +There is nothing especially American, democratic, or meritorious about +"rotation in office" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +Town-meetings in ancient Greece and Rome + +Clans; the _mark_ and the _tun_ + +The Old-English township, the manor, and the parish + +The vestry-meeting + +Parish and vestry clerks; beadles, waywardens, haywards, +common-drivers, churchwardens, etc. + +Transition from the English parish to the New England township + +Building of states out of smaller political units + +Representation; shire-motes; Earl Simon's Parliament + +The township as the "unit of representation" in the shire-mote and in +the General Court + +Contrast with the Russian village-community which is not represented +in the general government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings_. + +Why do we have counties? + +Clans and tribes + +The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of small +states + +Ealdorman and sheriff; shire-mote and county court + +The coroner, or "crown officer" + +Justices of the peace; the Quarter Sessions; the lord lieutenant + +Decline of the English county; beginnings of counties in Massachusetts + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Modern County in Massachusetts_. + +County commissioners, etc.; shire-towns and court-houses + +Justices of the peace, and trial justices + +The sheriff + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County_. + +Virginia sparsely settled; extensive land grants to individuals + +Navigable rivers; absence of towns; slavery + +Social position of the settlers + +Virginia parishes; the vestry was a close corporation + +Powers of the vestry + +The county was the unit of representation + +The county court was virtually a close corporation + +The county-seat, or Court House + +Powers of the court; the sheriff + +The county-lieutenant + +Contrast between old Virginia and old New England, in respect of local +government + +Jefferson's opinion of township government + +"Court-day" in old Virginia + +Virginia has been prolific in great leaders + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems._ + +Parishes in South Carolina + +The back country; the "regulators" + +The district system + +The modern South Carolina county + +The counties are too large + +Tendency of the school district to develop into something like a +township + +Local institutions in colonial Maryland; the hundred + +Clans; brotherhoods, or phratries; and tribes + +Origin of the hundred; the hundred court; the high constable + +Decay of the hundred; hundred-meeting in Maryland + +The hundred in Delaware; the levy court, or representative county +assembly + +The old Pennsylvania county + +Town-meetings in New Tort + +The county board of supervisors + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +Westward movement of population along parallels of latitude + +Method of surveying the public lands + +Origin of townships in the West + +Formation of counties in the West + +Some effects of this system + +The reservation of a section for public schools + +In this reservation there were the germs of township government + +But at first the county system prevailed + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West._ + +The town-meeting in Michigan + +Conflict between township and county systems in Illinois + +Effects of the Ordinance of 1787 + +Intense vitality of the township system + +County option and township option in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, +and Dakota + +Grades of township government in the West + +An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the United +States + +Effect of the self-governing school district in the South, in preparing +the way for the self-governing township + +Woman-suffrage in the school district + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government._ + +Summary of the foregoing results; township government is direct, +county government is indirect + +Representative government is necessitated in a county by the extent of +territory, and in a city by the multitude of people + +Josiah Quincy's account of the Boston town-meeting in 1830 + +Distinctions between towns and cities in America and in England + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities._ + +Origin of the _chesters_ and _casters_ in Roman camps + +Coalescence of towns into fortified boroughs + +The borough as a hundred; it acquires a court + +The borough as a county; it acquires a sheriff + +Government of London under Henry I + +The guilds; the town guild, and Guild Hall + +Government of London as perfected in the thirteenth century; mayor, +aldermen, and common council + +The city of London, and the metropolitan district + +English cities were for a long time the bulwarks of liberty + +Simon de Montfort and the cities + +Oligarchical abuses in English cities, beginning with the Tudor period + +The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 + +Government of the city of New York before the Revolution + +Changes after the Revolution + +City government in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century + +The very tradition of good government was lacking in these cities + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Government of Cities in the United States_. + +Several features of our municipal governments + +In many cases they do not seem to work well + +Rapid growth of American cities + +Some consequences of this rapid growth + +Wastefulness resulting from want of foresight + +Growth in complexity of government in cities + +Illustrated by list of municipal officers in Boston. + +How city government comes to be a mystery to the citizens, in some +respects harder to understand than state and national government + +Dread of the "one-man power" has in many cases led to scattering and +weakening of responsibility + +Committees inefficient for executive purposes; the "Circumlocution +Office" + +Alarming increase of city debts, and various attempts to remedy the +evil + +Experience of New York with state interference in municipal affairs; +unsatisfactory results + +The Tweed Ring in New York + +The present is a period of experiments + +The new government of Brooklyn + +Necessity of separating municipal from national politics + +Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted; evils wrought by +ignorant voters + +Evils wrought by wealthy speculators; testimony of the Pennsylvania +Municipal Commission + +Dangers of a restricted suffrage + +Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national politics + +The "spoils system" must be destroyed, root and branch; ballot reform +also indispensable + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments_. + +Claims of Spain to the possession of North America + +Claims of France and England + +The London and Plymouth Companies + +Their common charter + +Dissolution of the two companies + +States formed in the three zones + +Formation of representative governments; House of Burgesses in +Virginia + +Company of Massachusetts Bay + +Transfer of the charter from England to Massachusetts + +The General Court; assistants and deputies + +Virtual independence of Massachusetts, and quarrels with the Crown + +New charter of Massachusetts in 1692; its liberties curtailed + +Republican governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island + +Counties palatine in England; proprietary charter of Maryland + +Proprietary charter of Pennsylvania + +Quarrels between Penns and Calverts; Mason and Dixon's line + +Other proprietary governments + +They generally became unpopular + +At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of colonial +government: 1. Republican; 2. Proprietary; 3. Royal + +(After 1692 the government of Massachusetts might be described as +Semi-royal) + +In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which alone +could impose taxes + +The governor's council was a kind of upper house + +The colonial government was much like the English system in miniature + +The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament + +Except in the regulation of maritime commerce + +In England there grew up the theory of the imperial supremacy of +parliament + +And the conflict between the British and American theories was +precipitated by becoming involved in the political schemes of George +III. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments + +Committees of correspondence; provincial congresses + +Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents" + +Origin of the senates + +Likenesses and differences between British and American systems + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The State Governments_. + +Later modifications + +Universal suffrage + +Separation between legislative and executive departments; its +advantages and disadvantages as compared with the European plan + +In our system the independence of the executive is of vital importance + +The state executive + +The governor's functions: 1. Adviser of legislature; 2. Commander of +state militia; 3. Royal prerogative of pardon; 4. Veto power + +Importance of the veto power as a safeguard against corruption In +building the state, the local self-government was left unimpaired + +Instructive contrast with France + +Some causes of French political incapacity + +Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the American Union + +Illustration from recent English history + +Independence of the state courts + +Constitution of the state courts + +Elective and appointive judges + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + +In the American state there is a power above the legislature + +Germs of the idea of a written constitution + +Development of the idea of contract in Roman law; mediaeval charters + +The "Great Charter" (1215) + +The Bill of Rights (1689) + +Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane (1666) + +The Mayflower compact (1620) + +The "Fundamental Orders" of Connecticut (1639) + +Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the modern state +constitution + +Abnormal development of some recent state constitutions, encroaching +upon the legislature + +The process of amending constitutions + +The Swiss "Referendum" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union_. + +Circumstances favourable to the union of the colonies. The New England +Confederacy (1643-84). Albany Congress (1754); Stamp Act Congress +(1765); Committees of Correspondence (1772-75). The Continental Congress +(1774-89). The several states were never at any time sovereign states. +The Articles of Confederation. Nature and powers of the Continental +Congress. It could not impose taxes, and therefore was not fully endowed +with sovereignty. Decline of the Continental Congress. Weakness of the +sentiment of union; anarchical tendencies. The Federal Convention +(1787). + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress_. + +The House of Representatives. The three fifths compromise. The +Connecticut compromise. The Senate. Electoral districts; the +"Gerrymander". The election at large. Time of assembling. Privileges of +members. The Speaker. Impeachment in England; in the United States. The +president's veto power. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive_. + +The title of "President". The electoral college. The twelfth +amendment. The electoral commission (1877). Provisions against a lapse +of the presidency. + +Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled + +Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now always on a +general ticket + +"Minority presidents" + +Advantages of the electoral system + +Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus (1800-24) + +Nominating conventions; the "primary"; the district convention; the +national convention + +Qualifications for the presidency; the term of office + +Powers and duties of the president + +The president's message + +Executive departments; the cabinet + +The secretary of state + +Diplomatic and consular service + +The secretary of the treasury + +The other departments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +Difference between confederation and federal union + +Powers granted to Congress + +The "Elastic Clause" + +Powers denied to the states + +Evils of an inconvertible paper currency + +Powers denied to Congress + +Bills of attainder + +Intercitizenship; mode of mating amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary._ + +Need for a federal judiciary + +Federal courts and judges + +District attorneys and marshals + +The federal jurisdiction + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +The Northwest Territory and the Ordinance of 1787 + +Other territories and their government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments_. + +Provisions for ratification + +Concessions to slavery + +Demand for a bill of rights + + +The first ten amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics_. + +Federal taxation + +Hamilton's policy; excise; tariff + +Origin of American political parties; strict and loose construction of +the Elastic Clause + + +Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank. + +Civil Service reform + +Origin of the "spoils system" in the state polities of New Tort and +Pennsylvania + +"Rotation in office;" the Crawford Act + +How the "spoils system" was made national + +The Civil Service Act of 1883 + +The Australian ballot + +The English system of accounting for election expenses + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +APPENDIX. + +A. The Articles of Confederation + +B. The Constitution of the United States + +C. Magna Charta + +D. Part of the Bill of Rights, 1689 + +E. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut + +F. The States classified according to origin + +G. Table of states and territories + +H. Population of the United States 1790-1880, with percentages of +urban population + +I. An Examination Paper for Customs Clerks + +J. The New York Corrupt Practices Act of 1890 + +K. Specimen of an Australian ballot + +INDEX + + + + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + + +In that strangely beautiful story, "The Cloister and the Hearth," in +which Charles Reade has drawn such a vivid picture of human life at the +close of the Middle Ages, there is a good description of the siege of a +revolted town by the army of the Duke of Burgundy. Arrows whiz, +catapults hurl their ponderous stones, wooden towers are built, secret +mines are exploded. The sturdy citizens, led by a tall knight who seems +to bear a charmed life, baffle every device of the besiegers. At length +the citizens capture the brother of the duke's general, and the +besiegers capture the tall knight, who turns out to be no knight after +all, but just a plebeian hosier. The duke's general is on the point of +ordering the tradesman who has made so much trouble to be shot, but the +latter still remains master of the situation; for, as he dryly observes, +if any harm comes to him, the enraged citizens will hang the general's +brother. Some parley ensues, in which the shrewd hosier promises for the +townsfolk to set free their prisoner and pay a round sum of money if the +besieging army will depart and leave them in peace. The offer is +accepted, and so the matter is amicably settled. As the worthy citizen +is about to take his leave, the general ventures a word of inquiry as to +the cause of the town's revolt. "What, then, is your grievance, my good +friend?" Our hosier knight, though deft with needle and keen with lance, +has a stammering tongue. He answers: "Tuta--tuta--tuta--tuta--too much +taxes!" + +[Sidenote: "Too much taxes."] +"Too much taxes:" those three little words furnish us with a clue +wherewith to understand and explain a great deal of history. A great +many sieges of towns, so horrid to have endured though so picturesque +to read about, hundreds of weary marches and deadly battles, thousands +of romantic plots that have led their inventors to the scaffold, have +owed their origin to questions of taxation. The issue between the +ducal commander and the warlike tradesman has been tried over and +over again in every country and in every age, and not always has the +oppressor been so speedily thwarted and got rid of. The questions as +to how much the taxes shall be, and who is to decide how much they +shall be, are always and in every stage of society questions of most +fundamental importance. And ever since men began to make history, a +very large part of what they have done, in the way of making history, +has been the attempt to settle these questions, whether by discussion +or by blows, whether in council chambers or on the battlefield. The +French Revolution of 1789, the most terrible political convulsion of +modern times, was caused chiefly by "too much taxes," and by the fact +that the people who paid the taxes were not the people who decided +what the taxes were to be. Our own Revolution, which made the United +States a nation independent of Great Britain, was brought on by the +disputed question as to who was to decide what taxes American citizens +must pay. + +[Sidenote: What is taxation?] +What, then, are taxes? The question is one which is apt to come up, +sooner or later, to puzzle children. They find no difficulty in +understanding the butcher's bill for so many pounds of meat, or the +tailor's bill for so many suits of clothes, where the value received +is something that can be seen and handled. But the tax bill, though +it comes as inevitably as the autumnal frosts, bears no such obvious +relation to the incidents of domestic life; it is not quite so clear +what the money goes for; and hence it is apt to be paid by the head +of the household with more or less grumbling, while for the younger +members of the family it requires some explanation. + +It only needs to be pointed out, however, that in every town some +things are done for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town, +things which concern one person just as much as another. Thus roads +are made and kept in repair, school-houses are built and salaries paid +to school-teachers, there are constables who take criminals to jail, +there are engines for putting out fires, there are public libraries, +town cemeteries, and poor-houses. Money raised for these purposes, +which are supposed to concern all the inhabitants, is supposed to be +paid by all the inhabitants, each one furnishing his share; and the +share which each one pays is his town tax. + +[Sidenote: Taxation and eminent domain.] +From this illustration it would appear that taxes are private property +taken for public purposes; and in making this statement we come +very near the truth. Taxes are portions of private property which a +government takes for its public purposes. Before going farther, let +us pause to observe that there is one other way, besides taxation, in +which government sometimes takes private property for public purposes. +Roads and streets are of great importance to the general public; and +the government of the town or city in which you live may see fit, in +opening a new street, to run it across your garden, or to make you +move your house or shop out of the way for it. In so doing, the +government either takes away or damages some of your property. It +exercises rights over your property without asking your permission. +This power of government over private property is called "the right of +eminent domain." It means that a man's private interests must not be +allowed to obstruct the interests of the whole community in which +he lives. But in two ways the exercise of eminent domain is unlike +taxation. In the first place, it is only occasional, and affects only +certain persons here or there, whereas taxation goes on perpetually +and affects all persons who own property. In the second place, when +the government takes away a piece of your land to make a road, it pays +you money in return for it; perhaps not quite so much as you believe +the piece of land was worth in the market; the average human nature is +doubtless such that men seldom give fair measure for measure unless +they feel compelled to, and it is not easy to put a government under +compulsion. Still it gives you something; it does not ask you to part +with your property for nothing. Now in the case of taxation, the +government takes your money and seems to make no return to you +individually; but it is supposed to return to you the value of it in +the shape of well-paved streets, good schools, efficient protection +against criminals, and so forth. + +[Sidenote: What is government?] +In giving this brief preliminary definition of taxes and taxation, we +have already begun to speak of "the government" of the town or city +in which you live. We shall presently have to speak of other +"governments,"--as the government of your state and the government of +the United States; and we shall now and then have occasion to allude +to the governments of other countries in which the people are free, +as, for example, England; and of some countries in which the people +are not free, as, for example, Russia. It is desirable, therefore, +that we should here at the start make sure what we mean by +"government," in order that we may have a clear idea of what we are +talking about. + +[Sidenote: The "ship of state."] +Our verb "to govern" is an Old French word, one of the great host of +French words which became a part of the English language between the +eleventh and fourteenth centuries, when so much French was spoken in +England. The French word was _gouverner_, and its oldest form was +the Latin _gubernare_, a word which the Romans borrowed from +the Greek, and meant originally "to steer the ship." Hence it very +naturally came to mean "to guide," "to direct," "to command." The +comparison between governing and steering was a happy one. To govern +is not to command as a master commands a slave, but it is to issue +orders and give directions for the common good; for the interests of +the man at the helm are the same as those of the people in the ship. +All must float or sink together. Hence we sometimes speak of the "ship +of state," and we often call the state a "commonwealth," or something +in the weal or welfare of which all the people are alike interested. + +Government, then, is the directing or managing of such affairs as +concern all the people alike,--as, for example, the punishment of +criminals, the enforcement of contracts, the defence against foreign +enemies, the maintenance of roads and bridges, and so on. To the +directing or managing of such affairs all the people are expected to +contribute, each according to his ability, in the shape of taxes. +Government is something which is supported by the people and kept +alive by taxation. There is no other way of keeping it alive. + +[Sidenote: "The government."] +The business of carrying on government--of steering the ship of +state--either requires some special training, or absorbs all the +time and attention of those who carry it on; and accordingly, in all +countries, certain persons or groups of persons are selected or in +some way set apart, for longer or shorter periods of time, to perform +the work of government. Such persons may be a king with his council, +as in the England of the twelfth century; or a parliament led by a +responsible ministry, as in the England of to-day; or a president +and two houses of congress, as in the United States; or a board of +selectmen, as in a New England town. When we speak of "a government" +or "the government," we often mean the group of persons thus set +apart for carrying on the work of government. Thus, by "the Gladstone +government" we mean Mr. Gladstone, with his colleagues in the cabinet +and his Liberal majority in the House of Commons; and by "the Lincoln +government," properly speaking, was meant President Lincoln, with the +Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. + +[Sidenote: Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which +taxes] +"The government" has always many things to do, and there are many +different lights in which we might regard it. But for the present +there is one thing which we need especially to keep in mind. "The +government" is the power which can rightfully take away a part of your +property, in the shape of taxes, to be used for public purposes. A +government is not worthy of the name, and cannot long be kept in +existence, unless it can raise money by taxation, and use force, if +necessary, in collecting its taxes. The only general government of the +United States during the Revolutionary War, and for six years after +its close, was the Continental Congress, which had no authority to +raise money by taxation. In order to feed and clothe the army and pay +its officers and soldiers, it was obliged to _ask_ for money from +the several states, and hardly ever got as much as was needed. It was +obliged to borrow millions of dollars from France and Holland, and to +issue promissory notes which soon became worthless. After the war was +over it became clear that this so-called government could neither +preserve order nor pay its debts, and accordingly it ceased to be +respected either at home or abroad, and it became necessary for the +American people to adopt a new form of government. Between the old +Continental Congress and the government under which we have lived +since 1789, the differences were many; but by far the most essential +difference was that the new government could raise money by taxation, +and was thus enabled properly to carry on the work of governing. + +If we are in any doubt as to what is really the government of some +particular country, we cannot do better than observe what person or +persons in that country are clothed with authority to tax the people. +Mere names, as customarily applied to governments, are apt to be +deceptive. Thus in the middle of the eighteenth century France and +England were both called "kingdoms;" but so far as kingly power was +concerned, Louis XV. was a very different sort of a king from George +II. The French king could impose taxes on his people, and it might +therefore be truly said that the government of France was in the king. +Indeed, it was Louis XV's immediate predecessor who made the famous +remark, "The state is myself." But the English king could not impose +taxes; the only power in England that could do that was the House of +Commons, and accordingly it is correct to say that in England, at the +time of which we are speaking, the government was (as it still is) in +the House of Commons. + +[Sidenote: Difference between taxation and robbery.] +I say, then, the most essential feature of a government--or at any +rate the feature with which it is most important for us to become +familiar at the start--is its power of taxation. The government is +that which taxes. If individuals take away some of your property for +purposes of their own, it is robbery; you lose your money and get +nothing in return. But if the government takes away some of your +property in the shape of taxes, it is supposed to render to you an +equivalent in the shape of good government, something without which +our lives and property would not be safe. Herein seems to lie the +difference between taxation and robbery. When the highwayman points +his pistol at me and I hand him my purse and watch, I am robbed. But +when I pay the tax-collector, who can seize my watch or sell my house +over my head if I refuse, I am simply paying what is fairly due from +me toward supporting the government. + +[Sidenote: Sometimes taxation _is_ robbery.] +In what we have been saying it has thus far been assumed that the +government is in the hands of upright and competent men and is +properly administered. It is now time to observe that robbery may be +committed by governments as well as by individuals. If the business of +governing is placed in the hands of men who have an imperfect sense of +their duty toward the public, if such men raise money by taxation and +then spend it on their own pleasures, or to increase their political +influence, or for other illegitimate purposes, it is really robbery, +just as much as if these men were to stand with pistols by the +roadside and empty the wallets of people passing by. They make a +dishonest use of their high position as members of government, and +extort money for which they make no return in the shape of services +to the public. History is full of such lamentable instances of +misgovernment, and one of the most important uses of the study of +history is to teach us how they have occurred, in order that we may +learn how to avoid them, as far as possible, in the future. + +[Sidenote: The study of history.] +When we begin in childhood the study of history we are attracted +chiefly by anecdotes of heroes and their battles, kings and their +courts, how the Spartans fought at Thermopylae, how Alfred let the +cakes burn, how Henry VIII. beheaded his wives, how Louis XIV. used to +live at Versailles. It is quite right that we should be interested in +such personal details, the more so the better; for history has been +made by individual men and women, and until we have understood the +character of a great many of those who have gone before us, and how +they thought and felt in their time, we have hardly made a fair +beginning in the study of history. The greatest historians, such as +Freeman and Mommsen, show as lively an interest in persons as in +principles; and I would not give much for the historical theories of a +man who should declare himself indifferent to little personal details. + +[Sidenote: It is full of practical lessons;] +Some people, however, never outgrow the child's notion of history +as merely a mass of pretty anecdotes or stupid annals, without any +practical bearing upon our own every-day life. There could not be a +greater mistake. Very little has happened in the past which has not +some immediate practical lessons for us; and when we study history +in order to profit by the experience of our ancestors, to find out +wherein they succeeded and wherein they failed, in order that we may +emulate their success and avoid their errors, then history becomes the +noblest and most valuable of studies. It then becomes, moreover, an +arduous pursuit, at once oppressive and fascinating from its endless +wealth of material, and abounding in problems which the most diligent +student can never hope completely to solve. + +[Sidenote: and helpful to those who would be good citizens.] +[Sidenote: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.] +Few people have the leisure to undertake a systematic and thorough +study of history, but every one ought to find time to learn the +principal features of the governments under which we live, and to get +some inkling of the way in which these governments have come into +existence and of the causes which have made them what they are. Some +such knowledge is necessary to the proper discharge of the duties of +citizenship. Political questions, great and small, are perpetually +arising, to be discussed in the newspapers and voted on at the polls; +and it is the duty of every man and woman, young or old, to try to +understand them. That is a duty which we owe, each and all of us, to +ourselves and to our fellow-countrymen. For if such questions are +not settled in accordance with knowledge, they will be settled in +accordance with ignorance; and that is a kind of settlement likely +to be fraught with results disastrous to everybody. It cannot be too +often repeated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. +People sometimes argue as if they supposed that because our national +government is called a republic and not a monarchy, and because we +have free schools and universal suffrage, therefore our liberties are +forever secure. Our government is, indeed, in most respects, a marvel +of political skill; and in ordinary times it runs so smoothly that now +and then, absorbed as most of us are in domestic cares, we are apt to +forget that it will not run of itself. To insure that the government +of the nation or the state, of the city or the township, shall +be properly administered, requires from every citizen the utmost +watchfulness and intelligence of which he is capable. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +_To the teacher_. Encourage full answers. Do not permit anything +like committing the text to memory. In the long run the pupil who +relies upon his own language, however inferior it may be to that of +the text, is better off. Naturally, with thoughtful study, the pupil's +language will feel the influence of that of the text, and so improve. +The important thing in any answer is the fundamental thought. This +idea once grasped, the expression of it may receive some attention. +The expression will often be broken and faulty, partly because of +the immaturity of the pupil, and partly because of the newness and +difficulty of the theme. Do not let the endeavour to secure excellent +expression check a certain freedom and spontaneity that should be +encouraged in the pupil. When the teacher desires to place special +stress on excellent presentation, it is wise to assign topics +beforehand, so that each pupil may know definitely what is expected of +him, and prepare himself accordingly. + +1. Tell the story that introduces the chapter. + +2. What lesson is it designed to teach? + +3. What caused the French Revolution? + +4. What caused the American Revolution? + +5. Compare the tax bill with that of the butcher or tailor. + +6. What are taxes raised for in a town? For whose benefit? + +7. Define taxes. + +8. Define the right of eminent domain. + +9. Distinguish between taxes and the right of eminent domain. + +10. What is the origin of the word "govern"? + +11. Define government. + +12. By whom is it supported, how is it kept alive, and by whom is it +carried on? + +13. Give illustrations of governments. + +14. What one power must government have to be worthy of the name? + +15. What was the principal weakness of the government during the +American Revolution? + + +16. Compare this government with that of the United States since 1789. + +17. If it is doubtful what the real government of a country is, how +may the doubt be settled? + +18. Illustrate by reference to France and England in the eighteenth +century. + + +19. What is the difference between taxation and robbery? + +20. Under what conditions may taxation become robbery? + +21. To what are we easily attracted in our first study of history? + +22. What ought to be learned from history? + +23. What sort of knowledge is helpful in discharging the duties of +citizenship? + +24. Show how "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +_To the teacher_. The object of this series of questions and +suggestions is to stimulate reading, investigating, and thinking. It +is not expected, indeed it is hardly possible, that each pupil shall +respond to them all. A single question may cost prolonged study. +Assign the numbers, therefore, to individuals to report upon at a +subsequent recitation,--one or more to each pupil, according to the +difficulty of the numbers. Reserve some for class consideration or +discussion. Now and then let the teacher answer a question himself, +partly to furnish the pupils with good examples of answers, and partly +to insure attention to matters that might otherwise escape notice. + +1. Are there people who receive no benefit from their payment of +taxes? + +2. Are the benefits received by people in proportion to the amounts +paid by them? + +3. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the French +Revolution. + +4. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the American +Revolution. + +5. Give illustrations of the exercise of the right of eminent domain +in your own town or county or state. + +6. Do railroad corporations exercise such a right? How do they succeed +in getting land for their tracks? + +7. In case of disagreement, how is a fair price determined for +property taken by eminent domain? + +8. What persons are prominent to-day in the government of your own +town or city? Of your own county? Of your own state? Of the United +States? + +9. Who constitute the government of the school to which you belong? +Does this question admit of more than one answer? Has the government +of your school any power to tax the people to support the school? + +10. What is the difference between a state and the government of a +state? + +11. Which is the more powerful branch of the English Parliament? Why? + +12. Is it a misuse of the funds of a city to provide entertainments +for the people July 4? To expend money in entertaining distinguished +guests? To provide flowers, carriages, cigars, wines, etc., for such +guests? + +13. What is meant by subordinating public office to private ends? Cite +instances from history. + +14. What histories have you read? What one of them, if any, would you +call a "child's history," or a "drum and trumpet" history? What one of +them, if any, has impressed any lessons upon you? + +15. Mention some principles that history has taught you. + +16. Mention a few offices, and tell the sort of intelligence that is +needed by the persons who hold them. What results might follow if such +intelligence were lacking? + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +It is designed in the bibliographical notes to indicate some +authorities to which reference may be made for greater detail than is +possible in an elementary work like the present. It is believed +that the notes will prove a help to teacher and pupil in special +investigations, and to the reader who may wish to make selections from +excellent sources for purposes of self-culture. It is hardly necessary +to add that it is sometimes worth much to the student to know where +valuable information may be obtained, even when it is not practicable +to make immediate use of it. + +Certain books should always be at the teacher's desk during the +instruction in civil government, and as easily accessible as the large +dictionary; as, for instance, the following: The General Statutes of the +state, the manual or blue-book of the state legislature, and, if the +school is in a city, the city charter and ordinances. It is also +desirable to add to this list the statutes of the United States and a +manual of Congress or of the general government. Manuals may be obtained +through representatives in the state legislature and in Congress. They +will answer nearly every purpose if they are not of the latest issue. +The _Statesman's Year Book_, published by Macmillan & Co., New York, +every year, is exceedingly valuable for reference. Certain almanacs, +particularly the comprehensive ones issued by the New York _Tribune_ and +the New York _World_, are rich in state and national statistics, and so +inexpensive as to be within everybody's means. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT.--As to the causes of the American revolution, +see my _War of Independence_, Boston, 1889; and as to the weakness of +the government of the United States before 1789, see my _Critical Period +of American History_, Boston, 1888. As to the causes of the French +revolution, see Paul Lacombe, _The Growth of a People_, N.Y., 1883, and +the third volume of Kitchin's _History of France_, London, 1887; also +Morse Stephens, _The French Revolution_, vol. i., N.Y., 1887; Taine, +_The Ancient Regime_,--N.Y., 1876, and _The Revolution_, 2 vols., N.Y., +1880. The student may read with pleasure and profit Dickens's _Tale of +Two Cities_. For the student familiar with French, an excellent book is +Albert Babeau, _Le Village sous l'ancien Régime_, Paris, 1879; see also +Tocqueville, _L'ancien Régime et la Révolution_, 7th ed., Paris, 1866. +There is a good sketch of the causes of the French revolution in the +fifth volume of Leeky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +N.Y., 1887; see also Buckle's _History of Civilization_, chaps, +xii.-xiv. There is no better commentary on my first chapter than the +lurid history of France in the eighteenth century. The strong contrast +to English and American history shows us most instructively what we have +thus far escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +Of the various kinds of government to be found in the United States, +we may begin by considering that of the New England township. As +we shall presently see, it is in principle of all known forms of +government the oldest as well as the simplest. Let us observe how the +New England township grew up. + +[Sidenote: New England was settled by church congregations.] +When people from England first came to dwell in the wilderness of +Massachusetts Bay, they settled in groups upon small irregular-shaped +patches of land, which soon came to be known as townships. There were +several reasons why they settled thus in small groups, instead of +scattering about over the country and carving out broad estates for +themselves. In the first place, their principal reason for coming to +New England was their dissatisfaction with the way in which church +affairs were managed in the old country. They wished to bring about a +reform in the church, in such wise that the members of a congregation +should have more voice than formerly in the church-government, and +that the minister of each congregation should be more independent than +formerly of the bishop and of the civil government. They also wished +to abolish sundry rites and customs of the church of which they had +come to disapprove. Finding the resistance to their reforms quite +formidable in England, and having some reason to fear that they might +be themselves crushed in the struggle, they crossed the ocean in order +to carry out their ideas in a new and remote country where they might +be comparatively secure from interference. Hence it was quite natural +that they should come in congregations, led by their favourite +ministers,--such men, for example, as Higginson and Cotton, Hooker and +Davenport. When such men, famous in England for their bold preaching +and imperiled thereby, decided to move to America, a considerable +number of their parishioners would decide to accompany them, and +similarly minded members of neighbouring churches would leave their +own pastor and join in the migration. Such a group of people, arriving +on the coast of Massachusetts, would naturally select some convenient +locality, where they might build their houses near together and all go +to the same church. + +[Sidenote: Land grants.] +This migration, therefore, was a movement, not of individuals or of +separate families, but of church-congregations, and it continued to be +so as the settlers made their way inland and westward. The first +river towns of Connecticut were founded by congregations coming from +Dorchester, Cambridge, and Watertown. This kind of settlement was +favoured by the government of Massachusetts, which made grants of +land, not to individuals but to companies of people who wished to live +together and attend the same church. + +In the second place, the soil of New England was not favourable to the +cultivation of great quantities of staple articles, such as rice +or tobacco, so that there was nothing to tempt people to undertake +extensive plantations. + +[Sidenote: Small farms.] +Most of the people lived on small farms, each family raising but +little more than enough food for its own support; and the small size +of the farms made it possible to have a good many in a compact +neighbourhood. It appeared also that towns could be more easily +defended against the Indians than scattered plantations; and this +doubtless helped to keep people together, although if there had been +any strong inducement for solitary pioneers to plunge into the great +woods, as in later years so often happened at the West, it is not +likely that any dread of the savages would have hindered them. + +[Sidenote: Township and village.] +[Sidenote: Social positions of settlers.] +Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in townships. A +township would consist of about as many farms as could be disposed +within convenient distance from the meeting-house, where all the +inhabitants, young and old, gathered every Sunday, coming on horseback +or afoot. The meeting-house was thus centrally situated, and near +it was the town pasture or "common," with the school-house and the +block-house, or rude fortress for defence against the Indians. For the +latter building some commanding position was apt to be selected, and +hence we so often find the old village streets of New England running +along elevated ridges or climbing over beetling hilltops. Around the +meeting-house and common the dwellings gradually clustered into a +village, and after a while the tavern, store, and town-house made +their appearance. + +Among the people who thus tilled the farms and built up the villages of +New England, the differences in what we should call social position, +though noticeable, were not extreme. While in England some had been +esquires or country magistrates, or "lords of the manor,"--a phrase +which does not mean a member of the peerage, but a landed proprietor +with dependent tenants[1]; some had been yeomen, or persons holding +farms by some free kind of tenure; some had been artisans or tradesmen +in cities. All had for many generations been more or less accustomed to +self-government and to public meetings for discussing local affairs. +That self-government, especially as far as church matters were +concerned, they were stoutly bent upon maintaining and extending. +Indeed, that was what they had crossed the ocean for. Under these +circumstances they developed a kind of government which we may describe +in the present tense, for its methods are pretty much the same to-day +that they were two centuries ago. + +[Footnote 1: Compare the Scottish "laird."] + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting.] +In a New England township the people directly govern themselves; the +government is the people, or, to speak with entire precision, it is +all the male inhabitants of one-and-twenty years of age and upwards. +The people tax themselves. Once each year, usually in March but +sometimes as early as February or as late as April, a "town-meeting" +is held, at which all the grown men of the township are expected to be +present and to vote, while any one may introduce motions or take part +in the discussion. In early times there was a fine for non-attendance, +but at is no longer the case; it is supposed that a due regard to his +own interests will induce every man to come. + +The town-meeting is held in the town-house, but at first it used to be +held in the church, which was thus a "meeting-house" for civil as well +as ecclesiastical purposes. At the town-meeting measures relating +to the administration of town affairs are discussed and adopted or +rejected; appropriations are made for the public expenses of the +town, or in other words the amount of the town taxes for the year is +determined; and town officers are elected for the year. Let us first +enumerate these officers. + +[Sidenote: Selectmen.] +The principal executive magistrates of the town are the selectmen. +They are three, five, seven, or nine in number, according to the size +of the town and the amount of public business to be transacted. The +odd number insures a majority decision in case of any difference of +opinion among them. They have the general management of the public +business. They issue warrants for the holding of town-meetings, and +they can call such a meeting at any time during the year when there +seems to be need for it, but the warrant must always specify the +subjects which are to be discussed and acted on at the meeting. The +selectmen also lay out highways, grant licenses, and impanel jurors; +they may act as health officers and issue orders regarding sewerage, +the abatement of nuisances, or the isolation of contagious diseases; +in many cases they act as assessors of taxes, and as overseers of the +poor. They are the proper persons to listen to complaints if anything +goes wrong in the town. In county matters and state matters they speak +for the town, and if it is a party to a law-suit they represent it in +court; for the New England town is a legal corporation, and as such +can hold property, and sue and be sued. In a certain sense the +selectmen may be said to be "the government" of the town during the +intervals between the town-meetings. + +[Sidenote: Town-clerk.] +An officer no less important than the selectmen is the town-clerk. He +keeps the record of all votes passed in the town-meetings. He also +records the names of candidates and the number of votes for each in +the election of state and county officers. He records the births, +marriages, and deaths in the township, and issues certificates to +persons who declare an intention of marriage. He likewise keeps on +record accurate descriptions of the position and bounds of public +roads; and, in short, has general charge of all matters of +town-record. + +[Sidenote: Town-treasurer.] +Every town has also its treasurer, who receives and takes care of the +money coming in from the taxpayers, or whatever money belongs to the +town. Out of this money he pays the public expenses. He must keep a +strict account of his receipts and payments, and make a report of them +each year. + +[Sidenote: Constables.] +Every town has one or more constables, who serve warrants from the +selectmen and writs from the law courts. They pursue criminals and +take them to jail. They summon jurors. In many towns they serve as +collectors of taxes, but in many other towns a special officer is +chosen for that purpose. When a person, fails to pay his taxes, +after a specified time the collector has authority to seize upon his +property and sell it at auction, paying the tax and costs out of the +proceeds of the sale, and handing over the balance to the owner. In +some cases, where no property can be found and there is reason to +believe that the delinquent is not acting in good faith, he can be +arrested and kept in prison until the tax and costs are paid, or until +he is released by the proper legal methods. + +[Sidenote: Assessors of taxes and overseers of the poor.] +Where the duties of the selectmen are likely to be too numerous, the +town may choose three or more assessors of taxes to prepare the tax +lists; and three or more overseers of the poor, to regulate the +management of the village almshouse and confer with other towns +upon such questions as often arise concerning the settlement and +maintenance of homeless paupers. + +[Sidenote: Public schools.] +Every town has its school committee. In 1647 the legislature of +Massachusetts enacted a law with the following preamble: "It being +one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the +knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an +unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of +tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the original +might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of deceivers; to the +end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, +in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavours;" it was +therefore ordered that every township containing fifty families or +householders should forthwith set up a school in which children might +be taught to read and write, and that every township containing one +hundred families or householders should set up a school in which +boys might be fitted for entering Harvard College. Even before this +statute, several towns, as for instance Roxbury and Dedham, had begun +to appropriate money for free schools; and these were the beginnings +of a system of public education which has come to be adopted +throughout the United States. + +[Sidenote: School committees.] +The school committee exercises powers of such a character as to make +it a body of great importance. The term of service of the members is +three years, one third being chosen annually. The number of members +must therefore be some multiple of three. The slow change in the +membership of the board insures that a large proportion of the members +shall always be familiar with the duties of the place. The school +committee must visit all the public schools at least once a month, and +make a report to the town every year. It is for them to decide what +text-books are to be used. They examine candidates for the position +of teacher and issue certificates to those whom they select. The +certificate is issued in duplicate, and one copy is handed to the +selectmen as a warrant that the teacher is entitled to receive a +salary. Teachers are appointed for a term of one year, but where their +work is satisfactory the appointments are usually renewed year after +year. A recent act in Massachusetts _permits_ the appointment of +teachers to serve during good behaviour, but few boards have as yet +availed themselves of this law. If the amount of work to be done seems +to require it, the committee appoints a superintendent of schools. He +is a sort of lieutenant of the school committee, and under its general +direction carries on the detailed work of supervision. + +Other town officers are the surveyors of highways, who are responsible +for keeping the roads and bridges in repair; field-drivers and +pound-keepers; fence-viewers; surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood, +and sealers of weights and measures. + +[Sidenote: Field-drivers and pound keepers.] +The field-driver takes stray animals to the pound, and then notifies +their owner; or if he does not know who is the owner he posts a +description of the animals in some such place as the village store +or tavern, or has it published in the nearest country newspaper. +Meanwhile the strays are duly fed by the pound-keeper, who does not +let them out of his custody until all expenses have been paid. + +[Sidenote: Fence-viewers.] +If the owners of contiguous farms, gardens, or fields get into a +dispute about their partition fences or walls, they may apply to +one of the fence-viewers, of whom each town has at least two. The +fence-viewer decides the matter, and charges a small fee for his +services. Where it is necessary he may order suitable walls or fences +to be built. + +[Sidenote: Other officers.] +The surveyors of lumber measure and mark lumber offered for sale. +The measurers of wood do the same for firewood. The sealers test the +correctness of weights and measures used in trade, and tradesmen +are not allowed to use weights and measures that have not been thus +officially examined and sealed. Measurers and sealers may be appointed +by the selectmen. + +Such are the officers always to be found in the Massachusetts town, +except where the duties of some of them are discharged by the +selectmen. Of these officers, the selectmen, town-clerk, treasurer, +constable, school committee, and assessors must be elected by ballot +at the annual town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: Calling the town-meeting.] +When this meeting is to be called the selectmen issue a warrant for +the purpose, specifying the time and place of meeting and the nature +of the business to be transacted. The constable posts copies of the +warrant in divers conspicuous places not less than a week before the +time appointed. Then, after making a note upon the warrant that he has +duly served it, he hands it over to the town-clerk. On the appointed +day, when the people have assembled, the town-clerk calls the meeting +to order and reads the warrant. The meeting then proceeds to choose by +ballot its presiding officer, or "moderator," and business goes on +in accordance with parliamentary customs pretty generally recognized +among all people who speak English. + +[Sidenote: Town, country, and state taxes.] +At this meeting the amount of money to be raised by taxation for town +purposes is determined. But, as we shall see, every inhabitant of a +town lives not only under a town government, but also under a county +government and a state government, and all these governments have to +be supported by taxation. In Massachusetts the state and the county +make use of the machinery of the town government in order to assess +and collect their taxes. The total amounts to be raised are equitably +divided among the several towns and cities, so that each town pays its +proportionate share. Each year, therefore, the town assessors know +that a certain amount of money must be raised from the taxpayers of +their town,--partly for the town, partly for the county, partly for +the state,--and for the general convenience they usually assess it +upon the taxpayers all at once. The amounts raised for the state and +county are usually very much smaller than the amount raised for +the town. As these amounts are all raised in the town and by town +officers, we shall find it convenient to sum up in this place what we +have to say about the way in which taxes are raised. Bear in mind that +we are still considering the New England system, and our illustration +is taken from the practice in Massachusetts. But the general +principles of taxation are so similar in the different states that, +although we may now and then have to point to differences of detail, +we shall not need to go over the whole subject again. We have now to +observe how and upon whom the taxes are assessed. + +[Sidenote: Poll-tax.] +They are assessed partly upon persons, but chiefly upon property, and +property is divisible into real estate and personal estate. The tax +assessed upon persons is called the poll-tax, and cannot exceed the +sum of two dollars upon every male citizen over twenty years old. In +cases of extreme poverty the assessors may remit the poll-tax. + +[Sidenote: Real-estate taxes.] +As to real estate, there are in every town some lands and buildings +which, for reasons of public policy, are exempted from paying taxes; +as, for example, churches, graveyards, and tombs; many charitable +institutions, including universities and colleges; and public +buildings which belong to the state or to the United States. All lands +and buildings, except such as are exempt by law, must pay taxes. + +[Sidenote: Taxes on personal property.] +Personal property includes pretty much everything that one can own +except lands and buildings,--pretty much everything that can be moved +or carried about from one place to another. It thus includes ready +money, stocks and bonds, ships and wagons, furniture, pictures, and +books. It also includes the amount of debts due to a person in excess +of the amount that he owes; also the income from his employment, +whether in the shape of profits from business or a fixed salary. + +Some personal property is exempted from taxation; as, for example, +household furniture to the amount of $1,000 in value, and income +from employment to the extent of $2,000. The obvious intent of this +exemption is to prevent taxation from bearing too hard upon persons +of small means; and for a similar reason the tools of farmers and +mechanics are exempted.[2] + +[Footnote 2: United States bonds are also especially exempted from +taxation.] + +[Sidenote: When and where taxes are assessed.] +The date at which property is annually reckoned for assessment is in +Massachusetts the first day of May. The poll-tax is assessed upon each +person in the town or city where he has his legal habitation on that +day; and as a general rule the taxes upon his personal property are +assessed to him in the same place. But taxes upon lands or buildings +are assessed in the city or town where they are situated, and to the +person, wherever he lives, who is the owner of them on the first day +of May. Thus a man who lives in the Berkshire mountains, say for +example in the town of Lanesborough, will pay his poll-tax to that +town. For his personal property, whether it he bonds of a railroad in +Colorado, or shares in a bank in New York, or costly pictures in his +house at Lanesborough, he will likewise pay taxes to Lanesborough. So +for the house in which he lives, and the land upon which it stands, he +pays taxes to that same town. But if he owns at the same time a house +in Boston, he pays taxes for it to Boston, and if he owns a block of +shops in Chicago he pays taxes for the same to Chicago. It is very apt +to be the case that the rate of taxation is higher in large cities +than in villages; and accordingly it often happens that wealthy +inhabitants of cities, who own houses in some country town, move into +them before the first of May, and otherwise comport themselves as +legal residents of the country town, in order that their personal +property may be assessed there rather than in the city. + + +[Sidenote: Tax lists.] +About the first of May the assessors call upon the inhabitants of +their town to render a true statement as to their property. The most +approved form is for the assessors to send by mail to each taxable +inhabitant a printed list of questions, with blank spaces which he is +to fill with written answers. The questions relate to every kind +of property, and when the person addressed returns the list to the +assessors he must make oath that to the best of his knowledge and +belief his answers are true. He thus becomes liable to the penalties +for perjury if he can be proved to have sworn falsely. A reasonable +time--usually six or eight weeks--is allowed for the list to be +returned to the assessors. If any one fails to return his list by the +specified time, the assessors must make their own estimate of the +probable amount of his property. If their estimate is too high, he may +petition the assessors to have the error corrected, but in many cases +it may prove troublesome to effect this. + +[Sidenote: Cheating the government.] +Observe here an important difference between the imposition of taxes +upon real estate and upon personal property. Houses and lands cannot +run away or be tucked out of sight. Their value, too, is something +of which the assessors can very likely judge as well as the owner. +Deception is therefore extremely difficult, and taxation for real +estate is pretty fairly distributed among the different owners. With +regard to personal estate it is very different. It is comparatively +easy to conceal one's ownership of some kinds of personal property, or +to understate one's income. Hence the temptation to lessen the burden +of the tax bill by making false statements is considerable, and +doubtless a good deal of deception is practised. There are many people +who are too honest to cheat individuals, but still consider it a +venial sin to cheat the government. + +[Sidenote: The rate of taxation.] +After the assessors have obtained all their returns they can calculate +the total value of the taxable property in the town; and knowing the +amount of the tax to be raised, it is easy to calculate the rate at +which the tax is to be assessed. In most parts of the United States a +rate of one and a half per cent, or $15 tax on each $1,000 worth of +property, would be regarded as moderate; three per cent would be +regarded as excessively high. At the lower of these rates a man worth +$50,000 would pay $750 for his yearly taxes. The annual income of +$50,000, invested on good security, is hardly more than $2,500. +Obviously $750 is a large sum to subtract from such an income. + +[Sidenote: Undervaluation.] +[Sidenote: The burden of taxation.] +In point of fact, however, the tax is seldom quite as heavy as +this. It is not easy to tell exactly how much a man is worth, and +accordingly assessors, not wishing to be too disagreeable in the +discharge of their duties, have naturally fallen into a way of giving +the lower valuation the benefit of the doubt, until in many places a +custom has grown up of regularly undervaluing property for purposes of +taxation. Very much as liquid measures have gradually shrunk until +it takes five quart bottles to hold a gallon, so there has been a +shrinkage of valuations until it has become common to tax a man for +only three fourths or perhaps two thirds of what his property is +worth in the market. This makes the rate higher, to be sure, but +the individual taxpayer nevertheless seems to feel relieved by it. +Allowing for this undervaluation, we may say that a man worth $50,000 +commonly pays not less than $500 for his yearly taxes, or about one +fifth of the annual income of the property. We thus begin to see what +a heavy burden taxes are, and how essential to good government it is +that citizens should know what their money goes for, and should be +able to exert some effective control over the public expenditures. +Where the rate of taxation in a town rises to a very high point, such +as two and a half or three per cent, the prosperity of the town is apt +to be seriously crippled. Traders and manufacturers move away to other +towns, or those who would otherwise come to the town in question stay +away, because they cannot afford to use up all their profits in paying +taxes. If such a state of things is long kept up, the spirit of +enterprise is weakened, the place shows signs of untidiness and want +of thrift, and neighbouring towns, once perhaps far behind it in +growth, by and by shoot ahead of it and take away its business. + +[Sidenote: The "magic fund" delusion.] +Within its proper sphere, government by town-meeting is the form of +government most effectively under watch and control. Everything is +done in the full daylight of publicity. The specific objects for which +public money is to be appropriated are discussed in the presence of +everybody, and any one who disapproves of any of these objects, or of +the way in which it is proposed to obtain it, has an opportunity to +declare his opinions. Under this form of government people are not +so liable to bewildering delusions as under other forms. I refer +especially to the delusion that "the Government" is a sort of +mysterious power, possessed of a magic inexhaustible fund of wealth, +and able to do all manner of things for the benefit of "the People." +Some such notion as this, more often implied than expressed, is very +common, and it is inexpressibly dear to demagogues. It is the prolific +root from which springs that luxuriant crop of humbug upon which +political tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn. In point of +fact no such government, armed with a magic fund of its own, has ever +existed upon the earth. No government has ever yet used any money +for public purposes which it did not first take from its own +people,--unless when it may have plundered it from some other people +in victorious warfare. + +The inhabitant of a New England town is perpetually reminded that "the +Government" is "the People." Although he may think loosely about +the government of his state or the still more remote government at +Washington, he is kept pretty close to the facts where local affairs +are concerned, and in this there is a political training of no small +value. + +[Sidenote: Educational value of the town-meeting.] +In the kind of discussion which it provokes, in the necessity of facing +argument with argument and of keeping one's temper under control, the +town-meeting is the best political training school in existence. Its +educational value is far higher than that of the newspaper, which, in +spite of its many merits as a diffuser of information, is very apt to do +its best to bemuddle and sophisticate plain facts. The period when +town-meetings ware most important from the wide scope of their +transactions was the period of earnest and sometimes stormy discussion +that ushered in our Revolutionary war. Country towns were then of more +importance relatively than now; one country town--Boston--was at the +same time a great political centre; and its meetings were presided over +and addressed by men of commanding ability, among whom Samuel Adams, +"the man of the town-meeting," was foremost[3]. In those days +great principles of government were discussed with a wealth of knowledge +and stated with masterly skill in town-meeting. + +[Footnote 3: The phrase is Professor Hosmer's: see his _Samuel Adams, the +Man of the Town Meeting_, in "Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies," vol. II. no. +iv.; also his _Samuel Adams_, in "American Statesmen" series; Boston, +1885.] + +[Sidenote: By-laws.] +The town-meeting is to a very limited extent a legislative body; it can +make sundry regulations for the management of its local affairs. Such +regulations are known by a very ancient name, "by-laws." _By_ is an Old +Norse word meaning "town," and it appears in the names of such towns as +_Derby_ and _Whitby_ in the part of England overrun by the Danes in the +ninth and tenth centuries. By-laws are town laws[4]. + +[Footnote 4: In modern usage the roles and regulations of clubs, learned +societies, and other associations, are also called by-laws.] + +[Sidenote: Power and responsibility.] +In the selectmen and various special officers the town has an +executive department; and here let us observe that, while these +officials are kept strictly accountable to the people, they are +entrusted with very considerable authority. Things are not so arranged +that an officer can plead that he has failed in his duty from lack of +power. There is ample power, joined with complete responsibility. This +is especially to be noticed in the case of the selectmen. They must +often be called upon to exercise a wide discretion in what they do, +yet this excites no serious popular distrust or jealousy. The annual +election affords an easy means of dropping an unsatisfactory officer. +But in practice nothing has been more common than for the same persons +to be reelected as selectmen or constables or town-clerks for year +after year, as long as they are able or willing to serve. The notion +that there is anything peculiarly American or democratic in what +is known as "rotation in office" is therefore not sustained by the +practice of the New England town, which is the most complete democracy +in the world. It is the most perfect exhibition of what President +Lincoln called "government of the people by the people and for the +people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What reason exists for beginning the study of government with that of +the New England township? + +2. Give the origin of the township in New England according to the +following analysis:-- + + a. Settlement in groups. + b. The chief reason for coming to New England. + c. The leaders of the groups. + d. The favouring action of the Massachusetts government. + e. Small farms. + f. Defence against the Indians. + g. The limits of a township. + h. The village within the township. + +3. What was the social standing of the first settlers? + +4. What training had they received in self-government? + +5. Who do the governing in a New England township? + +6. Give an account of the town-meeting in accordance with the following +analysis:-- + + a. The name of the meeting. + b. The time for holding it. + c. The place for holding it. + d. The persons who take part in it. + e. The sort of business done in it. + +7. Give an account of the selectmen:-- + + a. Their number. + b. The reason for an odd number. + c. Their duties. + +8. When public schools were established by Massachusetts in 1647, what +reasons were assigned for the law? + + +9. What classes or grades of schools were then established? + +10. What are the duties of the Massachusetts school committee? + +11. What is the term of service of teachers in that state? + +12. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. Field-drivers. + b. Pound-keepers. + c. Fence-viewers. + d. Surveyors of lumber. + e. Measurers of wood. + f. Sealers of weights and measures. + +13. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. The town-clerk. + b. The treasurer. + c. Constables. + d. Assessors. + e. Overseers of the poor. + +14. Describe a warrant for a town-meeting. + +15. For what other purposes than those of the town are taxes raised? + +16. Explain the following:-- + + a. The poll-tax. + b. The tax on personal property, + c. The tax on real estate. + +17. What kinds of real estate are exempted from taxation, and why? + +18. What kinds of personal property are exempted, and why? + +19. Where must the several kinds of taxes be assessed and paid? +Illustrate. + +20. If a person changes his residence from one town in the state to +another before May 1, what consequences about taxes might follow? + +21. How do the assessors ascertain the property for which one should be +taxed? + +22. What difficulties beset the taxation of personal property? + +23. Mention a common practice in assigning values to property. +What is the effect on the tax-rate? Illustrate. + +24. How do high taxes operate as a burden? + +25. Describe a delusion from which people who directly govern +themselves are practically free. + +26. What is the educational value of the town-meeting? + +27. What are by-laws? Explain the phrase. + +28. What of the power and responsibility of selectmen? + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in Greece and Rome.] +It was said above that government by town-meeting is in principle the +oldest form of government known in the world. The student of ancient +history is familiar with the _comitia_ of the Romans and the +_ecclesia_ of the Greeks. These were popular assemblies, held in +those soft climates in the open air, usually in the market-place,--the +Roman _forum_, the Greek _agora_. The government carried on +in them was a more or less qualified democracy. In the palmy days of +Athens it was a pure democracy. The assemblies which in the Athenian +market-place declared war against Syracuse, or condemned Socrates to +death, were quite like New England town-meetings, except that they +exercised greater powers because there was no state government above +them. + +[Sidenote: Clans.] +The principle of the town-meeting, however, is older than Athens or +Rome. Long before streets were built or fields fenced in, men wandered +about the earth hunting for food in family parties, somewhat as lions +do in South Africa. Such family groups were what we call _clans_, +and so far as is known they were the earliest form in which civil +society appeared on the earth. Among all wandering or partially +settled tribes the clan is to be found, and there are ample +opportunities for studying it among our Indians in North America. The +clan usually has a chief or head-man, useful mainly as a leader in +wartime; its civil government, crude and disorderly enough, is in +principle a pure democracy. + +[Sidenote: The _mark_ and the _tun_.] +When our ancestors first became acquainted with American Indians, the +most advanced tribes lived partly by hunting and fishing, but partly +also by raising Indian corn and pumpkins. They had begun to live in +wigwams grouped together in small villages and surrounded by strong rows +of palisades for defence. Now what these red men were doing our own +fair-haired ancestors in northern and central Europe had been doing some +twenty centuries earlier. The Scandinavians and Germans, when first +known in history, had made considerable progress in exchanging a +wandering for a settled mode of life. When the clan, instead of moving +from place to place, fixed upon some spot for a permanent residence, a +village grew up there, surrounded by a belt of waste land, or somewhat +later by a stockaded wall. The belt of land was called a _mark_, and the +wall was called a _tun_.[5] Afterwards the enclosed space came to be +known sometimes as the _mark_, sometimes as the _tun_ or _town_. In +England the latter name prevailed. The inhabitants of a mark or town +were a stationary clan. It was customary to call them by the clan name, +as for example "the Beorings" or "the Crossings;" then the town would be +called _Barrington_, "town of the Beorings," or _Cressingham_, +"home of the Cressings." Town names of this sort, with which the map of +England is thickly studded, point us back to a time when the town was +supposed to be the stationary home of a clan. + +[Footnote 1: Pronounced "toon."] + +[Sidenote: The Old English township.] +[Sidenote: The manor.] +The Old English town had its _tungemot_, or town-meeting, in +which "by-laws" were made and other important business transacted. +The principal officers were the "reeve" or head-man, the "beadle" or +messenger, and the "tithing-man" or petty constable. These officers +seem at first to have been elected by the people, but after a while, +as great lordships grew up, usurping jurisdiction over the land, the +lord's steward and bailiff came to supersede the reeve and beadle. +After the Norman Conquest the townships, thus brought under the sway +of great lords, came to be generally known by the French name of +manors or "dwelling places." Much might be said about this change, but +here it is enough for us to bear in mind that a manor was essentially +a township in which the chief executive officers were directly +responsible to the lord rather than to the people. It would be +wrong, however, to suppose that the manors entirely lost their +self-government. Even the ancient town-meeting survived in them, in a +fragmentary way, in several interesting assemblies, of which the most +interesting were the _court leet_, for the election of certain +officers and the trial of petty offences, and the _court baron_, +which was much like a town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: The parish.] +Still more of the old self-government would doubtless have survived +in the institutions of the manor if it had not been provided for in +another way. The _parish_ was older than the manor. After the +English had been converted to Christianity local churches were +gradually set up all over the country, and districts called parishes +were assigned for the ministrations of the priests. Now a parish +generally coincided in area with a township, or sometimes with a group +of two or three townships. In the old heathen times each town seems to +have had its sacred place or shrine consecrated to some local deity, +and it was a favourite policy with the Roman missionary priests to +purify the old shrine and turn it into a church. In this way the +township at the same time naturally became the parish. + +[Sidenote: Township, manor, and parish.] +[Sidenote: The vestry-meeting.] +As we find it in later times, both before and since the founding of +English colonies in North America, the township in England is likely +to be both a manor and a parish. For some purposes it is the one, for +some purposes it is the other. The townsfolk may be regarded as a +group of tenants of the lord's manor, or as a group of parishioners of +the local church. In the latter aspect the parish retained much of the +self-government of the ancient town. The business with which the lord +was entitled to meddle was strictly limited, and all other business +was transacted in the "vestry-meeting," which was practically the old +town-meeting under a new name. In the course of the thirteenth century +we find that the parish had acquired the right of taxing itself for +church purposes. Money needed for the church was supplied in the +form of "church-rates" voted by the ratepayers themselves in the +vestry-meeting, so called because it was originally held in a room of +the church in which vestments were kept. + +[Sidenote: Parish officers.] +The officers of the parish were the constable, the parish and vestry +clerks,[6] the beadle,[7] the "waywardens" or surveyors of highways, +the "haywards" or fence-viewers, the "common drivers," the collectors +of taxes, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century overseers of +the poor were added. There were also churchwardens, usually two for +each, parish. Their duties were primarily to take care of the church +property, assess the rates, and call the vestry-meetings. They also +acted as overseers of the poor, and thus in several ways remind one of +the selectmen of New England. The parish officers were all elected by +the ratepayers assembled in vestry-meeting, except the common driver +and hayward, who were elected by the same ratepayers assembled in +court leet. Besides electing parish officers and granting the rates, +the vestry-meeting could enact by-laws; and all ratepayers had an +equal voice in its deliberations. + +[Footnote 6: Of these two officers the vestry clerk is the counterpart +of the New England town-clerk.] + +[Footnote 7: Originally a messenger or crier, the beadle came to +assume some of the functions of the tithing-man or petty constable, +such as keeping order in church, punishing petty offenders, waiting on +the clergyman, etc. In New England towns there were formerly officers +called tithing-men, who kept order in church, arrested tipplers, +loafers, and Sabbath-breakers, etc.] + + +[Sidenote: The transition from England to New England.] +During the last two centuries the constitution of the English parish +has undergone some modifications which need not here concern us. The +Puritans who settled in New England had grown up under such parish +government as is here described, and they were used to hearing the +parish called, on some occasions and for some purposes, a township. If +we remember now that the earliest New England towns were founded +by church congregations, led by their pastors, we can see how town +government in New England originated. It was simply the English +parish government brought into a new country and adapted to the new +situation. Part of this new situation consisted in the fact that the +lords of the manor were left behind. There was no longer any occasion +to distinguish between the township as a manor and the township as a +parish; and so, as the three names had all lived on together, side by +side, in England, it was now the oldest and most generally descriptive +name, "township," that survived, and has come into use throughout a +great part of the United States. The townsfolk went on making by-laws, +voting supplies of public money, and electing their magistrates in +America, after the fashion with which they had for ages been familiar +in England. Some of their offices and customs were of hoary antiquity. +If age gives respectability, the office of constable may vie with that +of king; and if the annual town-meeting is usually held in the month +of March, it is because in days of old, long before Magna Charta was +thought of, the rules and regulations for the village husbandry were +discussed and adopted in time for the spring planting. + +[Sidenote: Building up states.] +To complete our sketch of the origin of the New England town, one +point should here be briefly mentioned in anticipation of what will +have to be said hereafter; but it is a point of so much importance +that we need not mind a little repetition in stating it. + + +[Sidenote: Representation.] +We have seen what a great part taxation plays in the business of +government, and we shall presently have to treat of county, state, and +federal governments, all of them wider in their sphere than the town +government. In the course of history, as nations have gradually been +built up, these wider governments have been apt to absorb or supplant +and crush the narrower governments, such as the parish or township; +and this process has too often been destructive to political freedom. +Such a result is, of course, disastrous to everybody; and if it were +unavoidable, it would be better that great national governments need +never be formed. But it is not unavoidable. There is one way of +escaping it, and that is to give the little government of the town +some real share in making up the great government of the state. That +is not an easy thing to do, as is shown by the fact that most peoples +have failed in the attempt. The people who speak the English language +have been the most successful, and the device by which they have +overcome the difficulty is REPRESENTATION. The town sends to the wider +government a delegation of persons who can _represent_ the town +and its people. They can speak for the town, and have a voice in the +framing of laws and imposition of taxes by the wider government. + +[Sidenote: Shire-motes.] +[Sidenote: Earl Simon's Parliament.] +In English townships there has been from time immemorial a system of +representation. Long before Alfred's time there were "shire-motes," or +what were afterwards called county meetings, and to these each town +sent its reeve and "four discreet men" as _representatives_. Thus +to a certain extent the wishes of the townsfolk could be brought to +bear upon county affairs. By and by this method was applied on a much +wider scale. It was applied to the whole kingdom, so that the people +of all its towns and parishes succeeded in securing a representation +of their interests in an elective national council or House of +Commons. This great work was accomplished in the thirteenth century by +Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and was completed by Edward +I. Simon's parliament, the first in which the Commons were fully +represented, was assembled in 1265; and the date of Edward's +parliament, which has been called the Model Parliament, was 1295. +These dates have as much interest for Americans as for Englishmen, +because they mark the first definite establishment of that grand +system of representative government which we are still carrying on +at our various state capitals and at Washington. For its humble +beginnings we have to look back to the "reeve and four" sent by the +ancient townships to the county meetings. + +[Sidenote: Township as unit of representation.] +The English township or parish was thus at an early period the "unit +of representation" in the government of the county. It was also a +district for the assessment and collection of the national taxes; in +each parish the assessment was made by a board of assessors chosen by +popular vote. These essential points reappear in the early history of +New England. The township was not only a self-governing body, but +it was the "unit of representation" in the colonial legislature, +or "General Court;" and the assessment of taxes, whether for town +purposes or for state purposes, was made by assessors elected by the +townsfolk. In its beginnings and fundamentals our political liberty +did not originate upon American soil, but was brought hither by +our forefathers the first settlers. They brought their political +institutions with them as naturally as they brought their language and +their social customs. + +[Sidenote: The Russian village community; not represented in the +national government.] +Observe now that the township is to be regarded in two lights. It must +be considered not only in itself, but as part of a greater whole. +We began by describing it as a self-governing body, but in order to +complete our sketch we were obliged to speak of it as a body which +has a share in the government of the state and the nation. The latter +aspect is as important as the former. If the people of a town had only +the power of managing their local affairs, without the power of taking +part in the management of national affairs, their political freedom +would be far from complete. In Russia, for example, the larger part of +the vast population is resident in village communities which have to a +considerable extent the power of managing their local affairs. Such +a village community is called a _mir_, and like the English +township it is lineally descended from the stationary clan. The people +of the Russian _mir_ hold meetings in which they elect sundry +local officers, distribute the burden of local taxation, make +regulations concerning local husbandry and police, and transact other +business which need not here concern us. But they have no share in the +national government, and are obliged to obey laws which they have +no voice in making, and pay taxes assessed upon them without their +consent; and accordingly we say with truth that the Russian people do +not possess political freedom. One reason for this has doubtless +been that in times past the Russian territory was the great frontier +battle-ground between civilized Europe and the wild hordes of western +Asia, and the people who lived for ages on that turbulent frontier +were subjected to altogether too much conquest. They have tasted too +little of civil government and too much of military government,--a +pennyworth of wholesome bread to an intolerable deal of sack. The +early English, in their snug little corner of the world, belted by +salt sea, were able to develop their civil government with less +destructive interference. They made a sound and healthful beginning +when they made the township the "unit of representation" for the +county. Then the township, besides managing its own affairs, began to +take part in the management of wider affairs. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Obtain the following documents:-- + + a. A town warrant. + b. A town report. + c. A tax bill, a permit, a certificate, or any town paper that + has or may have an official signature. + d. A report of the school committee. + +If you live in a city, send to the clerk of a neighbouring town for a +warrant, inclosing a stamp for the reply. City documents will answer +most of the purposes of this exercise. + +Make any of the foregoing documents the basis of a report. + +2. Give an account of the following:-- + + a. The various kinds of taxes raised in your town, the amount of each + kind, the valuation, the rate, the proposed use of the money, etc. + b. The work of any department of the town government for a year, as, for + example, that of the overseers of the poor. + c. Any pressing need of your town, public sentiment towards it, the + probable cost of satisfying it, the obstacles in the way of meeting + it, etc. + +3. A good way to arouse interest in the subject of town government is to +organize the class as a town-meeting, and let it discuss live local +questions in accordance with articles in a warrant. For helpful details +attend a town-meeting, read the record of some meeting, consult some +person familiar with town proceedings, or study the General Statutes. + +To insure a discussion, it may be necessary at the outset for the +teacher to assign to the several pupils single points to be expanded and +presented in order. + +There is an advantage in the teacher's serving as moderator. He may, as +teacher, pause to give such directions and explanations as may be +helpful to young citizens. + +The pupils should be held up to the more obvious requirements of +parliamentary law, and shown how to use its rules to accomplish various +purposes. + +4. Has the state a right to direct the education of its youth? If the +state has such a right, are there any limits to the exercise of it? Does +the right to direct the education of its youth carry with it the right +to abolish private schools? + +5. Is it wise to assist private educational institutions with public +funds? + +6. Ought teachers, if approved, to be appointed for one year only, or +during good behaviour? + +7. What classes of officers in a town should serve during good +behaviour? What classes may be frequently changed without injury to the +public? + +8. Compare the school committee in your own state (if it is not +Massachusetts) with that in Massachusetts. + +9. Illustrate from personal knowledge the difference between +real estate and personal property. + +10. A loans B $1000. May A be taxed for the $1000? Why? May B be taxed +for the $1000? Why? Is it right to tax both for $1000? Suppose B with +the money buys goods of C. Is it right to tax the three for $1000 each? + +11. A taxpayer worth $100,000 in personal property makes no return to +the assessors. In their ignorance the assessors tax him for $50,000 +only, and the tax is paid without question. Does the taxpayer act +honourably? + +12. What difficulties beset the work of the assessors? + +13. Would anything be gained by exempting personal property from +taxation? If so, what? Would anything be lost? If so, what? + +14. Does any one absolutely escape taxation? + +15. Does the poll-tax payer pay, in any sense, more than his poll-tax? + +16. Are there any taxes that people pay without seeming to know it? If +so, what? (See below, chap. viii. section 8.). + +17. Have we clans to-day among ourselves? (Think of family reunions, +people of the same name in a community, descendants of early settlers, +etc.). What important differences exist between these modern so-called +clans and the ancient ones? + +18. What is a "clannish" spirit? Is it a good spirit or a bad +one? Is it ever the same as patriotism? + +19. Look up the meaning of _ham_, _wick_, and _stead_. Think of towns +whose names contain these words; also of towns whose names contain the +word _tun_ or _ton_ or _town_. + +20. Give an account of the tithing-man in early New England. + +21. In what sense is the word "parish" commonly used in the United +States? Is the parish the same as the church? Has it any limits of +territory? + +22. In Massachusetts, clergymen were formerly paid out of the taxes of +the township. How did this come about? In this practice was there a +union or a separation of church and state? + +23. Ministers are not now supported by taxation in the United States. +What important change in the parish idea does this fact indicate? Is it +a change for the better? + +24. Are women who do not vote represented in town government? + +25. Are boys and girls represented in town government? + +26. Is there anybody in a town who is not represented in its government? + +27. How are citizens of a town represented in state government? + +28. How are citizens of a town represented in the national government? + +29. Imagine a situation in which the ballot of a single voter in +a town might affect the action of the national government. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. There is a good account in +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_. N. +T. & Chicago, 1875. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. Here the _Johns Hopkins University +Studies in Historical and Political Science_, edited by Dr. Herbert +Adams, are of great value. Note especially series I, no. i, E. A. +Freeman, _Introduction to American Institutional History_; I., ii. iv. +viii. ix.-x. H. B. Adams, _The Germanic Origin of New England Towns, +Saxon Tithing-Men in America, Norman Constables in America, Village +Communities of Cape Ann and Salem_; II., x. Edward Channing, _Town and +County Government in the English Colonies of North America_; IV., +xi.-xii. Melville Egleston, _The Land System of the New England +Colonies_; VII., vii.-ix. C. M. Andrews, _The River Towns of +Connecticut_. + +See also Howard's _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. "Township, Hundred, and Shire," Baltimore, 1889, a +work of extraordinary merit. + +The great book on local self-government in England is Toulmin Smith's +_The Parish_, 2d ed., London, 1859. For the ancient history of the +township, see Gomme's _Primitive Folk-Moots_, London, 1880; Gomme's +_Village Community_, London, 1890; Seebohm's _English Village +Community_, London, 1883; Nasse's _Agricultural Community of the Middle +Ages_, London, 1872; Laveleye's _Primitive Property_, London, 1878; +Phear's _Aryan Village in India and Ceylon_, London, 1880; Hearn (of the +University of Melbourne, Australia), _The Aryan Household_, London & +Melbourne, 1879; and the following works of Sir Henry Maine: _Ancient +Law_, London, 1861; _Village Communities in the East and West_, London, +1871; _Early History of Institutions_, London, 1875; _Early Law and +Custom_, London, 1883. All of Maine's works are republished in New York. +See also my _American Political Ideas_, N. Y., 1885. + +Gomme's _Literature of Local Institutions_, London, 1886, +contains an extensive bibliography of the subject, with valuable +critical notes and comments. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings._ + +It is now time for us to treat of the county, and we may as well begin +by considering its origin. In treating of the township we began by +sketching it in its fullest development, as seen in New England. With. +the county we shall find it helpful to pursue a different method and +start at the beginning. + +If we look at the maps of the states which make up our Union, we see +that they are all divided into counties (except that in Louisiana the +corresponding divisions are named parishes). The map of England shows +that country as similarly divided into counties. + +[Sidenote: Why do we have counties?] +If we ask why this is so, some people will tell us that it is +convenient, for purposes of administration, to have a state, or a +kingdom, divided into areas that are larger than single towns. There +is much truth in this. It is convenient. If it were not so, counties +would not have survived, so as to make a part of our modern maps. +Nevertheless, this is not the historic reason why we have the +particular kind of subdivisions known as counties. We have them +because our fathers and grandfathers had them; and thus, if we would +find out the true reason, we may as well go back to the ancient times +when our forefathers were establishing themselves in England. + +[Sidenote: Clans and tribes.] +We have seen how the clan of our barbarous ancestors, when it became +stationary, was established as the town or township. But in those early +times _clans_ were generally united more or less closely into _tribes_. +Among all primitive or barbarous races of men, so far as we can make +out, society is organized in tribes, and each tribe is made up of a +number of clans or family groups. Now when our English forefathers +conquered Britain they settled there as clans and also as tribes. The +clans became townships, and the tribes became shires or counties; that +is to say, the names were applied first to the people and afterwards to +the land they occupied. A few of the oldest county names in England +still show this plainly. _Essex_, _Middlesex_, and _Sussex_ were +originally "East Saxons," "Middle Saxons," and "South Saxons;" and on +the eastern coast two tribes of Angles were distinguished as "North +folk" and "South folk," or _Norfolk_ and _Suffolk_. When you look on the +map and see the town of _Icklinghiam_ in the county of _Suffolk_, it +means that this place was once known as the "home" of the "Icklings" or +"children of Ickel," a clan which formed part of the tribe of "South +folk." + +[Sidenote: The English nation, like the American, grew out of the +union of small states.] +In those days there was no such thing as a Kingdom of England; there +were only these groups of tribes living side by side. Each tribe had its +leader, whose title was _ealdorman_ or "elder man." [1] After a while, as +some tribes increased in size and power, their ealdormen took the title +of kings. The little kingdoms coincided sometimes with a single shire, +sometimes with two or more shires. Thus there was a kingdom of Kent, and +the North and South Folk were combined in a kingdom of East Anglia. In +course of time numbers of shires combined into larger kingdoms, such as +Northumbria, Mercia, and the West Saxons; and finally the king of the +West Saxons became king of all England, and the several _shires_ became +subordinate parts or "shares" of the kingdom. In England, therefore, the +shires are older than the nation. The shires were not made by dividing +the nation, but the nation was made by uniting the shires. The English +nation, like the American, grew out of the union of little states that +had once been independent of one another, but had many interests in +common. For not less than three hundred years after all England had been +united under one king, these shires retained their self-government +almost as completely as the several states of the American Union.[2] A +few words about their government will not be wasted, for they will help +to throw light upon some things that still form a part of our political +and social life. + +[Footnote 1: The pronunciation, was probably something like yáwl-dor-man.] + + +[Footnote 2: Chalmers, _Local Government_, p. 90.] + +[Sidenote: Shire-mote, ealdorman, and sheriff.] +The shire was governed by the _shire-mote_ (i.e. "meeting"), +which was a representative body. Lords of lands, including abbots and +priors, attended it, as well as the reeve and four selected men +from each township. There were thus the germs of both the kind of +representation that is seen in the House of Lords and the much more +perfect kind that is seen in the House of Commons. After a while, +as cities and boroughs grew in importance, they sent representative +burghers to the shire-mote. There were two presiding officers; one was +the _ealdorman_, who was now appointed by the king; the other was +the _shire-reeve_ (i.e. "sheriff"), who was still elected by the +people and generally held office for life. + + + +[Sidenote: The county court.] +This shire-mote was both a legislative body and a court of justice. It +not only made laws for the shire, but it tried civil and criminal +causes. After the Norman Conquest some changes occurred. The shire now +began to be called by the French name "county," because of its analogy +to the small pieces of territory on the Continent that were governed by +"counts." [3] The shire-mote became known as the county court, but cases +coming before it were tried by the king's _justices in eyre_, or circuit +judges, who went about from county to county to preside over the +judicial work. The office of ealdorman became extinct. The sheriff was +no longer elected by the people for life, but appointed by the king for +the term of one year. This kept him strictly responsible to the king. It +was the sheriff's duty to see that the county's share of the national +taxes was duly collected and paid over to the national treasury. The +sheriff also summoned juries and enforced the judgments of the courts, +and if he met with resistance in so doing he was authorized to call out +a force of men, known as the _posse comitatus_ (i.e. power of the +county), and overcome all opposition. Another county officer was the +_coroner_, or crowner_,[4] so called because originally (in Alfred's +time) he was appointed by the king, and was especially the crown officer +in the county. Since the time of Edward I., however, coroners have been +elected by the people. Originally coroners held small courts of inquiry +upon cases of wreckage, destructive fires, or sudden death, but in +course of time their jurisdiction became confined to the last-named +class of cases. If a death occurred under circumstances in any way +mysterious or likely to awaken suspicion, it was the business of the +coroner, assisted by not less than twelve _jurors_ (i. e, "sworn men"), +to hold an _inquest_ for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death. +The coroner could compel the attendance of witnesses and order a medical +examination of the body, and if there were sufficient evidence to charge +any person with murder or manslaughter, the coroner could have such +person arrested and committed for trial. + +[Footnote 3: Originally _comites_, or "companions" of the king.] +[Footnote 4: This form of the word, sometimes supposed to be a vulgarism, +is as correct as the other. See Skeat, _Etym_. Dict., s.v.] + + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +[Sidenote: The Quarter sessions.] +[Sidenote: The lord-lieutenant.] +Another important county officer was the _justice of the peace_. +Originally six were appointed by the crown in each county, but in +later times any number might be appointed. The office was created by a +series of statutes in the reign of Edward III., in order to put a stop +to the brigandage which still flourished in England; it was a common +practice for robbers to seize persons and hold them for ransom.[5] By +the last of these statutes, in 1362, the justices of the peace in each +county were to hold a court four times in the year. The powers of this +court, which came to be known as the Quarter Sessions, were from time +to time increased by act of parliament, until it quite supplanted the +old county court. In modern times the Quarter Sessions has become +an administrative body quite as much as a court. The justices, who +receive no salary, hold office for life, or during good behaviour. +They appoint the chief constable of the county, who appoints the +police. They also take part in the supervision of highways and +bridges, asylums and prisons. Since the reign of Henry VIII., the +English county has had an officer known as the lord-lieutenant, who +was once leader of the county militia, but whose functions to-day are +those of keeper of the records and principal justice of the peace. + +[Footnote 5: Longman's _Life and Times of Edward III._, vol. i. +p. 301.] + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of Massachusetts counties.] +During the past five hundred years the English county has gradually +sunk from a self-governing community into an administrative district; +and in recent times its boundaries have been so crossed and +crisscrossed with those of other administrative areas, such as those +of school-boards, sanitary boards, etc., that very little of the old +county is left in recognizable shape. Most of this change has been +effected since the Tudor period. The first English settlers in America +were familiar with the county as a district for the administration of +justice, and they brought with them coroners, sheriffs, and quarter +sessions. In 1635 the General Court of Massachusetts appointed four +towns--Boston, Cambridge, Salem, and Ipswich--as places where courts +should be held quarterly. In 1643 the colony, which then included +as much of New Hampshire as was settled, was divided into four +"shires,"--Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk, the latter lying +then to the northward and including the New Hampshire towns. The +militia was then organized, perhaps without consciousness of the +analogy, after a very old English fashion; the militia of each town +formed a company, and the companies of the shire formed a regiment. +The county was organized from the beginning as a judicial district, +with its court-house, jail, and sheriff. After 1697 the court, held by +the justices of the peace, was called the Court of General Sessions. +It could try criminal causes not involving the penalty of death or +banishment, and civil causes in which the value at stake was less than +forty shillings. It also had control over highways going from town to +town; and it apportioned the county taxes among the several towns. + +The justices and sheriff were appointed by the governor, as in England +by the king. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why do we have counties in the United States? Contrast the popular +reason with the historic. + +2. What relation did the tribe hold to the clan among our ancestors? + +3. In time what did the clans and the tribes severally become? + +4. Show how old county names in England throw light on the + county development. + +5. Trace the growth of the English nation in accordance with + the following outline:-- + a. Each tribe and its leader, + b. A powerful tribe and its leader. + c. The relation of a little kingdom to the shire. + d. The final union under one king. + e. The relative ages of the shire and the nation. + +6. Give an account (1) of the shire-mote, (2) of the two kinds + of representation in it, (3) of its presiding officers, and + (4) of its two kinds of duties. + +7. Let the pupil make written analyses or outlines of the following + topics, to be used by him in presenting the topics + orally, or to be passed in to the teacher:-- + a. What changes took place in the government of the shire + after the Norman Conquest? + b. Trace the development of the coroner's office. + c. Give an account of the justices of the peace and the courts + held by them. + d. Show what applications the English settlers in Massachusetts made of + their knowledge of the English county. + + + + +Section 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts. + +The modern county system of Massachusetts may now be very briefly +described. The county, like the town, is a corporation; it can hold +property and sue or be sued. It builds the court-house and jail, and +keeps them in repair. The town in which these buildings are placed is +called, as in England, the shire town. + +[Sidenote: County commissioners.] +In each county there are three commissioners, elected by the people. +Their term of service is three years, and one goes out each year. +These commissioners represent the county in law-suits, as the +selectmen represent the town. They "apportion the county taxes among +the towns;" "lay out, alter, and discontinue highways within the +county;" "have charge of houses of correction;" and erect and keep in +repair the county buildings.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Martin's _Civil Government_, p. 197.] + +[Sidenote: County treasurer.] +The revenues of the county are derived partly from taxation and partly +from the payment of fines and costs in the courts. These revenues are +received and disbursed by the county treasurer, who is elected by the +people for a term of three years. + +[Sidenote: Courts.] +The Superior Court of the state holds at least two sessions annually +in each county, and tries civil and criminal causes. There is also +in each county a probate court with jurisdiction over all matters +relating to wills, administration of estates, and appointment of +guardians; it also acts as a court of insolvency. The custody of wills +and documents relating to the business of this court is in the hands +of an officer known as the register of probate, who is elected by the +people for a term of five years. + +[Sidenote: Shire town and court-house.] +To preserve the records of all land-titles and transfers of land +within the county, all deeds and mortgages are registered in an +office in the shire town, usually within or attached to the court The +register of deeds is an officer elected by the people for a term of +three years. In counties where there is much business there may be +more than one. + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor for a term of seven +years, and the appointment may be renewed. Their functions have been +greatly curtailed, and now amount to little more than administering +oaths, and in some cases issuing warrants and taking bail. They may join +persons in marriage, and, when specially commissioned as "trial +justices," have criminal jurisdiction over sundry petty offences. + + +[Sidenote: The Sheriff.] +The sheriff is elected by the people for a term of three years. He may +appoint deputies, for whom he is responsible, to assist him in his +work. He must attend all county courts, and the meetings of the county +commissioners whenever required. He must inflict, either personally +or by deputy, the sentence of the court, whether it be fine, +imprisonment, or death. He is responsible for the preservation of the +peace within the county, and to this end must pursue criminals and may +arrest disorderly persons. If he meets with resistance he may call out +the _posse comitatus_; if the resistance grows into insurrection +he may apply to the governor and obtain the aid of the state militia; +if the insurrection proves too formidable to be thus dealt with, the +governor may in his behalf apply to the president of the United States +for aid from the regular army. In this way the force that may be +drawn upon, if necessary, for the suppression of disorder in a single +locality, is practically unlimited and irresistible. + +We have now obtained a clear outline view of the township and county in +themselves and in their relation to one another, with an occasional +glimpse of their relation to the state; in so far, at least, as such a +view can be gained from a reference to the history of England and of +Massachusetts. We must next trace the development of local government in +other parts of the United States; and in doing so we can advance at +somewhat quicker pace, not because our subject becomes in any wise less +important or less interesting, but because we have already marked out +the ground and said things of general application which will not need to +be said over again. + + + QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + Give an account of the modern county in Massachusetts under + the following heads:-- + + 1. The county a corporation. + 2. The county commissioners and their duties. + 3. The county treasurer and his duties. + 4. The courts held in a county. + 5. The shire town and the court-house. + 6. The register of deeds and his duties. + 7. Justices of the peace and trial justices. + 8. The sheriff and his duties. + 9. The force at the sheriff's disposal to suppress disorder. + + + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County._ + +By common consent of historians, the two most distinctive and most +characteristic lines of development which English forms of government +have followed, in propagating themselves throughout the United States, +are the two lines that have led through New England on the one hand +and through Virginia on the other. We have seen what shape local +government assumed in New England; let us now observe what shape it +assumed in the Old Dominion. + +[Sidenote: Virginia sparsely settled.] +The first point to be noticed in the early settlement of Virginia is +that people did not live so near together as in New England. This was +because tobacco, cultivated on large estates, was a source of wealth. +Tobacco drew settlers to Virginia as in later days gold drew settlers +to California and sparsely Australia. They came not in organized +groups or congregations, but as a multitude of individuals. Land +was granted to individuals, and sometimes these grants were of +enormous extent. John Bolling, who died in 1757, left an estate of +40,000 acres, and this is not mentioned as an extraordinary amount of +land for one man to own.[7] From an early period it was customary +to keep these great estates together by entailing them, and this +continued until entails were abolished in 1776 through the influence +of Thomas Jefferson. + +[Footnote 7: Edward Channing, "Town and County Government," in +_Johns Hopkins University Studies_, vol. ii. p. 467.] + +[Sidenote: Absence of towns.] +A glance at the map of Virginia shows to what a remarkable degree it +is intersected by navigable rivers. This fact made it possible for +plantations, even at a long distance from the coast, to have each its +own private wharf, where a ship from England could unload its cargo of +tools, cloth, or furniture, and receive a cargo of tobacco in return. +As the planters were thus supplied with most of the necessaries of +life, there was no occasion for the kind of trade that builds up +towns. Even in comparatively recent times the development of town life +in Virginia has been very slow. In 1880, out of 246 cities and towns +in the United States with a population exceeding 10,000, there were +only six in Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Slavery] +The cultivation of tobacco upon large estates caused a great demand for +cheap labour, and this was supplied partly by bringing negro slaves from +Africa, partly by bringing criminals from English jails. The latter were +sold into slavery for a limited term of years, and were known as +"indentured white servants." So great was the demand for labour that it +became customary to kidnap poor friendless wretches on the streets of +seaport towns in England and ship them off to Virginia to be sold into +servitude. At first these white servants were more numerous than the +negroes, but before the end of the seventeenth century the blacks had +come to be much the more numerous. + +[Sidenote: Social position of settlers.] +In this rural community the owners of plantations came from the same +classes of society as the settlers of New England; they were for the +most part country squires and yeomen. But while in New England there +was no lower class or society sharply marked off from the upper, on +the other hand in Virginia there was an insurmountable distinction +between the owners of plantations and the so-called "mean whites" or +"white trash." This class was originally formed of men and women +who had been indentured white servants, and was increased by such +shiftless people as now and then found their way to the colony, but +could not win estates or obtain social recognition. With such a +sharp division between classes, an aristocratic type of society was +developed in Virginia as naturally as a democratic type was developed +in New England. + +[Sidenote: Virginia parishes.] +[Sidenote: The vestry of a close corporation.] +In Virginia there were no town-meetings. The distances between +plantations cooperated with the distinction between classes to prevent +the growth of such an institution. The English parish, with its +churchwardens and vestry and clerk, was reproduced in Virginia under +the same name, but with some noteworthy peculiarities. If the whole +body of ratepayers had assembled in vestry meeting, to enact by-laws +and assess taxes, the course of development would have been like that +of the New England town-meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which +exercised the chief authority in the parish, was composed of twelve +chosen men. This was not government by a primary assembly, it was +representative government. At first the twelve vestrymen were elected +by the people of the parish, and thus resembled the selectmen of +New England; but after a while "they obtained the power of filling +vacancies in their own number," so that they became what is called a +"close corporation," and the people had nothing to do with choosing +them. Strictly speaking, that was not representative government; it +was a step on the road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic +government. + +[Sidenote: Powers of the vestry.] +It was the vestry, thus constituted, that apportioned the parish +taxes, appointed the churchwardens, presented the minister for +induction into office, and acted as overseers of the poor. The +minister presided in all vestry meetings. His salary was paid in +tobacco, and in 1696 it was fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco +yearly. In many parishes the churchwardens were the collectors of the +parish taxes. The other officers, such as the sexton and the parish +clerk, were appointed either by the minister or by the vestry. + +With the local government thus administered, we see that the larger +part of the people had little directly to do. Nevertheless in these +small neighbourhoods government was in full sight of the people. Its +proceedings went on in broad daylight and were sustained by public +sentiment. As Jefferson said, "The vestrymen are usually the most +discreet farmers, so distributed through the parish that every part of +it may be under the immediate eye of some one of them. They are well +acquainted with the details and economy of private life, and they +find sufficient inducements to execute their charge well, in their +philanthropy, in the approbation of their neighbours, and the +distinction which that gives them." [8] + +[Footnote 8: See Howard, _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. p. 122.] + +[Sidenote: The county was the unit of representation.] +The difference, however, between the New England township and the +Virginia parish, in respect of self-government, was striking enough. +We have now to note a further difference. In New England, as we have +seen, the township was the unit of representation in the colonial +legislature; but in Virginia the parish was not the unit of +representation. The county was that unit. In the colonial legislature +of Virginia the representatives sat not for parishes, but for +counties. The difference is very significant. As the political life of +New England was in a manner built up out of the political life of +the towns, so the political life of Virginia was built up out of the +political life of the counties. This was partly because the vast +plantations were not grouped about a compact village nucleus like the +small farms at the North, and partly because there was not in Virginia +that Puritan theory of the church according to which each congregation +is a self-governing democracy. The conditions which made the New +England town-meeting were absent. The only alternative was some kind +of representative government, and for this the county was a small +enough area. The county in Virginia was much smaller than in +Massachusetts or Connecticut. In a few instances the county consisted +of only a single parish; in some cases it was divided into two +parishes, but oftener into three or more. + +[Sidenote: The county court was virtually a close corporation.] +In Virginia, as in England and in New England, the county was an area +for the administration of justice. There were usually in each county +eight justices of the peace, and their court was the counterpart of +the Quarter Sessions in England. They were appointed by the governor, +but it was customary for them to nominate candidates for the governor +to appoint, so that practically the court filled its own vacancies and +was a close corporation, like the parish vestry. Such an arrangement +tended to keep the general supervision and control of things in the +hands of a few families. + +This county court usually met as often as once a month in some +convenient spot answering to the shire town of England or New England. +More often than not the place originally consisted of the court-house +and very little else, and was named accordingly from the name of the +county, as Hanover Court House or Fairfax Court House; and the small +shire towns that have grown up in such spots often retain these names +to the present day. Such names occur commonly in Virginia, West +Virginia, and South Carolina, very rarely in Kentucky, North Carolina, +Alabama, Ohio, and nowhere else in the United States.[9] Their number +has diminished from the tendency to omit the phrase "Court House," +leaving the name of the county for that of the shire town, as for +example in Culpeper, Va. In New England the process of naming has been +just the reverse; as in Hartford County, Conn., or Worcester County, +Mass., which have taken their names from the shire towns. In this, +as in so many cases, whole chapters of history are wrapped up in +geographical names.[10] + +[Footnote 9: In Mitchell's Atlas, 1883, the number of cases is in Va. +38, W. Va. 13, S. C. 16, N. C. 2, Ala. 1, Ky. 1, Ohio, 1.] + +[Footnote 10: A few of the oldest Virginia counties, organized as +such in 1634, had arisen from the spreading and thinning of single +settlements originally intended to be cities and named accordingly. +Hence the curious names (at first sight unintelligible) of "James City +County," and "Charles City County."] + +[Sidenote: Powers of the court] +The county court in Virginia had jurisdiction in criminal actions not +involving peril of life or limb, and in civil suits where the sum at +stake exceeded twenty-five shillings. Smaller suits could be tried +by a single justice. The court also had charge of the probate and +administration of wills. The court appointed its own clerk, who kept +the county records. It superintended the construction and repair of +bridges and highways, and for this purpose divided the county into +"precincts," and appointed annually for each precinct a highway +surveyor. The court also seems to have appointed constables, one for +each precinct. The justices could themselves act as coroners, but +annually two or more coroners for each parish were appointed by the +governor. As we have seen that the parish taxes--so much for salaries +of minister and clerk, so much for care of church buildings, so much +for relief of the poor, etc.--were computed and assessed by the +vestry; so the county taxes, for care of court-house and jail, roads +and bridges, coroner's fees, and allowances to the representatives +sent to the colonial legislature, were computed and assessed by the +county court. The general taxes for the colony were estimated by a +committee of the legislature, as well as the county's share of the +colony tax. + +[Sidenote: The sheriff.] +The taxes for the county, and sometimes the taxes for the parish also, +were collected by the sheriff. They were usually paid, not in money, +but in tobacco; and the sheriff was the custodian of this tobacco, +responsible for its proper disposal. The sheriff was thus not only +the officer for executing the judgments of the court, but he was also +county treasurer and collector, and thus exercised powers almost as +great as those of the sheriff in England in the twelfth century. He +also presided over elections for representatives to the legislature. +It is interesting to observe how this very important officer was +chosen. "Each year the court presented the names of three of its +members to the governor, who appointed one, generally the senior +justice, to be the sheriff of the county for the ensuing year." [11] +Here again we see this close corporation, the county court, keeping +the control of things within its own hands. + +[Footnote 11: Edward Channing, _op. cit_. p. 478.] + +[Sidenote: The county lieutenant] +One other important county officer needs to be mentioned. We have seen +that in early New England each town had its train-band or company of +militia, and that the companies in each county united to form the +county regiment. In Virginia it was just the other way. Each county +raised a certain number of troops, and because it was not convenient +for the men to go many miles from home in assembling for purposes of +drill, the county was subdivided into military districts, each with +its company, according to rules laid down by the governor. The +military command in each county was vested in the county lieutenant, +an officer answering in many respects to the lord lieutenant of +the English shire at that period. Usually he was a member of the +governor's council, and as such exercised sundry judicial functions. +He bore the honorary title of "colonel," and was to some extent +regarded as the governor's deputy; but in later times his duties were +confined entirely to military matters.[12] + +[Footnote 12: For an excellent account of local government in Virginia +before the Revolution, see Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of the U.S._, +vol. i. pp. 388-407; also Edward Ingle in _Johns Hopkins Univ. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii.] + +If now we sum up the contrasts between local government in Virginia +and that in New England, we observe:-- + +1. That in New England the management of local affairs was mostly in the +hands of town officers, the county being superadded for certain +purposes, chiefly judicial; while in Virginia the management was chiefly +in the hands of county officers, though certain functions, chiefly +ecclesiastical, were reserved to the parish. + +2. That in New England the local magistrates were almost always, with +the exception of justices, chosen by the people; while in Virginia, +though some of them were nominally appointed by the governor, yet in +practice they generally contrived to appoint themselves--in other +words the local boards practically filled their own vacancies and were +self-perpetuating. + +[Sidenote: Jefferson's opinion of township government.] +These differences are striking and profound. There can be no doubt +that, as Thomas Jefferson clearly saw, in the long run the interests +of political liberty are much safer under the New England system +than under the Virginia system. Jefferson said, "Those wards, +called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their +governments, and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever +devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government, +and for its preservation[13]....As Cato, then, concluded every speech +with the words _Carthago delenda est_, so do I every opinion with +the injunction: Divide the counties into wards!" [14] + +[Footnote 13: Jefferson's _Works_, vii. 13.] + +[Footnote 14: _Id_., vi. 544] + +[Sidenote: "Court Day."] +We must, however, avoid the mistake of making too much of this contrast. +As already hinted, in those rural societies where people generally knew +one another, its effects were not so far-reaching as they would be in +the more complicated society of to-day. Even though Virginia had not the +town-meeting, it had its familiar court-day, which was a holiday for +all the country-side, especially in the fall and spring. From all +directions came in the people on horseback, in wagons, and afoot. On the +court-house green assembled, in indiscriminate confusion, people of all +classes,--the hunter from the backwoods, the owner of a few acres, the +grand proprietor, and the grinning, heedless negro. Old debts were +settled, and new ones made; there were auctions, transfers of property, +and, if election times were near, stump-speaking.[15] + +[Sidenote: Virginia prolific in great leaders.] +For seventy years or more before the Declaration of Independence the +matters of general public concern, about which stump speeches were made +on Virginia court-days, were very similar to those that were discussed +in Massachusetts town-meetings when representatives were to be chosen +for the legislature. Such questions generally related to some real or +alleged encroachment upon popular liberties by the royal governor, who, +being appointed and sent from beyond sea, was apt to have ideas and +purposes of his own that conflicted with those of the people. This +perpetual antagonism to the governor, who represented British imperial +interference with American local self-government, was an excellent +schooling in political liberty, alike for Virginia and for +Massachusetts. When the stress of the Revolution came, these two leading +colonies cordially supported each other, and their political +characteristics were reflected in the kind of achievements for which +each was especially distinguished. The Virginia system, concentrating +the administration of local affairs in the hands of a few county +families, was eminently favourable for developing skilful and vigorous +leadership. And while in the history of Massachusetts during the +Revolution we are chiefly impressed with the wonderful degree in which +the mass of the people exhibited the kind of political training that +nothing in the world except the habit of parliamentary discussion can +impart; on the other hand, Virginia at that time gave us--in Washington, +Jefferson, Henry, Madison, and Marshall, to mention no others--such a +group of consummate leaders as the world has seldom seen equalled. + +[Footnote 15: Ingle, _loc. cit._] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why was Virginia more sparsely settled than Massachusetts? + +2. Why was it that towns were built up more slowly in Virginia than in +Massachusetts? + +3. How was the great demand for labour in Virginia met? + +4. What distinction of classes naturally arose? + +5. Contrast the type of society thus developed in Virginia with that + developed in New England. + +6. Compare the Virginia parish in its earlier government with the + English parish from which it was naturally copied. + +7. Show how the vestry became a close corporation. + +8. Who were usually chosen as vestrymen, and what were their powers? + +9. Compare Virginia's unit of representation in the colonial +legislature with that of Massachusetts, and give the reason for the +difference. + +10. Describe the county court, showing in particular how it became a +close corporation. + +11. Bring out some of the history wrapped up in the names of county +seats. + +12. What were the chief powers of the county court? + +13. Describe the assessment of the various taxes. + +14. What were the sheriff's duties? + +15. Describe the organization and command of the militia in each +county. + +16. Sum up the differences between local government in Virginia and +that in New England (1) as to the management of local affairs and (2) +as to the choice of local officers. + +17. What did Jefferson think of the principle of township government? + +18. What was the equivalent in Virginia of the New England +town-meeting? + +19. What was the value of this frequent assembling? + +20. What schooling in political liberty before the Revolution did +Virginia and Massachusetts alike have? + + +21. What was an impressive feature of the New England system? + +22. What was an impressive feature of the Virginia system? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How many counties are there in your state? + +2. Name and place them if the number is small. + +3. In what county do you live? + +4. Give its dimensions. Are they satisfactory? Why? + +5. Give its boundaries. + +6. Is there anything interesting in the meaning or origin of its name? + +7. How many towns and cities does it contain? + +8. What is the county seat? Is it conveniently situated? Reasons for +thinking so? + +9. If convenient, visit any county building, note the uses to which it +is put, and report such facts as may be thus found out. + +10. Obtain a deed, no matter how old, and answer these questions about +it:-- + + a. Is it recorded? If so, where? + b. Would it be easy for you to find + the record? + c. Why should such a record be kept? + d. What officer + has charge of such records? + e. What sort of work must he and his + assistants do? + f. The place of such records is called what? + g. What sort of facilities for the public should such a place have? What + safety precautions should be observed there? + h. Why should the county + keep such records rather than the city or the town? + i. Is there a record of the deed by which the preceding owner came into + possession of the property? + j. What sort of title did the first owner have? Is + there any record of it? Was the first owner Indian or European? + +(The teacher might obtain a deed and base a class exercise upon it. It +is easy with a deed for a text to lead pupils to see the common-sense +basis of an important county institution, and thereafter to give very +sensible views as to what it should be, even if it is not fully known +what it is.) + +11. Is there a local court for your town or city? 12. How do its cases +compare in magnitude with those tried at the county seat? + +13. If a man steals and is prosecuted, who becomes the plaintiff? + +14. If a man owes and is sued for debt, who becomes the plaintiff? + +15. What is a criminal action? + +16. What is a civil action? + +17. What is the result to the defendant in the former case, if he is +convicted? + + +18. What is the result to the defendant in the latter case, if the +decision is against him? + +19. Is lying a crime or a sin? May it ever become a crime? + +20. Are courts of any service to the vast numbers who are never +brought before them? Why? + + +21. May good citizens always keep out of the courts if they choose? Is +it their duty always to keep out of them? + +22. Is there any aversion among people that you know to being brought +before the courts? Why? + +23. What is the purpose of a jail? Is this purpose realized in fact? + +24. Should a disturbance of a serious nature break out in your town, +whose immediate duty would it be to quell it? Suppose this duty should +prove too difficult to perform, then what? + +25. What is the attitude of good citizenship towards officers who are +trying to enforce the laws? What is the attitude of good citizenship +if the laws are not satisfactory or if the officers are indiscreet in +enforcing them? + +26. Suppose a man of property dies and leaves a will, what troubles +are possible about the disposal of his property? Suppose he leaves no +will, what troubles are possible? Whose duty is it to exercise control +over such matters and hold people up to legal and honourable conduct +in them? + +27. What is an executor? What is an administrator? + +28. If parents die, whose duty is it to care for their children? If +property is left to such children, are they free to use it as they +please? What has the county to do with such cases? + +29. How much does your town or city contribute towards county +expenses? How does this amount compare with that raised by other towns +in the county? + +30. Give the organization of your county government. + +31. Would it be better for the towns to do themselves the work now +done for them by the county? + + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. This subject is treated in +connection with the township in several of the books above mentioned. +See especially Howard, _Local Const. Hist._ + +Section 2. THE MODERN COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS. There is a good account +in Martin's _Text Book_ above mentioned. + +Section 3. THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. The best account is in _J.H.U. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii. Edward Ingle, _Virginia Local Institutions._ + + +In dealing with the questions on page 69, both teachers and pupils +will find Dole's _Talks about Law_ (Boston, 1887) extremely +valuable and helpful. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems_. + +We have now completed our outline sketch of town and county government +as illustrated in New England on the one hand and in Virginia on the +other. There are some important points in the early history of local +government in other portions of the original thirteen states, to +which we must next call attention; and then we shall be prepared to +understand the manner in which our great western country has been +organized under civil government. We must first say something about +South Carolina and Maryland. + +[Sidenote: Parishes in South Carolina.] +South Carolina was settled from half a century to a century later +than Massachusetts and Virginia, and by two distinct streams of +immigration. The lowlands near the coast were settled by Englishmen +and by French Huguenots, but the form of government was purely +English. There were parishes, as in Virginia, but popular election +played a greater part in them. The vestrymen were elected yearly by +all the taxpayers of the parish. The minister was also elected by his +people, and after 1719 each parish sent its representatives to the +colonial legislature, though in a few instances two parishes were +joined together for the purpose of choosing representatives. The +system was thus more democratic than in Virginia; and in this +connection it is worth while to observe that parochial libraries and +free schools were established as early as 1712, much earlier than in +Virginia. + +[Sidenote: The back country] +During the first half of the eighteenth century a very different stream +of immigration, coming mostly along the slope of the Alleghanies from +Virginia and Pennsylvania, and consisting in great part of Germans, +Scotch Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish, peopled the upland western regions +of South Carolina. For some time this territory had scarcely any civil +organization. It was a kind of "wild West." There were as yet no +counties in the colony. There was just one sheriff for the whole colony, +who "held his office by patent from the crown." [1] A court sat in +Charleston, but the arm of justice was hardly long enough to reach +offenders in the mountains. "To punish a horse-thief or prosecute a +debtor one was sometimes compelled to travel a distance of several +hundred miles, and be subjected to all the dangers and delays incident +to a wild country." When people cannot get justice in what in civilized +countries is the regular way, they will get it in some irregular way. So +these mountaineers began to form themselves into bands known as +"regulators," quite like the "vigilance committees" formed for the same +purposes in California a hundred years later. For thieves and murderers +the "regulators" provided a speedy trial, and the nearest tree served as +a gallows. + +[Footnote 1: B. J. Ramage, in _Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies_, I., xii.] + +[Sidenote: The district system.] +In order to put a stop to this lynch law, the legislature in 1768 +divided the back country into districts, each with its sheriff and +court-house, and the judges were sent on circuit through these +districts. The upland region with its districts was thus very +differently organized from the lowland region with its parishes, and the +effect was for a while almost like dividing South Carolina into two +states. At first the districts were not allowed to choose their own +sheriffs, but in course of time they acquired this privilege. It was +difficult to apportion the representation in the state legislature so as +to balance evenly the districts in the west against the parishes in the +east, and accordingly there was much dissatisfaction, especially in the +west which did not get its fair share. In 1786 the capital was moved +from Charleston to Columbia as a concession to the back country, and in +1808 a kind of compromise was effected, in such wise that the uplands +secured a permanent majority in the house of representatives, while the +lowlands retained control of the senate. The two sections had each its +separate state treasurer, and this kind of double government lasted +until the Civil War. + +[Sidenote: The modern South Carolina county.] +At the close of the war "the parishes were abolished and the district +system was extended to the low country." But soon afterward, by the +new constitution of 1868, the districts were abolished and the state +was divided into 34 counties, each of which sends one senator to the +state senate, while they send representatives in proportion to +their population. In each county the people elect three county +commissioners, a school commissioner, a sheriff, a judge of probate, +a clerk, and a coroner. In one respect the South Carolina county is +quite peculiar: it has no organization for judicial purposes. "The +counties, like their institutional predecessor the district, are +grouped into judicial circuits, and a judge is elected by the +legislature for each circuit. Trial justices are appointed by the +governor for a term of two years." + +[Sidenote: The counties are too large.] +This system, like the simple county system everywhere, is a +representative system; the people take no direct part in the +management of affairs. In one respect it seems obviously to need +amendment. In states where county government has grown up naturally, +after the Virginia fashion, the county is apt to be much smaller than +in states where it is simply a district embracing several township +governments. Thus the average size of a county in Massachusetts is 557 +square miles, and in Connecticut 594 square miles; but in Virginia +it is only 383 and in Kentucky 307 square miles. In South Carolina, +however, where the county did not grow up of itself, but has been +enacted, so to speak, by a kind of afterthought, it has been made too +large altogether. The average area of the county in South Carolina is +about 1,000 square miles. Charleston County, more than 40 miles in +length and not less than 35 in average width, is larger than the +state of Rhode Island. Such an area is much too extensive for +local self-government. Its different portions are too far apart to +understand each other's local wants, or to act efficiently toward +supplying them; and roads, bridges, and free schools suffer +accordingly. An unsuccessful attempt has been made to reduce the size +of the counties. But what seems perhaps more likely to happen is the +practical division of the counties into school districts, and the +gradual development of these school districts into something like +self-governing townships. To this very interesting point we shall +again have occasion to refer. + + +[Sidenote: The _hundred_ in Maryland.] +[Sidenote: Clans, brotherhoods, and tribes] +We come now to Maryland. The early history of local institutions in +this state is a fascinating subject of study. None of the American +colonies had a more distinctive character of its own, or reproduced +old English usages in a more curious fashion. There was much in +colonial Maryland, with its lords of the manor, its bailiffs and +seneschals, its courts baron and courts leet, to remind one of the +England of the thirteenth century. But of these ancient institutions, +long since extinct, there is but one that needs to be mentioned in the +present connection. In Maryland the earliest form of civil community +was called, not a parish or township, but a _hundred_. This +curious designation is often met with in English history, and the +institution which it describes, though now almost everywhere extinct, +was once almost universal among men. It will be remembered that the +oldest form of civil society, which is still to be found among some +barbarous races, was that in which families were organized into clans +and clans into tribes; and we saw that among our forefathers in +England the dwelling-place of the clan became the township, and the +home of the tribe became the shire or county. Now, in nearly all +primitive societies that have been studied, we find a group that is +larger than the clan but smaller than the tribe,--or, in other words, +intermediate between clan and tribe. Scholars usually call this group +by its Greek name, _phratry_ or "brotherhood", for it was known +long ago that in ancient Greece clans were grouped into brotherhoods +and brotherhoods into tribes. Among uncivilized people all over the +world we find this kind of grouping. For example, a tribe of North +American Indians is regularly made up of phratries, and the phratries +are made up of clans; and, strange as it might at first seem, a good +many half-understood features of early Greek and Roman society have +had much light thrown upon them from the study of the usages of +Cherokees and Mohawks. + +Wherever men have been placed, the problem of forming civil society +has been in its main outlines the same; and in its earlier stages it +has been approached in pretty much the same way by all. + +[Sidenote: The hundred court.] +The ancient Romans had the brotherhood, and called it a _curia_. +The Roman people were organized in clans, curies, and tribes. But for +military purposes the curia was called a _century_, because +it furnished a quota of one hundred men to the army. The word +_century_ originally meant a company of a hundred men, and it was +only by a figure of speech that it afterward came to mean a period +of a hundred years. Now among all Germanic peoples, including the +English, the brotherhood seems to have been called the hundred. +Our English forefathers seem to have been organized, like other +barbarians, in clans, brotherhoods, and tribes; and the brotherhood +was in some way connected with the furnishing a hundred warriors to +the host. In the tenth century we find England covered with small +districts known as hundreds. Several townships together made a +hundred, and several hundreds together made a shire. The hundred +was chiefly notable as the smallest area for the administration of +justice. The hundred court was a representative body, composed of the +lords of lands or their stewards, with the reeve and four selected men +and the parish priest from each township. There was a chief magistrate +for the hundred, known originally as the hundredman, but after the +Norman conquest as the high constable. + +[Sidenote: Decay of the hundred.] +[Sidenote: Hundred meetings in Maryland] +By the thirteenth century the importance of the hundred had much +diminished. The need for any such body, intermediate between township +and county, ceased to be felt, and the functions of the hundred were +gradually absorbed by the county. Almost everywhere in England, by the +reign of Elizabeth, the hundred had fallen into decay. It is curious +that its name and some of its peculiarities should have been brought +to America, and should in one state have remained to the present day. +Some of the early settlements in Virginia were called hundreds, but +they were practically nothing more than parishes, and the name soon +became obsolete, except upon the map, where we still see, for example, +Bermuda Hundred. But in Maryland the hundred flourished and became the +political unit, like the township in New England. The hundred was the +militia district, and the district for the assessment of taxes. In the +earliest times it was also the representative district; delegates +to the colonial legislature sat for hundreds. But in 1654 this was +changed, and representatives were elected by counties. The officers +of the Maryland hundred were the high constable, the commander of +militia, the tobacco-viewer, the overseer of roads, and the assessor +of taxes. The last-mentioned officer was elected by the people, the +others were all appointed by the governor. The hundred had also its +assembly of all the people, which was in many respects like the New +England town-meeting. These hundred-meetings enacted by-laws, levied +taxes, appointed committees, and often exhibited a vigorous political +life. But after the Revolution they fell into disuse, and in 1824 the +hundred became extinct in Maryland; its organization was swallowed up +in that of the county. + +[Sidenote: The hundred in Delaware] +[Sidenote: The levy court, or representative county assembly.] +In Delaware, however, the hundred remains to this day. There it +is simply an imperfectly developed township, but its relations with +the county, as they have stood with but little change since 1743, +are very interesting. Each hundred used to choose its own assessor +of taxes, and every year in the month of November the assessors from +all the hundreds used to meet in the county court-house, along with +three or more justices of the peace and eight grand jurors, and assess +the taxes for the ensuing year. A month later they assembled again, +to hear complaints from persons who considered themselves overtaxed; +and having disposed of this business, they proceeded to appoint +collectors, one for each hundred. This county assembly was known as +the "court of levy and appeal," or more briefly as the levy court. +It appointed the county treasurer, the road commissioners, and the +overseers of the poor. Since 1793 the levy court has been composed +of special commissioners chosen by popular vote, but its essential +character has not been altered. As a thoroughly representative body, +it reminds one of the county courts of the Plantagenet period. + +[Sidenote: The old Pennsylvania county.] +We next come to the great middle colonies, Pennsylvania and New York. +The most noteworthy feature of local government in Pennsylvania was +the general election of county officers by popular vote. The county +was the unit of representation in the colonial legislature, and on +election days the people of the county elected at the same time their +sheriffs, coroners, assessors, and county commissioners. In this +respect Pennsylvania furnished a model which has been followed by most +of the states since the Revolution, as regards the county governments. +It is also to be noted that before the Revolution, as Pennsylvania +increased in population, the townships began to participate in the +work of government, each township choosing its overseers of the poor, +highway surveyors, and inspectors of elections.[3] + +[Footnote 3: Town-meetings were not quite unknown in Pennsylvania; +see W. P. Holcomb, "Pennsylvania Boroughs," _J. H. U. Studies_, +IV., iv.] + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in New York.] +[Sidenote: The county board of supervisors.] +New York had from the very beginning the rudiments of an excellent +system of local self-government. The Dutch villages had their +assemblies, which under the English rule were developed into +town-meetings, though with less ample powers than those of New +England. The governing body of the New York town consisted of the +constable and eight overseers, who answered in most respects to the +selectmen of New England. Four of the overseers were elected each year +in town-meeting, and one of the retiring overseers was at the same +time elected constable. In course of time the elective offices came +to include assessors and collectors, town clerk, highway surveyors, +fence-viewers, pound-masters, and overseers of the poor. At first +the town-meetings seem to have been held only for the election of +officers, but they acquired to a limited extent the power of levying +taxes and enacting by-laws. In 1703 a law was passed requiring each +town to elect yearly an officer to be known as the "supervisor," whose +duty was "to compute, ascertain, examine, oversee, and allow the +contingent, publick, and necessary charges" of the county.[4] For +this purpose the supervisors met once a year at the county town. The +principle was the same as that of the levy court in Delaware. This +board of supervisors was a strictly representative government, and +formed a strong contrast to the close corporation by which county +affairs were administered in Virginia. The New York system is +of especial interest, because it has powerfully influenced the +development of local institutions throughout the Northwest. + +[Footnote 4: Howard, _Local Const. Hist_., i. 111.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the early local government of eastern South Carolina. + +2. Describe the early local government of western South Carolina. + +3. Explain the difference. + +4. What effort was made in 1768 to put a stop to lynch law? + +5. What difficulties arose from the attempted adjustment of +1768? + +6. What compromises were made between the two sections +down to the time of the Civil War? + +7. What changes have been made in local government since the +Civil War? + +8. Mention a peculiarity of the South Carolina county. + +9. Compare its size with that of counties in other states. + +10. What disadvantage is due to this great size? + +11. What was the earliest form of civil community in Maryland, +and from what source did it come? + +12. Trace the development of the hundred in accordance with +the following outline:-- + + a. Intermediate groups between clans and tribes. + b. Illustrations from Greece and the North American Indians. + c. The Roman century and the German hundred. + +13. Describe the English hundred in the tenth century. + +14. Describe the hundred court. + +15. Describe the Maryland hundred and its decay. + +16. What is the relation of the Delaware hundred to the county? + +17. Describe the Delaware levy court. + +18. What were the prominent features of the Pennsylvania +county? + +19. Compare the town-meetings of New York with those of New +England. + +20. What was the government of the New York county? + +21. How did this government compare with that of the Virginia county? + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +[Sidenote: Westward movement of population.] +The westward movement of population in the United States has for the +most part followed the parallels of latitude. Thus Virginians and +North Carolinians, crossing the Alleghanies, settled Kentucky and +Tennessee; thus people from New England filled up the central and +northern parts of New York, and passed on into Michigan and Wisconsin; +thus Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois received many settlers from New York +and Pennsylvania. In the early times when Kentucky was settled, the +pioneer would select a piece of land wherever he liked, and after +having a rude survey made, and the limits marked by "blazing" the +trees with a hatchet, the survey would be put on record in the state +land-office. So little care was taken that half a dozen patents would +sometimes be given for the same tract. Pieces of land, of all shapes +and sizes, lay between the patents.... Such a system naturally begat +no end of litigation, and there remain in Kentucky curious vestiges of +it to this day. [5] + +[Footnote 5: Hinsdale, _Old Northwest_, p. 261.] + +[Sidenote: Method of surveying the public lands.] +[Sidenote: Origins of Western townships.] +In order to avoid such confusion in the settlement of the territory +north of the Ohio river, Congress passed the land-ordinance of 1785, +which was based chiefly upon the suggestions of Thomas Jefferson, and +laid the foundation of our simple and excellent system for surveying +national lands. According to this system as gradually perfected, the +government surveyors first mark out a north and south line which is +called the _principal meridian_. Twenty-four such meridians have been +established. The first was the dividing line between Ohio and Indiana; +the last one runs through Oregon a little to the west of Portland. On +each side of the principal meridian there are marked off subordinate +meridians called _range [6] Then a true parallel of latitude is drawn, +crossing these meridians at right angles. It is called the _base line_, +or standard parallel. Eleven such base lines, for example, run across +the great state of Oregon. Finally, on each side of the base line are +drawn subordinate parallels called _township lines_, six miles apart, +and numbered north and south from their base line. By these range lines +and township lines the whole land is thus divided into townships just +six miles square, and the townships are all numbered. Take, for example, +the township of Deerfield in Michigan. That is the fourth township north +of the base line, and it is in the fifth range east of the first +principal meridian. It would be called township number 4 north range 5 +east, and was so called before it was settled and received a name. +Evidently one must go 24 miles from the principal meridian, or 18 miles +from the base line, in order to enter this township. It is all as simple +as the numbering of streets in Philadelphia.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The following is a diagram of the first principal meridian, +and of the base line running across southern Michigan. A B is the +principal meridian; C D is the base line. The figures on the base line +mark the range lines; the figures on the principal meridian mark the +township lines. E is township 4 north in range 5 east; F is township 5 +south in range 4 west; G is township 3 north in range 3 west. +[Illustration] As the intervals between meridians diminish as we go +northward, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a correction line, the +nature of which will be seen from the following diagram:-- +[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF CORRECTION LINE.]] + +[Footnote 7: In Philadelphia the streets for the most part cross each +other at right angles and at equal distances, so that the city is laid +out like a checkerboard. The parallel streets running in one direction +have names, often taken from trees. Market Street is the central +street from which the others are reckoned in both directions according +to the couplet + + "Market, Arch, Race, and Vine, + Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine," etc. + +The cross streets are not named but numbered, as First, Second, etc. +The houses on one side of the street have odd numbers and on the other +side even numbers, as is the general custom in the United States. With +each new block a new century of numbers begins, although there are +seldom more than forty real numbers in a block. For example, the +corner house on Market Street, just above Fifteenth, is 1501 Market +Street. At somewhere about 1535 or 1539 you come to Sixteenth Street; +then there is a break in the numbering, and the next corner house is +1601. So in going along a numbered street, say Fifteenth, from Market, +the first number will be 1; after passing Arch, 101; after passing +Race, 201, etc. With this system a very slight familiarity with the +city enables one to find his way to any house, and to estimate the +length of time needful for reaching it. St. Louis and some other large +cities have adopted the Philadelphia plan, the convenience of which +is as great as its monotony. In Washington the streets running in +one direction are lettered A, B, C, etc., and the cross streets are +numbered; and upon the checkerboard plan is superposed another plan in +which broad avenues radiate in various directions from the Capitol, +and a few other centres. These avenues cut through the square system +of streets in all directions, so that instead of the dull checkerboard +monotony there is an almost endless variety of magnificent vistas.] + +[Sidenote: and of Western counties.] +If now we look at Livingston County, in which, this township of Deerfield +is situated, we observe that the county is made up of sixteen townships, +in four rows of four; and the next county, Washtenaw, is made up of +twenty townships, in five rows of four. Maps of our Western states +are thus apt to have somewhat of a checkerboard aspect, not unlike +the wonderful country which Alice visited after she had gone through +the looking-glass. Square townships are apt to make square or +rectangular counties, and the state, too, is likely to acquire a more +symmetrical shape. + + +Nothing could be more unlike the jagged, irregular shape of counties +in Virginia or townships in Massachusetts, which grew up just as it +happened. The contrast is similar to that between Chicago, with its +straight streets crossing at right angles, and Boston, or London, with +their labyrinths of crooked lanes. For picturesqueness the advantage +is entirely with the irregular city, but for practical convenience it +is quite the other way. So with our western lands the simplicity and +regularity of the system have made it a marvel of convenience for the +settlers, and doubtless have had much to do with the rapidity with +which civil governments have been built up in the West. "This fact," +says a recent writer, "will be appreciated by those who know from +experience the ease and certainty with which the pioneer on the +great plains of Kansas, Nebraska, or Dakota is enabled to select his +homestead or 'locate his claim' unaided by the expensive skill of the +surveyor." [8] + +[Footnote 8: Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of U. S._, vol. i. p. +139.] + +[Sidenote: Some effects of the system.] +There was more in it than this, however. There was a germ of +organization planted in these western townships, which must be noted +as of great importance. Each township, being six miles in length and +six miles in breadth, was divided into thirty-six numbered sections, +each containing just one square mile, or 640 acres. Each section, +moreover, was divided into 16 tracts of 40 acres each, and sales to +settlers were and are generally made by tracts at the rate of a dollar +and a quarter per acre. For fifty dollars a man may buy forty acres of +unsettled land, provided he will actually go and settle upon it, and +this has proved to be a very effective inducement for enterprising +young men to "go West." Many a tract thus bought for fifty dollars has +turned out to be a soil upon which princely fortunes have grown. A +tract of forty acres represents to-day in Chicago or Minneapolis an +amount of wealth difficult for the imagination to grasp. + +[Sidenote: The reservation for public schools.] +[Sidenote: In this reservation there were the germs of township +government.] +But in each of these townships there was at least one section which +was set apart for a special purpose. This was usually the sixteenth +section, nearly in the centre of the township; and sometimes the +thirty-sixth section, in the southeast corner, was also reserved. +These reservations were for the support of public schools. Whatever +money was earned, by selling the land or otherwise, in these sections, +was to be devoted to school purposes. This was a most remarkable +provision. No other nation has ever made a gift for schools on so +magnificent a scale. We have good reason for taking pride in such a +liberal provision. But we ought not to forget that all national +gifts really involve taxation, and this is no exception to the rule, +although in this case it is not a taking of money, but a keeping of it +back. The national government says to the local government, whatever +revenues may come from that section of 640 acres, be they great or +small, be it a spot in a rural grazing district, or a spot in some +crowded city, are not to go into the pockets of individual men and +women, but are to be reserved for public purposes. This is a case of +disguised taxation, and may serve to remind us of what was said some +time ago, that a government _cannot_ give anything without in one +way or another depriving individuals of its equivalent. No man can sit +on a camp-stool and by any amount of tugging at that camp-stool lift +himself over a fence. Whatever is given comes from somewhere, +and whatever is given by governments comes from the people. This +reservation of one square mile in every township for purposes of +education has already most profoundly influenced the development of +local government in our western states, and in the near future its +effects are likely to become still deeper and wider. To mark out a +township on the map may mean very little, but when once you create in +that township some institution that needs to be cared for, you have +made a long stride toward inaugurating township government. When +a state, as for instance Illinois, grows up after the method just +described, what can be more natural than for it to make the township a +body corporate for school purposes, and to authorize its inhabitants +to elect school officers and tax themselves, so far as may be +necessary, for the support of the schools? But the school-house, +in the centre of the township, is soon found to be useful for many +purposes. It is convenient to go there to vote for state officers or +for congressmen and president, and so the school township becomes an +election district. Having once established such a centre, it is almost +inevitable that it should sooner or later be made to serve sundry +other purposes, and become an area for the election of constables, +justices of the peace, highway surveyors, and overseers of the poor. +In this way a vigorous township government tends to grow up about the +school-house as a nucleus, somewhat as in early New England it grew up +about the church. + +[Sidenote: At first the county system prevailed.] +This tendency may be observed in almost all the western states and +territories, even to the Pacific coast. When the western country was +first settled, representative county government prevailed almost +everywhere. This was partly because the earliest settlers of the West +came in much greater numbers from the middle and southern states than +from New England. It was also partly because, so long as the country +was thinly settled, the number of people in a township was very small, +and it was not easy to have a government smaller than that of the +county. It was something, however, that the little squares on the +map, by grouping which the counties were made, were already called +townships. There is much in a name. It was still more important that +these townships were only six miles square; for that made it sure +that, in due course of time, when population should have become dense +enough, they would be convenient areas for establishing township +government. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What feature is conspicuous in the westward movement of population +in the United States? + +2. What looseness characterized early surveys in Kentucky? + +3. What led to the passage of the land ordinance of 1785? + +4. Give the leading features of the government survey of western +lands:--_a_. The principal meridians. + b. The range lines, + c. The base lines. + d. The township lines. + +5. Illustrate the application of the system in the case of a town. + +6. Contrast in shape western townships and counties with corresponding +divisions in Massachusetts and Virginia. + +7. Contrast them in convenience and in picturesqueness. + +8. What had the convenience of the government system to do with the +settlement of the West? + +9. What were the divisions of the township, and what disposition was +made of them? + +10. What important reservations were made in the townships? + +11. Show how these reservations involved a kind of taxation. + +12. What profound influence has the reservation for schools exerted +upon local government? + +13. Why did the county system prevail at first? + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West_. + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting in Michigan.] The first western state to +adopt the town-meeting was Michigan, where the great majority of the +settlers had come from New England, or from central New York, which +was a kind of westward extension of New England.[9] Counties were +established in Michigan Territory in 1805, and townships were first +incorporated in 1825. This was twelve years before Michigan became a +state. At first the powers of the town-meeting were narrowly +limited. It elected the town and county officers, but its power of +appropriating money seems to have been restricted to the purpose +of extirpating noxious animals and weeds. In 1827, however, it was +authorized to raise money for the support of schools, and since then +its powers have steadily increased, until now they approach those of +the town-meeting in Massachusetts. + +[Footnote 9: "Of the 496 members of the Michigan Pioneer Association +in 1881, 407 are from these sections" [New England and New York]. +Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v] + +[Sidenote: Settlement of Illinois.] +The history of Illinois presents an extremely interesting example of +rivalry and conflict between the town system of New England and the +county system of the South. Observe that this great state is so long +that, while the parallel of latitude starting from its northern +boundary runs through Marblehead in Massachusetts, the parallel +through its southernmost point, at Cairo, runs a little south of +Petersburg in Virginia. In 1818, when Illinois framed its state +government and was admitted to the Union, its population was chiefly +in the southern half, and composed for the most part of pioneers from +Virginia and Virginia's daughter-state Kentucky. These men brought +with them the old Virginia county system, but with the very great +difference that the county officers were not appointed by the +governor, or allowed to be a self-perpetuating board, but were elected +by the people of the county. This was a true advance in the democratic +direction, but an essential defect of the southern system remained in +the absence of any kind of local meeting for the discussion of public +affairs and the enactment of local laws. + +[Sidenote: Effects of the Ordinance of 1787.] +By the famous Ordinance of 1787, to which we shall again have occasion +to refer, negro slavery had been forever prohibited to the north of +the Ohio river, so that, in spite of the wishes of her early settlers, +Illinois was obliged to enter the Union as a free state. But in 1820 +Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and this turned the stream of +southern migration aside from Illinois to Missouri. These emigrants, +to whom slaveholding was a mark of social distinction, preferred to +go where they could own slaves. About the same time settlers from New +England and New York, moving along the southern border of Michigan +and the northern borders of Ohio and Indiana, began pouring into +the northern part of Illinois. These new-comers did not find the +representative county system adequate for their needs, and they +demanded township government. A memorable political struggle ensued +between the northern and southern halves of the state, ending in 1848 +with the adoption of a new constitution. It was provided that the +legislature should enact a general law for the political organization +of townships, under which any county might act whenever a majority of +its voters should so determine.[10] This was introducing the principle +of local option, and in accordance therewith township governments with +town-meetings were at once introduced in the northern counties of the +state, while the southern counties kept on in the old way. Now comes +the most interesting part of the story. The two systems being thus +brought into immediate contact in the same state, with free choice +between them left to the people, the northern system has slowly but +steadily supplanted the southern system, until at the present day only +one fifth part of the counties in Illinois remain without township +government. + +[Footnote 10: Shaw, _Local Government if Illinois_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., iii.] + +[Sidenote: Intense vitality of the township system.] +This example shows the intense vitality of the township system. It is +the kind of government that people are sure to prefer when they +have tried it under favourable conditions. In the West the hostile +conditions against which it has to contend are either the recent +existence of negro slavery and the ingrained prejudice in favour of +the Virginia method, as in Missouri; or simply the sparseness of +population, as in Nebraska. Time will evidently remove the latter +obstacle, and probably the former also. It is very significant that in +Missouri, which began so lately as 1879 to erect township governments +under a local option law similar to that of Illinois, the process +has already extended over about one sixth part of the state; and in +Nebraska, where the same process began in 1883, it has covered nearly +one third of the organized counties of the state. + +[Sidenote: County option and township option.] +The principle of local option as to government has been carried still +farther in Minnesota and Dakota. The method just described may be +called county option; the question is decided by a majority vote of +the people of the county. But in Minnesota in 1878 it was enacted that +as soon as any one of the little square townships in that state should +contain as many as twenty-five legal voters, it might petition the +board of county commissioners and obtain a township organization, even +though, the adjacent townships in the same county should remain under +county government only. Five years later the same provision was +adopted by Dakota, and under it township government is steadily +spreading. + +[Sidenote: Grades of township government.] +Two distinct grades of township government are to be observed in the +states west of the Alleghanies; the one has the town-meeting for +deliberative purposes, the other has not. In Ohio and Indiana, which +derived their local institutions largely from Pennsylvania, there is +no such town-meeting, the administrative offices are more or less +concentrated in a board of trustees, and the town is quite subordinate +to the county. The principal features of this system have been +reproduced in Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. + +The other system, was that which we have seen beginning in +Michigan, under the influence of New York and New England. Here the +town-meeting, with legislative powers, is always present. The most +noticeable feature of the Michigan system is the relation between +township and county, which was taken from New York. The county board +is composed of the supervisors of the several townships, and thus +represents the townships. It is the same in Illinois. It is held +by some writers that this is the most perfect form of local +government,[11] but on the other hand the objection is made that county +boards thus constituted are too large.[12] We have seen that in the +states in question there are not less than 16, and sometimes more than +20, townships in each county. In a board of 16 or 20 members it is +hard to fasten responsibility upon anybody in particular; and thus +it becomes possible to have "combinations," and to indulge in that +exchange of favours known as "log-rolling," which is one of the +besetting sins of all large representative bodies. Responsibility +is more concentrated in the smaller county boards of Massachusetts, +Wisconsin, and Minnesota. + +[Footnote 11: Howard, _Local Const. Hist._, passim.] + +[Footnote 12: Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v.] + +[Sidenote: An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the +United States.] +It is one signal merit of the peaceful and untrammelled way in which +American institutions have grown up, the widest possible scope being +allowed to individual and local preferences, that different states +adopt different methods of attaining the great end at which all are +aiming in common,--good government. One part of our vast country can +profit by the experience of other parts, and if any system or method +thus comes to prevail everywhere in the long run, it is likely to +be by reason of its intrinsic excellence. Our country affords an +admirable field for the study of the general principles which lie at +the foundations of universal history. Governments, large and small, +are growing up all about us, and in such wise that we can watch +the processes of growth, and learn lessons which, after making due +allowances for difference of circumstance, are very helpful in the +study of other times and countries. + +The general tendency toward the spread of township government in the +more recently settled parts of the United States is unmistakable, and +I have already remarked upon the influence of the public school system +in aiding this tendency. The school district, as a preparation for +the self-governing township, is already exerting its influence in +Colorado, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and +Washington. + +[Sidenote: Township government is germinating in the South.] +Something similar is going on in the southern states, as already +hinted in the case of South Carolina. Local taxation for school +purposes has also been established in Kentucky and Tennessee, in both +Virginias, and elsewhere. There has thus begun a most natural and +wholesome movement, which might easily be checked, with disastrous +results, by the injudicious appropriation of national revenue for +the aid of southern schools. It is to be hoped that throughout the +southern, states, as formerly in Michigan, the self-governing school +district may prepare the way for the self-governing township, with its +deliberative town-meeting. Such a growth must needs be slow, inasmuch +as it requires long political training on the part of the negroes and +the lower classes of white people; but it is along such a line of +development that such political training can best be acquired; and in +no other way is complete harmony between the two races so likely to be +secured. + +[Sidenote: woman suffrage.] +Dr. Edward Bemis, who in a profoundly interesting essay[13] has called +attention to this function of the school district as a stage in the +evolution of the township, remarks also upon the fact that "it is in +the local government of the school district that woman suffrage is +being tried." In several states women may vote for school committees, +or may be elected to school committees, or to sundry administrative +school offices. At present (1894) there are not less than twenty-one +states in which women have school suffrage. In Colorado and Wyoming +women have full suffrage, voting at municipal, state, and +national elections. In Kansas they have municipal suffrage, and a +constitutional amendment granting them full suffrage is now awaiting +ratification. In England, it may be observed, unmarried women and +widows who pay taxes vote not only on school matters, but generally in +the local elections of vestries, boroughs, and poor-law unions. In +the new Parish Councils Bill this municipal suffrage is extended +to married women. In the Isle of Man women vote for members of +Parliament. In Australia they have long had municipal suffrage, and in +1893 they were endowed with full rights of suffrage in New Zealand. + +[Footnote 13: Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest, J.H.U. +Studies, I., v.] + +The historical reason why the suffrage has so generally been +restricted to men is perhaps to be sought in the conditions under +which voting originated. In primeval times voting was probably adopted +as a substitute for fighting. The smaller and presumably weaker party +yielded to the larger without an actual trial of physical strength; +heads were counted instead of being broken. Accordingly it was only +the warriors who became voters. The restriction of political activity +to men has also probably been emphasized by the fact that all the +higher civilizations have passed through a well-defined patriarchal +stage of society in which each household was represented by its +oldest warrior. From present indications it would seem that under the +conditions of modern industrial society the arrangements that have so +long subsisted are likely to be very essentially altered. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the origin and development of the town-meeting in +Michigan. + +2. Describe the settling of southern Illinois. + +3. Describe the settling of northern Illinois. + +4. What difference in thought and feeling existed between these +sections? + +5. What systems of local government came into rivalry in Illinois, and +why? + +6. What compromise between them was put into the state constitution? + +7. Which system, the town or the county, has shown the greater +vitality, and why? + +8. What obstacles has the town system to work against? + +9. Show how the principle of local option in government has been +applied in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Dakota. + +10. What two grades of town government exist west of the Alleghanies? + +11. What objection exists to large county boards of government? + +12. Why is our country an excellent field for the study of the +principles of government? + +13. What unmistakable tendency in the ease of township government is +noticeable? + +14. Speak of township government in the South. + +15. What part have women in the affairs of the school district in many +states? + +16. What is the historical reason why suffrage has been restricted to +men? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +It may need to be repeated (see page 12) that it is not expected +that each pupil shall answer all the miscellaneous questions put, or +respond to all the suggestions made in this book. Indeed, the teacher +may be pardoned if now and then he finds it difficult himself to +answer a question,--particularly if it is framed to provoke thought +rather than lead to a conclusion, or if it is better fitted for some +other community or part of the country than that in which he lives. +Let him therefore divide the questions among his pupils, or assign to +them selected questions. In cases that call for special knowledge, +let the topics go to pupils who may have exceptional facilities for +information at home. + +The important point is not so much the settlement of all the questions +proposed as it is the encouragement of the inquiring and thinking spirit +on the part of the pupil. + +1. What impression do you get from this chapter about the hold of town +government upon popular favour? + +2. What do you regard as the best features of town government? + +3. Is there any tendency anywhere to divide towns into smaller towns? If +it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +4. Is there any tendency anywhere to unite towns into larger towns or +into cities? If it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +5. In every town-meeting there are leaders,--usually men of character, +ability, and means. Do you understand that these men practically have +their own way in town affairs,--that the voters as a whole do but little +more than fall in with the wishes and plans of their leaders? Or is +there considerable independence in thought and action on the side of the +voters? + +6. Can a town do what it pleases, or is it limited in its action? If +limited, by whom or by what is it restricted, and where are the +restrictions recorded? (Consult the Statutes.) + +7. Why should the majority rule in town-meeting? Suggest, if possible, a +better way. + +8. Is it, on the whole, wise that the vote of the poor man shall count +as much as that of the rich, the vote of the ignorant as much as that of +the intelligent, the vote of the unprincipled as much as that of the +high-toned? + +9. Have the poor, the ignorant, or the unprincipled any interests to be +regarded in government? + +10. Is the single vote a man casts the full measure of his influence and +power in the town-meeting? + +11. What are the objections to a suffrage restricted by property and +intellectual qualifications? To a suffrage unrestricted by such +qualifications? + +12. Do women vote in your town? If so, give some account of their voting +and of the success or popularity of the plan. + +13. Is lynch law ever justifiable? + + +14. Ought those who resort to lynch law to be punished? If so, for what? + +15. Compare the condition or government of a community where lynch law +is resorted to with the condition or government of a community where it +is unknown. + + +16. May the citizen who is not an officer of the law interfere (1) to +stop the fighting of boys in the public streets, (2) to capture a thief +who is plying his trade, (3) to defend a person who is brutally +assaulted? Is there anything like lynch law i.e. such interference? Where +does the citizen's duty begin and end In such cases? + +17. How came the United States to own the public domain or any part of +it? (Consult my _Critical Period of Amer. Hist_., pp. 187-207.) + +18. How does this domain get into the possession of individuals? + +19. Is it right for the United States to give any part of it away? If +right, under what conditions is it right? If wrong, under what +conditions is It wrong? + +20. What is the "homestead act" of the United States, and what is its +object? + +21. Can perfect squares of the same size be laid out with the range and +township lines of the public surveys? Are all the sections of a township +of the same size? Explain. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Section 1. VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS.--_J.H.V. Studies_, I., vi., +Edward Ingle, _Parish Institutions of Maryland_; I., vii., John +Johnson, _Old Maryland Manors_; I., xii., B.J. Ramage, _Local +Government and Free Schools in South Carolina_; III., v.-vii., L. + +W. Wilhelm, _Local Institutions of Maryland_; IV., i., Irving +Elting, _Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River_. + +Section 2. SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.--_J. H. U. Studies_, +III., i. H. B. Adams, _Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to +the United States_; IV., vii.-ix., Shoshuke Sato, _History of the +Land Question in the United States_. + +Section 3. THE REPRESENTATIVE TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM.--_J H. U. +Studies_, I., iii., Albert Shaw, _Local Government in Illinois_; I., v., +Edward Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_; II., +vii., Jesse Macy, _Institutional Beginnings in a Western State (Iowa)_. +For farther illustration of one set of institutions supervening upon +another, see also V., v.-vi., J. G. Bourinot, _Local Government in +Canada_; VIII., in., D. E. Spencer, _Local Government in Wisconsin_. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government_. + +[Sidenote: Summary of foregoing results.] +In the foregoing survey of local institutions and their growth, we +have had occasion to compare and sometimes to contrast two different +methods of government as exemplified on the one hand in the township +and on the other hand in the county. In the former we have direct +government by a primary assembly,[1] the town-meeting; in the latter +we have indirect government by a representative board. If the county +board, as in colonial Virginia, perpetuates itself, or is appointed +otherwise than by popular vote, it is not strictly a representative +board, in the modern sense of the phrase; the government is a kind of +oligarchy. If, as in colonial Pennsylvania, and in the United States +generally to-day, the county board consists of officers elected by +the people, the county government is a representative democracy. The +township government, on the other hand, as exemplified in New England +and in the northwestern states which have adopted it, is a pure +democracy. The latter, as we have observed, has one signal advantage +over all other kinds of government, in so far as it tends to make +every man feel that the business of government is part of his own +business, and that where he has a stake in the management of public +affairs he has also a voice. When people have got into the habit of +leaving local affairs to be managed by representative boards, their +active interest in local affairs is liable to be somewhat weakened, as +all energies in this world are weakened, from want of exercise. When +some fit subject of complaint is brought up, the individual is too apt +to feel that it is none of his business to furnish a remedy, let the +proper officers look after it. He can vote at elections, which is a +power; he can perhaps make a stir in the newspapers, which is also a +power; but personal participation in town-meeting is likewise a +power, the necessary loss of which, as we pass to wider spheres of +government, is unquestionably to be regretted. + +[Footnote 1: A primary assembly is one in which the members attend of +their own right, without having been elected to it; a representative +assembly is composed of elected delegates.] + +[Sidenote: Direct government impossible in a county.] +Nevertheless the loss is inevitable. A primary assembly of all the +inhabitants of a county, for purposes of local government, is out +of the question. There must be representative government, for this +purpose the county system, an inheritance from the ancient English +shire, has furnished the needful machinery. Our county government is +near enough to the people to be kept in general from gross abuses of +power. There are many points which can be much better decided in +small representative bodies than in large miscellaneous meetings. The +responsibility of our local boards has been fairly well preserved. The +county system has had no mean share in keeping alive the spirit of +local independence and self-government among our people. As regards +efficiency of administration, it has achieved commendable success, +except in the matter of rural highways; and if our roads are worse +than those of any other civilized country, that is due not so much +to imperfect administrative methods as to other causes,--such as the +sparseness of population, the fierce extremes of sunshine and frost, +and the fact that since this huge country began to be reclaimed from +the wilderness, the average voter, who has not travelled in Europe, +knows no more about good roads than he knows about the temples of +Paestum or the pictures of Tintoretto, and therefore does not realize +what demands he may reasonably make. + +This last consideration applies in some degree, no doubt, to the +ill-paved and filthy streets which are the first things to arrest +one's attention in most of our great cities. It is time for us now to +consider briefly our general system of city government, in its origin +and in some of its most important features. + +[Sidenote: The Boston town-meeting in 1820.] +Representative government in counties is necessitated by the extent of +territory covered; in cities it is necessitated by the multitude +of people. When the town comes to have a very large population, it +becomes physically impossible to have town-meetings. No way could be +devised by which all the taxpayers of the city of New York could be +assembled for discussion. In 1820 the population of Boston was about +40,000, of whom rather more than 7,000 were voters qualified to attend +the town-meetings. Consequently when a town-meeting was held on any +exciting subject in Faneuil Hall, those only who obtained places near +the moderator could even hear the discussion. A few busy or interested +individuals easily obtained the management of the most important +affairs in an assembly in which the greater number could have neither +voice nor hearing. When the subject was not generally exciting, +town-meetings were usually composed of the selectmen, the town +officers, and thirty or forty inhabitants. Those who thus came were +for the most part drawn to it from some official duty or private +interest, which, when performed or attained, they generally troubled +themselves but little, or not at all, about the other business of the +meeting.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, p. 28.] + +Under these circumstances it was found necessary in 1822 to drop +the town-meeting altogether and devise a new form of government for +Boston. After various plans had been suggested and discussed, it was +decided that the new government should be vested in a Mayor; a select +council of eight persons to be called the Board of Aldermen; and a +Common Council of forty-eight persons, four from each of twelve wards +into which the city was to be divided. All these officials were to be +elected by the people. At the same time the official name "Town of +Boston" was changed to "City of Boston." + +[Sidenote: Distinctions between towns and cities.] +There is more or less of history involved in these offices and +designations, to which we may devote a few words of explanation. In +New England local usage there is an ambiguity in the word "town." +As an official designation it means the inhabitants of a township +considered as a community or corporate body. In common parlance it +often means the patch of land constituting the township on the map, as +when we say that Squire Brown's elm is "the biggest tree in town." But +it still oftener means a collection of streets, houses, and families +too large to be called a village, but without the municipal government +that characterizes a city. Sometimes it is used _par excellence_ +for a city, as when an inhabitant of Cambridge, itself a large +suburban city, speaks of going to Boston as going "into town." But +such cases are of course mere survivals from the time when the suburb +was a village. In American usage generally the town is something +between village and city, a kind of inferior or incomplete city. The +image which it calls up in the mind is of something urban and not +rural. This agrees substantially with the usage in European history, +where "town" ordinarily means a walled town or city as contrasted with +a village. In England the word is used either in this general sense, +or more specifically as signifying an inferior city, as in America. +But the thing which the town lacks, as compared with the complete +city, is very different in America from what it is in England. In +America it is municipal government--with mayor, aldermen, and common +council--which must be added to the town in order to make it a city. +In England the town may (and usually does) have this municipal +government; but it is not distinguished by the Latin name "city" +unless it has a cathedral and a bishop. Or in other words the English +city is, or has been, the capital of a diocese. Other towns in England +are distinguished as "boroughs," an old Teutonic word which was +originally applied to towns as _fortified_ places.[3] The voting +inhabitants of an English city are called "citizens;" those of +a borough are called "burgesses." Thus the official corporate +designation of Cambridge is "the mayor, aldermen, and _burgesses_ +of Cambridge;" but Oxford is the seat of a bishopric, and its +corporate designation is "the mayor, aldermen, and _citizens_ of +Oxford." + +[Footnote 3: The word appears in many town names, such as +_Edinburgh, Scarborough, Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds_; and +on the Continent, as _Hamburg, Cherbourg, Burgos_, etc. In +Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, the name +"borough" is applied to a certain class of municipalities with some of +the powers of cities.] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the essential difference between township government +and county government? + +2. What is the distinct advantage of the former? + +3. Why is direct government impossible in the county? + +4. Speak of the degree of efficiency in county government. + +5. Why is direct government impossible in a city? + +6. What difficulties in direct government were experienced in +Boston in 1820 and many years preceding? + +7. What remedy for these difficulties was adopted? + +8. Show how the word "town" is used to indicate + + a. The land of a township. + b. A somewhat large collection of streets, houses, and families. + c. And even, in some instances, a city. + +9. What is the town commonly understood to be in American +usage? + +10. What is the difference in the United States between a town +and a city? + +11. What is the difference in England between a town and a +city? + +12. Distinguish between citizens and burgesses in England. + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities_. + +[Sidenote: "Chesters."] +[Sidenote: Coalescence of towns to fortified boroughs.] +What, then, was the origin of the English borough or city? In the days +when Roman legions occupied for a long time certain military stations in +Britain, their camps were apt to become centres of trade and thus to +grow into cities. Such places were generally known as _casters_ or +_chesters_, from the Latin _castra_, "camp," and there are many of them +on the map of England to-day. But these were exceptional cases. As a +rule the origin of the borough was as purely English as its name. We +have seen that the town was originally the dwelling-place of a +stationary clan, surrounded by palisades or by a dense quickset hedge. +Now where such small enclosed places were thinly scattered about they +developed simply into villages. But where, through the development of +trade or any other cause, a good many of them grew up close together +within a narrow compass, they gradually coalesced into a kind of +compound town; and with the greater population and greater wealth, there +was naturally more elaborate and permanent fortification than that of +the palisaded village. There were massive walls and frowning turrets, +and the place came to be called a fortress or "borough." The borough, +then, was simply several townships packed tightly together; a hundred +smaller in extent and thicker in population than other hundreds.[4] + +[Footnote 4: Freeman, _Norman Conquest_, vol. v. p. 466. For a +description of the _hundred_, see above, pp. 75-80.] + +[Sidenote: The borough as a hundred.] +From this compact and composite character of the borough came several +important results. We have seen that the hundred was the smallest area +for the administration of justice. The township was in many respects +self-governing, but it did not have its court, any more than the New +England township of the present day has its court. The lowest court +was that of the hundred, but as the borough was equivalent to a +hundred it soon came to have its own court. And although much +obscurity still surrounds the early history of municipal government in +England, it is probable that this court was a representative board, +like any other hundred court, and that the relation of the borough to +its constituent townships resembled the relation of the modern city to +its constituent wards. + +[Sidenote: The borough as a county.] +But now as certain boroughs grew larger and annexed outlying +townships, or acquired adjacent territory which presently became +covered with streets and houses, their constitution became still more +complex. The borough came to embrace several closely packed hundreds, +and thus became analogous to a shire. In this way it gained for itself +a sheriff and the equivalent of a county court. For example, under the +charter granted by Henry I. in 1101, London was expressly recognized +as a county by itself. Its burgesses could elect their own chief +magistrate, who was called the port-reeve, inasmuch as London is a +seaport; in some other towns he was called the borough-reeve. He was +at once the chief executive officer and the chief judge. The burgesses +could also elect their sheriff, although in all rural counties Henry's +father, William the Conqueror, had lately deprived the people of +this privilege and appointed the sheriffs himself. London had its +representative board, or council, which was the equivalent of a county +court. Each ward, moreover, had its own representative board, which +was the equivalent of a hundred court. Within the wards, or hundreds, +the burgesses were grouped together in township, parish, or manor.... +Into the civic organization of London, to whose special privileges +all lesser cities were ever striving to attain, the elements of local +administration embodied in the township, the hundred, and the shire +thus entered as component parts.[5] Constitutionally, therefore, +London was a little world in itself, and in a less degree the same was +true of other cities and boroughs which afterwards obtained the same +kind of organization, as for example, York and Newcastle, Lincoln and +Norwich, Southampton and Bristol. + +[Footnote 5: Hannis Taylor, _Origin and Growth of the English +Constitution_, vol. i. p. 458.] + +[Sidenote: The guilds.] +[Sidenote: mayor, aldermen, and common council.] +In such boroughs or cities all classes of society were brought into +close contact,--barons and knights, priests and monks, merchants and +craftsmen, free labourers and serfs. But trades and manufactures, +which always had so much to do with the growth of the city, acquired +the chief power and the control of the government. From an early +period tradesmen and artisans found it worth while to form themselves +into guilds or brotherhoods, in order to protect their persons and +property against insult and robbery at the hands of great lords and +their lawless military retainers. Thus there came to be guilds, or +"worshipful companies," of grocers, fishmongers, butchers, weavers, +tailors, ironmongers, carpenters, saddlers, armourers, needle-makers, +etc. In large towns there was a tendency among such trade guilds +to combine in a "united brotherhood," or "town guild," and this +organization at length acquired full control of the city government. +In London this process was completed in the course of the thirteenth +century. To obtain the full privileges of citizenship one had to +be enrolled in a guild. The guild hall became the city hall. The +_aldermen_, or head men of sundry guilds, became the head men +of the several wards. There was a representative board, or _common +council_, elected by the citizens. The aldermen and common council +held their meetings in the Guildhall, and over these meetings presided +the chief magistrate, or port-reeve, who by this time, in accordance +with the fashion then prevailing, had assumed the French title of +_mayor_. As London had come to be a little world in itself, +so this city government reproduced on a small scale the national +government; the mayor answering to the king, the aristocratic board of +aldermen to the House of Lords, and the democratic common council to +the House of Commons. A still more suggestive comparison, perhaps, +would be between the aldermen and our federal Senate, since the +aldermen represented wards, while the common council represented the +citizens. + +[Sidenote: The city of London.] +The constitution thus perfected in the city of London[6] six hundred +years ago has remained to this day without essential change. The voters +are enrolled members of companies which represent the ancient guilds. +Each year they choose one of the aldermen to be lord mayor. Within the +city he has precedence next to the sovereign and before the royal +family; elsewhere he ranks as an earl, thus indicating the equivalence +of the city to a county, and with like significance he is lord +lieutenant of the city and justice of the peace. The twenty-six +aldermen, one for each ward, are elected by the people, such as are +entitled to vote for members of parliament; they are justices of the +peace. The common councilmen, 206 in number, are also elected by the +people, and their legislative power within the city is practically +supreme; parliament does not think of overruling it. And the city +government thus constituted is one of the most clean-handed and +efficient in the world.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The city of London extends east and west from the Tower +to Temple Bar, and north and south from Finsbury to the Thames, with +a population of not more than 100,000, and is but a small part of the +enormous metropolitan area now known as London, which is a circle of +twelve miles radius in every direction from its centre at Charing +Cross, with a population of more than 5,000,000. This vast area is an +agglomeration of many parishes, manors, etc., and has no municipal +government in common.] + +[Footnote 7: Loftie, _History of London _, vol. i. p. 446] +[Sidenote: English cities, the bulwarks of liberty.] + +The development of other English cities and boroughs was so far like +that of London that merchant guilds generally obtained control, and +government by mayor, aldermen, and common council came to be the +prevailing type. Having also their own judges and sheriffs, and not +being obliged to go outside of their own walls to obtain justice, to +enforce contracts and punish crime, their efficiency as independent +self-governing bodies was great, and in many a troubled time they +served as staunch bulwarks of English liberty. The strength of their +turreted walls was more than supplemented by the length of their +purses, and such immunity from the encroachments of lords and king +as they could not otherwise win, they contrived to buy. Arbitrary +taxation they generally escaped by compounding with the royal +exchequer in a fixed sum or quit-rent, known as the _firma +burgi_. We have observed the especial privilege which Henry I. +confirmed to London, of electing its own sheriff. London had been +prompt in recognizing his title to the crown, and such support, in +days when the succession was not well regulated, no prudent king could +afford to pass by without some substantial acknowledgment. It was +never safe for any king to trespass upon the liberties of London, and +through the worst times that city has remained a true republic with +liberal republican sentiments. If George III. could have been guided +by the advice of London, as expressed by its great alderman Beckford, +the American colonies would not have been driven into rebellion. + +[Sidenote: Simon de Montfort and the cities.] +The most signal part played by the English boroughs and cities, in +securing English freedom, dates from the thirteenth century, when +the nation was vaguely struggling for representative government on a +national scale, as a means of curbing the power of the crown. In that +memorable struggle, the issue of which to some extent prefigured +the shape that the government of the United States was to take five +hundred years afterward, the cities and boroughs supported Simon de +Montfort, the leader of the popular party and one of the foremost +among the heroes and martyrs of English liberty. Accordingly on the +morrow of his decisive victory at Lewes in 1264, when for the moment +he stood master of England, as Cromwell stood four centuries later +Simon called a parliament to settle the affairs of the kingdom, and +to this parliament he invited, along with the lords who came by +hereditary custom, not only two elected representatives from each +rural county, but also two elected representatives from each city and +borough. In this parliament, which met in 1265, the combination of +rural with urban representatives brought all parts of England together +in a grand representative body, the House of Commons, with interests +in common; and thus the people presently gained power enough to defeat +all attempts to establish irresponsible government, such as we call +despotism, on the part of the crown. + + +[Sidenote: Oligarchical abuses in English cities (cir. 1500-1835).] +If we look at the later history of English cities and boroughs, it +appears that, in spite of the splendid work which they did for the +English people at large, they did not always succeed in preserving +their own liberties unimpaired. London, indeed, has always maintained +its character as a truly representative republic. But in many English +cities, during the Tudor and Stuart periods, the mayor and aldermen +contrived to dispense with popular election, and thus to become close +corporations or self-perpetuating oligarchical bodies. There was a +notable tendency toward this sort of irresponsible government in +the reign of James I., and the Puritans who came to the shores of +Massachusetts Bay were inspired with a feeling of revolt against such +methods. This doubtless lent an emphasis to the mood in which they +proceeded to organize themselves into free self-governing townships. +The oligarchical abuses in English cities and boroughs remained until +they were swept away by the great Municipal Reform Act of 1835. + +[Sidenote: Government of the city of New York (1686-1821).] +The first city governments established in America were framed in +conscious imitation of the corresponding institutions in England. +The oldest city government in the United States is that of New York. +Shortly after the town was taken from the Dutch in 1664, the new +governor, Colonel Nichols, put an end to its Dutch form of government, +and appointed a mayor, five aldermen, and a sheriff. These officers +appointed inferior officers, such as constables, and little or nothing +was left to popular election. But in 1686, under Governor Dongan, +New York was regularly incorporated and chartered as a city. Its +constitution bore an especially close resemblance to that of Norwich, +then the third city in England in size and importance. The city of New +York was divided into six wards. The governing corporation consisted +of the mayor, the recorder, the town-clerk, six aldermen, and six +assistants. All the land not taken up by individual owners was granted +as public land to the corporation, which in return paid into the +British exchequer one beaver-skin yearly. This was a survival of the +old quit-rent or _firma burgi_.[8] The city was made a county, +and thus had its court, its sheriff and coroner, and its high +constable. Other officers were the chamberlain or treasurer, seven +inferior constables, a sergeant-at-arms, and a clerk of the market, +who inspected weights and measures, and punished delinquencies in the +use of them. The principal judge was the recorder, who, as we have +just seen, was one of the corporation. The aldermen, assistants, and +constables were elected annually by the people; but the mayor and +sheriff were appointed by the governor. The recorder, town-clerk, and +clerk of the market were to be appointed by the king, but in case +the king neglected to act, these appointments also were made by the +governor. The high constable was appointed by the mayor, the treasurer +by the mayor, aldermen, and assistants, who seem to have answered +to the ordinary common council. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen, +without the assistants, were a judicial body, and held a weekly court +of common pleas. When the assistants were added, the whole became a +legislative body empowered to enact by-laws. + +[Footnote 8: Jameson, "The Municipal Government of New York," _Mag. +Amer. Hist_., vol. viii. p. 609.] + +Although this charter granted very imperfect powers of +self-government, the people contrived to live under it for a hundred +and thirty-five years, until 1821. Before the Revolution their +petitions succeeded in obtaining only a few unimportant amendments.[9] +When the British army captured the city in September, 1776, it was +forthwith placed under martial law, and so remained until the army +departed in November, 1783. During those seven years New York was not +altogether a comfortable place in which to live. After 1783 the city +government remained as before, except that the state of New York +assumed the control formerly exercised by the British crown. Mayor and +recorder, town-clerk and sheriff, were now appointed by a council of +appointment consisting of the governor and four senators. This did not +work well, and the constitution of 1821 gave to the people the power +of choosing their sheriff and town-clerk, while the mayor was to be +elected by the common council. Nothing but the appointment of the +recorder remained in the hands of the governor. Thus nearly forty +years after the close of the War of Independence the city of New York +acquired self-government as complete as that of the city of London. +In 1857, as we shall see, this self-government was greatly curtailed, +with results more or less disastrous. + + +[Footnote 9: Especially in the so-called Montgomerie charter of 1730.] + +[Sidenote: City government in Philadelphia (1701-1789).] +The next city governments to be organized in the American colonies, +after that of New York, were those of Philadelphia, incorporated in +1701, and Annapolis, incorporated in 1708. These governments were +framed after the wretched pattern then so common in England. In +both the mayor, the recorder, the aldermen, and the common council +constituted a close self-electing corporation. The resulting abuses +were not so great as in England, probably because the cities were +so small. But in course of time, especially in Philadelphia as it +increased in population, the viciousness of the system was abundantly +illustrated. As the people could not elect the governing corporation +or any of its members, they very naturally and reasonably distrusted +it, and through the legislature they contrived so to limit its powers +of taxation that it was really unable to keep the streets in repair, +to light them at night, or to support an adequate police force. An +attempt was made to supply such wants by creating divers independent +boards of commissioners, one for paving and draining, another for +street-lamps and watchmen, a third for town-pumps, and so on. In this +way responsibility got so minutely parcelled out and scattered, and +there was so much jealousy and wrangling between the different boards +and the corporation, that the result was chaos. The public money was +habitually wasted and occasionally embezzled, and there was general +dissatisfaction. In 1789 the close corporation was abolished, and +thereafter the aldermen and common council were elected by the +citizens, the mayor was chosen by the aldermen out of their own +number, and the recorder was appointed by the mayor and aldermen. Thus +Philadelphia obtained a representative government. + +[Sidenote: Traditions of good government lacking.] +These instances of New York and Philadelphia sufficiently illustrate +the beginnings of city government in the United States. In each case +the system was copied from England at a time when city government +in England was sadly demoralized. What was copied was not the free +republic of London, with its noble traditions of civic honour and +sagacious public spirit, but the imperfect republics or oligarchies +into which the lesser English boroughs were sinking, amid the foul +political intrigues and corruption which characterized the Stuart +period. The government of American cities in our own time is admitted +on all hands to be far from satisfactory. It is interesting to observe +that the cities which had municipal government before the Revolution, +though they have always had their full share of able and high-minded +citizens, do not possess even the tradition of good government. And +the difficulty, in those colonial times, was plainly want of adequate +self-government, want of responsibility on the part of the public +servants toward their employers the people. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the origin of the _casters_ and _chesters_ that are found +in England to-day? + +2. Trace the development of the English borough until it became +a kind of hundred. + +3. Compare this borough, with the hundred in the administration +of justice. + +4. Trace the further development of the borough in cases in +which it became a county. + +5. Illustrate this development with London, showing how the elements of +the township, the hundred, and the shire government enter into its civic +organization. + +6. Explain the origin and the objects of the various guilds. + +7. Speak of the "town guild" under the following heads:-- + + a. Its composition and power. + b. Its relation to citizenship. + c. Its place of meeting. + d. The aldermen. + e. The common council. + f. The chief magistrate. + +8. Compare the government of London with that of Great Britain or of the +United States. + +9. Give some account of the lord mayor, the aldermen, and the councilmen +of London. + +10. Distinguish between London the city and London the metropolis. + +11. Show how the English cities and boroughs became bulwarks of liberty +by (1) their facilities for obtaining justice, (2) the strength of their +walls, and (3) the length of their purses. + +12. Contrast the power of London with that of the throne. + +13. What notable advance in government was made under the leadership of +Simon de Montfort? + +14. What abuses crept into the government of many of the English cities? + +15. What was the Puritan attitude towards such abuses? + +16. Give an account of the government of New York city:-- + + a. The charter of 1686. + b. The governing corporation. + c. The public land. + d. The city's privileges as a county. + e. Officers by election and by appointment. + f. Judicial functions. + g. Martial law. + h. The charter of 1821. + +17. Give an account of the government of Philadelphia:-- + + a. The governments after which it was patterned. + b. The viciousness of the system adopted. + c. The legislative interference that was thus provoked. + d. The division of responsibility and the results of such + division. + e. The nature of the changes made in 1789. + +18. Why are the traditions of good government lacking in the older +American cities? + + +Section 3. The Government of Cities in the United States. + +[Sidenote: Several features of our city governments.] +At the present day American municipal governments are for the most +part constructed on the same general plan, though with many variations +in detail. There is an executive department, with the mayor at its +head. The mayor is elected voters of the city, and holds office +generally for one year, but sometimes for two or three years, and in +St. Louis and Philadelphia even for four years. Under the mayor are +various heads of departments,--street commissioners, assessors, +overseers of the poor, etc.,--sometimes elected by the citizens, +sometimes appointed by the mayor or the city council. This city +council Is a legislative body, usually consisting of two chambers, the +aldermen and the common council, elected by the citizens; but in many +small cities, and a few of the largest,--such as New York, Brooklyn, +Chicago, and San Francisco,--there is but one such chamber. Then there +are city judges, sometimes appointed by the governor of the state, to +serve for life or during good behaviour, but usually elected by the +citizens for short terms. + +All appropriations of money for city purposes are made by the city +council; and as a general rule this council has some control over the +heads of executive departments, which it exercises through committees. +Thus there may be a committee upon streets, upon public buildings, +upon parks or almshouses or whatever the municipal government is +concerned with. The head of a department is more or less dependent +upon his committee, and in practice this is found to divide and weaken +responsibility. The heads of departments are apt to be independent of +one another, and to owe no allegiance in common to any one. The mayor, +when he appoints them, usually does so subject to the approval, of the +city council or of one branch of it. The mayor is usually not a member +of the city council, but can veto its enactments, which however can be +passed over his veto by a two thirds majority. + +[Sidenote: They do not seem to work well.] +[Sidenote: some difficulties to be stated.] +City governments thus constituted are something like state governments +in miniature. The relation of the mayor to the city council is +somewhat like that of the governor to the state legislature, and of +the president to the national congress. In theory nothing could well +be more republican, or more unlike such city governments as those of +New York and Philadelphia before the Revolution. Yet in practice it +does not seem to work well. New York and Philadelphia seem to +have heard as many complaints in the nineteenth century as in the +eighteenth, and the same kind of complaints,--of excessive taxation, +public money wasted or embezzled, ill-paved and dirty streets, +inefficient police, and so on to the end of the chapter. In most of +our large cities similar evils have been witnessed, and in too many of +the smaller ones the trouble seems to be the same in kind, only less +in degree. Our republican government, which, after making all due +allowances, seems to work remarkably well in rural districts, and in +the states, and in the nation, has certainly been far less successful +as applied to cities. Accordingly our cities have come to furnish +topics for reflection to which writers and orators fond of boasting +the unapproachable excellence of American institutions do not like to +allude. Fifty years ago we were wont to speak of civil government +in the United States as if it had dropped from heaven or had been +specially created by some kind of miracle upon American soil; and we +were apt to think that in mere republican forms there was some kind of +mystic virtue which made them a panacea for all political evils. Our +later experience with cities has rudely disturbed this too confident +frame of mind. It has furnished facts which do not seem to fit our +self-complacent theory, so that now our writers and speakers are +inclined to vent their spleen upon the unhappy cities, perhaps too +unreservedly. We hear them called "foul sinks of corruption" and +"plague spots on our body politic." Yet in all probability our cities +are destined to increase in number and to grow larger and larger; so +that perhaps it is just as well to consider them calmly, as presenting +problems which had not been thought of when our general theory of +government was first worked out a hundred years ago, but which, after +we have been sufficiently taught by experience, we may hope to succeed +in solving, just as we have heretofore succeeded in other things. A +general discussion of the subject does not fall within the province of +this brief historical sketch. But our account would be very incomplete +if we were to stop short of mentioning some of the recent attempts +that have been made toward reconstructing our theories of city +government and improving its practical working. And first, let us +point out a few of the peculiar difficulties of the problem, that we +may see why we might have been expected, up to the present time, +to have been less successful in managing our great cities than in +managing our rural communities, and our states, and our nation. + + +[Sidenote: Rapid growth of American cities.] +In the first place, the problem is comparatively new and has taken us +unawares. At the time of Washington's inauguration to the presidency +there were no large cities in the United States. Philadelphia had a +population of 42,000; New York had 33,000; Boston, which came next, with +18,000, was not yet a city. Then came Baltimore, with 13,000; while +Brooklyn was a village of 1,600 souls. Now these five cities have a +population of more than 4,000,000, or more than that of the United +States in 1789. And consider how rapidly new cities have been added to +the list. One hardly needs to mention the most striking cases, such as +Chicago, with 4,000 inhabitants in 1840. and at least 1,000,000 in 1890; +or Denver, with its miles of handsome streets and shops, and not one +native inhabitant who has reached his thirtieth birthday. Such facts are +summed up in the general statement that, whereas in 1790 the population +of the United States was scarcely 4,000,000, and out of each 100 +inhabitants only 3 dwelt in cities and the other 97 in rural places; on +the other hand in 1880, when the population was more than 50,000,000, +out of each 100 inhabitants 23 dwelt in cities and 77 in rural places. +But duly to appreciate the rapidity of this growth of cities, we must +observe that most of it has been subsequent to 1840. In 1790 there were +six towns in the United States that might be ranked as cities from their +size, though to get this number we must include Boston. In 1800 the +number was the same. By 1810 the number had risen from 6 to 11; by 1820 +it had reached 13; by 1830 this thirteen had doubled and become 26; and +in 1840 there were 44 cities altogether. The urban population increased +from 210,873 in 1800 to 1,453,994 in 1840. But between 1840 and 1880 the +number of new cities which came into existence was 242, and the urban +population increased to 11,318,547. Nothing like this was ever known +before in any part of the world, and perhaps it is not strange that such +a tremendous development did not find our methods of government fully +prepared to deal with it. + + +[Sidenote: Want of practical foresight.] +This rapidity of growth has entailed some important consequences. In the +first place it obliges the city to make great outlays of money in order +to get immediate results. Public works must be undertaken with a view to +quickness rather than thoroughness. Pavements, sewers, and reservoirs of +some sort must be had at once, even if inadequately planned and +imperfectly constructed; and so, before a great while, the work must be +done over again. Such conditions of imperative haste increase the +temptations to dishonesty as well as the liability to errors of judgment +on the part of the men who administer the public funds.[10] Then the +rapid growth of a city, especially of a new city, requiring the +immediate construction of a certain amount of public works, almost +necessitates the borrowing of money, and debt means heavy taxes. It is +like the case of a young man who, in order to secure a home for his +quickly growing family, buys a house under a heavy mortgage. Twice a +year there comes in a great bill for interest, and in order to meet it +he must economize in his table or now and then deny himself a new suit +of clothes. So if a city has to tax heavily to pay its debts, it must +cut down its current expenses somewhere, and the results are sure to be +visible in more or less untidiness and inefficiency. Mr. Low tells us +that "very few of our American cities have yet paid in full the cost of +their original water-works." Lastly, much wastefulness results from want +of foresight. It is not easy to predict how a city will grow, or the +nature of its needs a few years hence. Moreover, even when it is easy +enough to predict a result, it is not easy to secure practical foresight +on the part of a city council elected for the current year. Its members +are afraid of making taxes too heavy this year, and considerations of +ten years hence are apt to be dismissed as "visionary." It is always +hard for us to realize how terribly soon ten years hence will be here. +The habit of doing things by halves has been often commented on (and, +perhaps, even more by our own writers than by foreigners) as especially +noticeable in America. It has doubtless been fostered by the conditions +which in so many cases have made it absolutely necessary to adopt +temporary makeshifts. These conditions have produced a certain habit of +mind. + +[Footnote 10: This and some of the following considerations have been +ably set forth and illustrated by Hon. Seth Low, president of Columbia +College, and lately mayor of Brooklyn, in an address at Johns Hopkins +University, published in _J. H. U. Studies, Supplementary Notes_, +no. 4.] + +[Sidenote: Growth in complexity of government in cities.] +Let us now observe that as cities increase in size the amount of +government that is necessary tends in some respects to increase. +Wherever there is a crowd there is likely to be some need of rules and +regulations. In the country a man may build his house pretty much as he +pleases; but in the city he may be forbidden to build it of wood, and +perhaps even the thickness of the party walls or the position of the +chimneys may come in for some supervision on the part of the government. +For further precaution against spreading fires, the city has an +organized force of men, with costly engines, engine-houses, and stables. +In the country a board of health has comparatively little to do; in the +city it is often confronted with difficult sanitary problems which call +for highly paid professional skill on the part of physicians and +chemists, architects and plumbers, masons and engineers. So, too, the +water supply of a great city is likely to be a complicated business, and +the police force may well need as much, management as a small army. In +short, with a city, increase in size is sure to involve increase in +complexity of organization, and this means a vast increase in the number +of officials for doing the work and of details to be superintended. For +example, let us enumerate the executive department and officers of the +city of Boston at the present time. + +[Sidenote: Municipal officers in Boston.] +There are three street commissioners with power to lay out streets and +assess damages thereby occasioned. These are elected by the people. The +following officers are appointed by the mayor, with the concurrence of +the aldermen: a superintendent of streets, an inspector of buildings, +three commissioners each for the fire and health departments, four +overseers of the poor, besides a board of nine directors for the +management of almshouses, houses of correction, lunatic hospital, etc.; +a city hospital board of five members, five trustees of the public +library, three commissioners each for parks and water-works; five chief +assessors, to estimate the value of property and assess city, county, +and state taxes; a city collector, a superintendent of public buildings, +five trustees of Mount Hope Cemetery, six sinking fund commissioners, +two record commissioners, three registrars of voters, a registrar of +births, deaths, and marriages, a city treasurer, city auditor, city +solicitor, corporation counsel, city architect, city surveyor, +superintendent of Faneuil Hall Market, superintendent of street lights, +superintendent of sewers, superintendent of printing, superintendent of +bridges, five directors of ferries, harbour master and ten assistants, +water registrar, inspector of provisions, inspector of milk and vinegar, +a sealer and four deputy sealers of weights and measures, an inspector +of lime, three inspectors of petroleum, fifteen inspectors of pressed +hay, a culler of hoops and staves, three fence-viewers, ten +field-drivers and pound-keepers, three surveyors of marble, nine +superintendents of hay scales, four measurers of upper leather, fifteen +measurers of wood and bark, twenty measurers of grain, three weighers of +beef, thirty-eight weighers of coal, five weighers of boilers and heavy +machinery, four weighers of ballast and lighters, ninety-two +undertakers, 150 constables, 968 election officers and their deputies. A +few of these officials serve without pay, some are paid by salaries +fixed by the council, some by fees. Besides these there is a clerk of +the common council elected by that body, and also the city clerk, city +messenger, and clerk of committees, in whose election both branches of +the city council concur. The school committee, of twenty-four members, +elected by the people, is distinct from the rest of the city government, +and so is the board of police, composed of three commissioners appointed +by the state executive.[11] + +[Footnote 11: Bugbee, "The City Government of Boston," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., iii.] + +[Sidenote: How city government comes to be a mystery.] +This long list may serve to give some idea of the mere quantity of +administrative work required in a large city. Obviously under such +circumstances city government must become more or less of a mystery to +the great mass of citizens. They cannot watch its operations as the +inhabitants of a small village can watch the proceedings of their +township and county governments. Much work must go on which cannot +even be intelligently criticised without such special knowledge as it +would be idle to expect in the average voter, or perhaps in any voter. +It becomes exceedingly difficult for the taxpayer to understand just +what his money goes for, or how far the city expenses might reasonably +be reduced; and it becomes correspondingly easy for municipal +corruption to start and acquire a considerable headway before it can +be detected and checked. + +[Sidenote: In some respects it is more of a mystery that state and +national government.] +In some respects city government is harder to watch intelligently +than the government of the state or of the nation. For these wider +governments are to some extent limited to work of general supervision. +As compared with the city, they are more concerned with the +establishment and enforcement of certain general principles, and less +with the administration of endlessly complicated details. I do not +mean to be understood as saying that there is not plenty of intricate +detail about state and national governments. I am only comparing one +thing with another, and it seems to me that one chief difficulty with +city government is the bewildering vastness and multifariousness of +the details with which it is concerned. The modern city has come to be +a huge corporation for carrying on a huge business with many branches, +most of which call for special aptitude and training. + +[Sidenote: The mayor at first had too little power.] +As these points have gradually forced themselves upon public attention +there has been a tendency in many of our large cities toward +remodeling their governments on new principles. The most noticeable +feature of this tendency is the increase in the powers of the mayor. + +A hundred years ago our legislators and constitution-makers were much +afraid of what was called the "one-man power." In nearly all the +colonies a chronic quarrel had been kept up between the governors +appointed by the king and the legislators elected by the people, and +this had made the "one-man power" very unpopular. Besides, it was +something that had been unpopular in ancient Greece and Rome, and it +was thought to be essentially unrepublican in principle. Accordingly +our great grandfathers preferred to entrust executive powers to +committees rather than to single individuals; and when they assigned +an important office to an individual they usually took pains to +curtail its power and influence. This disposition was visible in our +early attempts to organize city governments like little republics. +First, in the board of aldermen and the common council we had a +two-chambered legislature. Then, lest the mayor should become +dangerous, the veto power was at first generally withheld from him, +and his appointments of executive officers needed to be confirmed by +at least one branch of the city council. These executive officers, +moreover, as already observed, were subject to more or less control or +oversight from committees of the city council. + +[Sidenote: Scattering and weakening of responsibility.] +Now this system, in depriving the mayor of power, deprived him of +responsibility, and left the responsibility nowhere in particular. In +making appointments the mayor and council would come to some sort of +compromise with each other and exchange favours. Perhaps for private +reasons incompetent or dishonest officers would get appointed, and +if the citizens ventured to complain the mayor would say that he +appointed as good men as the council could be induced to confirm, +and the council would declare their willingness to confirm good +appointments if the mayor could only be persuaded to make them. + +[Sidenote: Committees inefficient for executive purposes.] +Then the want of subordination of the different executive departments +made it impossible to secure unity of administration or to carry out +any consistent and generally intelligible policy. Between the various +executive officers and visiting committees there was apt to be a +more or less extensive interchange of favours, or what is called +"log-rolling;" and sums of money would be voted by the council only +thus to leak away in undertakings the propriety or necessity of which +was perhaps hard to determine. There was no responsible head who could +be quickly and sharply called to account. Each official's hands were +so tied that whatever went wrong he could declare that it was not his +fault. The confusion was enhanced by the practice of giving executive +work to committees or boards instead of single officers. Benjamin +Franklin used to say, if you wish to be sure that a thing is done, go +and do it yourself. Human experience certainly proves that this is the +only absolutely safe way. The next best way is to send some competent +person to do it for you; and if there is no one competent to be +had, you do the next best thing and entrust the work to the least +incompetent person you can find. If you entrust it to a committee your +prospect of getting it done is diminished and it grows less if +you enlarge your committee. By the time you have got a group of +committees, independent of one another and working at cross purposes, +you have got Dickens's famous Circumlocution Office, where the great +object in life was "how not to do it." + +[Sidenote 1: Increase of city debts.] + +[Sidenote 2: Attempt to cure the evil by state interference; + experience of New York.] + +Amid the general dissatisfaction over the extravagance and +inefficiency of our city governments, people's attention was first +drawn to the rapid and alarming increase of city indebtedness in +various parts of the country. A heavy debt may ruin a city as surely +as an individual, for it raises the rate of taxation, and thus, as was +above pointed out, it tends to frighten people and capital away from +the city. At first it was sought to curb the recklessness of city +councils in incurring lavish expenditures by giving the mayor a veto +power. Laws were also passed limiting the amount of debt which a city +would be allowed to incur under any circumstances. Clothing the +mayor with the veto power is now seen to have been a wise step; and +arbitrary limitation of the amount of debt, though a clumsy expedient, +is confessedly a necessary one. But beyond this, it was in some +instances attempted to take the management of some departments of city +business out of the hands of the city and put them into the hands of +the state legislature. The most notable instance of this was in New +York in 1857. The results, there and elsewhere, have been generally +regarded as unsatisfactory. After a trial of thirty years the +experience of New York has proved that a state legislature is not +competent to take proper care of the government of cities. Its +members do not know enough about the details of each locality, and +consequently local affairs are left to the representatives from each +locality, with "log-rolling" as the inevitable result. A man fresh +from his farm on the edge of the Adirondacks knows nothing about the +problems pertaining to electric wires in Broadway, or to rapid transit +between Harlem and the Battery; and his consent to desired legislation +on such points can very likely be obtained only by favouring some +measure which he thinks will improve the value of his farm, or perhaps +by helping him to debauch the civil service by getting some neighbour +appointed to a position for which he is not qualified. All this is +made worse by the fact that the members of a state government are +generally less governed by a sense of responsibility toward the +citizens of a particular city than even the worst local government +that can be set up in such a city.[12] + +[Footnote 1: It is not intended to deny that there may be instances +in which the state government may advantageously participate in the +government of cities. It may be urged that, in the case of great +cities, like New York or Boston, many people who are not residents +either do business in the city or have vast business interests there, +and thus may be as deeply interested in its welfare as any of the +voters. It may also be said that state provisions for city government +do not always work badly. There are many competent judges who approve +of the appointment of police commissioners by the executive of +Massachusetts. There are generally two sides to a question; and to +push a doctrine to extremes is to make oneself a _doctrinaire_ +rather than a wise citizen. But experience clearly shows that in all +doubtful cases it is safer to let the balance incline in favour of +local self-government than the other way.] + +Moreover, even if legislatures were otherwise competent to manage the +local affairs of cities, they have not time enough, amid the pressure +of other duties, to do justice to such matters. In 1870 the number of +acts passed by the New York legislature was 808. Of these, 212, or +more than one fourth of the whole, related to cities and villages. The +808 acts, when printed, filled about 2,000 octavo pages; and of these +the 212 acts filled more than 1,500 pages. This illustrates what +I said above about the vast quantity of details which have to be +regulated in municipal government. Here we have more than three +fourths of the volume of state-legislation devoted to local affairs; +and it hardly need be added that a great part of these enactments were +worse than worthless because they were made hastily and +without due consideration,--though not always, perhaps, without what +lawyers call _a_ consideration.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Nothing could be further from my thought than to cast any +special imputation upon the New York legislature, which is probably a +fair average specimen of law-making bodies. The theory of legislative +bodies, as laid down in text-books, is that they are assembled for the +purpose of enacting laws for the welfare of the community in +general. In point of fact they seldom rise to such a lofty height of +disinterestedness. Legislation is usually a mad scramble in which the +final result, be it good or bad, gets evolved out of compromises and +bargains among a swarm of clashing local and personal interests. +The "consideration" may be anything from log-rolling to bribery. In +American legislatures it is to be hoped that downright bribery is +rare. As for log-rolling, or exchange of favours, there are many +phases of it in which that which may be perfectly innocent shades +off by almost imperceptible degrees into that which is unseemly or +dishonourable or even criminal; and it is in this hazy region that +Satan likes to set his traps for the unwary pilgrim.] + +[Sidenote: Tweed Ring in New York.] +The experience of New York thus proved that state intervention and +special legislation did not mend matters. It did not prevent the +shameful rule of the Tweed Ring from 1868 to 1871, when a small band +of conspirators got themselves elected or appointed to the principal +city offices, and, having had their own corrupt creatures chosen +judges of the city courts, proceeded to rob the taxpayers at their +leisure. By the time they were discovered and brought to justice, +their stealings amounted to many millions of dollars, and the rate of +taxation had risen to more than two per cent. + +[Sidenote: New experiments.] +The discovery of these wholesale robberies, and of other villainies +on a smaller scale in other cities, has led to much discussion of the +problems of municipal government, and to many attempts at practical +reform. The present is especially a period of experiments, yet in +these experiments perhaps a general drift of opinion may be discerned. +People seem to be coming to regard cities more as if they were huge +business corporations than as if they were little republics. The +lesson has been learned that in executive matters too much limitation +of power entails destruction of responsibility; the "ring" is now more +dreaded than the "one-man power;" and there is accordingly a manifest +tendency to assail the evil by concentrating power and responsibility +in the mayor. + +[Sidenote: New government of Brooklyn.] +The first great city to adopt this method was Brooklyn. In the first +place the city council was simplified and made a one-chambered council +consisting of nineteen aldermen. Besides this council of aldermen, the +people elect only three city officers,--the mayor, comptroller, +and auditor. The comptroller is the principal finance officer and +book-keeper of the city; and the auditor must approve bills against +the city, whether great or small, before they can be paid. The mayor +appoints, without confirmation by the council, all executive heads of +departments; and these executive heads are individuals, not +boards. Thus there is a single police commissioner, a single fire +commissioner, a single health commissioner, and so on; and each of +these heads appoints his own subordinates; so that the principle +of defined responsibility permeates the city government from top +to bottom,[14] In a few cases, where the work to be done is rather +discretionary than executive in character, it is intrusted to a board; +thus there is a board of assessors, a board of education, and a board +of elections. These are all appointed by the mayor, but for terms +not coinciding with his own; "so that, in most cases, no mayor would +appoint the whole of any such board unless he were to be twice elected +by the people." But the executive officers are appointed by the mayor +for terms coincident with his own, that is for two years. "The mayor +is elected at the general election in November; he takes office on the +first of January following, and for one month the great departments of +the city are carried on for him by the appointees of his predecessor. +On the first of February it becomes his duty to appoint his own heads +of departments, and thus each incoming mayor has the opportunity to +make an administration in all its parts in sympathy with himself." + +[Footnote 14: Seth Low on "Municipal Government," in Bryce's +_American Commonwealth_, vol. i. p. 626.] + +With all these immense executive powers entrusted to the mayor, +however, he does not hold the purse-strings. He is a member of a board +of estimate, of which the other four members are the comptroller +and auditor, with the county treasurer and supervisor. This board +recommends the amounts to be raised by taxation for the ensuing year. +These estimates are then laid before the council of aldermen, who +may cut down single items as they see fit, but have not the power to +increase any item. The mayor must see to it that the administrative +work of the year does not use up more money than is thus allowed him. + +[Sidenote: Some of its merits.] +This Brooklyn system has great merits. It ensures unity of +administration, it encourages promptness and economy, it locates +and defines responsibility, and it is so simple that everybody can +understand it. The people, having but few officers to elect, are +more likely to know something about them. Especially since everybody +understands that the success of the government depends upon the +character of the mayor, extraordinary pains are taken to secure good +mayors; and the increased interest in city politics is shown by the +fact that in Brooklyn more people vote for mayor than for governor +or for president. Fifty years ago such a reduction in the number of +elective officers would have greatly shocked all good Americans. But +In point of fact, while in small townships where everybody knows +everybody popular control is best ensured by electing all public +officers, it is very different in great cities where it is impossible +that the voters in general should know much about the qualifications +of a long list of candidates. In such cases citizens are apt to vote +blindly for names about which they know nothing except that they occur +on a Republican or a Democratic ticket; although, if the object of +a municipal election is simply to secure an upright and efficient +municipal government, to elect a city magistrate because he is a +Republican or a Democrat is about as sensible as to elect him because +he believes in homoeopathy or has a taste for chrysanthemums.[15] To +vote for candidates whom one has never heard of is not to insure +popular control, but to endanger it. It is much better to vote for +one man whose reputation we know, and then to hold him strictly +responsible for the appointments he makes. The Brooklyn system seems +to be a step toward lifting city government out of the mire of party +politics. + +[Footnote 15: Of course from the point of view of the party politician, +it Is quite different. Each party has its elaborate "machine" for +electing state and national officers; and in order to be kept at +its maximum of efficiency the machine must be kept at work on all +occasions, whether such occasions are properly concerned with +differences in party politics or not. To the party politician it +of course makes a great difference whether a city magistrate is a +Republican or a Democrat. To him even the political complexion of his +mail-carrier is a matter of importance. But these illustrations +only show that party politics may be carried to extremes that are +inconsistent with the best interests of the community. Once in a while +it becomes necessary to teach party organizations to know their place, +and to remind them that they are not the lords and masters but the +servants and instruments of the people.] + +This system went into operation in Brooklyn in January, 1882, and +seems to have given general satisfaction. Since then changes in a +similar direction, though with variations in detail, have been made in +other cities, and notably in Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted.] +In speaking of the difficulties which beset city government in the +United States, mention is often (and perhaps too exclusively) made +of the great mass of ignorant voters, chiefly foreigners without +experience in self-government, with no comprehension of American +principles and traditions, and with little or no property to suffer +from excessive taxation. Such people will naturally have slight +compunctions about voting away other people's money; indeed, they are +apt to think that "the Government" has got Aladdin's lamp hidden away +somewhere in a burglar-proof safe, and could do pretty much everything +that is wanted, if it only would. In the hands of demagogues such +people may be dangerous, they are supposed to be especially accessible +to humbug and bribes, and their votes have no doubt been used to +sustain and perpetuate most flagrant abuses. We often hear it said +that the only way to get good government is to deprive such people of +their votes and limit the suffrage to persons who have some property +at stake. Such a measure has been seriously recommended in New York, +but it is generally felt to be impossible without a revolution. + + +[Sidenote: Testimony of Pennsylvania Municipal Commission.] +Perhaps, after all, it may not be so desirable as it seems. The +ignorant vote has done a great deal of harm, but not all the harm. In +1878 it was reported by the Pennsylvania Municipal Commission, as +a remarkable but notorious fact, that the accumulations of debt in +Philadelphia and other cities of the state have been due, not to a +non-property-holding, irresponsible element among the electors, but to +the desire for speculation among the property-owners themselves. Large +tracts of land outside the built-up portion of the city have been +purchased, combinations made among men of wealth, and councils +besieged until they have been driven into making appropriations to +open and improve streets and avenues, largely in advance of the real +necessities of the city. Extraordinary as the statement may seem +at first, the experience of the past shows clearly that frequently +property-owners need more protection against themselves than against +the non-property-holding class.[16] This is a statement of profound +significance, and should be duly pondered by advocates of a restricted +suffrage. + +[Footnote 16: Allinson and Penrose, _Philadelphia, 1681-1887; a +History of Municipal Development_, p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: Dangers of a restricted suffrage.] +It should also be borne in mind that, while ignorant and needy voters, +led by unscrupulous demagogues, are capable of doing much harm with +their votes, it is by no means clear that the evil would be removed +by depriving them of the suffrage. It is very unsafe to have in any +community a large class of people who feel that political rights +or privileges are withheld from them by other people who are their +superiors in wealth or knowledge. Such poor people are apt to have +exaggerated ideas of what a vote can do; very likely they think it is +because they do not have votes that they are poor; thus they are ready +to entertain revolutionary or anarchical ideas, and are likely to be +more dangerous material in the hands of demagogues than if they were +allowed to vote. Universal suffrage has its evils, but it undoubtedly +acts as a safety-valve. The only cure for the evils which come +from ignorance and shiftlessness is the abolition of ignorance and +shiftlessness; and this is slow work. Church and school here find +enough to keep them busy; but the vote itself, even if often misused, +is a powerful educator; and we need not regret that the restriction of +the suffrage has come to be practically impossible. + +[Sidenote: Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national +politics.] +The purification of our city governments will never be completed +until they are entirely divorced from national party politics. The +connection opens a limitless field for "log-rolling," and rivets +upon cities the "spoils system," which is always and everywhere +incompatible with good government. It is worthy of note that the +degradation of so many English boroughs and cities during the Tudor +and Stuart periods was chiefly due to the encroachment of national +politics upon municipal politics. Because the borough returned members +to the House of Commons, it became worth while for the crown to +intrigue with the municipal government, with the ultimate object of +influencing parliamentary elections. The melancholy history of the +consequent dickering and dealing, jobbery and robbery, down to 1835, +when the great Municipal Corporations Act swept it all away, may be +read with profit by all Americans.[17] It was the city of London only, +whose power and independence had kept it free from complications with +national politics, that avoided the abuses elsewhere prevalent, so +that it was excepted from the provisions of the Act of 1835, and still +retains its ancient constitution. + +[Footnote 17: See _Parliamentary Reports_, 1835, "Municipal +Corporations Commission;" also Sir Erskine May, _Const. Hist._, +vol. ii. chap, xv.] + +In the United States the entanglement of municipal with national +politics has begun to be regarded as mischievous and possibly +dangerous, and attempts have in some cases been made toward checking +it by changing the days of election, so that municipal officers may +not be chosen at the same time with presidential electors. Such a +change is desirable, but to obtain a thoroughly satisfactory result, +it will be necessary to destroy the "spoils system" root and branch, +and to adopt effective measures of ballot reform. To these topics I +shall recur when treating of our national government. But first we +shall have to consider the development of our several states. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +Give an account of city government in the United States, under the +following heads:-- + +1. The American city:-- + + a. The mayor. + b. The heads of departments. + c. The city council. + d. The judges. + e. Appropriations. + +f. The power of committees. + +2. The practical workings of city governments:-- + + a. The contrast they show between theory and practice. + b. Various complaints urged against city governments. + c. Their effect upon the old-time confidence in the perfection of our + institutions. + +3. The growth of American cities:-- + + a. The cities of Washington's time and those of to-day. + b. The population of cities in 1790 and their population to-day. + c. City growth since 1840. + +4. Some consequences of rapid city growth:-- + a. The pressure to construct public works. + b. The incurring of heavy debts. + c. The wastefulness due to a lack of foresight. + d. The increase in government due to the complexity of a city. + e. An illustration of this complexity in Boston. + f. The consequent mystery that enshrouds much of city government. + +5. Some evils due to the fear of a "one-man" power:-- + a. The objection to such power a century ago. + b. Restrictions imposed upon the mayor's power. + c. The division and weakening of responsibility. + d. The lack of unity in the administration of business. + e. The inefficiency of committees for executive purposes. + f. The alarming increase in city debts. + +6. Attempts to remedy some of the evils of city government:-- + a. The power of veto granted to the mayor. + b. The limitation of city indebtedness. + c. State control of some city departments. + +7. Difficulties inherent in state control of cities:-- + a. Lack of familiarity with city affairs. + b. The tendency to "log-rolling." + c. Lack of time due to the pressure of state affairs. + d. The failure of state control as shown in the rule of the Tweed ring. + +8. The government of the city of Brooklyn:-- + a. The elevation of the "one-man" power above that of the "ring." + b. Officers elected by the people. + c. Officers appointed by the mayor. + d. The principle of well-defined responsibility. + e. The appointment of certain boards by the mayor. + f. The holding of the purse-strings. + g. The inadequacy of the township elective system, in a city like + Brooklyn. + +9. Restriction of the suffrage:-- + a. The dangers from large masses of ignorant voters. + b. The responsibility for the debt of Philadelphia and other cities. + c. The dangers from large classes who feel that political rights are + denied them. + +d. Suffrage as a "safety-valve." + +10. The mixture of city politics with those of the state or nation: + + a. The degradation of the English borough. + b. The exemption, of London from the Municipal Corporations Act. + c. The importance of separate days for municipal elections. + d. The importance of abolishing the "spoils system." + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +(Chiefly for pupils who live in cities.) + +1. When was your city organized? + +2. Give some account of its growth, its size, and its present +population. How many wards has it? Give their boundaries. +In which ward do you live? + +3. Examine its charter, and report a few of its leading provisions. + + +4. What description of government in this chapter comes nearest +to that of your city? + +5. Consider the suggestions about the study of town government +(pp. 43, 44), and act upon such of them as are applicable +to city government. + +6. What is the general impression about the purity of your city +government? (Consult several citizens and report what you find out.) + +7. What important caution should be observed about vague rumours of +inefficiency or corruption? + +8. What are the evidences of a sound financial condition in a city? + +9. Is the financial condition of your city sound? + +10. When debts are incurred, are provisions made at the same time for +meeting them when due? + +11. What are "sinking funds"? + +12. What wants has a city that a town is free from? + +13. Describe your system of public water works, making an analysis of +important points that may be presented. + +14. Do the same for your park system or any other system that involves a +long time for its completion as well as a great outlay. + +15. Are the principles of civil service reform recognized in your city? +If so, to what extent? Do they need to be extended further? + +16. Describe the parties that contended for the supremacy in your last +city election and tell what questions were at issue between them. + +17. What great corporations exact an influence in your city affairs? Is +such influence bad because it is great? What is a possible danger from +such influence? + +18. In view of the vast number and range of city interests, what is the +most that the average citizen can reasonably be asked to know and to do +about them? What things is it indispensable for him to know and to do is +he is to contribute to good government? + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. DIRECT AND INDIRECT GOVERNMENT.--The transition from +direct to indirect government, as illustrated in the gradual +development of a township into a city, may be profitably studied in +Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, Boston, 1852; and in +Winsor's _Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. pp. 189-302, +Boston, 1881. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES.--See Loftie's +_History of London_, 2 vols., London, 1883; Toulmin Smith's +_English Gilds_, with Introduction by Lujo Brentano, London, +1870; and the histories of the English Constitution, especially those +of Gneist, Stubbs, Taswell-Langmead, and Hannis Taylor. + +Section 3. GOVERNMENT OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.--_J.H.U. Studies_, +III., xi.-xii., J.A. Porter, _The City of Washington_; IV., iv., W.P. +Holcomb, _Pennsylvania Boroughs_; IV., x., C.H. Lovermore, _Town and +City Government of New Haven_; V., i.-ii., Allinson and Penrose, _City +Government of Philadelphia_; V., iii., J.M. Bugbee, _The City Government +of Boston_; V., iv., M.S. Snow, _The City Government of St. Louis_; +VII., ii.-iii., B. Moses, _Establishment of Municipal Government in San +Francisco_; VII., iv., W.W. Howe, _Municipal History of New Orleans_; +also _Supplementary Notes_, No. 4, Seth Low, _The Problem of City +Government_ (compare No. 1, Albert Shaw, _Municipal Government in +England_.) See, also, the supplementary volumes published at +Baltimore,--Levermore's _Republic of New Haven_, 1886, Allinson and +Penrose's _Philadelphia_, 1681-1887: _a History of Municipal +Development_, 1887. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Claims of Spain to the possession of North America.] +In the year 1600 Spain was the only European nation which had obtained +a foothold upon the part of North America now comprised within the +United States. Spain claimed the whole continent on the strength of +the bulls of 1493 and 1494, in which Pope Alexander VI. granted her +all countries to be discovered to the west of a certain meridian +which, happens to pass a little to the east of Newfoundland. From +their first centre in the West Indies the Spaniards had made a +lodgment in Florida, at St. Augustine, in 1565; and from Mexico they +had in 1605 founded Santa Fé, in what is now the territory of New +Mexico. + +[Sidenote: Claims of France and England.] +France and England, however, paid little heed to the claim of Spain. +France had her own claim to North America, based on the voyages of +discovery made by Verrazano in 1524 and Cartier in 1534, in the course +of which New York harbour had been visited and the St. Lawrence partly +explored. England had a still earlier claim, based on the discovery +of the North American continent in 1497 by John Cabot. It presently +became apparent that to make such claims of any value, discovery must +be followed up by occupation of the country. Attempts at colonization +had been made by French Protestants in Florida in 1562-65, and by the +English in North Carolina in 1584-87, but both attempts had failed +miserably. Throughout the sixteenth century French and English sailors +kept visiting the Newfoundland fisheries, and by the end of the +century the French and English governments had their attention +definitely turned to the founding of colonies in North America. + +[Sidenote: The London and Plymouth Companies.] +In 1606 two great joint-stock companies were formed in England for +the purpose of planting such colonies. One of these companies had its +headquarters at London, and was called the London Company; the other +had its headquarters at the seaport of Plymouth, in Devonshire, and +was called the Plymouth Company. To the London Company the king +granted the coast of North America from 34° to 38° north latitude; +that is, about from Cape Fear to the mouth of the Rappahannock. To the +Plymouth Company he granted the coast from 41° to 45°; that is, about +from the mouth of the Hudson to the eastern extremity of Maine. These +grants were to go in straight strips or zones across the continent +from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Almost nothing was then known +about American geography; the distance from ocean to ocean across +Mexico was not so very great, and people did not realize that further +north it was quite a different thing. As to the middle strip, starting +from the coast between the Rappahannock and the Hudson, it was open to +the two companies, with the understanding that neither was to plant a +colony within 100 miles of any settlement already begun by the +other. This meant practically that it was likely to be controlled by +whichever company should first come into the field with a flourishing +colony. Accordingly both companies made haste and sent out settlers in +1607, the one to the James River, the other to the Kennebec. The +first enterprise, after much suffering, resulted in the founding of +Virginia; the second ended in disaster, and it was not until 1620 that +the Pilgrims from Leyden made the beginnings of a permanent settlement +upon the territory of the Plymouth Company. + +[Sidenote: Their common charter.] +These two companies were at first organized under a single charter. +Each was to be governed by a council in England appointed by the king, +and these councils were to appoint councils of thirteen to reside in +the colonies, with powers practically unlimited. Nevertheless the king +covenanted with his colonists as follows: Also we do, for us, our +heirs and successors, declare by these presents that all and every the +persons, being our subjects, which shall go and inhabit within the +said colony and plantation, and every their children and posterity, +which shall happen to be born within any of the limits thereof, shall +have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities of free +denizens and natural subjects within any of our other dominions, to +all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within +this our realm of England, or in any other of our dominions. This +principle, that British subjects born in America should be entitled to +the same political freedom as if born in England, was one upon which +the colonists always insisted, and it was the repeated and persistent +attempts of George III. to infringe it that led the American colonies +to revolt and declare themselves independent of Great Britain. + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of the two companies.] +[Sidenote: Settlement of the three zones.] +Both the companies founded in 1606 were short-lived. In 1620 the +Plymouth Company got a new charter, which made it independent of the +London Company. In 1624 the king, James I., quarreled with the London +Company, brought suit against it in court, and obtained from the +subservient judges a decree annulling its charter. In 1635 the +reorganized Plymouth Company surrendered its charter to Charles I. +in pursuance of a bargain which need not here concern us.[1] But the +creation of these short-lived companies left an abiding impression +upon the map of North America and upon the organization of civil +government in the United States. Let us observe what was done with the +three strips or zones into which the country was divided: the northern +or New England zone, assigned to the Plymouth Company; the southern or +Virginia zone, assigned to the London Company; and the central zone, +for which the two companies were, so to speak, to run a race. + +[Footnote 1: See my _Beginnings of New England_, p. 112.] + +[Sidenote: 1. the northern zone.] +[Sidenote: 2. The southern zone.] +In 1663 Charles II. cut off the southern part of Virginia, the area +covering the present states of North and South Carolina and Georgia, +and it was formed into a new province called Carolina. In 1729 the +two groups of settlements which had grown up along its coast were +definitively separated into North and South Carolina; and in 1732 +the frontier portion toward Florida was organized into the colony of +Georgia. Thus four of the original thirteen states--Virginia, the two +Carolinas, and Georgia--were constituted in the southern zone. + +To this group some writers add Maryland, founded in 1632, because its +territory had been claimed by the London Company; but the earliest +settlements in Maryland, its principal towns, and almost the whole of +its territory, come north of latitude 38° and within the middle zone. + +[Sidenote: 3. The middle zone.] +Between the years 1614 and 1621 the Dutch founded their colony of New +Netherland upon the territory included between the Hudson and Delaware +rivers, or, as they quite naturally called them, the North and South +rivers. They pushed their outposts up the Hudson as far as the site +of Albany, thus intruding far into the northern zone. In 1638 Sweden +planted a small colony upon the west side of Delaware Bay, but in 1655 +it was surrendered to the Dutch. Then in 1664 the English took New +Netherland from the Dutch, and Charles II. granted the province to his +brother, the Duke of York. The duke proceeded to grant part of it to +his friends, Berkeley and Carteret, and thus marked off the new colony +of New Jersey. In 1681 the region west of New Jersey was granted to +William Penn, and in the following year Penn bought from the Duke of +York the small piece of territory upon which the Swedes had planted +their colony. Delaware thus became an appendage to Penn's greater +colony, but was never merged in it. Thus five of the original +thirteen states--Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and +Delaware--were constituted in the middle zone. + +As we have already observed, the westward movement of population in +the United States has largely followed the parallels of latitude, and +thus the characteristics of these three original strips or zones have, +with more or less modification, extended westward. The men of New +England, with their Portland and Salem reproduced more than 3000 miles +distant in the state of Oregon, and within 100 miles of the Pacific +Ocean, may be said in a certain sense to have realized literally the +substance of King James's grant to the Plymouth Company. It will be +noticed that the kinds of local government described in our earlier +chapters are characteristic respectively of the three original zones: +the township system being exemplified chiefly in the northern zone, +the county system in the southern zone, and the mixed township-county +system in the central zone. + +[Sidenote: House of Burgesses in Virginia.] +The London and Plymouth companies did not perish until after state +governments had been organized in the colonies already founded upon +their territories. In 1619 the colonists of Virginia, with the aid of +the more liberal spirits in the London Company, secured for themselves +a representative government; to the governor and his council, +appointed in England, there was added a general assembly composed of +two burgesses from each "plantation," [2] elected by the inhabitants. +This assembly, the first legislative body that ever sat in America, +met on the 30th of July, 1619, in the choir of the rude church at +Jamestown. The dignity of the burgesses was preserved, as in the House +of Commons, by sitting with their hats on; and after offering prayer, +and taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy, they proceeded to +enact a number of laws relating to public worship, to agriculture, and +to intercourse with the Indians. Curiously enough, so confident was +the belief of the settlers that they were founding towns, that they +called their representatives "burgesses," and down to 1776 the +assembly continued to be known as the House of "Burgesses," although +towns refused to grow in Virginia, and soon after counties were +organized in 1634 the burgesses sat for counties. Such were the +beginnings of representative government in Virginia. + +[Footnote 2: The word "plantation" is here used, not in its later and +ordinary sense, as the estate belonging to an individual planter, +but in an earlier sense. In this early usage it was equivalent to +"settlement." It was used in New England as well as in Virginia; +thus Salem was spoken of by the court of assistants in 1629 as "New +England's Plantation."] + +[Sidenote: Company of Massachusetts Bay.] +The government of Massachusetts is descended from the Dorchester +Company formed in England in 1623, for the ostensible purpose of +trading in furs and timber and catching fish on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay. After a disastrous beginning this company was +dissolved, but only to be immediately reorganized on a greater scale. +In 1628 a grant of the land between the Charles and Merrimack rivers +was obtained from the Plymouth Company; and in 1629 a charter was +obtained from Charles I. So many men from the east of England had +joined in the enterprise that it could no longer be fitly called a +Dorchester Company. The new name was significantly taken from the +New World. The charter created a corporation under the style of the +Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. The freemen +of the Company were to hold a meeting four times a year; and they were +empowered to choose a governor, a deputy governor, and a council of +eighteen assistants, who were to hold their meetings each month. They +could administer oaths of supremacy and allegiance, raise troops +for the defence of their possessions, admit new associates into the +Company, and make regulations for the management of their business, +with the vague and weak proviso that in order to be valid their +enactment must in no wise contravene the laws of England. Nothing was +said as to the place where the Company should hold its meetings, and +accordingly after a few months the Company transferred itself and +its charter to New England, in order that it might carry out its +intentions with as little interference as possible on the part of the +crown. + +Whether this transfer of the charter was legally justifiable or not +is a question which has been much debated, but with which we need not +here vex ourselves. The lawyers of the Company were shrewd enough to +know that a loosely-drawn instrument may be made to admit of great +liberty of action. Under the guise of a mere trading corporation the +Puritan leaders deliberately intended to found a civil commonwealth in +accordance with their own theories of government. + +[Sidenote: Government of Massachusetts; the General Court] +After their arrival in Massachusetts, their numbers increased so +rapidly that it became impossible to have a primary assembly of all +the freemen, and so a representative assembly was devised after the +model of the Old English county court. The representatives sat for +townships, and were called deputies. At first they sat in the same +chamber with the assistants, but in 1644 the legislative body was +divided into two chambers, the deputies forming the lower house, while +the upper was composed of the assistants, who were sometimes called +magistrates. In elections the candidates for the upper house were put +in nomination by the General Court and voted on by the freemen. In +general the assistants represented the common or central power of +the colony, while the deputies represented the interests of popular +self-government. The former was comparatively an aristocratic and the +latter a democratic body, and there were frequent disputes between the +two. + +It is worthy of note that the governing body thus constituted was at +once a legislative and a judicial body, like the English county court +which served as its model. Inferior courts were organized at an early +date in Massachusetts, but the highest judicial tribunal was the +legislature, which was known as the General Court. It still bears this +name to-day, though it long ago ceased to exercise judicial functions. + +[Sidenote: New charter of Massachusetts] +Now as the freemen of Massachusetts directly chose their governor and +deputy-governor, as well as their chamber of deputies, and also took +part in choosing their council of assistants, their government was +virtually that of an independent republic. The crown could interpose +no effective check upon its proceedings except by threatening to annul +its charter and send over a viceroy who might be backed up, if need +be, by military force. Such threats were sometimes openly made, but +oftener hinted at. They served to make the Massachusetts government +somewhat wary and circumspect, but they did not prevent it from +pursuing a very independent policy in many respects, as when, +for example, it persisted in allowing none but members of the +Congregational church to vote. This measure, by which it was intended +to preserve the Puritan policy unchanged, was extremely distasteful to +the British government. At length in 1684 the Massachusetts charter +was annulled, an attempt was made to suppress town-meetings, and the +colony was placed under a military viceroy, Sir Edmund Andros. After +a brief period of despotic rule, the Revolution in England worked a +change. In 1692 Massachusetts received a new charter, quite different +from the old one. The people were allowed to elect representatives to +the General Court, as before, but the governor and lieutenant-governor +were appointed by the crown, and all acts of the legislature were +to be sent to England for royal approval. The general government of +Massachusetts was thus, except for its possession of a charter, made +similar to that of Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Connecticut and Rhode Island] +The governments of Connecticut and Rhode Island were constructed +upon the same general plan as the first government of Massachusetts. +Governors councils, and assemblies were elected by the people. These +governments were made by the settlers themselves, after they had come +out from Massachusetts; and through a very singular combination of +circumstances[3] they were confirmed by charters granted by Charles II +in 1662, soon after his return from exile. So thoroughly republican +were these governments that they remained without change until 1818 in +Connecticut and until 1842 in Rhode Island. + +[Footnote 3: See my _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 192-196.] + + +We thus observe two kinds of state government in the American +colonies. In both kinds the people choose a representative legislative +assembly; but in the one kind they also choose their governor, while +in the other kind the governor is appointed by the crown. We have now +to observe a third kind. + + + +[Sidenote: Counties palatine in England] +[Sidenote: Charter of Maryland] +After the downfall of the two great companies founded in 1606, the +crown had a way of handing over to its friends extensive tracts of +land in America. In 1632 a charter granted by Charles I to Cecilius +Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded the palatinate colony of Maryland. To +understand the nature of this charter, we must observe that among the +counties of England there were three whose rulers from an early time +were allowed special privileges. Because Cheshire and Durham bordered +upon the hostile countries, Wales and Scotland, and needed to be ever +on the alert, their rulers, the earls of Chester and the bishops of +Durham, were clothed with almost royal powers of command, and similar +powers were afterwards granted through favouritism to the dukes of +Lancaster. The three counties were called counties palatine (i.e. +"palace counties"). Before 1600 the earldom of Chester and the duchy +of Lancaster had been absorbed by the crown, but the bishopric of +Durham remained the type of an almost independent state, and the +colony palatine of Maryland was modelled after it. The charter of +Maryland conferred upon Lord Baltimore the most extensive privileges +ever bestowed by the British crown upon any subject. He was made +absolute lord of the land and water within his boundaries, could erect +towns, cities, and ports, make war or peace, call the whole fighting +population to arms and declare martial law, levy tolls and duties, +establish courts of justice, appoint judges, magistrates, and other +civil officers, execute the laws, and pardon offenders. He could erect +manors, with courts-baron and courts-leet, and confer titles and +dignities, so that they differed from those of England. He could make +laws with the assent of the freemen of the province, and, in cases of +emergency, ordinances not impairing life, limb, or property, without +their assent. He could found churches and chapels, have them +consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of England, and +appoint the incumbents.[4] For his territory and these royal powers +Lord Baltimore was to send over to the palace at Windsor a tribute of +two Indian arrows yearly, and to reserve for the king one fifth part +of such gold and silver as he might happen to get by mining. "The king +furthermore bound himself and his successors to lay no taxes, customs, +subsidies, or contributions whatever upon the people of the province, +and in case of any such demand being made, the charter expressly +declared that this clause might be pleaded as a discharge in full." +Maryland was thus almost an independent state. Baltimore's title was +Lord Proprietary of Maryland, and his title and powers were made +hereditary in his family, so that he was virtually a feudal king. His +rule, however, was effectually limited. The government of Maryland was +carried on by a governor and a two-chambered legislature. The governor +and the members of the upper house of the legislature were appointed +by the lord proprietary, but the lower house of the legislature was +elected, here as elsewhere, by the people; and in accordance with +time-honoured English custom all taxation must originate in the lower +house, which represented the people. + +[Footnote 4: Browne's _Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, p. +19.] + +[Sidenote: Charter of Pennsylvania.] +[Sidenote: Mason and Dixon's line] +Half a century after the founding of Maryland, similar though somewhat +less extensive proprietary powers were granted by Charles II. to +William Penn, and under them the colony of Pennsylvania was founded +and Delaware was purchased. Pennsylvania and Delaware had each its +house of representatives elected by the people; but there was only one +governor and council for the two colonies. The governor and council +were appointed by the lord proprietary, and as the council confined +itself to advising the governor and did not take part in legislation, +there was no upper house. The legislature was one-chambered. The +office of lord proprietary was hereditary in the Penn family. For +about eighty years the Penns and Calverts quarrelled, like true +sovereigns, about the boundary-line between their principalities, +until in 1763 the matter was finally settled. A line was agreed upon, +and the survey was made by two distinguished mathematicians, Charles +Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The line ran westward 244 miles from the +Delaware River, and every fifth milestone was engraved with the arms +of Penn on the one side and those of Calvert on the other. In later +times, after all the states north of Maryland had abolished slavery, +Mason and Dixon's line became famous as the boundary between slave +states and free states. + +[Sidenote: Other proprietary governments.] +At first there were other proprietary colonies besides those just +mentioned, but in course of time the rights or powers of their lords +proprietary were resumed by the crown. When New Netherland was +conquered from the Dutch it was granted to the duke of York as lord +proprietary; but after one-and-twenty years the duke ascended the +throne as James II., and so the part of the colony which he had kept +became the royal province of New York. The part which he had sold to +Berkeley and Carteret remained for a while the proprietary colony of +New Jersey, sometimes under one government, sometimes divided between +two; but the rule of the lords proprietary was very unpopular, and in +1702 their rights were surrendered to the crown. The Carolinas and +Georgia were also at first proprietary colonies, but after a while +they willingly came under the direct sway of the crown. In general the +proprietary governments were unpopular because the lords proprietary, +who usually lived in England and visited their colonies but seldom, +were apt to regard their colonies simply as sources of personal +income. This was not the case with William Penn, or the earlier +Calverts, or with James Oglethorpe, the illustrious founder of +Georgia; but it was too often the case. So long as the lord's rents, +fees, and other emoluments were duly collected, he troubled himself +very little as to what went on in the colony. If that had been all, +the colony would have troubled itself very little about him. But the +governor appointed by this absentee master was liable to be more +devoted to his interests than to those of the people, and the civil +service was seriously damaged by worthless favourites sent over from +England for whom the governor was expected to find some office that +would pay them a salary. On the whole, it seemed less unsatisfactory +to have the governors appointed by the crown; and so before the +Revolutionary War all the proprietary governments had fallen, except +those of the Penns and the Calverts, which doubtless survived because +they were the best organized and best administered. + +[Sidenote: At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of +colonial government: 1. Republican, 2. Proprietary, 3. Royal.] +There were thus at the time of the Revolutionary War three forms of +state government in the American colonies. There were, _first_, +the Republican colonies, in which the governors were elected by the +people, as in Rhode Island and Connecticut; _secondly,_the +Proprietary colonies, in which the governors were appointed by +hereditary proprietors, as in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; +_thirdly_, the Royal colonies,[5] in which the governors were +appointed by the crown, as in Georgia, the two Carolinas, Virginia, +New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. It is +customary to distinguish the Republican colonies as _Charter_ +colonies, but that is not an accurate distinction, inasmuch as the +Proprietary colonies also had charters. And among the Royal colonies, +Massachusetts, having been originally a republic, still had a charter +in which her rights were so defined as to place her in a somewhat +different position from the other Royal colonies; so that Prof. +Alexander Johnston, with some reason, puts her in a class by herself +as a _Semi-royal_ colony. + +[Footnote 5: Or, as they were sometimes called, Royal +_provinces._ In the history of Massachusetts many writers +distinguish the period before 1692 as the _colonial_ period, and +the period 1692 to 1774 as the _provincial_ period.] + +[Sidenote: In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which +alone could impose taxes.] +These differences, it will be observed, related to the character and +method of filling the governor's office. In the Republican colonies +the governor naturally represented the interests of the people, in the +Proprietary colonies he was the agent of the Penns or the Calverts, +in the Royal colonies he was the agent of the king. All the thirteen +colonies alike had a legislative assembly elected by the people. The +basis of representation might be different in different colonies, +as we have seen that in Massachusetts the delegates represented +townships, whereas in Virginia they represented counties; but in all +alike the assembly was a truly representative body, and in all alike +it was the body that controlled the expenditure of public money. These +representative assemblies arose spontaneously because the founders of +the American colonies were Englishmen used from time immemorial to tax +themselves and govern themselves. As they had been wont to vote for +representatives in England, instead of leaving things to be controlled +by the king, so now they voted for representatives in Maryland or New +York, instead of leaving things to be controlled by the governor. The +spontaneousness of all this is quaintly and forcibly expressed by the +great Tory historian Hutchinson, who tells us that in the year 1619 a +house of burgesses _broke out_ in Virginia! as if it had been the +mumps, or original sin, or any of those things that people cannot help +having. + +[Sidenote: The governor's council was a kind of upper house.] +This representative assembly was the lower house in the colonial +legislatures. The governor always had a council to advise with him and +assist him in his executive duties, in imitation of the king's privy +council in England. But in nearly all the colonies this council took +part in the work of legislation, and thus sat as an upper house, with +more or less power of reviewing and amending the acts of the assembly. +In Pennsylvania, as already observed, the council refrained from this +legislative work, and so, until some years after the Revolution, the +Pennsylvania legislature was one-chambered. The members of the council +were appointed in different ways, sometimes by the king or the lord +proprietary, or, as in Massachusetts, by the outgoing legislature, or, +as in Connecticut, they were elected by the people. + +[Sidenote: The colonial government was like the English system in +miniature.] +Thus all the colonies had a government framed after the model to which +the people had been accustomed in England. It was like the English +system in miniature, the governor answering to the king, and the +legislature, usually two-chambered, answering to parliament. And as +quarrels between king and parliament were not uncommon, so quarrels +between governor and legislature were very frequent indeed, except +in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The royal governors, representing +British imperial ideas rather than American ideas, were sure to come +into conflict with the popular assemblies, and sometimes became +the objects of bitter popular hatred. The disputes were apt to be +concerned with questions in which taxation was involved, such as +the salaries of crown officers, the appropriations for war with +the Indians, and so on. Such disputes bred more or less popular +discontent, but the struggle did not become flagrant so long as the +British parliament refrained from meddling with it. + + + +[Sidenote: The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament;] +The Americans never regarded parliament as possessing any rightful +authority over their internal affairs. When the earliest colonies were +founded, it was the general theory that the American wilderness was +part of the king's private domain and not subject to the control of +parliament. This theory lived on in America, but died out in England. +On the one hand the Americans had their own legislatures, which stood +to them in the place of parliament. The authority of parliament was +derived from the fact that it was a representative body, but it did +not represent Americans. Accordingly the Americans held that the +relation of each American colony to Great Britain was like the +relation between England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. +England and Scotland then had the same king, but separate parliaments, +and the English parliament could not make laws for Scotland. Such is +the connection between Sweden and Norway at the present day; they have +the same king, but each country legislates for itself. So the American +colonists held that Virginia, for example, and Great Britain had the +same king, but each its independent legislature; and so with the +other colonies,--there were thirteen parliaments in America, each as +sovereign within its own sphere as the parliament at Westminster, and +the latter had no more right to tax the people of Massachusetts than +the Massachusetts legislature had to tax the people of Virginia. + +In one respect, however, the Americans did admit that parliament had a +general right of supervision over all parts of the British empire.[6] +Maritime commerce seemed to be as much the affair of one part of the +empire as another, and it seemed right that it should be regulated by +the central parliament at Westminster. Accordingly the Americans did +not resist custom-house taxes as long as they seemed to be imposed +for purely commercial purposes; but they were quick to resist direct +taxation, and custom-house taxes likewise, as soon as these began to +form a part of schemes for extending the authority of parliament over +the colonies. + +[Footnote 6: except in the regulation of maritime commerce.] + +In England, on the other hand, this theory that the Americans were +subject to the king's authority but not to that of parliament +naturally became unintelligible after the king himself had become +virtually subject to parliament.[7] The Stuart kings might call +themselves kings by the grace of God, but since 1688 the sovereigns of +Great Britain owe their seat upon the throne to an act of parliament. + +[Footnote 7: In England there grew up the theory of the imperial +supremacy of parliament.] + +To suppose that the king's American subjects were not amenable to the +authority of parliament seemed like supposing that a stream could rise +higher than its source. Besides, after 1700 the British empire began +to expand in all parts of the world, and the business of parliament +became more and more imperial. It could make laws for the East India +Company; why not, then, for the Company of Massachusetts Bay? + +[Sidenote: Conflict between the British and the American theories was +precipitated by George III.] +Thus the American theory of the situation was irreconcilable with +the British theory, and when parliament in 1765, with no unfriendly +purpose, began laying taxes upon the Americans, thus invading the +province of the colonial legislatures, the Americans refused to +submit. The ensuing quarrel might doubtless have been peacefully +adjusted, had not the king, George III., happened to be entertaining +political schemes which were threatened with ruin if the Americans +should get a fair hearing for their side of the case.[8] Thus +political intrigue came in to make the situation hopeless. When a +state of things arises, with which men's established methods of civil +government are incompetent to deal, men fall back upon the primitive +method which was in vogue before civil government began to exist. +They fight it out; and so we had our Revolutionary War, and became +separated politically from Great Britain. It is worthy of note, in +this connection, that the last act of parliament, which brought +matters to a crisis, was the so-called Regulating Act of April, 1774, +the purpose of which was to change the government of Massachusetts. +This act provided that members of the council should be appointed by +the royal governor, that they should be paid by the crown and thus +be kept subservient to it, that the principal executive and judicial +officers should be likewise paid by the crown, and that town-meetings +should be prohibited except for the sole purpose of electing town +officers. Other unwarrantable acts were passed at the same time, but +this was the worst. Troops were sent over to aid in enforcing this +act, the people of Massachusetts refused to recognize its validity, +and out of this political situation came the battles of Lexington and +Bunker Hill. + +[Footnote 8: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-64, 69-71 +(Riverside Library for Young People).] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Various claims to North America:-- + + a. Spanish. + b. English. + c. French. + +2. What was needed to make such claims of any value? + +3. The London and Plymouth companies:-- + + a. The time and purpose of their organization. + b. The grant to the London Company. + c. The grant to the Plymouth Company. + d. The magnitude of the zones granted. + e. The peculiar provisions for the intermediate zone. + f. First attempts at settlement. + +4. To what important principle of the common charter of these +two companies did the colonists persistently cling? + +5. The influence of these short-lived companies upon the settlement +and government of the United States:-- + + a. A review of the zones and their assignment. + b. The states of the northern zone and their origin. + c. The states of the southern zone and their origin. + d. The states of the middle zone and their origin. + e. The influence of the movement of population on local + government in each zone. + +6. Early state government in Virginia:-- + + a. The part appointed and the part elected. + b. The first legislative body in America. + c. The dignity of its members. + d. The reason for the name "House of Burgesses." + +7. Early state government in Massachusetts:-- + + a. The Dorchester Company. + b. The government provided for the Company of Massachusetts + Bay by its charter. + c. The real purpose of the Puritan leaders. + d. The change from the primary assembly of freemen to the + representative assembly. + e. The division of this assembly into two houses, with a comparison + of the houses. + f. The reason for the name "General Court." + g. The loss of the charter and the causes that led to it. + h. The new charter as compared with the old. + +8. Compare the early governments of Connecticut and Rhode +Island with the first government of Massachusetts. + +9. What two kinds of state government have thus far been +observed? + +10. Early state government in Maryland:-- + + a. The favouritism of the crown as shown in land grants. + b. The palatine counties of England. + c. The bishopric of Durham the model of the colony of + Maryland. + d. The extraordinary privileges granted Lord Baltimore. + e. The tribute to be paid in return. + f. The ruler a feudal long. + g. Limitations of the ruler's power. + +11. Early state government in Pennsylvania and Delaware:-- + + a. The powers of Penn as compared with those of Calvert. + b. One governor and council, + c. The legislature of each colony. + d. The quarrels of the Penns and Calverts. + e. Mason and Dixon's line. + +12. What other proprietary governments were organized, and +what was their fate? + +13. Why were proprietary governments unpopular? (Note the +exceptions, however.) + +14. Classify and define the forms of colonial government in existence +at the beginning of the Revolution. + +15. Show that these forms differed chiefly in respect to the governor's +office. + +16. A representative assembly in each of the thirteen colonies:-- + + a. The basis of representation. + b. The control of the public money. + c. The spontaneousness of the representative assembly. + +17. The governor's council:-- + + a. The custom in England. + b. The council as an upper house. + c. The council in Pennsylvania. + +18. Compare the colonial systems with the British (1) in organization +and (2) in the nature of their political quarrels. + + +19. What was the American theory of the relation of each colony +to the British parliament? + +20. What was the American attitude towards maritime regulations? + +21. What was the British theory of the relation of the American +colonies to parliament? + +22. How was the Revolutionary War brought on? + +23. Describe the last act of parliament that brought matters to a +crisis. + + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments.] +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence.] +During the earlier part of the Revolutionary War most of the states +had some kind of provisional government. The case of Massachusetts +may serve as an illustration. There, as in the other colonies, the +governor had the power of dissolving the assembly. This was like the +king's power of dissolving parliament in the days of the Stuarts. +It was then a dangerous power. In modern England there is nothing +dangerous in a dissolution of parliament; on the contrary, it is a +useful device for ascertaining the wishes of the people, for a new +House of Commons must be elected immediately. But in old times the +king would turn his parliament out of doors, and as long as he could +beg, borrow, or steal enough money to carry on government according to +his own notions, he would not order a new election. Fortunately such +periods were not very long. The latest instance was in the reign of +Charles I, who got on without a parliament from 1629 to 1640.[9] In +the American colonies the dissolution of the assembly by the governor +was not especially dangerous, but it sometimes made mischief by +delaying needed legislation. During the few years preceding the +Revolution, the assemblies were so often dissolved that it became +necessary for the people to devise some new way of getting their +representatives together to act for the colony. In Massachusetts this +end was attained by the famous "Committees of Correspondence." No one +could deny that town-meetings were legal, or that the people of +one township had a right to ask advice from the people of another +township. Accordingly each township appointed a committee to +correspond or confer with committees from other townships. This system +was put into operation by Samuel Adams in 1772, and for the next two +years the popular resistance to the crown was organized by these +committees. For example, before the tea was thrown into Boston +harbour, the Boston committee sought and received advice from every +township in Massachusetts, and the treatment of the tea-ships was from +first to last directed by the committees of Boston and five neighbour +towns. + +[Footnote: 9: The kings of France contrived to get along without a +representative assembly from 1614 to 1789, and during this long period +abuses so multiplied that the meeting of the States-General in 1789 +precipitated the great revolution which overthrew the monarchy.] + +[Sidenote: Provincial Congress] +In 1774 a further step was taken. As parliament had overthrown the old +government, and sent over General Gage as military governor, to put +its new system into operation, the people defied and ignored Gage, and +the townships elected delegates to meet together in what was called a +"Provincial Congress." The president of this congress was the chief +provincial executive officer of the commonwealth, and there was a +small executive council, known as the "Committee of Safety." + +[Sidenote: Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents."] +This provisional government lasted about a year. In the summer of +1775 the people went further. They fell back upon their charter and +proceeded to carry on their government as it had been carried on +before 1774, except that the governor was left out altogether. The +people in town-meeting elected their representatives to a general +assembly, as of old, and this assembly chose a council of twenty-eight +members to sit as an upper house. The president of the council was the +foremost executive officer of the commonwealth, but he had not the +powers of a governor. He was no more the governor than the president +of our federal senate is the president of the United States. The +powers of the governor were really vested in the council, which was +an executive as well as a legislative body, and the president was +its chairman. Indeed, the title "president" is simply the Latin for +"chairman," he who "presides" or "sits before" an assembly. In 1775 +it was a more modest title than "governor," and had not the smack of +semi-royalty which lingered about the latter. Governors had made so +much trouble that people were distrustful of the office, and at first +it was thought that the council would be quite sufficient for the +executive work that was to be done. Several of the states thus +organized their governments with a council at the head instead of +a governor; and hence in reading about that period one often comes +across the title "president," somewhat loosely used as if equivalent +to governor. Thus in 1787 we find Benjamin Franklin called "president +of Pennsylvania," meaning "president of the council of Pennsylvania." +But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory and did not last long. +It soon appeared that for executive work one man is better than a +group of men. In Massachusetts, in 1780, the old charter was replaced +by a new written constitution, under which was formed the state +government which, with some emendations in detail, has continued to +the present day. Before the end of the eighteenth century all the +states except Connecticut and Rhode Island, which, had always been +practically Independent, thus remodelled their governments. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the Senates.] +These changes, however, were very conservative. The old form of +government was closely followed. First there was the governor, elected +in some states by the legislature, in others by the people. Then there +was the two-chambered legislature, of which the lower house was the +same institution after the Revolution that it had been before. The +upper house, or council, was retained, but in a somewhat altered +form. The Americans had been used to having the acts of their popular +assemblies reviewed by a council, and so they retained this revisory +body as an upper house. But the fashion of copying names and titles +from the ancient Roman republic was then prevalent, and accordingly +the upper house was called a Senate. There was a higher property +qualification for senators than for representatives, and generally +their terms of service were longer. In some states they were chosen by +the people, in others by the lower house. In Maryland they were chosen +by a special college of electors, an arrangement which was copied in +our federal government in the election of the president of the United +States. In most of the states there was a lieutenant-governor, as +there had been in the colonial period, to serve in case of the +governor's death or incapacity; ordinarily the lieutenant-governor +presided over the senate. + +[Sidenote: Likenesses and differences between British and American +systems.] +Thus our state governments came to be repetitions on a small scale of +the king, lords, and commons of England. The governor answered to the +king, with his dignity very much curtailed by election for a short +period. The senate answered to the House of Lords except in being a +representative and not a hereditary body. It was supposed to represent +more especially that part of the community which was possessed of most +wealth and consideration; and in several states the senators were +apportioned with some reference to the amount of taxes paid by +different parts of the state.[10] When New York made its senate a +supreme court of appeal, it was in deliberate imitation of the House +of Lords. On the other hand, the House of Representatives answered to +the House of Commons as it used to be in the days when its power was +really limited by that of the upper house and the king. At the present +day the English of Commons is a supreme body. In case of a serious +difference with the House of Lords, the upper house must yield, or +else new peers will be created in sufficient number to reverse its +vote; and the lords always yield before this point is reached. So, +too, though the veto power of the sovereign has never been explicitly +abolished, it has not been exercised since 1707, and would not now be +tolerated for a moment. In America there is no such supreme body. The +bill passed by the lower house may be thrown out by the upper house, +or if it passes both it may be vetoed by the governor; and unless the +bill can again pass both houses by more than a simple majority, the +veto will stand. In most of the states a two-thirds vote in the +affirmative is required. + +[Footnote 10: See my _Critical Period of American History_, p. +68.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. The dissolution of assemblies and parliaments:-- + + a. The governor's power over the assembly in the colonies. + b. The king's power over parliament in England. + c. The danger of dissolution in the time of the Stuarts. + d. The safety of dissolution in modern England. + e. The frequency of dissolution before the Revolution. + +2. Representation of the people in the provisional government +of Massachusetts:-- + + a. The committees of correspondence. + b. Their function, with an illustration from the "tea-ships." + c. The provincial congress. + d. The committee of safety. + e. The return to the two-chambered legislature of the charter. + +3. Executive powers in the provisional government of Massachusetts;-- + + a. The foremost executive officer. + b. Where the power of governor was really vested. + c. Why the name of president was preferred to that of governor. + d. The example of Massachusetts followed elsewhere. + e. The end of provisional government in 1780. + +4. The council transformed to a senate:-- + + a. The principle of reviewing the acts of the popular assembly. + b. The borrowing of Roman names. + c. The qualifications and service of senators. + d. The lieutenant-governor. + +5. Our state governments patterned after the government of +England:-- + + a. The governor and the king. + b. The Senate and the House of Lords. + c. The House of Representatives and the House of Commons. + d. Some differences between the British system and the American. + + + +Section 3. _The State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Later modifications.] +During the present century our state governments have undergone +more or less revision, chiefly in the way of abolishing property +qualifications for offices making the suffrage universal, and electing +officers that were formerly appointed. Only in Delaware does there +still remain a property qualification for senators. There is no longer +any distinction in principle between the upper and lower houses of the +legislature. Both represent population, the usual difference being +that the senate consists of fewer members who represent larger +districts. Usually, too, the term of the representatives is two years, +and the whole house is elected at the same time, while the term of +senators is four years, and half the number are elected every two +years. This system of two-chambered legislatures is probably retained +chiefly through a spirit of conservatism, because it is what we +are used to. But it no doubt has real advantages in checking hasty +legislation. People are always wanting to have laws made about all +sorts of things, and in nine cases out of ten their laws would be +pernicious laws; so that it is well not to have legislation made too +easy. + +[Sidenote: The suffrage.] +The suffrage by which the legislature is elected is almost universal. +It is given in all the states to all male citizens who have reached +the age of one-and-twenty. In many it is given also to _denizens_ +of foreign birth who have declared an intention of becoming citizens. +In some it is given without further specification to every male +_inhabitant_ of voting age. Residence in the state for some +period, varying from three months to two years and a half, is also +generally required; sometimes a certain length of residence in the +county, the town, or even in the voting precinct, is prescribed. In +many of the states it is necessary to have paid one's poll-tax. There +is no longer any property qualification, though there was until +recently in Rhode Island, Criminals, idiots, and lunatics are excluded +from the suffrage. Some states also exclude duellists and men who bet +on elections. Connecticut and Massachusetts shut out persons who are +unable to read. In no other country has access to citizenship and the +suffrage been made so easy. + +[Sidenote: Separation between legislation and the executive.] +A peculiar feature of American governments, and something which it is +hard for Europeans to understand, is the almost complete separation +between the executive and the legislative departments. In European +countries the great executive officers are either members of the +legislature, or at all events have the right to be present at its +meetings and take part in its discussions; and as they generally have +some definite policy by which they are to stand or fall, they are wont +to initiate legislation and to guide the course of the discussion. But +in America the legislatures, having no such central points about which +to rally their forces, carry on their work in an aimless, rambling +sort of way, through the agency of many standing committees. When +a measure is proposed it is referred to one of the committees for +examination before the house will have anything to do with it. Such a +preliminary examination is of course necessary where there is a vast +amount of legislative work going on. But the private and disconnected +way in which our committee work is done tends to prevent full and +instructive discussion in the house, to make the mass of legislation, +always chaotic enough, somewhat more chaotic, and to facilitate the +various evil devices of lobbying and log-rolling. + +In pointing out this inconvenience attendant upon the American plan of +separating the executive and legislative departments, I must not be +understood as advocating the European plan as preferable for this +country. The evils that inevitably flow from any fundamental change in +the institutions of a country are apt to be much more serious than the +evils which the change is intended to remove. Political government is +like a plant; a little watering and pruning do very well for it, but +the less its roots are fooled with, the better. In the American system +of government the independence of the executive department, with +reference to the legislative, is fundamental; and on the whole it is +eminently desirable. One of the most serious of the dangers which +beset democratic government, especially where it is conducted on a +great scale, is the danger that the majority for the time being will +use its power tyrannically and unscrupulously, as it is always tempted +to do. Against such unbridled democracy we have striven to guard +ourselves by various constitutional checks and balances. Our written +constitutions and our Supreme Court are important safeguards, as +will be shown below. The independence of our executives is another +important safeguard. But if our executive departments were mere +committees of the legislature--like the English cabinet, for +example--this independence could not possibly be maintained; and the +loss of it would doubtless entail upon us evils far greater than those +which mow flow from want of leadership in our legislatures.[11] + +[Footnote 11: In two admirable essays on "Cabinet Responsibility and +the Constitution," and "Democracy and the Constitution," Mr. Lawrence +Lowell has convincingly argued that the American system is best +adapted to the circumstances of this country. Lowell, _Essays on +Government_, pp. 20-117, Boston, 1890.] + +We must remember that government is necessarily a cumbrous affair, +however conducted. + +The only occasion on which the governor is a part of the legislature +is when he signs or vetoes a bill. Then he is virtually in himself +a third house.[12] As an executive officer the governor is far less +powerful than in the colonial times. We shall see the reason of +this after we have enumerated some of the principal offices in the +executive department. There is always a secretary of state, whose main +duty is to make and keep the records of state transactions. There is +always a state treasurer, and usually a state auditor or comptroller +to examine the public accounts and issue the warrants without which +the treasurer cannot pay out a penny of the state's money. There is +almost always an attorney-general, to appear for the state in the +supreme court in all cases in which the state is a party, and in +all prosecutions for capital offences. He also exercises some +superintendence over the district attorneys, and acts as legal adviser +to the governors and the legislature. There is also in many states +a superintendent of education; and in some there are boards of +education, of health, of lunacy and charity, bureau of agriculture, +commissioners of prisons, of railroads, of mines, of harbours, of +immigration, and so on. Sometimes such boards are appointed by the +governor, but such officers as the secretary of state, the treasurer, +auditor, and attorney-general are, in almost all the states, elected +by the people. They are not responsible to the governor, but to the +people who elect them. They are not subordinate to the governor, but +are rather his colleagues. Strictly speaking, the governor is not the +head of the executive department, but a member of it. The executive +department is parcelled out in several pieces, and his is one of the +pieces. + +[Footnote 12: The state executive.] + +[Sidenote: The governor's functions: 1. Advisor of legislature. 2. +Commander of state militia. 3. Royal prerogative of pardon. 4. Veto power.] +The ordinary functions of the governor are four in number. 1. He +sends a message to the legislature, at the beginning of each session, +recommending such measures as he would like to see embodied in +legislation. 2. He is commander-in-chief of the state militia, and as +such can assist the sheriff of a county in putting down a riot, or +the President of the United States, in the event of a war. On such +occasions the governor may become a personage of immense importance, +as, for example, in our Civil War, when President Lincoln's demands +for troops met with such prompt response from the men who will be +known to history as the great "war governors." 3. The governor is +invested with the royal prerogative of pardoning criminals, or +commuting the sentences pronounced upon them by the courts. This power +belongs to kings in accordance with the old feudal notion that the +king was the source or fountain of justice. When properly used it +affords an opportunity for rectifying some injustice for which the +ordinary machinery of the law could not provide, or for making such +allowances for extraordinary circumstances as the court could not +properly consider. In our country it is too often improperly used to +enable the worst criminals to escape due punishment, just because +it is a disagreeable duty to hang them. Such misplaced clemency is +pleasant for the murderers, but it makes life less secure for honest +men and women, and in the less civilized regions of our country it +encourages lynch law. 4. In all the states except Rhode Island, +Delaware, Ohio, and North Carolina, the governor has a veto upon the +acts of the legislature, as above explained; and in ordinary times +this power, which is not executive but legislative, is probably the +governor's most important and considerable power. In thirteen of +the states the governor can veto particular items in a bill for the +appropriation of public money, while at the same time he approves +the rest of the bill. This is a most important safeguard against +corruption, because where the governor does not have this power it is +possible to make appropriations for unworthy or scandalous purposes +along with appropriations for matters of absolute necessity, and then +to lump them all together in the same bill, so that the governor must +either accept the bad along with the good or reject the good along +with the bad. It is a great gain when the governor can select the +items and veto some while approving others. In such matters the +governor is often more honest and discreet than the legislature, if +for no other reason, because he is one man, and responsibility can be +fixed upon him more clearly than upon two or three hundred. + +Such, in brief outline, is the framework of the American state +governments. But our account would be very incomplete without some +mention of three points, all of them especially characteristic of +the American state, and likely to be overlooked or misunderstood by +Europeans. + +[Sidenote: In building the state, the local self-government was left +unimpaired.] +_First_, while we have rapidly built up one of the greatest +empires yet seen upon the earth, we have left our self-government +substantially unimpaired in the process. This is exemplified in +two ways: first, in the relationship of the state to its towns +and counties, and, secondly, in its relationship to the federal +government. Over the township and county governments the state +exercises a general supervision; indeed, it clothes them with their +authority. Townships and counties have no sovereignty; the state, on +the other hand, has many elements of sovereignty, but it does not use +them to obliterate or unduly restrict the control of the townships +and counties over their own administrative work. It leaves the local +governments to administer themselves. As a rule there is only just +enough state supervision to harmonize the working of so many local +administrations. Such a system of government comes as near as possible +toward making all American citizens participate actively in the +management of public affairs. It generates and nourishes a public +spirit and a universal acquaintance with matters of public interest +such as has probably never before been seen in any great country. +Public spirit of equal or greater intensity may have been witnessed +in small and highly educated communities, such as ancient Athens or +mediaeval Florence, but in the United States it is diffused over an +area equal to the whole of Europe. Among the leading countries of the +world England is the one which comes nearest to the United States +in the general diffusion of enlightened public spirit and political +capacity throughout all classes of society. + +[Sidenote: Instructive contrast with France.] +A very notable contrast to the self-government which has produced such +admirable results is to be seen in France, and as contrasts are +often instructive, let me mention one or two features of the French +government. There is nothing like the irregularity and spontaneity +there that we have observed in our survey of the United States. +Everything is symmetrical. France is divided into eighty-nine +_departments_, most of them larger than the state of Delaware, +some of them nearly as large as Connecticut, and the administration +of one department is exactly like that of all the others. The chief +officer of the department is the prefect, who is appointed by +the minister of the interior at Paris. The prefect is treasurer, +recruiting officer, school superintendent, all in one, and he appoints +nearly all inferior officers. The department has a council, elected +by universal suffrage, but it has no power of assessing taxes. The +central legislature in Paris decides for it how much money it shall +use and how it shall raise it. The department council is not even +allowed to express its views on political matters; it can only attend +to purely local details of administration. + +The smallest civil division in France is the _commune_, which may +be either rural or urban. The commune has a municipal council which +elects a mayor; but when once elected the mayor becomes directly +responsible to the prefect of the department, and through him to the +minister of the interior. If these greater officers do not like what +the mayor does, they can overrule his acts or even suspend him from +office; or upon their complaint the President of the Republic can +remove him. + +[Sidenote: In France whether it is nominally a despotic empire or a +republic at the top, there is scarcely any self-government at the +bottom. Hence government there rests on an insecure foundation.] +Thus in France people do not manage their own affairs, but they are +managed for them by a hierarchy of officials with its head at Paris. +This system was devised by the Constituent Assembly in 1790 and +wrought into completeness by Napoleon in 1800. The men who devised +it in 1790 actually supposed that they were inaugurating a system or +political freedom(!), and unquestionably it was a vast improvement +upon the wretched system which it supplanted; but as contrasted with +American methods and institutions, it is difficult to call it anything +else than a highly centralized despotism. It has gone on without +essential change through all the revolutions which have overtaken +France since 1800. The people have from time to time overthrown an +unpopular government at Paris, but they have never assumed the direct +control of their own affairs. + +Hence it is commonly remarked that while the general intelligence +of the French people is very high, their intelligence in political +matters is, comparatively speaking, very low. Some persons try to +explain this by a reference to peculiarities of race. But if we +Americans were to set about giving to the state governments things +to do that had better be done by counties and towns, and giving the +federal government things to do that had better be done by the states, +it would not take many generations to dull the keen edge of our +political capacity. We should lose it as inevitably as the most +consummate of pianists will lose his facility if he stops practising. +It is therefore a fact of cardinal importance that in the United +States the local governments of township, county, and city are left to +administer themselves instead of being administered by a great bureau +with its head at the state capital. In a political society thus +constituted from the beginning it has proved possible to build up +our Federal Union, in which the states, while for certain purposes +indissolubly united, at the same time for many other purposes retain +their self-government intact. As in the case of other aggregates, the +nature of the American political aggregate has been determined by the +nature of its political units. + +[Sidenote: Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the +American Union.] +_Secondly_, let us observe how great are the functions retained +by our states under the conditions of our Federal Union. The +powers granted to our federal government, such as the control over +international questions, war and peace, the military forces, the +coinage, patents and copyrights, and the regulation of commerce +between the states and with foreign countries,--all these are powers +relating to matters that affect all the states, but could not be +regulated harmoniously by the separate action of the states. In order +the more completely to debar the states from meddling with such +matters, they are expressly prohibited from entering into agreements +with each other or with a foreign power; they cannot engage in war, +save in case of actual invasion or such imminent danger as admits of +no delay; without consent of Congress they cannot keep a military or +naval force in time of peace, or impose custom-house duties. Besides +all this they are prohibited from granting titles of nobility, coining +money, emitting bills of credit, making anything but gold and silver +coin a tender in payment of debts, passing bills of attainder, _ex +post facto_ laws, or laws impairing the obligation of contracts. +The force of these latter restrictions will be explained hereafter. +Such are the limitations of sovereignty imposed upon the states within +the Federal Union. + +Compared with the vast prerogatives of the state legislatures, these +limitations seem small enough. All the civil and religious rights +of our citizens depend upon state legislation; the education of the +people is in the care of the states; with them rests the regulation +of the suffrage; they prescribe the rules of marriage, the legal +relations of husband and wife, of parent and child; they determine the +powers of masters over servants and the whole law of principal and +agent, which is so vital a matter in all business transactions; they +regulate partnership, debt and credit, insurance; they constitute all +corporations, both private and municipal, except such as specially +fulfill the financial or other specific functions of the federal +government; they control the possession, distribution, and use of +property, the exercise of trades, and all contract relations; and they +formulate and administer all criminal law, except only that which +concerns crimes committed against the United States, on the high seas, +or against the law of nations. Space would fail in which to enumerate +the particulars of this vast range of power; to detail its parts would +be to catalogue all social and business relationships, to examine all +the foundations of law and order.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Woodrow Wilson, _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, p. 437.] + +This enumeration, by Mr. Woodrow Wilson, is so much to the point that I +content myself with transcribing it. A very remarkable illustration of +the preponderant part played by state law in America is given by Mr. +Wilson, in pursuance of the suggestion of Mr. Franklin Jameson.[14] +Consider the most important subjects of legislation in England during +the present century, the subjects which make up almost the entire +constitutional history of England for eighty years. These subjects are +Catholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, +the amendment of the poor-laws, the reform of municipal corporations, +the repeal of the corn laws, the admission of Jews to parliament, the +disestablishment of the Irish church, the alteration of the Irish land +laws, the establishment of national education, the introduction of the +ballot, and the reform of the criminal law. In the United States only +two of these twelve great subjects could be dealt with by the federal +government: the repeal of the corn laws, as being a question of national +revenue and custom-house duties, and the abolition of slavery, by virtue +of a constitutional amendment embodying some of the results of our Civil +War. All the other questions enumerated would have to be dealt with by +our state governments; and before the war that was the case with the +slavery question also. A more vivid illustration could not be asked for. + +[Footnote 14: Jameson, "The Study of the Constitutional +History of the States" _J.H.U. Studies_, IV., v.] + +How complete is the circle of points in which the state touches the +life of the American citizen, we may see in the fact that our +state courts make a complete judiciary system, from top to bottom +independent of the federal courts.[15] An appeal may be carried from +a state court to a federal court in cases which are found to involve +points of federal law, or in suits arising between citizens of +different states, or where foreign ambassadors are concerned. Except +for such cases the state courts make up a complete judiciary world of +their own, quite outside the sphere of the United States courts. + +[Footnote 15: Independence of the state courts.] + +[Sidenote: Constitution of the state courts.] +We have already had something to say about courts in connection with +those primitive areas for the administration of justice, the hundred +and the county. In our states there are generally four grades of +courts. There are, first, the _justices of the peace _, with +jurisdiction over "petty police offences and civil suits for trifling +sums." They also conduct preliminary hearings in cases where persons +are accused of serious crimes, and when the evidence seems to warrant +it they may commit the accused person for trial before a higher court. +The mayor's court in a city usually has jurisdiction similar to that +of justices of the peace. Secondly, there are _county_ and +_municipal courts_, which hear appeals from justices of the peace +and from mayor's courts, and have original jurisdiction over a more +important grade of civil and criminal cases. Thirdly, there are +_superior courts_, having original jurisdiction over the most +important cases and over wider of the state areas of country, so that +they do not confine their sessions to one place, but move about from +place to place, like the English _justices in eyre_. Cases are +carried up, on appeal, from the lower to the superior court. Fourthly, +there is in every state a _supreme court_, which generally has no +original jurisdiction, but only hears appeals from the decisions of +the other courts. In New York there is a "supremest" court, styled +the _court of appeals_, which has the power of revising sundry +judgments of the supreme court; and there is something similar in New +Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana.[16] + +[Footnote 16: Wilson. The State, pp. 509-513.] + +[Sidenote: Elective and appointive judges.] +In the thirteen colonies the judges were appointed by the governor, +with or without the consent of the council, and they held office +during life or good behaviour. Among the changes made in our state +constitutions since the Revolution, there have been few more important +than those which have affected the position of the judges. In most of +the states they are now elected by the people for a term of years, +sometimes as short as two years. There is a growing feeling that this +change was a mistake. It seems to have lowered the general character +of the judiciary. The change was made by reasoning from analogy: it +was supposed that in a free country all offices ought to be elective +and for short terms. But the case of a judge is not really analogous +to that of executive officers, like mayors and governors and +presidents. The history of popular liberty is much older than the +history of the United States, and it would be difficult to point to +an instance in which popular liberty has ever suffered from the +life tenure of judges. On the contrary, the judge ought to be as +independent as possible of all transient phases of popular sentiment, +and American experience during the past century seems to teach us that +in the few states where the appointing of judges during life or good +behaviour has prevailed, the administration of justice has been better +than in the states where the judges have been elected for specified +terms. Since 1869 there has been a marked tendency toward lengthening +the terms of elected judges, and in several states there has been a +return to the old method of appointing judges by the governor, subject +to confirmation by the senate.[17] It is one of the excellent features +of our system of federal government, that the several states can thus +try experiments each for itself and learn by comparison of results. +When things are all trimmed down to a dead level of uniformity by the +central power, as in France, a prolific source of valuable experiences +is cut off and shut up. + +[Footnote 17: For details, see the admirable monograph of Henry Hitchcock, +_American State Constitutions_, p. 53.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Modifications of state government during the present century:-- + + a. Property qualifications for office. + b. The distinction between the upper and the lower house. + c. The advantage in retaining a two-chambered legislature. + +2. The suffrage:-- + + a. The persons to whom it is granted. + b. The qualifications established. + c. The persons excluded from its exercise. + +3. The separation of the executive and legislative departments:-- + + a. The relation of the great executive officers to legislation in + Europe. + b. The work of legislation in the United States. + c. The most serious of the dangers that beset democratic + government. + d. Important safeguards against such a danger. + +4. The state executive:-- + + a. The governor as a part of the legislature. + b. Officers always belonging to executive departments. + c. Officers frequently belonging to executive departments. + d. The relation of the governor to other elected executive + officers. + +5. The ordinary functions of the governor:-- + + a. Advising the legislature. + b. Commanding the militia. + c. Pardoning criminals or commuting their sentences. + d. Vetoing acts of the legislature. + +6. Why is the power to veto particular items in a bill appropriating +public money an important safeguard against corruption? + +7. Local self-government in the United States left unimpaired:-- + + a. The extent of state supervision of towns and counties. + b. The spirit thus developed in American citizens. + +8. A lesson from the symmetry of the French government:-- + + a. The departments and their administration. + b. The prefect and his duties. + c. The department council and its sphere of action. + d. The commune. + e. The French system contrasted with the American. + f. A common view of the political intelligence of the French. + g. The probable effect of excessive state control upon the + political intelligence of Americans. + +9. The greatness of the functions retained by the states under +the federal government:-- + + a. Powers granted to the government of the United States. + b. The reason for granting such powers, + c. The powers denied to the states. + d. The reason for such prohibitions. + e. The vast range of powers exercised by the states. + f. The most important subjects of legislation in England for the past + eighty years. + g. The governments, state or national, to which these twelve + subjects would have fallen in the United States. + +10. Speak of the independence of the state courts. + +11. In what cases only may matters be transferred from them to +a federal court? + +12. The constitution of the state courts:-- + + a. Justices of the peace; the mayor's court. + b. County and municipal courts. + c. The superior courts. + d. The supreme court. + e. Still higher courts in certain states. + +13. The selection of judges and their terms of service:-- + + a. In the thirteen colonies. + b. In most of the states since the Revolution. + c. The reasons for a life tenure. + d. The tendency since 1869. + +14. Mention a conspicuous advantage of our system of government over the +French. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Was there ever a charter government in your state? If so, where is +the charter at the present time? What is its present value? Try to see +it, if possible. Pupils of Boston and vicinity, for example, may +examine in the office of the secretary of state, at the state house, the +charter of King Charles (1629) and that of William and Mary (1692). + +2. When was your state organized under its present government? If it is +not one of the original thirteen, what was its history previous to +organization; that is, who owned it and controlled it, and how came it +to become a state? + +3. What are the qualifications for voting in your state? + +4. What are the arguments in favour of an educational qualification for +voters (as, for example, the ability to read the Constitution of the +United States)? What reasons might be urged against such qualifications? + +5. Who is the governor of your state? What political party supported him +for the position? For what ability or eminent service was he selected? + +6. Give illustrations of the governor's exercise of the four functions +of advising, vetoing, pardoning, and commanding (consult the newspapers +while the legislature is in session). + +7. Mention some things done by the governor that are not included +in the enumeration of his functions in the text. + +8. Visit, if practicable, the State House. Observe the various offices, +and consider the general nature of the business done there. Attend a +session of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Obtain some +"orders of the day." + +9. If the legislature is in session, follow its proceedings in the +newspapers. What important measures are under discussion? On what sort +of questions are party lines pretty sharply drawn? On what sort of +questions are party distinctions ignored? + +10. Consult the book of general or public statutes, and report on +the following points:-- + + a. The magnitude of the volume. + b. Does it contain all the laws? If not, what are omitted? + c. Give some of the topics dealt with. + d. Where are the laws to be found that have been made since the printing + of the volume? + e. Are the originals of the laws in the volume? If not, where are they + and in what shape? + +11. Is everybody expected to know all the laws? + +12. Does ignorance of the law excuse one for violating it? + +13. Suppose people desire the legislature to pass some law, as, for +example, a law requiring towns and cities to provide flags for +school-houses, how is the attention of the legislature secured? What are +the various stages through which the bill must pass before it can become +a law? Why should there be so many stages? + +14. Give illustrations of the exercise of federal government, state +government, and local government, in your own town or city. Of which +government do you observe the most signs? Of which do you observe the +fewest signs? Of which government do the officers seem most sensitive to +local opinion? + +15. Are the sessions of the legislature in your state annual or +biennial? What is the argument for each system? + +For answers to numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19, consult the public statutes, +a lawyer, or some intelligent business man. A fair idea of the +successive steps in the courts may be obtained from a good unabridged +dictionary by looking up the technical terms employed in these +questions. + +16. What is the difference between a civil action and a criminal? + + a. In respect to the object to be gained in each? + b. In respect to the party that is the plaintiff? + c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case goes + against him? + +17. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action that is +tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider +(1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) the recognizance, +(5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, +(9) the arguments,(10) the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and +its enforcement. + +What is an appeal?--This procedure seems cumbrous, but it +is founded in common sense. What one of the foregoing steps, for +example, would you omit? Why? + +18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is tried +with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun in a lower court +where the first five stages are the same as in number 17. Then follow +(6) the examination of witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to +appear before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the +complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or county +attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of the grand jury upon the +indictment, (11) the challenging of jurors before the trial, (12) the +arraignment, (13) the plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) +the charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sentence, with +its penalty and the enforcement of it. What are "exceptions?"--Why +should there be a jury in the higher court when there is none in the +lower? What is the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing +steps? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish crime? Why should +an accused person receive so much consideration? + +19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. Consider +(1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the summons to the defendant, (4) +the return, (5) the pleading, (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) +the judgment or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution.--If the +action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides the question +at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in points of law. + +20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and +acquitted, has he any redress? + +21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your +community? + +22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and property +in your community? + +23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a law and the +enforcement of that law? If so, what is it? + +24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 177 may +be taken as a special topic. Consult any modern history of England. + +25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for the +citizen,--an acquaintance with the principles and details of government +and law, or a law-abiding and law-supporting spirit? What reasons have +you for your opinion? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with, +those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce it? (Suppose a +case in which you do not approve the law, and then answer.) + +26. May you ever become an officer of the law? Would you as a citizen be +justified in withholding from an officer that obedience and moral +support which you as an officer might justly demand from every citizen? + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +The State.--For the founding of the several colonies, their charters, +etc., the student may profitably consult the learned monographs in +Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, 8 vols., +Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite full in details, is given in +Lodge's _Short History of the English Colonies in America_, +N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account of the revision and +transformation of the colonial governments in Bancroft's _History of +the United States_, final edition, N.Y., 1886, vol. v. pp. 111-125. + +The series of "American Commonwealths," edited by H.E. Scudder, and +published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be found helpful. The +following have been published: Johnston, _Connecticut: a Study +of a Commonwealth-Democracy_, 1887; Roberts, _New York: the +Planting and Growth of the Empire State_, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, +_Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, 2d ed., 1884; Cooke, +_Virginia: a History of the People_, 1883; Shaler, _Kentucky: +a Pioneer Commonwealth_, 1884; King, _Ohio: First Fruits of +the Ordinance of 1787_,1888; Dunn, _Indiana: a Redemption from +Slavery_, 1888; Cooley, _Michigan: a History of Governments_, +1885; Carr, _Missouri: a Bone of Contention_, 1888; Spring, +_Kansas: the Prelude to the War for the Union_, 1885; Royce, +_California: a Study of American Character_, 1886; Barrows, +_Oregon: the Struggle for Possession_, 1883. + +In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is advised +to consult Dole's _Talks about Law: a Popular Statement of What +our Law is and How it is Administered_, Boston, 1887. This book +deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive way it gives an +account of such facts and principles of law as ought to be familiarly +understood by every man and woman. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + + +[Sidenote: In the American state there is a power above the +legislature.] +Toward the close of the preceding chapter[1] I spoke of three points +especially characteristic of the American state, and I went on to +mention two of them. The third point which I had in mind is so +remarkable and important as to require a chapter all to itself. In the +American state the legislature is not supreme, but has limits to its +authority prescribed by a written document, known as the Constitution; +and if the legislature happens to pass a law which violates the +constitution, then whenever a specific case happens to arise in which +this statute is involved, it can be brought before the courts, and +the decision of the court, if adverse to the statute, annuls it and +renders it of no effect. The importance of this feature of civil +government in the United States can hardly be overrated. It marks a +momentous advance in civilization, and it is especially interesting as +being peculiarly American. Almost everything else in our fundamental +institutions was brought by our forefathers in a more or less highly +developed condition from England; but the development of the written +constitution, with the consequent relation of the courts to the +law-making power, has gone on entirely upon American soil. + +[Footnote 1: See above, p. 172.] + +[Sidenote: Germs of the idea of a written constitution.] +[Sidenote: Our indebtedness to the Romans.] +[Sidenote: Mediæval charters.] +The germs of the written constitution existed a great while ago. +Perhaps it would not be easy to say just when they began to exist. +It was formerly supposed by such profound thinkers as Locke and such +persuasive writers as Rousseau, that when the first men came together +to live in civil society, they made a sort of contract with one +another as to what laws they would have, what beliefs they would +entertain, what customs they would sanction, and so forth. This +theory of the Social Contract was once famous, and exerted a notable +influence on political history, and it is still interesting in the +same way that spinning-wheels and wooden frigates and powdered wigs +are interesting; but we now know that men lived in civil society, +with complicated laws and customs and creeds, for many thousand years +before the notion had ever entered anybody's head that things could +be regulated by contract. That notion we owe chiefly to the ancient +Romans, and it took them several centuries to comprehend the idea and +put it into practice. We owe them a debt of gratitude for it. The +custom of regulating business and politics and the affairs of life +generally by voluntary but binding agreements is something without +which we moderns would not think life worth living. It was after the +Roman world--that is to say, Christendom, for in the Middle Ages the +two terms were synonymous--had become thoroughly familiar with the +idea of contract, that the practice grew up of granting written +charters to towns, or monasteries, or other corporate bodies. The +charter of a mediaeval town was a kind of written contract by which +the town obtained certain specified immunities or privileges from the +sovereign or from a great feudal lord, in exchange for some specified +service which often took the form of a money payment. It was common +enough for a town to buy liberty for hard cash, just as a man might +buy a farm. The word _charter_ originally meant simply a paper or +written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer +of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment +documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable +evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the +towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their +liberties." + +[Sidenote: The "Great Charter" (1215).] +After a while the word charter was applied in England to a particular +document which specified certain important concessions forcibly wrung by +the people from a most unwilling sovereign. This document was called +_Magna Charta_, or the "Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 15, +1215, by John, king of England. After the king had signed it and gone +away to his room, he rolled in a mad fury on the floor, screaming +curses, and gnawing sticks and straw in the impotence of his, wrath.[2] +Perhaps it would be straining words to call a transaction in which the +consent was so one-sided a "contract," but the idea of Magna Charta was +derived from that of the town charters with which people were already +familiar. Thus a charter came to mean "a grant made by the sovereign +either to the whole people or to a portion of them, securing to them the +enjoyment of certain rights." Now in legal usage a charter differs from +a constitution in this, that the former is granted by the sovereign, +while the latter is established by the people themselves: both are the +fundamental law of the land.[3] a The distinction is admirably +expressed, but in history it is not always easy to make it. Magna Charta +was in form a grant by the sovereign, but it was really drawn up by the +barons, who in a certain sense represented the English people; and +established by the people after a long struggle which was only in its +first stages in John's time. To some extent it partook of the nature of +a written constitution. + +[Footnote 2: Green, _Hist. of the English People_, vol. i. p. +248.] + +[Footnote 3: Bouvier, _Law Dictionary_, 12th ed., vol. i. p. +259.] + +[Sidenote: The "Bill of Rights" (1689).] +Let us now observe what happened early in 1689, after James II had +fled from England. On January 28th parliament declared the throne +vacant. Parliament then drew up the "Declaration of Rights," a +document very similar in purport to the first eight amendments to +our Federal Constitution, and on the 13th of February the two houses +offered the crown to William and Mary on condition of their accepting +this declaration of the "true, ancient, and indubitable rights of the +people of this realm." The crown having been accepted on these terms, +parliament in the following December enacted the famous "Bill of +Rights," which simply put their previous declaration into the form of +a declaratory statute. The Bill of Rights was not--even in form--a +grant from a sovereign; it was an instrument framed by the +representatives of the people, and without promising to respect +it William and Mary could no more have mounted the throne than a +president of the United States could be inducted into office if he +were to refuse to take the prescribed oath of allegiance to the +Federal Constitution. The Bill of Rights was therefore, strictly +speaking, a piece of written constitution; it was a constitution as +far as it went. + +[Sidenote: Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane +(1656).] +The seventeenth century, the age when the builders of American +commonwealths were coming from England, was especially notable in +England for two things. One was the rapid growth of modern commercial +occupations and habits, the other was the temporary overthrow of +monarchy, soon followed by the final subjection of the crown to +parliament. Accordingly the sphere of contract and the sphere of +popular sovereignty were enlarged in men's minds, and the notion of a +written constitution first began to find expression. The "Instrument +of Government" which in 1653 created the protectorate of Oliver +Cromwell was substantially a written constitution, but it emanated +from a questionable authority and was not ratified. It was drawn up +by a council of army officers; and "it broke down because the first +parliament summoned under it refused to acknowledge its binding +force." [4] The dissolution of this parliament accordingly left Oliver +absolute dictator. In 1656, when it seemed so necessary to decide what +sort of government the dictatorship of Cromwell was to prepare the way +for, Sir Harry Vane proposed that a _national convention_ should +be called for drawing up a written constitution.[5] The way in which +he stated his case showed that he had in him a prophetic foreshadowing +of the American idea as it was realized in 1787. But Vane's ideas were +too far in advance of his age to be realized then in England. Older +ideas, to which men were more accustomed, determined the course of +events there, and it was left for Americans to create a government by +means of a written constitution. And when American statesmen did so, +they did it without any reference to Sir Harry Vane. His relation to +the subject has been discovered only in later days, but I mention him +here in illustration of the way in which great institutions grow. They +take shape when they express the opinions and wishes of a multitude +of persons; but it often happens that one or two men of remarkable +foresight had thought of them long beforehand. + +[Footnote 4: Gardiner, _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan +Revolution_, p. lx.] + +[Footnote 5: See Hosmer's _Young Sir Henry Vane_, pp. +432-444,--one of the best books ever written for the reader who wishes +to understand the state of mind among the English people in the crisis +when they laid the foundations of the United States.] + +[Sidenote: The Mayflower compact(1620).] +In America the first attempts at written constitutions were in the +fullest sense made by the people, and not through representatives but +directly. In the Mayflower's cabin, before the Pilgrims had landed on +Plymouth rock, they subscribed their names to a compact in which they +agreed to constitute themselves into a "body politic," and to enact such +laws as might be deemed best for the colony they were about to +establish; and they promised "all due submission and obedience" to such +laws. Such a compact is of course too vague to be called a constitution. +Properly speaking, a written constitution is a document which defines +the character and powers of the government to which its framers are +willing to entrust themselves. Almost any kind of civil government might +have been framed under the Mayflower compact, but the document is none +the less interesting as an indication of the temper of the men who +subscribed their names to it. + +[Sidenote: The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut" (1639).] +The first written constitution known to history was that by which the +republic of Connecticut was organized in 1639. At first the affairs +of the Connecticut settlements had been directed by a commission +appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts, but on the 14th of +January, 1639, all the freemen of the three river towns--Windsor, +Hartford, and Wethersfield--assembled at Hartford, and drew up a +written constitution, consisting of eleven articles, in which the +frame of government then and there adopted was distinctly described. +This document, known as the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut", +created the government under which the people of Connecticut lived for +nearly two centuries before they deemed it necessary to amend it. The +charter granted to Connecticut by Charles II. in 1662 was simply a +royal recognition of the government actually in operation since the +adoption of the Fundamental Orders. + +[Sidenote: Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the +modern state constitution.] +In those colonies which had charters these documents served, to a +certain extent, the purposes of a written constitution. They limited the +legislative powers of the colonial assemblies. The question sometimes +came up as to whether some statute made by the assembly was not in +excess of the powers conferred by the charter. This question usually +arose in connection with some particular law case, and thus came before +the courts for settlement,--first before the courts of the colony; +afterwards it might sometimes be carried on appeal before the Privy +Council in England. If the court decided that the statute was in +transgression of the charter, the statute was thereby annulled.[6] The +colonial legislature, therefore, was not a supreme body, even within the +colony; its authority was restricted by the terms of the charter. Thus +the Americans, for more than a century before the Revolution, were +familiarized with the idea of a legislature as a representative body +acting within certain limits prescribed by a written document. They had +no knowledge or experience of a supreme legislative body, such as the +House of Commons has become since the founders of American states left +England. At the time of the Revolution, when the several states framed +new governments, they simply put a written constitution into the +position of supremacy formerly occupied by the charter. Instead of a +document expressed in terms of a royal grant, they adopted a document +expressed in terms of a popular edict. To this the legislature must +conform; and people were already somewhat familiar with the method of +testing the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter brought +before the courts. The mental habit thus generated was probably more +important than any other single circumstance in enabling our Federal +Union to be formed. Without it, indeed, it would have been impossible to +form a durable union. + +[Footnote 6: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. i. pp. 243, +415.] + +[Sidenote: Abnormal development of the state constitution, encroaching +upon the province of the legislature.] +[Sidenote: The Swiss "Referendum" 196] +Before pursuing this subject, we may observe that American state +constitutions have altered very much in character since the first part +of the present century. The earlier constitutions were confined to a +general outline of the organization of the government. They did not +undertake to make the laws, but to prescribe the conditions under +which laws might be made and executed. Recent state constitutions +enter more and more boldly upon the general work of legislation. For +example, in some states they specify what kinds of property shall be +exempt from seizure for debt, they make regulations as to railroad +freight-charges, they prescribe sundry details of practice in the +courts, or they forbid the sale of intoxicating liquors. Until +recently such subjects would have been left to the legislatures, no +one would have thought of putting them into a constitution. The motive +in so doing is a wish to put certain laws into such a shape that it +will be difficult to repeal them. What a legislature sees fit to enact +this year it may see fit to repeal next year. But amending a state +constitution is a slow and cumbrous process. An amendment may be +originated in the legislature, where it must secure more than a mere +majority--perhaps a three fifths or two thirds vote--in order to pass; +in some states it must be adopted by two successive legislatures, +perhaps by two thirds of one and three fourths of the next; in some +states not more than one amendment can be brought before the same +legislature; in some it is provided that amendments must not be +submitted to the people oftener than once in five years; and so +on. After the amendment has at length made its way through the +legislature, it must be ratified by a vote of the people at the next +general election. Another way to get a constitution amended is to call +a convention for that purpose. In order to call a convention, it is +usually necessary to obtain a two thirds vote in the legislature; but +in some states the legislature is required at stated intervals to +submit to the people the question of holding such a convention, as +in New Hampshire every seven years; in Iowa, every ten years; in +Michigan, every sixteen years; in New York, Ohio, Maryland, and +Virginia, every twenty years.[7] A convention is a representative +body elected by the people to meet at some specified time and +place for some specified purpose, and its existence ends with the +accomplishment of that purpose. It is in this occasional character +that the convention differs from an ordinary legislative assembly. +With such elaborate checks against hasty action, it is to be presumed +that if a law can be once embodied in a state constitution, it will be +likely to have some permanence. Moreover, a direct vote by the people +gives a weightier sanction to a law than a vote in the legislature. +There is also, no doubt, a disposition to distrust legislatures and in +some measure do their work for them by direct popular enactment. For +such reasons some recent state constitutions have come almost to +resemble bodies of statutes. Mr. Woodrow Wilson suggestively compares +this kind of popular legislation with the Swiss practice known as the +_Referendum_; in most of the Swiss cantons an important act of +the legislature does not acquire the force of law until it has been +_referred_ to the people and voted on by them. "The objections +to the, _referendum_," says Mr. Wilson, "are, of course, that it +assumes a discriminating judgment and a fullness of information on the +part of the people touching questions of public policy which they do +not often possess, and that it lowers the sense of responsibility on +the part of legislators." [8] Another serious objection to our recent +practice is that it tends to confuse the very valuable distinction +between a constitution and a body of statutes, to necessitate a +frequent revision of constitutions, and to increase the cumbrousness +of law-making. It would, however, be premature at the present time to +pronounce confidently upon a practice of such recent origin. It is +clear that its tendency is extremely democratic, and that it implies +a high standard of general intelligence and independence among the +people. If the evils of the practice are found to outweigh its +benefits, it will doubtless fall into disfavour. + +[Footnote 7: See Henry Hitchcock's admirable monograph, _American +State Constitutions_, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 8: Wilson. The State, p. 490.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. What is to be said with regard to the following +topics? + +I. A power above the legislature:-- + + a. The constitution. + b. The relation of the courts to laws that violate the constitution. + c. The importance of this relation. + d. The American origin of the written constitution. + +2. The germs of the idea of a written constitution:-- + + a. The theory of a "social contract." + b. The objection to this theory. + c. Roman origin of the idea of contract. + +3. Mediæval charters:-- + + a. The charter of a town. + b. The word _charter_. + c. Magna Charta. + d. The difference between a charter and a constitution. + e. The form of Magna Charta as contrasted with its essential nature. + +4. Documents somewhat resembling written constitutions:-- + + a. The Declaration of Rights. + b. The Bill of Rights. + +5. The foreshadowing of the American idea of written constitutions:-- + +a. Two conditions especially notable in England in the seventeenth +century. + b. The influence of these conditions on popular views of government. + c. The "Instrument of Government." + d. Sir Harry Vane's proposition. + e. Why allude to Vane's scheme when nothing came of it? + +6. Early suggestions of written constitutions in America:-- + + a. The compact on the Mayflower. + b. Wherein the compact fell short of a written constitution. + c. The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." + +7. The development of the colonial charter into a written constitution:-- + + a. The limitation of the powers of colonial assemblies. + b. The decision of questions relating to the transgression of a charter + by a colonial legislature. + c. The colonial assembly as contrasted with the House of + Commons. + d. The difference between the written constitution and the + charter for which it was substituted. + e. The readiness of the people to adopt written constitutions. + +8. The extensive development of the written constitution in +some states:-- + + a. The simplicity of the earlier constitutions. + b. Illustrations of the legislative tendencies of later constitutions. + c. The motive for such extension of a constitution. + d. The difficulty of amending a constitution. + e. The legislative method of amendment. + f. The convention method of amendment. + g. The presumed advantage of embodying laws in the constitution. + h. A comparison with the Swiss Referendum. + i. Objections to the Swiss Referendum. + j. Other objections to the practice of putting laws into the + constitution. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Do you belong to any society that has a constitution? Has the society +rules apart from the constitution? Which may be changed the more +readily? Why not put all the rules into the constitution? + +2. Read the constitution of your state in part or in full. Give some +account of its principal divisions, of the topics it deals with, and its +magnitude or fullness. Are there any amendments? If so, mention two or +three, and give the reasons for their adoption. Is there any declaration +of rights in it? If so, what are some of the rights declared, and whose +are they said to be? + +3. Where is the original of your state constitution kept? What sort of +looking document do you suppose it to be? Where would you look for a +copy of it? If a question arises in any court about the interpretation +of the constitution, must the original be produced to settle the wording +of the document? + +4. Has any effort been made in your state to put into the constitution +matters that have previously been subjects of legislative action? If so, +give an account of the effort, and the public attitude towards it. + +5. Which is preferable,--a constitution that commands the approval of +the people as a whole or that which has the support of a dominant +political party only? + +6. Suppose it is your personal conviction that a law is +unconstitutional, may you disregard it? What consequences might ensue +from such disregard? + +7. May people honestly and amicably differ about the interpretation of +the constitution or of a law, in a particular case? If important +interests are dependent on the interpretation, how can the true one be +found out? Does a lawyer's opinion settle the interpretation? What value +has such an opinion? Where must people go for authoritative and final +interpretations of the laws? Can they get such interpretations by simply +asking for them? + +8. The constitution of New Hampshire provides that when the governor +cannot discharge the duties of his office, the president of the senate +shall assume them. During the severe sickness of a governor recently, +the president of the senate hesitated to act in his stead; it was not +clear that the situation was grave enough to warrant such a course. +Accordingly the attorney-general of the state brought an action against +the president of the senate for not doing his duty; the court considered +the situation, decided against the president of the senate, and ordered +him to become acting governor. Why was this suit necessary? Was it +conducted in a hostile spirit? Wherein did the decision help the state? +Wherein did it help the defendant? Wherein may it possibly prove helpful +in the future history of the state? + +9. Mention particular things that the governor, the legislature, and the +judiciary of your state have done or may do. Then find the section or +clause or wording in your state constitution that gives authority for +each of these things. For example, read the particular part that +authorizes your legislature:-- + + a. To incorporate a city. + b. To compel children to attend school. + c. To buy uniforms for a regiment of soldiers. + d. To establish a death penalty. + e. To send a committee abroad to study a system of waterworks. + +10. Trace the authority of a school-teacher, a policeman, a selectman, a +mayor, or of any public officer, back to some part of your constitution. + +11. Mention any parts of your constitution that seem general and +somewhat indefinite, and that admit, therefore, of much freedom in +interpretation. + +12. Show how the people are, in one aspect, subordinate to the +constitution; in another, superior to it. + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Written Constitutions.--Very little has been written or published with +reference to the history of the development of the idea of a written +constitution. The student will find some suggestive hints in Hannis +Taylor's _Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, vol. i, +Boston, 1889. See Henry Hitchcock's _American State Constitutions; a +Study of their Growth_, N.Y., 1887, a learned and valuable essay. See +also _J.H.U. Studies_, I., xi., Alexander Johnston, _The Genesis of a +New England State (Connecticut)_; III., ix.-x., Horace Davis, _American +Constitutions_; also Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American +History_, 1606-1863, N.Y., 1886; Stubbs, _Select Charters and other +Illustrations of English Constitutional History_, Oxford, 1870; +Gardiner's _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution_, Oxford, +1888. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union._ + +Having now sketched the origin and nature of written constitutions, we +are prepared to understand how by means of such a document the +government of our Federal Union was called into existence. We have +already described so much of the civil government in operation in the +United States that this account can be made much more concise than if we +had started at the top instead of the bottom and begun to portray our +national government before saying a word about states and counties and +towns. Bit by bit the general theory of American self-government has +already been set before the reader. We have now to observe, in +conclusion, what a magnificent piece of constructive work has been +performed in accordance with that general theory. We have to observe the +building up of a vast empire out of strictly self-governing elements. + +[Sidenote: English institutions in all the colonies.] +There was always one important circumstance in favour of the union of +the thirteen American colonies into a federal nation. The inhabitants +were all substantially one people. It is true that in some of the +colonies there were a good many persons not of English ancestry, but +the English type absorbed and assimilated everything else. + +All spoke the English language, all had English institutions. Except +the development of the written constitution, every bit of civil +government described in the preceding pages came to America directly +from England, and not a bit of it from any other country, unless by +being first filtered through England. Our institutions were as English +as our speech. It was therefore comparatively easy for people in one +colony to understand people in another, not only as to their words but +as to their political ideas. Moreover, during the first half of the +eighteenth century, the common danger from the aggressive French +enemy on the north and west went far toward awakening in the thirteen +colonies a common interest. And after the French enemy had been +removed, the assertion by parliament of its alleged right to tax the +Americans threatened all the thirteen legislatures at once, and thus +in fact drove the colonies into a kind of federal union. + +[Sidenote: The New England confederacy (1643-84).] +[Sidenote: Albany Congress(1754).] +[Sidenote: Stamp Act Congress (1765).] +Confederations among states have generally owed their origin, in +the first instance, to military necessities. The earliest league in +America, among white people at least, was the confederacy of New +England colonies formed in 1643, chiefly for defence against the +Indians. It was finally dissolved amid the troubles of 1684, when the +first government of Massachusetts was overthrown. Along the Atlantic +coast the northern and the southern colonies were for some time +distinct groups, separated by the unsettled portion of the central +zone. The settlement of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1681, filled this +gap and made the colonies continuous from the French frontier of +Canada to the Spanish frontier of Florida. The danger from France +began to be clearly apprehended after 1689, and in 1698 one of the +earliest plans of union was proposed by William Penn. In 1754, just +as the final struggle with France was about to begin, there came +Franklin's famous plan for a permanent federal union; and this plan +was laid before a congress assembled at Albany for renewing the +alliances with the Six Nations.[1] Only seven colonies were +represented in this congress. Observe the word "congress." If it +had been a legislative body it would more likely have been called +a "parliament." But of course it was nothing of the sort. It was a +diplomatic body, composed of delegates representing state governments, +like European congresses,--like the Congress of Berlin, for example, +which tried to adjust the Eastern Question in 1878. Eleven years after +the Albany Congress, upon the news that parliament had passed the +Stamp Act, a congress of nine colonies assembled at New York in +October, 1765, to take action thereon. + +[Footnote 1: Franklin's plan was afterward submitted to the several +legislatures of the colonies, and was everywhere rejected because the +need for union was nowhere strongly felt by the people.] + +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence (1772-75).] +Nine years elapsed without another congress. Meanwhile the political +excitement, with occasional lulls, went on increasing, and some sort +of cooperation between the colonial governments became habitual. In +1768, after parliament had passed the Townshend revenue acts, there +was no congress, but Massachusetts sent a circular letter to the other +colonies, inviting them to cooperate in measures of resistance, and +the other colonies responded favourably. In 1772, as we have seen, +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts acted +as a sort of provisional government for the commonwealth. In 1773 +Dabney Carr, of Virginia, enlarged upon this idea, and committees of +correspondence were forthwith instituted between the several colonies. +Thus the habit of acting in concert began to be formed. In 1774, +after parliament had passed an act overthrowing the government of +Massachusetts, along with other offensive measures, a congress +assembled in September at Philadelphia, the city most centrally +situated as well as the largest. If the remonstrances adopted at this +congress had been heeded by the British government, and peace had +followed, this congress would probably have been as temporary an +affair as its predecessors; people would probably have waited until +overtaken by some other emergency. But inasmuch as war followed, +the congress assembled again in May, 1775, and thereafter became +practically a permanent institution until it died of old age with the +year 1788. + + +[Sidenote: Continental Congress (1774-1789).] +This congress was called "continental" to distinguish it from the +"provincial congresses" held in several of the colonies at about the +same time. The thirteen colonies were indeed but a narrow strip on the +edge of a vast and in large part unexplored continent, but the word +"continental" was convenient for distinguishing between the whole +confederacy and its several members. + +[Sidenote: The several states were never at any time sovereign +states.] +[Sidenote: The Articles of Confederation] +The Continental Congress began to exercise a certain amount of +directive authority from the time of its first meeting in 1774. Such +authority as it had arose simply from the fact that it represented an +agreement on the part of the several governments to pursue a certain +line of policy. It was a diplomatic and executive, but scarcely yet a +legislative body. Nevertheless it was the visible symbol of a kind of +union between the states. There never was a time when any one of the +original states exercised singly the full powers of sovereignty. Not +one of them was ever a small sovereign state like Denmark or Portugal. +As they acted together under the common direction of the British +government in 1759, the year of Quebec, so they acted together under +the common direction of that revolutionary body, the Continental +Congress, in 1775, the year of Bunker Hill. In that year a +"continental army" was organized in the name of the "United Colonies." +In the following year, when independence was declared, it was done +by the concerted action of all the colonies; and at the same time a +committee was appointed by Congress to draw up a written constitution. +This constitution, known as the "Articles or Confederation," was +submitted to Congress in the autumn of 1777, and was sent to the +several states to be ratified. A unanimous ratification was necessary, +and it was not until March 1781, that unanimity was secured and the +articles adopted. + +Meanwhile the Revolutionary War had advanced into its last stages, +having been carried on from the outset under the general direction +of the Continental Congress. When reading about this period of our +history, the student must be careful not to be misled by the name +"congress" into reasoning as if there were any resemblance whatever +between that body and the congress which was created by our Federal +Constitution. The Continental Congress was not the parent of our +Federal Congress; the former died without offspring, and the latter +had a very different origin, as we shall soon see. The former simply +bequeathed to the latter a name, that was all. + +[Sidenote: Nature and powers of the Continental Congress] +The Continental Congress was an assembly of delegates from the thirteen +states, which from 1774 to 1783 held its sessions at Philadelphia.[2] It +owned no federal property, not even the house in which it assembled, and +after it had been turned out of doors by a mob of drunken soldiers in +June, 1783, it flitted about from place to place, sitting now at +Trenton, now at Annapolis, and finally at New York.[3] Each state sent +to it as many delegates as it chose, though after the adoption of the +articles no state could send less than two or more than seven. Each +state had one vote, and it took nine votes, or two thirds of the whole, +to carry any measure of importance. One of the delegates was chosen +president or chairman of the congress, and this position was one of +great dignity and considerable influence, but it was not essentially +different from the position, of any of the other delegates. There were +no distinct executive officers. Important executive matters were at +first assigned to committees, such as the Finance Committee and the +Board of War, though at the most trying time the finance committee was a +committee of one, in the person of Robert Morris, who was commonly +called the Financier. The work of the finance committee was chiefly +trying to solve the problem of paying bills without spending money, for +there was seldom any money to spend. Congress could not tax the people +or recruit the army. When it wanted money or troops, it could only ask +the state governments for them; and generally it got from a fifth to a +fourth part of the troops needed, but of money a far smaller proportion. +Sometimes it borrowed money from Holland or France, but often its only +resource was to issue paper promises to pay, or the so-called +Continental paper money. There were no federal courts,[4] nor marshals +to execute federal decrees. Congress might issue orders, but it had no +means of compelling obedience. + +[Footnote 2: Except for a few days in December, 1776, when it fled +to Baltimore; and again from September, 1777, to June, 1778, when +Philadelphia was in possession of the British; during that interval +Congress held its meetings at York in Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 3: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +112, 271, 306] + +[Footnote 5: Except the "Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture," for +an admirable account of which see Jameson's _Essays in the +Constitutional History of the United States_, pp. 1-45.] + +[Sidenote: It was not fully endowed with sovereignty.] +The Continental Congress was therefore not in the full sense a +sovereign body. A government is not really a government until it can +impose taxes and thus command the money needful for keeping it in +existence. Nevertheless the Congress exercised some of the most +indisputable functions of sovereignty. "It declared the independence +of the United States; it contracted an offensive and defensive +alliance with France; it raised and organized a Continental army; it +borrowed large sums of money, and pledged what the lenders understood +to be the national credit for their repayment; it issued an +inconvertible paper currency, granted letters of marque, and built a +navy." [6] Finally it ratified a treaty of peace with Great Britain. So +that the Congress was really, in many respects, and in the eyes of the +world at large, a sovereign body. Time soon showed that the continued +exercise of such powers was not compatible with the absence of the +power to tax the people. In truth the situation of the Continental +Congress was an illogical situation. In the effort of throwing off +the sovereignty of Great Britain, the people of these states were +constructing a federal union faster than they realized. Their theory +of the situation did not keep pace with the facts, and their first +attempt to embody their theory, in the Articles of Confederation, was +not unnaturally a failure. + + +[Footnote 6: _Critical Period_, p. 93.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Continental Congress.] +At first the powers of the Congress were vague. They were what are +called "implied war powers;" that is to say, the Congress had a war +with Great Britain on its hands, and must be supposed to have power to +do whatever was necessary to bring the war to a successful conclusion. +At first, too, when it had only begun to issue paper money, there +was a momentary feeling of prosperity. Military success added to its +appearance of strength, and the reputation of the Congress reached its +high water mark early in 1778, after the capture of Burgoyne's army +and the making of the alliance with France. After that time, with the +weary prolonging of the war, the increase of the public debt, and the +collapse of the paper currency, its reputation steadily declined. +There was also much work to be done in reorganizing the state +governments, and this kept at home in the state legislatures many of +the ablest men who would otherwise have been sent to the Congress. +Thus in point of intellectual capacity the latter body was distinctly +inferior in 1783 to what it had been when first assembled nine years +earlier. + +[Sidenote: Anarchical tendencies.] +The arrival of peace did not help the Congress, but made matters worse. +When the absolute necessity of presenting a united front to the common +enemy was removed, the weakness of the union was shown in many +ways that were alarming. The _sentiment_ of union was weak. In spite of +the community in language and institutions, which was so favourable to +union, the people of the several states had many local prejudices which +tended to destroy the union in its infancy. A man was quicker to +remember that he was a New Yorker or a Massachusetts man than that he +was an American and a citizen of the United States. Neighbouring states +levied custom-house duties against one another, or refused to admit into +their markets each other's produce, or had quarrels about boundaries +which went to the verge of war. Things grew worse every year until by +the autumn of 1786, when the Congress was quite bankrupt and most of the +states nearly so, when threats of secession were heard both in New +England and in the South, when there were riots in several states and +Massachusetts was engaged in suppressing armed rebellion, when people in +Europe were beginning to ask whether we were more likely to be seized +upon by France or reconquered piecemeal by Great Britain, it came to be +thought necessary to make some kind of a change. + +[Sidenote: The Federal Convention (1787).] + +Men were most unwillingly brought to this conclusion, because they were +used to their state assemblies and not afraid of them, but they were +afraid of increasing the powers of any government superior to the states, +lest they should thus create an unmanageable tyranny. They believed that +even anarchy, though a dreadful evil, is not so dreadful as despotism, +and for this view there is much to be said. After no end of trouble a +convention was at length got together at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and +after four months of work with closed doors, it was able to offer to the +country the new Federal Constitution. Both in its character and in +the work which It did, this Federal Convention, over which Washington +presided, and of which Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton were members, +was one of the most remarkable deliberative bodies known to history. + +We have seen that the fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress +lay in the fact that it could not tax the people. Hence although it +could for a time exert other high functions of sovereignty, it could +only do so while money was supplied to it from other sources than +taxation; from contributions made by the states in answer to its +"requisitions," from foreign loans, and from a paper currency. But such +resources could not last long. It was like a man's trying to live upon +his own promissory notes and upon gifts and unsecured loans from his +friends. When the supply of money was exhausted, the Congress soon found +that it could no longer comport itself as a sovereign power; it could +not preserve order at home, and the situation abroad may be illustrated +by the fact that George III. kept garrisons in several of our +northwestern frontier towns and would not send a minister to the United +States. This example shows that, among the sovereign powers of a +government, the power of taxation is the fundamental one upon which all +the others depend. Nothing can go on without money. + +But the people of the several states would never consent to grant the +power of taxation, to such a body as the Continental Congress, in +which they were not represented. The Congress was not a legislature, +but a diplomatic body; it did not represent the people, but the state +governments; and a large state like Pennsylvania had no more weight in +it than a little state like Delaware. If there was to be any central +assembly for the whole union, endowed with the power of taxation, +it must be an assembly representing the American people just as the +assembly of a single state represented the people of the state. + +As soon as this point became clear, it was seen to be necessary to +throw the Articles of Confederation overboard, and construct a new +national government. As was said above, our Federal Congress is not +descended from the Continental Congress. Its parentage is to be sought +in the state legislatures. Our federal government was constructed +after the general model of the state governments, with some points +copied from British usages, and some points that were original and +new. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What are the reasons for reserving the Constitution of the +United States for the concluding chapter? + +2. Circumstances that favoured union of the colonies:-- + + a. The origin of their inhabitants. + b. All the details of their civil government. + c. The ease with which they understood one another. + d. Their common dangers, two in particular. + +3. Earlier unions among the colonies:-- + + a. The New England Confederacy,--its time, purpose, and + duration. + b. The French danger, and plans to meet it. + c. The Albany Congress,--its nature and immediate purpose. + d. The Stamp Act Congress. + +4. Committees of correspondence:-- + + a. The circular letter of Massachusetts in 1768. + b. Town committees of correspondence in Massachusetts in + 1772. + c. Colonial committees of correspondence in 1773. + d. The habit established through these committees. + +5. The Continental Congress:-- + + a. The immediate causes that led to it. + b. How it might have been temporary. + c. How it became permanent. + d. Its date, place of meeting, and duration. + e. Why "continental" as distinguished from "provincial?" + f. The nature and extent of its authority. + g. The states represented in it never fully sovereign. + +6. Give an account of the "Articles of Confederation." + +7. Distinguish between the Continental Congress and the +Federal. + +8. The powers of the Continental Congress:-- + a. Its homelessness and wandering. + b. Its delegates and their voting power. + c. Its presiding officer. + d. Its management of executive matters. + e. The finance committee and its problems. + f. The raising of money. + g. The compelling of obedience. + +9. The Continental Congress not a sovereign body:-- + + a. The nature of real government. + b. Some functions of sovereignty exercised by the Congress. + c. The situation illogical. + +10. Explain the "implied war powers" of the Congress. + +11. When was the Congress at the height of its reputation, and +why? + +12. Explain the decline in its reputation from 1778 to 1783. + +13. The alarming weakness of the union after 1783:-- + + a. The effect of peace upon the union. + b. Local prejudices. + c. State antagonisms. + d. The gloomy outlook in 1786. + +14. The Federal Convention in 1787:-- + + a. The reluctance to make the change that was felt to be needed. + b. Some facts about the Convention. + c. The character of its delegates. + d. The fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress. + e. The fundamental power of a strong government. + f. The objection to granting the power of taxation to the Continental + Congress. + g. The sort of assembly demanded for exercising the taxing power. + h. The model on which the federal government was built. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress._ + +[Sidenote: The House of Representatives.] +The federal House of Representatives is descended, through the state +houses of representatives, from the colonial assemblies. It is an +assembly representing the whole population of the country as if it were +all in one great state. It is composed of members chosen every other +year by the people of the states. Persons in any state who are qualified +to vote for state representatives are qualified to vote for federal +representatives. This arrangement left the power of regulating the +suffrage in the hands of the several states, where it still remains, +save for the restriction imposed in 1870 for the protection of the +southern freedmen. A candidate for election to the House of +Representatives must be twenty-five years old, must have been seven +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state in which he is chosen. + +[Sidenote: The three fifths compromise.] +As the Federal Congress is a taxing body, representatives and direct +taxes are apportioned among the several states according to the same +rule, that is, according to population. At this point a difficulty +arose in the Convention as to whether slaves should be counted as +population. If they were to be counted, the relative weight of the +slave states in all matters of national legislation would be much +increased. The northern states thought, with reason, that it would +be unduly increased. The difficulty was adjusted by a compromise +according to which five slaves were to be reckoned as three persons. +Since the abolition of slavery this provision has become obsolete, but +until 1860 it was a very important factor in American history.[7] + +In the federal House of Representatives the great states of course +have much more weight than the small states. In 1790 the four largest +states had 32 representatives, while the other nine had only 33. The +largest state, Virginia, had 10 representatives to 1 from Delaware. +These disparities have increased. In 1880, out of thirty-eight states +the nine largest had a majority of the house, and the largest state, +New York, had 34 representatives to 1 from Delaware. + +[Footnote 7: See my _Critical Period_, pp. 257-262.] + +[Sidenote: The Connecticut compromise] +This feature of the House of Representatives caused +the smaller states in the Convention to oppose the whole scheme of +constructing a new government. They were determined that great and +small states should have equal weight in Congress. Their steadfast +opposition threatened to ruin everything, when fortunately a method +of compromise was discovered. It was intended that the national +legislature, in imitation of the state legislatures, should have an +upper house or senate; and at first the advocates of a strong national +government proposed that the senate also should represent population, +thus differing from the lower house only in the way in which we have +seen that it generally differed in the several states. But it happened +that in the state of Connecticut the custom was peculiar. There it +had always been the custom to elect the governor and upper house by a +majority vote of the whole people, while for each township there was +an equality of representation In the lower house. The Connecticut +delegates in the Convention, therefore, being familiar with a +legislature in which the two houses were composed on different +principles, suggested a compromise. Let the House of Representatives, +they said, represent the people, and let the Senate represent the +states; let all the states, great and small, be represented equally +in the federal Senate. Such was the famous "Connecticut Compromise." +Without it the Convention would probably have broken up without +accomplishing anything. When it was adopted, half the work of making +the new government was done, for the small states, having had their +fears thus allayed by the assurance that they were to be equally +represented in the Senate, no longer opposed the work but cooperated +in it most zealously. + +[Sidenote: The Senate] +Thus it came to pass that the upper house of our national legislature +is composed of two senators from each state. As they represent the +state, they are chosen by its legislature and not by the people; but +when they have taken their seats in the senate they do not vote +by states, like the delegates in the Continental Congress. On the +contrary each senator has one vote, and the two senators from the same +state may, and often do, vote on opposite sides. + +In accordance with the notion that an upper house should be somewhat +less democratic than a lower house, the term of office for senators +was made longer than for representatives. The tendency is to make the +Senate respond more slowly to changes in popular sentiment, and +this is often an advantage. Popular opinion is often very wrong at +particular moments, but with time it is apt to correct its mistakes. +We are usually in more danger of suffering from hasty legislation than +from tardy legislation. Senators are chosen for a term of six years, +and one third of the number of terms expire every second year, so +that, while the whole Senate may be renewed by the lapse of six years, +there is never a "new Senate." The Senate has thus a continuous +existence and a permanent organization; whereas each House of +Representatives expires at the end of its two years' term, and is +succeeded by a "new House," which requires to be organized by electing +its officers, etc., before proceeding to business. A candidate for the +senatorship must have reached the age of thirty, must have been nine +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state which he represents. + +The constitution leaves the times, places, and manner of holding +elections for senators and representatives to be prescribed in each +state by its own legislature; but it gives to Congress the power to +alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing senators. + +Here we see a vestige of the original theory according to which the +Senate was to be peculiarly the home of state rights. + +[Sidenote: Electoral districts.] +[Sidenote: "Gerrymandering."] +In the composition of the House of Representatives the state +legislatures play a very important part. For the purposes of the +election a state is divided into districts corresponding to the number +of representatives the state is entitled to send to Congress. These +electoral districts are marked out by the legislature, and the division +is apt to be made by the preponderating party with an unfairness that is +at once shameful and ridiculous. The aim, of course, is so to lay out +the districts as to secure in the greatest possible number of them a +majority for the party which conducts the operation. This is done +sometimes by throwing the greatest possible number of hostile voters +into a district which is anyhow certain to be hostile, sometimes by +adding to a district where parties are equally divided some place in +which the majority of friendly voters is sufficient to turn the scale. +There is a district in Mississippi (the so-called Shoe String district) +250 miles long by 30 broad, and another in Pennsylvania resembling a +dumb-bell.... In Missouri a district has been contrived longer, if +measured along its windings, than the state itself, into which as large +a number as possible of the negro voters have been thrown.[8] This +trick is called "gerrymandering," from Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, +who was vice-president of the United States from 1813 to 1817. It seems +to have been first devised in 1788 by the enemies of the Federal +Constitution in Virginia, in order to prevent the election of James +Madison to the first Congress, and fortunately it was unsuccessful.[9] +It was introduced some years afterward into Massachusetts. In 1812, +while Gerry was governor of that state, the Republican legislature +redistributed the districts in such wise that the shapes of the towns +forming a single district in Essex county gave to the district a +somewhat dragon-like contour. This was indicated upon a map of +Massachusetts which Benjamin Russell, an ardent Federalist and editor of +the "Centinel," hung up over the desk in his office. The celebrated +painter, Gilbert Stuart, coming into the office one day and observing +the uncouth figure, added with his pencil a head, wings, and claws, and +exclaimed, "That will do for a salamander!" "Better say a Gerrymander!" +growled the editor; and the outlandish, name, thus duly coined, soon +came into general currency. + +[Illustration] + +[Footnote 8: Tyler's _Patrick Henry_, p. 313.] + +[Footnote 9: _Winsor's Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. p. 212; +see also Bryce, _loc. cit_. The word is sometimes incorrectly pronounced +"jerrymander." Mr. Winsor observes that the back line of the creature's +body forms a profile caricature of Gerry's face, with the nose at +Middleton.] + +[Sidenote: The election their at large.] +When after an increase in its number of representatives the state has +failed to redistribute its districts, the additional member or members +are voted for upon a general state ticket, and are called +"representatives at large." In Maine, where the census of 1880 had +_reduced_ the number of representatives and there was some delay in the +redistribution, Congress allowed the State in 1882 to elect all its +representatives upon a general ticket. The advantage of the district +system is that the candidates are likely to be better known by +neighbours, but the election at large is perhaps more likely to secure +able men.[10] It is the American custom to nominate only residents of the +district as candidates for the House of Representatives. A citizen of +Albany, for example, would not be nominated for the district in which +Buffalo is situated. In the British practice, on the other hand, if an +eminent man cannot get a nomination in his own county or borough, there +is nothing to prevent his standing for any other county or borough. This +system seems more favourable to the independence of the legislator than +our system. Some of its advantages are obtained by the election at +large. + +[Footnote 10: The difference is similar to the difference between the +French _scrutin d'arrondissement_ and _scrutin de liste_.] + +[Sidenote: Time of assembling.] +Congress must assemble at least once in every year, and the constitution +appoints the first Monday in December for the time of meeting; but +Congress can, if worth while, enact a law changing the time. The +established custom is to hold the election for representatives upon the +same day as the election for president, the Tuesday after the first +Monday in November. As the period of the new administration does not +begin until the fourth day of the following March, the new House of +Representatives does not assemble until the December following that +date, unless the new president should at some earlier moment summon an +extra session of Congress. It thus happens that ordinarily the +representatives of the nation do not meet for more than a year after +their election; and as their business is at least to give legislative +expression to the popular opinion which elected them, the delay is in +this instance regarded by many persons as inconvenient and injudicious. + +Each house is judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its +own members; determines its own rules of procedure, and may punish its +members for disorderly behaviour, or by a two thirds vote expel a +member. Absent members may be compelled under penalties to attend. Each +house is required to keep a journal of its proceedings and at proper +intervals to publish it, except such parts as for reasons of public +policy had better be kept secret. At the request of one fifth of the +members present, the yeas and nays must be entered on the journal. +During the session of Congress neither house may, without consent of the +other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any other place than that +in which Congress is sitting. + +[Sidenote: Privileges of members.] +Senators and representatives receive a salary fixed by law, and as they +are federal functionaries they are paid from the federal treasury. In +all cases, except treason or felony or breach of the peace, they are +privileged from arrest during their attendance in Congress, as also +while on their way to it and while returning home; "and for any speech +or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other +place." These provisions are reminiscences of the evil days when the +king strove to interfere, by fair means or foul, with free speech in +parliament; and they are important enough to be incorporated in the +supreme law of the land. No person can at the same time hold any civil +office under the United States government and be a member of either +house of Congress. + +[Sidenote: The Speaker.] +The vice-president is the presiding officer of the Senate, with power +to vote only in case of a tie. The House of Representatives elects its +presiding officer, who is called the Speaker. In the early history of +the House of Commons, its presiding officer was naturally enough its +_spokesman_. He could speak for it in addressing the crown. Henry +of Keighley thus addressed the crown in 1301, and there were other +instances during that century, until in 1376 the title of Speaker was +definitely given to Sir Thomas Hungerford, and from that date the list +is unbroken. The title was given to the presiding officers of the +American colonial assemblies, and thence it passed on to the state and +federal legislatures. The Speaker presides over the debates, puts the +question, and decides points of order. He also appoints the committees +of the House of Representatives, and as the initiatory work in our +legislation is now so largely done by the committees, this makes him +the most powerful officer of the government except the President. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in England] +The provisions for impeachment of public officers are copied from the +custom in England. Since the fourteenth century the House of Commons +has occasionally exercised the power of impeaching the king's +ministers and other high public officers, and although the power was +not used during the sixteenth century it was afterward revived and +conclusively established. In 1701 it was enacted that the royal pardon +could not be pleaded against an impeachment, and this act finally secured +the responsibility of the king's ministers to Parliament. An impeachment +is a kind of accusation or indictment brought against a public officer +by the House of Commons. The court in which the case is tried is the House +of Lords, and the ordinary rules of judicial procedure are followed. +The regular president of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who +is the highest judicial officer in the kingdom. A simple majority vote +secures conviction, and then it is left for the House of Commons to +say whether judgment shall be pronounced or not. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in the United States.] +In the United States the House of Representatives has the sole +power of impeachment, and the Senate has the sole power to try all +impeachments. When the president of the United States is tried, +the chief-justice must preside. As a precaution against the use of +impeachment for party purposes, a two thirds vote is required for +conviction; and this precaution proved effectual (fortunately, as most +persons now admit) in the famous case of President Johnson in 1868. In +case of conviction the judgment cannot extend further than "to removal +from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of +honour, trust, or profit under the United States;" but the person +convicted is liable afterward to be tried and punished by the ordinary +process of law. + +[Sidenote: Veto power of the president] +The provisions of the Constitution for legislation are admirably +simple. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the lower +house, but the upper house may propose or concur with amendments, as +on other bills. This provision was inherited from Parliament, through +the colonial legislatures. After a bill has passed both houses it must +be sent to the president for approval. If he approves it, he signs +it; if not, he returns it to the house in which it originated, with +a written statement of his objections, and this statement must be +entered in full upon the journal of the house. The bill is then +reconsidered, and if it obtains a two thirds vote, it is sent, +together with the objections, to the other house. If it there +likewise obtains a two thirds vote, it becomes a law, in spite of the +objections. Otherwise it fails. If the president keeps a bill longer +than ten days (Sundays excepted) without signing it, it becomes a law +without his signature; unless Congress adjourns before the expiration +of the ten days, in which case it fails to become a law, just as if +it had been vetoed. This method of vetoing a bill just before the +expiration of a Congress, by keeping it in one's pocket, so to speak, +was dubbed a "pocket veto," and was first employed by President +Jackson in 1829. The president's veto power is a qualified form of +that which formerly belonged to the English sovereign but has now, as +already observed, become practically obsolete. As a means of guarding +the country against unwise legislation, it has proved to be one of the +most valuable features of our Federal Constitution. In bad hands it +cannot do much harm, it can only delay for a short time a needed law. +But when properly used it can save the country from, laws that if once +enacted would sow seeds of disaster very hard to eradicate; and it has +repeatedly done so. A single man will often act intelligently where +a group of men act foolishly, and, as already observed, he is apt to +have a keener sense of responsibility. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +What is to be said with regard to the following topics? + +1. The House of Representatives:-- + + a. Its relation to the people. + b. The term of service. + c. Qualifications of those who may vote for representatives. + d. Qualifications for membership. + e. The three fifths compromise. + +2. The Connecticut Compromise. + + a. The powers of the different states in the House. + b. Opposition to the scheme of a new government. + c. What the advocates of a strong government wanted the Senate to + represent. + d. A peculiar Connecticut system. + e. The suggestion of the Connecticut delegates. + f. The effect of the compromise. + +3. The Senate:-- + + a. The number of senators. + b. The method of electing senators. + c. The voting of senators. + d. The term of service. + e. The maintenance of a continuous existence. + f. A comparison with the House in respect to nearness to the people. + g. Qualifications for membership. + +4. Elections for senators and representatives:-- + + a. Times, places, and manner of holding elections. + b. The power of Congress over state regulations. + c. Electoral districts. + d. The temptation to unfairness in laying out electoral districts. + e. Illustrations of unfair divisions. + f. "Gerrymandering." + g. Representatives at large. + h. The advantage of the district system. + i. The British system and its advantage. + +5. The assembling of Congress:-- + + a. The time of assembling. + b. The interval between a member's election and the beginning of his + service. + c. The disadvantage of this long interval. + +6. What is the duty of each house in respect (1) to its membership, +(2) its rules, (3) its records, and (4) its adjournment. + +7. Give an account (1) of the pay of a congressman, (2) of his freedom +from arrest, (3) of his responsibility for words spoken in debate, and +(4) of his right to hold other office. + +8. Tell (1) who preside in Congress, (2) how the name _speaker_ +originated, (3) what the speaker's duties are, and (4) what his power +in the government is. + +9. Impeachment of public officers:-- + + a. Old English usage. + b. The conduct of an impeachment trial in England. + c. The conduct of an impeachment trial in the United States. + d. The penalty in case of conviction. + +10. The provisions of the Constitution for legislation:-- + + a. Bills for raising revenue. + b. How a bill becomes a law. + c. The president's veto power. + d. Passage of a bill over the president's veto. + e. The "pocket veto." + f. The veto power in England. + g. The value of the veto power. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive._ + +[Sidenote: The title of "President."] +In signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress the president shares in +legislation, and is virtually a third house. In his other capacities +he is the chief executive officer of the Federal Union; and inasmuch +as he appoints the other great executive officers, he is really the +head of the executive department, not--like the governor of a state--a +mere member of it. His title of "President" is probably an inheritance +from the presidents of the Continental Congress. In Franklin's plan +of union, in 1754, the head of the executive department was called +"Governor General," but that title had an unpleasant sound to American +ears. Our great-grandfathers liked "president" better, somewhat as the +Romans, in the eighth century of their city, preferred "imperator" to +"rex." Then, as it served to distinguish widely between the head of +the Union and the heads of the states, it soon fell into disuse in the +state governments, and thus "president" has come to be a much grander +title than "governor," just as "emperor" has come to be a grander +title than "king." [11] + + +[Footnote 11: See above p. 163.] + +[Sidenote: The electoral college.] +There was no question which perplexed the Federal Convention more than +the question as to the best method of electing the president. There +was a general distrust of popular election for an office so exalted. +At one time the Convention decided to have the president elected by +Congress, but there was a grave objection to this; it would be likely +to destroy his independence, and make him the tool of Congress. +Finally the device of an electoral college was adopted. Each state +is entitled to a number of electors equal to the number of its +representatives in Congress, _plus_ two, the number of its +senators. Thus to-day Delaware, with 1 representative, has 3 electors; +Missouri, with 14 representatives, has 16 electors; New York, with +34 representatives, has 36 electors. No federal senator or +representative, or any person holding civil office under the United +States, can serve as an elector. Each state may appoint or choose its +electors in such manner as it sees fit; at first they were more often +than otherwise chosen by the legislatures, now they are always elected +by the people. The day of election must be the same in all the states. + +By an act of Congress passed in 1792 it is required to be within 34 days +preceding the first Wednesday in December. A subsequent act in 1845 +appointed the Tuesday following the first Monday in November as election +day. + +By the act of 1792 the electors chosen in each state are required to +assemble on the first Wednesday in December at some place in the state +which is designated by the legislature. Before this date the governor of +the state must cause a certified list of the names of the electors to be +made out in triplicate and delivered to the electors. Having met +together they vote for president and vice-president, make out a sealed +certificate of their vote in triplicate, and attach to each copy a copy +of the certified list of their names. One copy must be delivered by a +messenger to the president of the Senate at the federal capital before +the first Wednesday in January; the second is sent to the same officer +through the mail; the third is to be deposited with the federal judge of +the district in which the electors meet. If by the first Wednesday in +January the certificate has not been received at the federal capital, +the secretary of state is to send a messenger to the district judge and +obtain the copy deposited with him. The interval of a month was allowed +to get the returns in, for those were not the days of railroad and +telegraph. The messengers were allowed twenty-five cents a mile, and +were subject to a fine of a thousand dollars for neglect of duty. On the +second Wednesday in February, Congress is required to be in session, and +the votes received are counted and the result declared.[12] + +[Footnote 12: See note on p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: The twelfth amendment (1804).] +At first the electoral votes did not state whether the candidates named +in them were candidates for the presidency or for the vice-presidency. +Each elector simply wrote down two names, only one of which could be the +name of a citizen of his own state. In the official count the candidate +who had the largest number of votes, provided they were a majority of +the whole number, was declared president, and the candidate who had the +next to the largest number was declared vice-president. The natural +result of this was seen in the first contested election in 1796, which +made Adams president, and his antagonist vice-president. In the next +election in 1800 it gave to Jefferson and his colleague Burr exactly the +same number of votes. In such a case the House of Representatives must +elect, and such intrigues followed for the purpose of defeating +Jefferson that the country was brought to the verge of civil war. It +thus became necessary to change the method. By the twelfth amendment to +the constitution, declared in force in 1804, the present method was +adopted. The electors make separate ballots for president and for +vice-president. In the official count the votes for president are first +inspected. If no candidate has a majority, then the House of +Representatives must immediately choose the president from the three +names highest on the list. In this choice the house votes by states, +each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose must consist of at +least one member from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all +the states is necessary for a choice. Then if no candidate for the +vice-presidency has a majority, the Senate makes its choice from the two +names highest on the list; a quorum for the purpose consists of two +thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole +number is necessary to a choice. Since this amendment was made there has +been one instance of an election of the president by the House of +Representatives,--that of John Quincy Adams in 1825; and there has been +one instance of an election of the vice-president by the Senate,--that +of Richard Mentor Johnson in 1837. + +[Sidenote: The electoral commission (1877).] +One serious difficulty was not yet foreseen and provided for--that of +deciding between two conflicting returns sent in by two hostile sets of +electors in the same state, each list being certified by one of two +rival governors claiming authority in the same state. Such a case +occurred in 1877, when Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were the +scene of struggles between rival governments. Ballots for Tilden and +ballots for Hayes were sent in at the same time from these states, and +in the absence of any recognized means of determining which ballots to +count, the two parties in Congress submitted the result to arbitration. +An "electoral commission" was created for the occasion, composed of five +senators, five representatives, and five judges of the supreme court; +and this body decided what votes were to be counted. It was a clumsy +expedient, but infinitely preferable to civil war. The question of +conflicting returns has at length been set at rest by the act of 1887, +which provides that no electoral votes can be rejected in counting +except by the concurrent action of the two houses of Congress. + +[Sidenote: Presidential succession.] +The devolution of the presidential office in case of the president's +death has also been made the subject of legislative change and +amendment. The office of vice-president was created chiefly for the +purpose of meeting such an emergency. Upon the accession of the +vice-president to the presidency, the Senate would proceed to elect its +own president _pro tempore_. An act of 1791 provided that in case of the +death, resignation or disability of both president and vice-president, +the succession should devolve first upon the president _pro tempore_ of +the Senate and then upon the speaker of the House of Representatives, +until the disability should be removed or a new election be held. But +supposing a newly elected president to die and be succeeded by the +vice-president before the assembling of the newly elected Congress; then +there would be no president _pro tempore_ of the Senate and no speaker +of the House of Representatives, and thus the death of one person might +cause the presidency to lapse. Moreover the presiding officers of the +two houses of Congress might be members of the party defeated in the +last presidential election; indeed, this is often the case. Sound policy +and fair dealing require that a victorious party shall not be turned out +because of the death of the president and vice-president. Accordingly an +act of 1886 provided that in such an event the succession should devolve +upon the members of the cabinet in the following order: secretary of +state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of war, attorney-general, +postmaster-general, secretary of the navy, secretary of the interior. +This would seem to be ample provision against a lapse. + +[Sidenote: Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled.] +To return to the electoral college: it was devised as a safeguard +against popular excitement. It was supposed that the electors in their +December meeting would calmly discuss the merits of the ablest men in +the country and make an intelligent selection for the presidency. The +electors were to use their own judgment, and it was not necessary +that all the electors chosen in one state should vote for the same +candidate. The people on election day were not supposed to be voting +for a president but for presidential electors. This theory was never +realized. The two elections of Washington, in 1788 and 1792, were +unanimous. In the second contested election, that of 1800, the +electors simply registered the result of the popular vote, and it has +been so ever since. Immediately after the popular election, a whole +month before the meeting of the electoral college, we know who is to +be the next president. There is no law to prevent an elector from +voting for a different pair of candidates from those at the head of +the party ticket, but the custom has become as binding as a statute. +The elector is chosen to vote for specified candidates, and he must do +so. + +[Sidenote: Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now +usually on a general ticket.] +On the other hand, it was not until long after 1800 that all the +electoral votes of the same state were necessarily given to the same +pair of candidates. It was customary in many states to choose the +electors by districts. A state entitled to ten electors would choose +eight of them in its eight congressional districts, and there were +various ways of choosing the other two. In some of the districts one +party would have a majority, in others the other, and so the electoral +vote of the state would be divided between two pairs of candidates. +After 1830 it became customary to choose the electors upon a general +ticket, and thus the electoral vote became solid in each state.[13] + +[Footnote 13: In 1860 the vote of New Jersey was divided between Lincoln +and Douglas, but that was because the names of three of +the seven Douglas electors were upon two different tickets, and +thus got a majority of votes while the other four fell short. In +1892 the state of Michigan chose its electors by districts.] + +[Sidenote: Minority presidents.] +[Sidenote: Advantages of the electoral system.] +This system, of course, increases the chances of electing presidents who +have received a minority of the popular vote. A candidate may carry one +state by an immense majority and thus gain 6 or 8 electoral votes; he +may come within a few hundred of carrying another state and thus lose 36 +electoral votes. Or a small third party may divert some thousands of +votes from the principal candidate without affecting the electoral vote +of the state. Since Washington's second term we have had twenty-three +contested elections,[14] and in nine of these the elected president has +failed to receive a majority of the popular vote; Adams in 1824 (elected +by the House of Representatives), Polk in 1844, Taylor in 1848, Buchanan +in 1856, Lincoln in 1860, Hayes in 1876, Garfield in 1880, Cleveland in +1884, Harrison in 1888. This has suggested more or less vague +speculation as to the advisableness of changing the method of electing +the president. It has been suggested that it would be well to abolish +the electoral college, and resort to a direct popular vote, without +reference to state lines. Such a method would be open to one serious +objection. In a closely contested election on the present method the +result may remain doubtful for three or four days, while a narrow +majority of a few hundred votes in some great state is being ascertained +by careful counting. It was so in 1884. This period of doubt is sure to +be a period of intense and dangerous excitement. In an election without +reference to states, the result would more often be doubtful, and it +would be sometimes necessary to count every vote in every little +out-of-the-way corner of the country before the question could be +settled. The occasions for dispute would be multiplied a hundred fold, +with most demoralizing effect. Our present method is doubtless clumsy, +but the solidity of the electoral colleges is a safeguard, and as all +parties understand the system it is in the long run as fair for one as +for another. + + +[Footnote 14: All have been contested, except Monroe's re-election in +1820, when there was no opposing candidate.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus +(1800-24).] +The Constitution says nothing about the method of nominating candidates +for the presidency, neither has it been made the subject of legislation. +It has been determined by convenience. It was not necessary to nominate +Washington, and the candidacies of Adams and Jefferson were also matters +of general understanding. In 1800 the Republican and Federalist members +of Congress respectively held secret meetings or caucuses, chiefly for +the purpose of agreeing upon candidates for the vice-presidency and +making some plans for the canvass. It became customary to nominate +candidates in such congressional caucuses, but there was much hostile +comment upon the system as undemocratic. Sometimes the "favourite son" +of a state was nominated by the legislature, but as the means of travel +improved, the nominating convention came to be preferred. In 1824 there +were four candidates for the presidency,--Adams, Jackson, Clay, and +Crawford. Adams was nominated by the legislatures of most of the New +England states; Clay by the legislature of Kentucky, followed by the +legislatures of Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Louisiana; Crawford by the +legislature of Virginia; and Jackson by a mass convention of the people +of Blount County in Tennessee, followed by local conventions in many +other states. The congressional caucus met and nominated Crawford, but +this endorsement did not help him,[15] and this method was no longer +tried. In 1832 for the first time the candidates were all nominated in +national conventions. + +[Footnote 15: Stanwood, _History of Presidential Elections_, pp. +80-83.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination conventions.] +[Sidenote: The "primary."] +These conventions, as fully developed, are representative bodies +chosen for the specific purpose of nominating candidates and making +those declarations of principle and policy known as "platforms." Each +state is allowed twice as many delegates as it has electoral votes. +The delegates are chosen by local conventions in their several +states, viz., two for each congressional district by the party +convention of that district, and four for the whole state (called +delegates-at-large) by the state convention. As each convention is +composed of delegates from primaries, it is the composition of the +primaries which determines that of the local conventions, and it is +the composition of the local conventions which determines that of the +national.[16] The "primary" is the smallest nominating convention. It +stands in somewhat the same relation to the national convention as the +relation of a township or ward to the whole United States. A primary +is a little caucus of all the voters of one party who live within the +bounds of the township or ward. It differs in composition from the +town-meeting in that all its members belong to one party. It has two +duties: one is to nominate candidates for the local offices of the +township or ward; the other is to choose delegates to the county or +district convention. The primary, as its name indicates, is a primary +and not a representative assembly. The party voters in a township or +ward are usually not too numerous to meet together, and all ought to +attend such meetings, though in practice too many people stay away. By +the representative system, through various grades of convention, the +wishes and character of these countless little primaries are at +length expressed in the wishes and character of the national party +convention, and candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency are +nominated. + +[Footnote 16: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. ii. p. 145; see +also p. 52.] + + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for the presidency.] +The qualifications for the two offices are of course the same. +Foreign-born citizens are not eligible, though this restriction did +not include such as were citizens of the United States at the time +when the Constitution was adopted. The candidate must have reached the +age of thirty-five, and must have been fourteen years a resident of +the United States. + + +[Sidenote: The term of office] +The president's term of office is four years. The Constitution says +nothing about his re-election, and there is no written law to prevent +his being re-elected a dozen times. But Washington, after serving two +terms, refused to accept the office a third time. Jefferson in 1808 +was "earnestly besought by many and influential bodies of citizens to +become a candidate for a third term;" [17] and had he consented there +is scarcely a doubt that he would have been elected. His refusal +established a custom which has never been infringed, though there were +persons in 1876 and again in 1880 who wished to secure a third term +for Grant. + +[Footnote 17: Morse's _Jefferson_, p. 318.] + +[Sidenote: Powers and duties of the President] +The president is commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces +of the United States, and of the militia of the several states when +actually engaged in the service of the United States; and he has the +royal prerogative of granting reprieves and pardons for offences +against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.[18] + +[Footnote 18: See above, p. 221.] + + +He can make treaties with foreign powers, but they must be confirmed +by a two thirds vote of the Senate. He appoints ministers to foreign +countries, consuls, and the greater federal officers, such as the +heads of executive departments and judges of the Supreme Court, and +all these appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate. He +also appoints a vast number of inferior officers, such as postmasters +and revenue collectors, without the participation of the Senate. When +vacancies occur during the recess of the Senate, he may fill them by +granting commissions to expire at the end of the next session. He +commissions all federal officers. He receives foreign ministers. He +may summon either or both houses of Congress to an extra session, and +if the two houses disagree with regard to the time of adjournment, he +may adjourn them to such time as he thinks best, but of course not +beyond the day fixed for the beginning of the next regular session. + +[Sidenote: The President's message.] +The president must from time to time make a report to Congress on the +state of affairs in the country and suggest such a line of policy or +such special measures as may seem good to him. This report has taken +the form of an annual written message. Washington and Adams began +their administrations by addressing Congress in a speech, to which +Congress replied; but it suited the opposite party to discover in this +an imitation of the British practice of opening Parliament with +a speech from the sovereign. It was accordingly stigmatized as +"monarchical," and Jefferson (though without formally alleging any +such reason) set the example, which has been followed ever since, +of addressing Congress in a written message.[19] Besides this annual +message, the president may at any time send in a special message +relating to matters which in his opinion require immediate attention. + +[Footnote 19: Jefferson, moreover, was a powerful writer and a poor +speaker.] + +The effectiveness of a president's message depends of course on the +character of the president and the general features of the political +situation. That separation between the executive and legislative +departments, which is one of the most distinctive features of civil +government in the United States, tends to prevent the development of +leadership. An English prime minister's policy, so long as he remains +in office, must be that of the House of Commons; power and responsibility +are concentrated. An able president may virtually direct the policy of +his party in Congress, but he often has a majority against him in one +house and sometimes in both at once. Thus in dividing power we divide +and weaken responsibility. To this point I have already alluded as +illustrated in our state governments.[20] + +[Footnote 20: The English method, however, would probably not work +well in this country, and might prove to be a source of great and +complicated dangers. See above, p. 169.] + +[Sidenote: Executive departments] +[Sidenote: The cabinet] +The Constitution made no specific provisions for the creation of +executive departments, but left the matter to Congress. At the +beginning of Washington's administration three secretaryships were +created,--those of state, treasury, and war; and an attorney-general +was appointed. Afterward the department of the navy was separated +from that of war, the postmaster-general was made a member of the +administration, and as lately as 1849 the department of the interior +was organized. The heads of these departments are the president's +advisers, but they have as a body no recognized legal existence or +authority. They hold their meetings in a room at the president's +executive mansion, the White House, but no record is kept of their +proceedings and the president is not bound to heed their advice. This +body has always been called the "Cabinet," after the English usage. It +is like the English cabinet in being composed of heads of executive +departments and in being, as a body, unknown to the law; in other +respects the difference is very great. The English cabinet is the +executive committee of the House of Commons, and exercises a guiding +and directing influence upon legislation. The position of the president is +not at all like that of the prime minister; it is more like that of +the English sovereign, though the latter has not nearly so much power +as the president; and the American cabinet in some respects resembles +the English privy council, though it cannot make ordinances. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of state.] +The secretary of state ranks first among our cabinet officers. He is +often called our prime minister or "premier," but there could not be +a more absurd use of language. In order to make an American personage +corresponding to the English prime minister we must first go to the +House of Representatives, take its committee of ways and means and +its committee on appropriations, and unite them into one committee of +finance; then we must take the chairman of this committee, give him +the power of dissolving the House and ordering a new election, and +make him master of all the executive departments, while at the +same time we strip from the president all real control over the +administration. This exalted finance-chairman would be much like the +First Lord of the Treasury, commonly called the prime minister. This +illustration shows how wide the divergence has become between our +system and that of Great Britain. + +Our secretary of state is our minister of foreign affairs, and is the +only officer who is authorized to communicate with other governments in +the name of the president. He is at the head of the diplomatic and +consular service, issuing the instructions to our ministers abroad, and +he takes a leading part in the negotiation of treaties. To these +ministerial duties he adds some that are more characteristic of his +title of secretary. He keeps the national archives, and superintends the +publication of laws, treaties, and proclamations; and he is the keeper +of the great seal of the United States. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic and consular service.] +Our foreign relations are cared for in foreign countries by two distinct +classes of officials: ministers and consuls. The former represent the +United States government in a diplomatic capacity; the latter have +nothing to do with diplomacy or politics, but look after our commercial +interests in foreign countries. Consuls exercise a protective care over +seamen, and perform various duties for Americans abroad. They can take +testimony and administer estates. In some non-Christian countries, such +as China, Japan, and Turkey, they have jurisdiction over criminal cases +in which Americans are concerned. Formerly our ministers abroad were of +only three grades: (1) "envoys extraordinary and ministers +plenipotentiary;" (2) "ministers resident;" (3) _chargés d'affaires_. +The first two are accredited by the president to the head of government +of the countries to which they are sent; the third are accredited by the +secretary of state to the minister of foreign affairs in the countries +to which they are sent. We still retain these grades, which correspond +to the lower grades of the diplomatic service in European countries. +Until lately we had no highest grade answering to that of "ambassador," +perhaps because when our diplomatic service was organized the United +States did not yet rank among first-rate powers, and could not expect to +receive ambassadors. Great powers, like France and Germany, send +ambassadors to each other, and envoys to inferior powers, like Denmark +or Greece or Guatemala. When we send envoys to the great powers, we rank +ourselves along with inferior powers; and diplomatic etiquette as a rule +obliges the great powers to send to us the same grade of minister that +we send to them. There were found to be some practical inconveniences +about this, so that in 1892 the highest grade was adopted and our +ministers to Great Britain and France were made ambassadors. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of the treasury.] +The cabinet officer second in rank and in some respects first in +importance is the secretary of the treasury. He conducts the financial +business of the government, superintends the collection of revenue, +and gives warrants for the payment of moneys from the treasury. He +also superintends the coinage, the national banks, the custom-houses, +the coast-survey and lighthouse system, the marine hospitals, and +life-saving service.[21] He sends reports to Congress, and suggests +such measures as seem good to him. Since the Civil War his most +weighty business has been the management of the national debt. He +is aided by two assistant secretaries, six auditors, a register, a +comptroller, a solicitor, a director of the mint, commissioner of +internal revenue, chiefs of the bureau of statistics and bureau of +engraving and printing, etc. The business of the treasury department +is enormous, and no part of our government has been more faithfully +administered. Since 1789 the treasury has disbursed more than seven +billions of dollars without one serious defalcation. No man directly +interested in trade or commerce can be appointed secretary of the +treasury, and the department has almost always been managed by "men of +small incomes bred either to politics or the legal profession." [22] + +[Footnote 21: Many of these details concerning the executive +departments are admirably summarized, and with more fullness +than comports with the design of the present work, in Thorpe's +_Government of the People of the United States_, pp. 183-193.] + +[Footnote 22: Schouler, _Hist. of the U.S._, vol. i. p. 95.] + + +[Sidenote: War and navy.] +The war and navy departments need no special description here. The +former is divided into ten and the latter into eight bureaus. +The naval department, among many duties, has charge of the naval +observatory at Washington and publishes the nautical almanac. + +[Sidenote: Interior.] +The department of the interior conducts a vast and various business, +as is shown by the designations of its eight bureaus, which deal with +public lands, Indian affairs, pensions, patents, education (chiefly in +the way of gathering statistics and reporting upon school affairs), +agriculture, public documents, and the census. In 1889 the bureau of +agriculture was organized as a separate department. The weather bureau +forms a branch of the department of agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Postmaster-general and attorney-general.] +The departments of the postmaster-general and attorney-general need +no special description. The latter was organized in 1870 into the +department of justice. The attorney-general is the president's legal +adviser, and represents the United States in all law-suits to which +the United States is a party. He is aided by a solicitor-general and +other subordinate offices. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Speak (1) of the president's share in legislation; (2) of his +relation to the executive department, and (3) of the origin +of his title. + +2. The electoral college:-- + + a. The method of electing the president a perplexing question. + b. The constitution of the electoral college, with illustrations. + c. Qualifications for serving as an elector. + d. The method of choosing electors. + e. The time of choosing electors. + f. When and where the electors vote. + g. The number and disposition of the certificates of their + h. The declaration of the result. + +3. What was the method of voting in the electoral college before +1804? Illustrate the working of this method in 1796 and 1800. + +4. The amendment of 1804:-- + + a. The ballots of the electors. + b. The duty of the House if no candidate for the presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + c. The duty of the Senate if no candidate for the vice-presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + d. Illustrations of the working of this amendment in 1825 + and 1837. + +5. The electoral commission of 1877:-- + + a. A difficulty not foreseen. + b. Conflicting returns in 1877. + c. The plan of arbitration adopted. + +6. The presidential succession:-- + + a. The office of vice-president. + b. The act of 1791. + c. The possibility of a lapse of the presidency. + d. The possibility of an unfair political overthrow. + e. The act of 1886. + +7. Compare the original purpose of the electoral college with +the fulfillment of that purpose. + +8. Explain the transition from a divided electoral vote in a state +to a solid electoral vote. + +9. Show how a minority of the people may elect a president. +Who have been elected by minorities? + +10. What is the advantage of the electoral system over a direct +popular vote? + +11. Methods of nominating candidates for the presidency and +vice-presidency before 1832:-- + + a. The absence of constitutional and legislative requirements. + + b. Presidents not nominated. + c. Nominations by congressional caucuses. + d. Nominations by state legislatures. + e. Nominations by local conventions. + +12. Nominations by national conventions in 1832 and since:-- + + a. The nature of a national convention. + b. The platform. + c. The number of delegates from a state, and their election. + d. The relation of the "primaries" to district, state, and + national conventions. + e. The nature of the primary. + f. Its two duties. + g. The duty of the voter to attend the primaries. + +13. The presidency:-- + a. Qualifications for the office. + b. The term of office. + +14. Powers and duties of the president:-- + a. As a commander-in-chief. + b. In respect to reprieves and pardons. + c. In respect to treaties with foreign powers. + d. In respect to the appointment of federal officers. + e. In respect to summoning and adjourning Congress. + f. In respect to reporting the state of affairs in the country + to Congress. + +15. The president's message:-- + a. The course of Washington and Adams. + b. The example of Jefferson. + c. The effectiveness of the message. + d. Power and responsibility in the English system. + +e. Power and + responsibility in the American system. + +16. Executive departments:-- + a. The departments under Washington. + b. Later additions to the departments. + c. The "Cabinet." + d. The resemblance between the English cabinet and our own. + e. The difference between the English cabinet and our own. + +17. The secretary of state:-- + a. Is he a prime minister? + b. What would be necessary to make an American personage + correspond to an English prime minister? + c. What are the ministerial duties of the secretary of state? + d. What other duties has he more characteristic of his title? + +18. Our diplomatic and consular service:-- + a. The distinction between ministers and consuls. + b. Three grades of ministers. + c. The persons to whom the three grades are accredited. + d. The grade of ambassador. + +19. The secretary of the treasury:-- + a. His rank and importance. + b. His various duties. + c. His chief assistants. + d. The administration of the treasury department since 1789. + +20. The duties of the remaining cabinet officers:-- + a. Of the secretary of war. + b. Of the secretary of the navy. + c. Of the secretary of the interior. + d. Of the postmaster-general. + e. Of the attorney-general. + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +We have left our Federal Convention sitting a good while at +Philadelphia, while we have thus undertaken to give a coherent account +of our national executive organization, which has in great part grown +up since 1789 with the growth of the nation. Observe how wisely the +Constitution confines itself to a clear sketch of fundamentals, and +leaves as much as possible to be developed by circumstances. In this +feature lies partly the flexible strength, the adaptableness, of our +Federal Constitution. That strength lies partly also in the excellent +partition of powers between the federal government and the several +states. + +[Sidenote: Difference between confederation and federal union.] +We have already remarked upon the vastness of the functions retained +by the states. At the same time the powers granted to Congress have +proved sufficient to bind the states together into a union that is +more than a mere confederation. From 1776 to 1789 the United States +_were_ a confederation; after 1789 it was a federal nation. The +passage from plural to singular was accomplished, although it took +some people a good while to realize the fact. The German language +has a neat way of distinguishing between a loose confederation and a +federal union. It calls the former a _Staatenbund_ and the latter +a _Bundesstaat_. So in English, if we liked, we might call the +confederation a _Band-of-States_ and the federal union a _Banded-State_. +There are two points especially in our Constitution which transformed +our country from a Band-of-States into a Banded-State. + +[Sidenote: Powers granted to Congress.] +The first was the creation of a federal House of Representatives, thus +securing for Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, +imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common +welfare of the United States. Other powers are naturally attached to +this,--such as the power to borrow money on the credit of the United +States; to regulate foreign and domestic commerce; to coin money +and fix the standard of weights and measures; to provide for +the punishment of counterfeiters; to establish post-offices and +post-roads; to issue copyrights and patents; to define and punish +felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of +nations; to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and +make rules concerning captures on land and water; to raise and +support an army and navy, and to make rules for the regulation of +the land and naval forces; to provide for calling out the militia +to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, and to command this +militia while actually employed in the service of the United States. +The several states, however, train their own militia and appoint +the officers. Congress may also establish a uniform rule of +naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies. It +also exercises exclusive control over the District of Columbia,[23] +as the seat of the national government, and over forts, magazines, +arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings, which it erects +within the several states upon land purchased for such purposes with +the consent of the state legislature. + + +[Footnote 23: Ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia.] + +[Sidenote: The "Elastic Clause."] +Congress is also empowered "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 office thereof." This may be +called the Elastic Clause of the Constitution; it has undergone a +good deal of stretching for one purpose and another, and, as we shall +presently see, it was a profound disagreement in the interpretation of +this clause that after 1789 divided the American people into two great +political parties. + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to the states.] +[Sidenote: Paper currency.] +The national authority of Congress is further sharply defined by the +express denial of sundry powers to the several states. These we have +already enumerated.[24] There was an especial reason for prohibiting +the states from issuing bills of credit, or making anything but gold +and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. During the years 1785 +and 1786 a paper money craze ran through the country; most of the +states issued paper notes, and passed laws obliging their citizens to +receive them in payment of debts. Now a paper dollar is not money, it +is only the government's promise to pay a dollar. As long as you can +send it to the treasury and get a gold dollar in exchange, it is worth +a dollar. It is this exchangeableness that makes it worth a dollar. +When government makes the paper dollar note a "legal tender." i.e., +when it refuses to give you the gold dollar and makes you take its +note instead, the note soon ceases to be worth a dollar. You would +rather have the gold than the note, for the mere fact that government +refuses to give the gold shows that it is in financial difficulties. +So the note's value is sure to fall, and if the government is in +serious difficulty, it falls very far, and as it falls it takes more +of it to buy things. Prices go up. There was a time (1864) during our +Civil War when a paper dollar was worth only forty cents and a barrel +of flour cost $23. But that was nothing to the year 1780, when the +paper dollar issued by the Continental Congress was worth only a mill, +and flour was sold in Boston for $1,575 a barrel! When the different +states tried to make paper money, it made confusion worse confounded, +for the states refused to take each other's money, and this helped to +lower its value. In some states the value of the paper dollar fell in +less than a year to twelve or fifteen cents. At such times there is +always great demoralization and suffering, especially among the poorer +people; and with all the experience of the past to teach us, it may +now be held to be little less than a criminal act for a government, +under any circumstances, to make its paper notes a legal tender. The +excuse for the Continental Congress was that it was not completely a +government and seemed to have no alternative, but there is no doubt +that the paper currency damaged the country much more than the arms of +the enemy by land or sea. The feeling was so strong about it in the +Federal Convention that the prohibition came near being extended to +the national government, but the question was unfortunately left +undecided.[25] + +[Footnote 24: See above, p.175] + +[Footnote 25: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +168-186, 273-276.] + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to Congress.] +[Sidenote: Bills of attainder.] +Some express prohibitions were laid upon the national government. Duties +may be laid upon imports but not upon exports; this wise restriction was +a special concession to South. Carolina, which feared the effect of an +export duty upon rice and indigo. Duties and excises must be uniform +throughout the country, and no commercial preference can be shown to one +state over another; absolute free trade is the rule between the states. +A census must be taken every ten years in order to adjust the +representation, and no direct tax can be imposed except according to the +census. No money can be drawn from the treasury except "in consequence +of appropriations made by law," and accounts must be regularly kept and +published. The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ cannot be +suspended except "when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety may require it;" and "no bill of attainder, or _ex post facto_ +law," can be passed. A bill of attainder is a special legislative act by +which a person may be condemned to death, or to outlawry and banishment, +without the opportunity of defending himself which he would have in a +court of law. "No evidence is necessarily adduced to support it," [26] and +in former times, especially in the reign of Henry VIII., it was a +formidable engine for perpetrating judicial murders. Bills of attainder +long ago ceased to be employed in England, and the process was abolished +by statute in 1870. + +[Footnote 26: Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, +p. 385.] + +[Sidenote: Intercitizenship.] +No title of nobility can be granted by the United States, and no federal +officer can accept a present, office, or title from a foreign state +without the consent of Congress. "No religious test shall ever be +required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the +United States." Full faith and credit must be given in each state to the +public acts and records, and to the judicial proceedings of every other +state; and it is left for Congress to determine the manner in which such +acts and proceedings shall be proved or certified. The citizens of each +state are "entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the +several states." There is mutual extradition of criminals, and, as a +concession to the southern states it was provided that fugitive slaves +should be surrendered to their masters. The United States guarantees to +every state a republican form of government, it protects each state +against invasion; and on application from the legislature of a state, or +from the executive when the legislature cannot be convened, it lends a +hand in suppressing insurrection. + +[Sidenote: Mode of making amendments.] +Amendments to the Constitution may at any time be proposed in +pursuance of a two thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or by a +convention called at the request of the legislatures of two thirds of +the states. The amendments are not in force until ratified by three-fourths +of the states, either through their legislatures or through +special conventions, according to the preference of Congress. This +makes it difficult to change the Constitution, as it ought to be; but +it leaves it possible to introduce changes that are very obviously +desirable. The Articles of Confederation could not be amended except +by a unanimous vote of the states; and this made their amendment +almost impossible. + +After assuming all debts contracted and engagements made by the United +States before its adoption, the Constitution goes on to declare itself +the supreme law of the land. By it, and by the laws and treaties made +under it, the judges in every state are bound, in spite of anything +contrary in the constitution or laws of any state. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. In what two features of the Constitution does its strength +largely lie? + +2. Distinguish between the United States as a confederation and the +United States as a federal union. How does the German language bring out +the distinction? + +3. What was the first important factor in transforming our +country from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +4. The powers granted to Congress:-- + a. Over taxes, money, and commerce. + b. Over postal affairs, and the rights of inventors and authors. + c. Over certain crimes. + d. Over war and military matters. + e. Over naturalization and bankruptcy. + f. Over the District of Columbia and other places. + g. The "elastic clause" and its interpretation. + +5. The powers denied to the states:-- + a. An enumeration of these powers. + b. The prohibition of bills of credit, in particular. + c. The paper money craze of 1785 and 1786. + d. Paper money as a "legal tender." + e. The depreciation of paper money during the Civil War. + f. The depreciation of the Continental currency in 1780. + g. The demoralization caused by the states making paper money. + h. The lesson of experience. + +6. Prohibitions upon the national government:-- + a. The imposition of duties and taxes. + b. The payment of money. + c. The writ of _habeas corpus_. + d. _Ex post facto_ laws. + e. Bills of attainder. + f. Titles and presents. + +7. Duties of the states to one another:-- + a. In respect to public acts and records, and judicial proceedings. + b. In respect to the privileges of citizens. + c. In respect to fugitives from justice. + +8. What is the duty of the United States to every state in +respect (1) to form of government, (2) invasion, and (3) +insurrection? + +9. Amendments to the Constitution:-- + a. Two methods of proposing amendments. + b. Two methods of ratifying amendments, + c. The difficulty of making amendments. + d. Amendment of the Articles of Confederation. + +10. What is meant by the Constitution's declaring itself the +supreme law of the land? + + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary_. + +[Sidenote: Need for a federal judiciary.] +The creation of a federal judiciary was the second principal feature in +the Constitution, which transformed our country from a loose +confederation into a federal nation, from a _Band-of-States_ into a +_Banded-State_. We have seen that the American people were already +somewhat familiar with the method of testing the constitutionality of a +law by getting the matter brought before the courts.[27] In the case of +a conflict between state law and federal law, the only practicable +peaceful solution is that which is reached through a judicial decision. +The federal authority also needs the machinery of courts in order to +enforce its own decrees. + +[Footnote 27: See above p. 194.] + +[Sidenote: Federal courts and judges.] +[Sidenote: District attorneys and marshals.] +The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, and +district courts.[28] At present the supreme court consists of a chief +justice and eight associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the +city of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of October. Each of +these nine judges is also presiding judge of a circuit court. The area +of the United States, not including the territories, is divided into +nine circuits, and in each circuit the presiding judge is assisted +by special circuit judges. The circuits are divided into districts, +fifty-six in all, and in each of these there is a special district +judge. The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a +state is one district, but populous states with much business are +divided into two or even three districts. "The circuit courts sit +in the several districts of each circuit successively, and the law +requires that each justice of the supreme court shall sit in each +district of his circuit at least once every two years." [29] District +judges are not confined to their own districts; they may upon occasion +exchange districts as ministers exchange pulpits. A district judge +may, if need be, act as a circuit judge, as a major may command a +regiment. All federal judges are appointed by the president, with the +consent of the Senate, to serve during good behaviour. Each district +has its _district attorney_, whose business is to prosecute +offenders against the federal laws and to conduct civil cases in +which the national government is either plaintiff or defendant. Each +district has also its marshal, who has the same functions under the +federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The procedure of +the federal court usually follows that of the courts of the state in +which it is sitting. + +[Footnote 28: See the second note on p.278.] + +[Footnote 29: See Wilson, _The State_, p. 554. I have closely +followed, though, with much abridgment, the excellent description of +our federal judiciary, pp. 555-561.] + +[Sidenote: The federal jurisdiction.] +The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases: (1) those +which come before it "_because of the nature of the questions +involved_: for instance, admiralty and maritime cases, navigable +waters being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal +authorities, and cases arising out of the Constitution, laws, or +treaties of the United States or out of conflicting grants made by +different states"; (2) those which come before it "_because of the +nature of the parties to the suit_," such as cases affecting the +ministers of foreign powers or suits between citizens of different +states. + +The division of jurisdiction between the upper and lower federal +courts is determined chiefly by the size and importance of the cases. +In cases where a state or a foreign minister is a party the supreme +court has original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate +jurisdiction, and "any case which involves the interpretation of the +Constitution can be taken to the supreme court, however small the sum +in dispute." If a law of any state or of the United States is decided +by the supreme court to be in violation of the Constitution, it +instantly becomes void and of no effect. In this supreme exercise +of jurisdiction, our highest federal tribunal is unlike any other +tribunal known to history. The supreme court is the most original of +all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, and for its +exalted character and priceless services it is an institution of which +Americans may well be proud. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the second important factor in transforming our country +from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +2. Why was a federal judiciary deemed necessary? + +3. The organization of the federal judiciary:-- + a. The supreme court and its sessions. + b. The circuit courts. + c. The district courts. + d. Exchanges of service. + e. Appointment of judges. + f. The United States district attorney. + g. The United States marshal. + +4. The jurisdiction of the federal courts:-- + a. Cases because of the nature of the questions involved. + b. Cases because of the nature of the parties to the suit. + c. The division of jurisdiction between the upper and the lower + courts. + d. Wherein the supreme court is the most original of American + institutions. + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +[Sidenote: The Northwest Territory.] +[Sidenote: The Ordinance of 1787.] +The Constitution provided for the admission of new states to the +Union, but it does not allow a state to be formed within another +state. A state cannot "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." Shortly before the +making of the Constitution, the United States had been endowed for the +first time with a public domain. The territory northwest of the Ohio +River had been claimed, on the strength of old grants and charters, by +Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia. In 1777 Maryland +refused to sign the Articles of Confederation until these states +should agree to cede their claims to the United States, and thus in +1784 the federal government came into possession of a magnificent +territory, out of which five great states--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, +Michigan, and Wisconsin--have since been made. While the Federal +Convention was sitting at Philadelphia, the Continental Congress at +New York was doing almost its last and one of its greatest pieces +of work in framing the Ordinance of 1787 for the organization and +government of this newly acquired territory. The ordinance created a +territorial government with governor and two-chambered legislature, +courts, magistrates, and militia. Complete civil and religious liberty +was guaranteed, negro slavery was prohibited, and provision was made +for free schools.[30] + +[Footnote 30: The manner in which provision should be made for these +schools had been pointed out two years before in the land-ordinance of +1785, as heretofore explained. See above, p. 86.] + +[Sidenote: Other territories and their government.] +In 1803 the enormous territory known as Louisiana, comprising +everything (except Texas) between the Mississippi River and the crest +of the Rocky Mountains, was purchased from France. A claim upon the +Oregon territory was soon afterward made by discovery and exploration, +and finally settled in 1846 by treaty with Great Britain. In 1848 by +conquest and in 1853 by purchase the remaining Pacific lands were +acquired from Mexico. All of this vast region has been at some time +under territorial government. As for Texas, on the other hand, it +has never been a territory. Texas revolted from Mexico in 1836 and +remained an independent state until 1845, when it was admitted to +the Union. Territorial government has generally passed through three +stages: first, there are governors and judges appointed by the +president; then as population increases, there is added a legislature +chosen by the people and empowered to make laws subject to +confirmation by Congress; finally, entire legislative independence is +granted. The territory is then ripe for admission to the Union as a +state. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the constitutional provision for admitting new states? + +2. What states claimed the territory northwest of the Ohio river? On +what did they base their claims? + +3. Why was this territory ceded to the general government? + +4. What states have since been made out of this territory? + +5. What was the Ordinance of 1787? + +6. What were the principal provisions of this ordinance? + +7. Give an account of the Louisiana purchase? + +8. Give an account of the acquisition of the Oregon territory. + +9. Give an account of the acquisition of the remaining Pacific lands. + +10. How came Texas to belong to the United States? + +11. How much of the public domain has been at some time under +territorial government? + +12. Through what three stages has territorial government usually +passed? + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments._ + +[Sidenote: Concessions to the South.] +Thus the work of the Ordinance of 1787 was in a certain sense +supplementary to the work of framing the Constitution. When the latter +instrument was completed, it was provided that "the ratifications +of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the +establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the +same." The Constitution was then laid before the Continental Congress, +which submitted it to the states. In one state after another, +conventions were held, and at length the Constitution was ratified. +There was much opposition to it, because it seemed to create a strange +and untried form of government which might develop into a +tyranny. There was a fear that the federal power might crush out +self-government in the states. This dread was felt in all parts of the +country. Besides this, there was some sectional opposition between +North and South, and in Virginia there was a party in favour of a +separate southern confederacy. But South Carolina and Georgia were won +over by the concessions in the Constitution to slavery, and especially +a provision that the importation of slaves from Africa should not +be prohibited until 1808. By winning South Carolina and Georgia the +formation of a "solid South" was prevented. + +[Sidenote: Bill of Rights proposed.] +The first states to adopt the Constitution were Delaware, +Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, with slight +opposition, except in Pennsylvania. Next came Massachusetts, where the +convention was very large, the discussion very long, and the action +in one sense critical. One chief source of dissatisfaction was the +absence of a sufficiently explicit Bill of Rights, and to meet this +difficulty, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, but proposed +amendments, and this course was followed by other states. Maryland and +South Carolina came next, and New Hampshire made the ninth. Virginia +and New York then ratified by very narrow majorities and after +prolonged discussion. North Carolina did not come in until 1789, and +Rhode Island not until 1790. + +[Sidenote: The first ten amendments.] + +In September, 1789, the first ten amendments were proposed by +Congress, and in December, 1791, they were declared in force. Their +provisions are similar to those of the English Bill of Rights, enacted +in 1689,[31] but are much more full and explicit. They provide for +freedom of speech and of the press, the free exercise of religion, the +right of the people to assemble and petition Congress for a redress +of grievances, their right to bear arms, and to be secure against +unreasonable searches and seizures. The quartering of soldiers is +guarded, general search-warrants are prohibited, jury trial is +guaranteed, and the taking of private property for public use without +due compensation, as well as excessive fines and bail and the +infliction of "cruel and unusual punishment" are forbidden. Congress +is prohibited from establishing any form of religion. + +[Footnote 31: See above, p. 190. This is further elucidated in +Appendixes B and D.] + +Finally, it is declared that "the enumeration of certain rights shall +not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," +and that "the powers not granted to the United States by the +Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the +states respectively, or to the people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What provision did the Constitution make for its own ratification? + +2. What was the general method of ratification in the states? + +3. On what general grounds did the opposition to the Constitution seem +to be based? + +4. By what feature in the Constitution was the support of South +Carolina and Georgia assured? Why was this support deemed peculiarly +desirable? + +5. What five states ratified the Constitution with little or no +opposition? + +6. What was the objection of Massachusetts and some other states to +the Constitution? What course, therefore, did they adopt? + +7. What three states after Massachusetts by their ratification made +the adoption of the Constitution secure? + +8. What four states subsequently gave in their support? + +9. Give an account of the adoption of the first ten amendments. + +10. For what do these amendments provide? + +11. What powers are reserved to the states? + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics._ + +[Sidenote: Federal taxation.] +A chief source of the opposition to the new federal government was the +dread of federal taxation. People who found it hard to pay their town, +county, and state taxes felt that it would be ruinous to have to pay +still another kind of tax. In the mere fact of federal taxation, +therefore, they were inclined to see tyranny. With people in such a +mood it was necessary to proceed cautiously in devising measures of +federal taxation. + +[Sidenote: Excise.] +This was well understood by our first secretary of the treasury, +Alexander Hamilton, and in the course of his administration of the +treasury he was once roughly reminded of it. The two methods of federal +taxation adopted at his suggestion were duties on imports and excise on +a few domestic products, such as whiskey and tobacco. The excise, being +a tax which people could see and feel, was very unpopular, and in 1794 +the opposition to it in western Pennsylvania grew into the famous +"Whiskey Insurrection," against which President Washington thought it +prudent to send an army of 16,000 men. This formidable display of +federal power suppressed the insurrection without bloodshed. + +[Sidenote: Tariff.] +Nowhere was there any such violent opposition to Hamilton's scheme of +custom-house duties on imported goods. People had always been familiar +with such duties. In the colonial times they had been levied by the +British government without calling forth resistance until Charles +Townshend made them the vehicle of a dangerous attack upon American +self-government.[32] After the Declaration of Independence, custom-house +duties were levied by the state governments and the proceeds were paid +into the treasuries of the several states. Before 1789, much trouble had +arisen from oppressive tariff-laws enacted by some of the states against +others. By taking away from the states the power of taxing imports, the +new Constitution removed this source of irritation. It became possible +to lighten the burden of custom-house duties, while by turning the full +stream of them into the federal treasury an abundant national revenue +was secured at once. Thus this part of Hamilton's policy met with +general approval. The tariff has always been our favourite device for +obtaining a national revenue. During our Civil War, indeed, the +national, government resorted extensively to direct taxation, chiefly in +the form of revenue stamps, though it also put a tax upon +billiard-tables, pianos, gold watches, and all sorts of things. But +after the return of peace these unusual taxes were one after another +discontinued, and since then our national revenue has been raised, as in +Hamilton's time, from duties on imports and excise on a few domestic +products, chiefly tobacco and distilled liquors. + +[Footnote 32: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-83; and my +_History of the United States, for Schools_, pp. 192-203.] + +[Sidenote: Origin of American political parties.] +Hamilton's measures as secretary of the treasury embodied an entire +system of public policy, and the opposition to them resulted in the +formation of the two political parties into which, under one name or +another, the American people have at most times been divided. Hamilton's +opponents, led by Jefferson, objected to his principal measures that +they assumed powers in the national government which were not granted to +it by the Constitution. Hamilton then fell back upon the Elastic +Clause[33] of the Constitution, and maintained that such powers were +_implied_ in it. Jefferson held that this doctrine of "implied powers" +stretched the Elastic Clause too far. He held that the Elastic Clause +ought to be construed strictly and narrowly; Hamilton held that +it ought to be construed loosely and liberally. Hence the names +"strict-constructionist" and "loose-constructionist," which mark perhaps +the most profound and abiding antagonism in the history of American +politics. + +[Footnote [33]: Article I, section viii, clause 18; see above, p. 245.] + +Practically all will admit that the Elastic Clause, if construed +strictly, ought not to be construed _too_ narrowly; and, if construed +liberally, ought not to be construed _too_ loosely. Neither party has +been consistent in applying its principles, but in the main we can call +Hamilton the founder of the Federalist party, which has had for its +successors the National Republicans of 1828, the Whigs of 1833 to 1852, +and the Republicans of 1854 to the present time; while we can call +Jefferson the founder of the party which called itself Republican from +about 1792 to about 1828, and since then has been known as the +Democratic party. This is rather a rough description in view of the real +complication of the historical facts, but it is an approximation to the +truth. + +[Sidenote: Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank.] +It is not my purpose here to give a sketch of the history of American +parties. Such a sketch, if given in due relative proportion, would +double the size of this little book, of which the main purpose is to +treat of civil government in the United States with reference to its +_origins_. But it may here be said in general that the practical +questions which have divided the two great parties have been concerned +with the powers of the national government as to (1) the _Tariff_; (2) +the making of roads, improving rivers and harbours, etc., under the +general head of _Internal Improvements_; and (3) the establishment of a +_National Bank_, with the national government as partner holding shares +in it and taking a leading part in the direction of its affairs. On the +question of such a national bank the Democratic party achieved a +complete and decisive victory under President Tyler. On the question of +internal improvements the opposite party still holds the ground, but +most of its details have been settled by the great development of the +powers of private enterprise during the past sixty years, and it is not +at present a "burning question." The question of the tariff, however, +remains to-day as a "burning question," but it is no longer argued on +grounds of constitutional law, but on grounds of political economy. +Hamilton's construction of the Elastic Clause has to this extent +prevailed, and mainly for the reason that a liberal construction of that +clause was needed in order to give the national government enough power +to restrict the spread of slavery and suppress the great rebellion of +which slavery was the exciting cause. + +[Sidenote: Civil service reform.] +Another political question, more important, if possible, than that of +the Tariff, is to-day the question of the reform of the Civil Service; +but it is not avowedly made a party question. Twenty years ago both +parties laughed at it; now both try to treat it with a show of respect +and to render unto it lip-homage; and the control of the immediate +political future probably lies with the party which treats it most +seriously. It is a question that was not distinctly foreseen in the days +of Hamilton and Jefferson, when the Constitution was made and adopted; +otherwise, one is inclined to believe, the framers of the Constitution +would have had something to say about it. The question as to the Civil +Service arises from the fact that the president has the power of +appointing a vast number of petty officials, chiefly postmasters and +officials concerned with the collection of the federal revenue. Such +officials have properly nothing to do with politics; they are simply the +agents or clerks or servants of the national government in conducting +its business; and if the business of the national government is to be +managed on such ordinary principles of prudence as prevail in the +management of private business, such servants ought to be selected for +personal merit and retained for life or during good behaviour. It did +not occur to our earlier presidents to regard the management of the +public business in any other light than this. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the "spoils system."] +But as early as the beginning of the present century a vicious system +was growing up in New York and Pennsylvania. In those states the +appointive offices came to be used as bribes or as rewards for partisan +services. By securing votes for a successful candidate, a man with +little in his pocket and nothing in particular to do could obtain some +office with a comfortable salary. It would be given him as a reward, and +some other man, perhaps more competent than himself, would have to be +turned out in order to make room for him. A more effective method of +driving good citizens "out of politics" could hardly be devised. It +called to the front a large class of men of coarse moral fibre who +greatly preferred the excitement of speculating in politics to earning +an honest living by some ordinary humdrum business. The civil service of +these states was seriously damaged in quality, politics degenerated into +a wild scramble for offices, salaries were paid to men who did little or +no public service in return, and thus the line which separates taxation +from robbery was often crossed. + +[Sidenote: "Rotation in Office."] +[Sidenote: The "spoils system" made national] +About the same time there grew up an idea that there is something +especially democratic, and therefore meritorious, about "rotation in +office." Government offices were regarded as plums at which every one +ought to be allowed a chance to take a bite. The way was prepared in +1820 by W.H. Crawford, of Georgia, who succeeded in getting the law +enacted that limits the tenure of office for postmasters, revenue +collectors, and other servants of the federal government to four years. +The importance of this measure was not understood, and it excited very +little discussion at the time. The next presidential election which +resulted in a change of party was that of Jackson in 1828, and then the +methods of New York and Pennsylvania were applied on a national scale. +Jackson cherished the absurd belief that the administration of his +predecessor Adams had been corrupt, and he turned men out of office with +a keen zest. During the forty years between Washington's first +inauguration and Jackson's the total number of removals from office was +74, and out of this number 5 were defaulters. During the first year of +Jackson's administration the number of changes made in the civil +service was about 2,000. [34] Such was the abrupt inauguration upon a +national scale of the so-called "spoils system." The phrase originated +with W. L. Marcy, of New York, who in a speech in the senate in 1831 +declared that "to the victors belong the spoils." The man who said this +of course did not realize that he was making one of the most shameful +remarks recorded in history. There was, however, much aptness in his +phrase, inasmuch as it was a confession that the business of American +politics was about to be conducted on principles fit only for the +warfare of barbarians. + +[Footnote 34: Sumner's _Jackson_, p. 147.] + +In the canvass of 1840 the Whigs promised to reform the civil service, +and the promise brought them many Democratic votes; but after they had +won the election, they followed Jackson's example. The Democrats +followed in the same way in 1845, and from that time down to 1885 it was +customary at each change of party to make a "clean sweep" of the +offices. Soon after the Civil War the evils of the system began to +attract serious attention on the part of thoughtful people. The "spoils +system" has helped to sustain all manner of abominations, from grasping +monopolies and civic jobbery down to political rum-shops. The virus runs +through everything, and the natural tendency of the evil is to grow with +the growth of the country. + +[Sidenote: The Civil Service Act of 1883.] +In 1883 Congress passed the Civil Service Act, allowing the president to +select a board of examiners on whose recommendation appointments are +made. Candidates for office are subjected to an easy competitive +examination. The system has worked well in other countries, and under +Presidents Arthur and Cleveland it was applied to a considerable part of +the civil service. It has also been adopted in some states and cities. +The opponents of reform object to the examination that it is not always +intimately connected with the work of the office,[35] but, even if this +were so, the merit of the system lies in its removal of the offices from +the category of things known as "patronage." It relieves the president +of much needless work and wearisome importunity. The president and the +heads of departments appoint (in many cases, through subordinates) about +115,000 officials. It is therefore impossible to know much about their +character or competency. It becomes necessary to act by advice, and the +advice of an examining board is sure to be much better than the advice +of political schemers intent upon getting a salaried office for their +needy friends. The examination system has made a fair beginning and will +doubtless be gradually improved and made more stringent. Something too +has been done toward stopping two old abuses attendant upon political +canvasses,--(1) forcing government clerks, under penalty of losing their +places, to contribute part of their salaries for election purposes; (2) +allowing government clerks to neglect their work in order to take an +active part in the canvass. Before the reform of the civil service can +be completed, however, it will be necessary to repeal Crawford's act of +1820 and make the tenure of postmasters and revenue collectors as secure +as that of the chief justice of the United States. + +[Footnote 35: The objection that the examination questions are +irrelevant to the work of the office is often made the occasion of gross +exaggeration. I have given, in Appendix I, an average sample of the +examination papers used in the customs service. It is taken from +Comstock's _Civil Service in the United States_, New York, Holt & Co., +1885, an excellent manual with very full particulars.] + +[Sidenote: The Australian ballot-system.] +Another political reform which promises excellent results is the +adoption by many states of some form of the Australian ballot-system, +for the purpose of checking intimidation and bribery at elections. The +ballots are printed by the state, and contain the names of all the +candidates of all the parties. Against the name of each candidate the +party to which he belongs is designated, and against each name there is +a small vacant space to be filled with a cross. At the polling-place the +ballots are kept in an inclosure behind a railing, and no ballot can be +brought outside under penalty of fine or imprisonment[36]. One ballot is +nailed against the wall outside the railing, so that it may be read at +leisure. The space behind the railing is divided into separate booths +quite screened from each other. Each booth is provided with a pencil and +a convenient shelf on which to write. The voter goes behind the railing, +takes the ballot which is handed him, carries it into one of the booths, +and marks a cross against the names of the candidates for whom he votes. +He then puts his ballot into the box, and his name is checked off on the +register of voters of the precinct. This system is very simple, it +enables a vote to be given in absolute secrecy, and it keeps "heelers" +away from the polls. It is favourable to independence in voting,[37] and +it is unfavourable to bribery, because unless the briber can follow his +man to the polls and see how he votes, he cannot be sure that his bribe +is effective. To make the precautions against bribery complete it will +doubtless be necessary to add to the secret ballot the English system of +accounting for election expenses. All the funds used in an election must +pass through the hands of a small local committee, vouchers must be +received for every penny that is expended, and after the election an +itemized account must be made out and its accuracy attested under oath +before a notary public. This system of accounting has put an end to +bribery in England.[38] + +[Footnote 36: This is a brief description of the system lately adopted +in Massachusetts. The penalty here mentioned is a fine not exceeding a +thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such +fine and such imprisonment.] + +[Footnote 37: It is especially favourable to independence in voting, if +the lists of the candidates are placed in a single column, without +reference to party (each name of course, having the proper party +designation, "Rep.," "Dem.," "Prohib.," etc., attached to it). In such +case it must necessarily take the voter some little time to find and +mark each name for which he wishes to vote. If, however, the names of +the candidates are arranged according to their party, all the +Republicans in one list, all the Democrats in another, etc., this +arrangement is much less favourable to independence in voting and much +less efficient as a check upon bribery; because the man who votes a +straight party ticket will make all his marks in a very short time, +while the "scratcher," or independent voter, will consume much more time +in selecting his names. Thus people interested in seeing whether a man +is voting the straight party ticket or not can form an opinion from the +length of time he spends in the booth. It is, therefore, important that +the names of all candidates should be printed in a single column.] + +[Footnote 38: An important step in this direction has been taken in the +New York Corrupt Practices Act of April, 1890. See Appendix J.] + +Complaints of bribery and corruption have attracted especial attention +in the United States during the past few years, and it is highly +creditable to the good sense of the people that measures of prevention +have been so promptly adopted by so many states. With an independent and +uncorrupted ballot, and the civil service taken "out of politics," all +other reforms will become far more easily accomplished. These ends will +presently be attained. Popular government makes many mistakes, and +sometimes it is slow in finding them out; but when once it has +discovered them it has a way of correcting them. It is the best kind of +government in the world, the most wisely conservative, the most steadily +progressive, and the most likely to endure. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was a chief source of opposition to the new federal government? + +2. What necessity for caution existed in devising methods to raise money? + +3. Hamilton's scheme of excise:-- + a. The things on which excise was laid. + b. The unpopularity of the scheme. + c. The "Whiskey Insurrection." + d. Its suppression by Washington. + +4. Hamilton's tariff scheme:-- + a. The class of things on which duties were placed. + b. Popular acquiescence in the plan. + c. Effect of diverting the stream of custom-house revenue from its old + destination in the several state treasuries to its new destination in + the federal treasury. + d. Direct taxation during the Civil War. + e. Methods pursued since the Civil War. + +5. The origin of American political parties:-- + a. Jefferson's objection to Hamilton's policy. + b. Hamilton's defence of his policy. + c. Jefferson's view of the Elastic Clause. + d. Hamilton's view of the Elastic Clause. + e. Two names suggestive of an abiding antagonism in American politics. + f. A view of the Elastic Clause that commends itself to all. + g. The party of Hamilton and its successors. + h. The party of Jefferson and its successor. + +6. Great practical questions that have divided parties:-- + a. The Tariff. + b. Internal Improvements. + c. A National Bank. + d. The present attitude towards these three questions. + e. The shifting of ground in arguing the tariff question. + f. The reason for this change of base. + +7. Civil Service reform:-- + + a. The attitude of parties a few years ago. + b. The present attitude of the same parties. + c. A question not foreseen. + d. The number of officers appointed. + e. The non-political nature of their duties. + f. The principles that should prevail in their selection and + service. + +8. The "spoils system":-- + a. Early appointive officers in New York and Pennsylvania, + b. The driving of good citizens out of politics. + c. The character of the men called to the front. + d. The effect on civil service and on politics. + +9. Rotation in office:-- + a. A new idea about government offices. + b. Crawford's law of 1820. + c. Failure to grasp its significance. + d. Jackson's course in 1829. + e. Removals from office down to Jackson's time. + f. Removals during the first year of Jackson's administration. + g. Origin of the phrase, "spoils system." + h. Promises and practice down to 1885. + i. The evils conspicuous since the Civil War. + +10. The Civil Service Act of 1883. + a. A board of examiners. + b. Competitive examination of candidates. + c. The spread of the principles of the reform. + d. The merit of the system. + e. Two old abuses stopped. + f. Further measures needed. + +11. The Australian ballot system:-- + a. The object of this system. + b. The printing of the ballots. + c. What a ballot contains. + d. Ballots at the polling-places. + e. The booths. + f. The manner of voting. + g. The advantages of the system. + h. An additional precaution against bribery. + +12. What is the attitude of the people towards bribery and corruption? + +13. What reforms must be accomplished before others can make +much headway? + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How much money is needed by the United States government for the +expenses of a year? How much is needed for the army, the navy, the +interest on the public debt, pensions, rivers and harbours, ordinary +civil expenses, etc.? (Answer for any recent year.) + +2. From what sources does the revenue come? Tell how much revenue each +of the several sources has yielded in any recent year. + +3. What is the origin of the word _tariff_? + +4. What is meant by _protection_? What is meant by _free +trade_? What is meant by a _tariff for revenue only_? What is +meant by _reciprocity_? Give illustrations. + +5. What are some of the reasons assigned for protection? + +6. What are some of the reasons assigned for free trade? + +7. Which policy prevails among the states themselves? + +8. Which policy prevails between the United States and other nations? + +9. Mention all the kinds of United States money in circulation. Bring +into the class a national bank bill, a gold certificate, a silver +certificate, any piece that is used as money, and inquire wherein its +value lies, what it can or cannot be used for, what the United States +will or will not give in exchange for it, and whether it is worth its +face in gold or not. + +10. Is it right to buy silver at seventy-five cents and then put +it into circulation stamped a dollar, the Government receiving the +profit? Can you get a gold dollar for a silver one? + +11. Is a promise to pay a dollar a real dollar? May it be as good as a +dollar? If so, under what conditions? + +12. If gold were as common as gravel, what characteristics of it +universally recognized would remain unchanged? What would become of +its purchasing power, if it cost little or no labour to obtain it? Why +is it accepted as a standard of value? + +13. During the Civil War gold was said to fluctuate in value, because +it took two dollars of paper money, sometimes more, sometimes less, +to buy one dollar in gold. Where was the real changing? What was the +cause of it? + +14. What men are at the head of the national government at the present +time? (Think of the executive department and its primary divisions, +the legislative department, and the judicial.) + +15. What salaries are paid these officers? Compare American salaries +with European salaries for corresponding high positions. + +16. Should a president serve a second term? What is the advantage of +such service? What is the objection to it? Is a single term of six +years desirable? + +17. Ought the president to be elected directly by the people? + +18. Name in order the persons entitled to succeed to the presidency in +case of vacancy. + +19. Who is your representative in Congress? + +20. Who are your senators in Congress? + +21. What is the pay of members of Congress? Who determines the +compensation? What is there to prevent lavish or improper pay? + + +22. There is said to be "log-rolling" in legislation at times. What is +the nature of this practice? Is it right? + +23. Is the senator or the representative of higher dignity? Why? + +24. Why should members of Congress be exempted from arrest in certain +cases? + +25. Find authority in the Constitution for various things that +Congress has done, such as the following:-- + a. It has established a military academy at West Point. + b. It has given public lands to Pacific railroads. + c. It has authorized uniforms for letter carriers. + d. It has ordered surveys of the coast. + e. It has established the Yellowstone National Park. + f. It has voted millions of dollars for pensions. + g. It refused during the Civil War to pay its promises with silver or + gold. + h. It bought Alaska of Russia. + i. It has adopted exclusive measures towards the Chinese. + +26. Reverse the preceding exercise. That is, cite clauses of the +Constitution, and tell what particular things Congress has done because +of such authority. For example, what specific things have been done +under the following powers of Congress?-- + a. To collect taxes. + b. To regulate commerce with foreign nations. + c. To coin money. + d. To establish post-roads. + e. To provide for the common defence. + f. To provide for the general welfare. + +27. Compare the strength of the national government to-day with its +strength in the past. + +28. Who are citizens according to the Constitution? Is a woman a +citizen? Is a child a citizen? Are Indians citizens? Are foreigners +residing in this country citizens? Are children born abroad of +American parents citizens? Can one person be a citizen of two nations +at the same time, or of two states, or of two towns? Explain. + +29. To what laws is an American vessel on the ocean subject? + +30. Show how the interests and needs of the various sections of +the country present wide differences. Compare mining sections with +agricultural, and both with manufacturing; Pacific states with +Atlantic; Northern states with Southern. What need of mutual +consideration exists? + +31. Name all the political divisions from the smallest to the greatest +in which you live. A Cambridge (Mass.) boy might, for example, say, "I +live in the third precinct of the first ward, in the first Middlesex +representative district, the third Middlesex senatorial district, the +third councillor district, and the fifth congressional district. +My city is Cambridge; my county, Middlesex, etc." Name the various +persons who represent you in these several districts. + +32. May state and local officers exercise authority on United States +government territory, as, for example, within the limits of an arsenal +or a custom-house? May national government officers exercise authority +in states and towns? + +33. What is a _sovereign_ state? Is New York a sovereign state? +the United States? the Dominion of Canada? Great Britain? Explain. + +34. When sovereign nations disagree, how can a settlement be +effected? What is the best way to settle such a disagreement? +Illustrate from history the methods of negotiation, of arbitration, +and of war. + +35. When two states of the Federal Union disagree, what solution of +the difficulty is possible? + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +THE FEDERAL UNION.--For the origin of our federal constitution, see +Bancroft's _History of the United States_, final edition, vol. +vi., N.Y., 1886; Curtis's _History of the Constitution_, 2 vols., +N.Y., 1861, new edition, vol. i., 1889; and my _Critical Period of +American History_, Boston, 1888, with copious references in the +bibliographical note at the end. Once more we may refer advantageously +to _J.H.U. Studies_, II., v.-vi., H.C. Adams, _Taxation in +the United States_, 1789-1816; VIII, i.-ii., A.W. Small, _The +Beginnings of American Nationality_. See also Jameson's _Essays +in the Constitutional History of the United States in the Formative +Period_, 1775-1789, Boston, 1889, a very valuable book. + +On the progress toward union during the colonial period, see especially +Frothingham's _Rise of the Republic of the United States_, Boston, 1872; +also Scott's _Development of Constitutional Liberty in the English +Colonies of America_, N.Y., 1882. + +By far the ablest and most thorough book on the government of the +United States that has ever been published is Bryce's _American +Commonwealth_, 2 vols., London and N.Y., 1888. No American +citizen's education is properly completed until he has read the whole +of it carefully. In connection therewith, the work of Tocqueville, +_Democracy in America_, 2 vols., 6th ed., Boston, 1876, is +interesting. The Scotchman describes and discusses the American +commonwealth of to-day, the Frenchman that of sixty years ago. There +is an instructive difference in the methods of the two writers, +Tocqueville being inclined to draw deductions from ingenious +generalizations and to explain as natural results of democracy sundry +American characteristics that require a different explanation. His +great work is admirably reviewed and criticised by Bryce, in the +_J.H.U. Studies_, V., ix., _The Predictions of Hamilton and De +Tocqueville_. + +The following manuals may be recommended: Thorpe, _The_ +_Government of the People of the United States_, Phila., 1889; +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_, +N.Y. and Chicago, 1875 (written with special reference to +Massachusetts); Northam's _Manual of Civil Government_, Syracuse, +1887 (written with special reference to New York); Ford's _American +Citizen's Manual_, N.Y., 1887; Rupert's _Guide to the Study of +the History and the Constitution of the United States_, Boston, +1888; Andrews's _Manual of the Constitution of the United +States_, Cincinnati, 1874; Miss Dawes, _How we are Governed_, +Boston, 1888; Macy, _Our Government: How it Grew, What it Does, and +How it Does it_, Boston, 1887. The last is especially good, and +mingles narrative with exposition in an unusually interesting way. +Nordhoff's _Politics for Young Americans_, N.Y., 1887, is a book +that ought to be read by all young Americans for its robust and sound +political philosophy. It is suitable for boys and girls from twelve to +fifteen years old. C.F. Dole's _The Citizen and the Neighbour_, +Boston, 1887, is a suggestive and stimulating little book. For a +comparative survey of governmental institutions, ancient and modern, +see Woodrow Wilson's _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, Boston, 1889. An enormous mass of matter is +compressed into this volume, and, although it inevitably suffers +somewhat from extreme condensation, it is so treated as to be both +readable and instructive. The chapter on _The State and Federal +Governments of the United States_ has been published separately, +and makes a convenient little volume of 131 pages. Teachers should +find much help in MacAlister's _Syllabus of a Course of Elementary +Instruction in United States History and Civil Government_, Phila., +1887. + +The following books of the "English Citizen Series," published by +Macmillan & Co., may often be profitably consulted: M.D. Chalmers, +_Local Government_; H.D. Traill, _Central Government_; F.W. Maitland, +_Justice and Police_; Spencer Walpole, _The Electorate and the +Legislature_; A.J. Wilson, _The National Budget_; T.H. Farrer, _The +State in its Relations to Trade_; W.S. Jevons, _The State in its +Relations to Labour_. The works on the English Constitution by Stubbs, +Gneist, Taswell-Langmead, Freeman, and Bagehot are indispensable to a +thorough understanding of civil government in the United States: Stubbs, +_Constitutional History of England_, 3 vols., London, 1875-78; Gneist, +_History of the English Constitution_, 2d ed., 2 vols., London, 1889; +Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, 3d ed., Boston, +1886; Freeman, _The Growth of the English Constitution_, London, 1872; +Bagehot, _The English Constitution_, revised ed., Boston, 1873. An +admirable book in this connection is Hannis Taylor's (of Alabama) +_Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, Boston, 1889. In +connection with Bagehot's _English Constitution_ the student may +profitably read Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_, Boston, +1885, and A.L. Lowell's _Essays in Government_, Boston, 1890. See also +Sir H. Maine, _Popular Government_, London, 1886; Sir G.C. Lewis on _The +Use and Abuse of Certain Political Terms_, London, 1832; _Methods of +Observation and Reasoning in Politics_, 2 vols., London, 1852; and +_Dialogue on the Best Form of Government_, London, 1863. + +Among the most valuable books ever written on the proper sphere +and duties of civil government are Herbert Spencer's _Social +Statics_, London, 1851; _The Study of Sociology_, 9th ed., +London, 1880; _The Man_ versus _The State_, London, 1884; +they are all reprinted by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The views +expressed in _Social Statics_ with regard to the tenure of land +are regarded as unsound by many who are otherwise in entire sympathy +with Mr. Spencer's views, and they are ably criticised in Bonham's +_Industrial Liberty_, N.Y., 1888. A book of great merit, which +ought to be reprinted as it is now not easy to obtain, is Toulmin +Smith's _Local Self-Government and Centralization_, London, 1851. +Its point of view is sufficiently indicated by the following admirable +pair of maxims (p. 12):-- + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT _is that system of Government under which the +greatest number of minds, knowing the most, and having the fullest +opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in hand, and +having the greatest interest in its well-working, have the management +of it, or control over it._ + +CENTRALIZATION _is that system of government under which the +smallest number of minds, and those knowing the least, and having the +fewest opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in +hand, and having the smallest interest in its well-working, have the +management of it, or control over it._ + +An immense amount of wretched misgovernment would be avoided if all +legislators and all voters would engrave these wholesome definitions +upon their minds. In connection with the books just mentioned much +detailed and valuable information may be found in the collections of +essays edited by J.W. Probyn, _Local Government and Taxation_ [in +various countries], London, 1875; _Local Government and Taxation +in the United_ _Kingdom_, London, 1882. See also R.T. Ely's +_Taxation in American States and Cities_, N.Y., 1889. + +The most elaborate work on our political history is that of Hermann +von Holst, _Constitutional and Political History of the United +States_, translated from the German by J.J. Lalor, vols. i.-vi. +(1787-1859), Chicago, 1877-89. In spite of a somewhat too pronounced +partisan bias, its value is great. See also Schouler's _History +of the United States under the Constitution_, vols. i.-iv. +(1783-1847), new ed., N.Y., 1890. The most useful handbook, alike +for teachers and for pupils, is Alexander Johnston's _History of +American Politics_, 2d ed., N.Y., 1882. _The United States_, +N.Y., 1889, by the same author, is also excellent. Every school +should possess a copy of Lalor's _Cyclopaedia of Political Science, +Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States_, +3 vols., Chicago, 1882-84. The numerous articles in it relating to +American history are chiefly by Alexander Johnston, whose mastery of +his subject was simply unrivalled. His death in 1889, at the early age +of forty, must be regarded as a national calamity. For a manual of +constitutional law, Cooley's _General Principles of Constitutional +Law in the United States of America_, Boston, 1880, is to be +recommended. The reader may fitly supplement his general study of +civil government by the little book of E.P. Dole, _Talks about +Law: a Popular Statement of What our Law is and How it is to be +Administered_, Boston, 1887. + +In connection with the political history, Stanwood's _History of +Presidential Elections_, 2d ed., Boston, 1888, will be found +useful. See also Lawton's _American Caucus System_, N.Y., 1885. +On the general subject of civil service reform, see Eaton's _Civil +Service in Great Britain: a History of Abuses and Reforms, and their +Bearing upon American Politics_, N.Y., 1880. Comstock's _Civil +Service in the United States_, N.Y., 1885, is a catalogue of +offices, with full account of civil service rules, examinations, +specimens of examination papers, etc.; also some of the state rules, +as in New York, Massachusetts, etc. + + * * * * * + +I would here call attention to some publications by the Directors +of the Old South Studies in History and Politics,--first, _The +Constitution of the United States, with Historical and Bibliographical +Notes and Outlines, for Study_, prepared by E.D. Mead (sold by +D.C. Heath and Co., Boston, for 25 cents); secondly, the _Old +South Leaflets_, furnished to schools and the trade by the same +publishers, at 5 cents a copy or $3.00 a hundred. These leaflets are +for the most part reprints of important original papers, furnished +with valuable historical and bibliographical notes. The eighteen +issued up to this time (July, 1890) are as follows: 1. The +Constitution of the United States; 2. The Articles of Confederation; +3. The Declaration of Independence; 4. Washington's Farewell Address; +5. Magna Charta; 6. Vane's "Healing Question;" 7. Charter of +Massachusetts Bay, 1629; 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; +9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; 10. Washington's Inaugurals; +11. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation; 12. The +Federalist, Nos. 1 and 2; 13. The Ordinance of 1787; 14. The +Constitution of Ohio; 15. Washington's "Legacy"; 16. Washington's +Letter to Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, on the Opening of +Communication with the West; 17. Verrazano's Voyage, 1524; 18. Federal +Constitution of the Swiss Confederation. + +Howard Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American History_, +N.Y., 1886, contains the following: First Virginia Charter, 1606; +Second Virginia Charter, 1609; Third Virginia Charter, 1612; Mayflower +Compact, 1620; Massachusetts Charter, 1629; Maryland Charter, 1632; +Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; New England Confederation, +1643; Connecticut Charter, 1662; Rhode Island Charter, 1663; +Pennsylvania Charter, 1681; Perm's Plan of Union, 1697; Georgia +Charter, 1732; Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; Declaration of Rights, +1765; Declaration of Rights, 1774; Non-Importation Agreement, 1774; +Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776; Declaration of Independence, 1776; +Articles of Confederation, 1777; Treaty of Peace, 1783; Northwest +Ordinance, 1787; Constitution of the United States, 1787; Alien and +Sedition Laws, 1798; Virginia Resolutions, 1798; Kentucky Resolutions, +1798; Kentucky Resolutions, 1799; Nullification Ordinance, 1832; +Ordinance of Secession, 1860; South Carolina Declaration of +Independence, 1860; Emancipation Proclamation, 1863. + +See also Poore's _Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial +Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States_, 2 vols., +Washington, 1877. + +The series of essays entitled _The Federalist_, written by +Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, in 1787-88, while the ratification of the +Constitution was in question, will always remain indispensable as an +introduction to the thorough study of the principles upon which our +federal government is based. The most recent edition is by +H.C. Lodge, N.Y., 1888. For the systematic and elaborate study of the +Constitution, see Foster's _References to the Constitution of the +United States_, a little pamphlet of 50 pages published by the +"Society for Political Education," 330 Pearl St., New York, 1890, +price 25 cents. The student who should pursue to the end the line of +research marked out in this pamphlet ought thereby to become quite an +authority on the subject. + +For very pleasant and profitable reading, in connection with the +formation and interpretation of the Constitution, and the political +history of our country from 1763 to 1850, we have the "American +Statesmen Series," edited by J.T. Morse, and published by Houghton, +Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1882-90: _Benjamin Franklin_, by J.T. +Morse; _Patrick Henry_, by M.C. Tyler; _Samuel Adams_, by +J.K. Hosmer; _George Washington_, by H.C. Lodge, 2 vols.; +_John Adams and Thomas Jefferson_, by J.T. Morse; _Alexander +Hamilton_, by H.C. Lodge; _Gouverneur Morris_, by T. Roosevelt; +_James Madison_, by S.H. Gay; _James Monroe_ by D.C. Gilman; +_Albert Gallatin_, by J.A. Stevens; _John Randolph_, by H. +Adams; _John Jay_, by G. Pellew; _John Marshall_, by A.B. +Magruder; _John Quincy Adams_, by J.T. Morse; _John C. Calhoun_, +by H. von Holst; _Andrew Jackson_, by W.G. Sumner; _Martin Van +Buren_, by E.M. Shepard; _Henry Clay_, by C. Schurz, 2 vols.; +_Daniel Webster_, by H.C. Lodge; _Thomas H, Benton_, by T. Roosevelt. + + +In connection with the questions on page 269 relating to tariff, +currency, etc., references to some works on political economy are +needed. The arguments in favour of protectionism are set forth in +Bowen's _American Political Economy_, last ed., N.Y., 1870; +the arguments in favour of free trade are set forth in Perry's +_Political Economy_, 19th ed., N.Y., 1887; and for an able and +impartial historical survey, Taussig's _Tariff History of the United +States_, N.Y., 1888, may be recommended. For a lucid view of +currency, see Jevons's _Money and the Mechanism of Exchange_, +N.Y., 1875. + +A useful work on the Australian method of voting is Wigmore's _The +Australian Ballot System_, 2d ed., Boston, 1890. + +In connection with some of the questions on page 271, the student may +profitably consult Woolsey's _International Law_, 5th ed., N.Y., +1879. NOTE TO PAGE 226. + +By the act of February 3, 1887, the second Monday in January is fixed +for the meeting of the electoral colleges in all the states. The +provisions relating to the first Wednesday in January are repealed. +The interval between the second Monday in January and the second +Wednesday in February remains available for the settlement of disputed +questions. + +NOTE TO PAGE 250. + +In order to relieve the supreme court of the United States, which +had come to be overburdened with business, a new court, with limited +appellate jurisdiction, called the _circuit court of appeals_, +was organized in 1892. It consists primarily of nine _appeal +judges_, one for each of the nine circuits. For any given circuit +the supreme court justice of the circuit, the appeal judge of the +circuit, and the circuit judge constitute the court of appeal. + + + +APPENDIX A. + + +THE 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 defence, 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 pretence 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 egress 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 misdemeanour 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 imprisonment 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 State 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 vessel 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 defence 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 defence of such State; but every State +shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, +sufficiently armed and accoutered, 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 +defence, 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 defence, 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 whatever; of establishing rules for deciding, in +all cases, what captures on land and 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 cannot 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 favour, 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 cannot 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 treaties 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 hills, +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, ion 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 he 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 afterwards 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 one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in +the third year of the independence of America. + + * * * * * + +APPENDIX B. + +THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +PREAMBLE.[1] + +We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect +union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for +the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the +blessings of liberty to ourselves and oar posterity, do ordain and +establish this Constitution for the United States of America. + +ARTICLE I. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Compare this Preamble with Confed. Art. I. and III.] + +[Footnote 2: Compare Art. I. Sections i.-vii. with Confed. Art. V.] + +_Section I. Congress in General._ + +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 II. House of Representatives._ + +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 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. 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. + +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 III. Senate._ + +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. + +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. + +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 he 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 honour, 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 IV. Both Houses._ + +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 V. The Houses Separately._ + +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 behaviour, and with the concurrence of two +thirds, expel a member. 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its +proceedings, and from 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 VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members._ + +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 VII. Mode of Passing Laws._ + +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 VIII. Powers granted to Congress.[3]_ + +[Footnote 3: Compare Sections viii. and ix. with Confed. Art. IX.; +clause 1 of Section viii with Confed. Art. VIII; and clause 12 of +Section viii. with Confed. Art. VII.] + +The Congress shall have, power: + +1. 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, 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; + +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.[4] + +[Footnote 4: This is the Elastic Clause in the interpretation of which +arose the original and fundamental division of political parties. +See above, pp. 245, 259.] + + +_Section IX. Powers denied to the United States._ + +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. + +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 X. Powers denied to the States._[5] + +[Footnote 5: Compare Section X with Confed. Art. VI] + +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. + +2. No State shall, without the consent of 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. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Compare Art. II. with Confed. Art. X.] + +_Section I. President and Vice-President_. + +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. + +3. 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 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. [7] + + +[Footnote 7: This clause of the Constitution has been amended. See +Amendments, Art. XII.] + +4. 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. + +5. 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. + +6. 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. + +7. 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 may have been elected, and he shall not +receive within that period any other emolument from the United States +or any of them. + + +8. 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 II. Powers of the President._ + +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 III. Duties of the President._ + +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 IV. Impeachment._ + +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. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.[8] + +[Footnote 8: Compare Art. III. with the first three paragraphs of +Confed. Art. IX.] + +_Section I. United States Courts._ + +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 behaviour, and +shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation +which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. + + +_Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts._ + +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 he 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; 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.[9] + +[Footnote 9: This clause has been amended. See Amendments, Art. XI.] + +2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and +consuls, and those in which a State shall be a 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 III. Treason._ + +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. THE STATES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Compare Art. IV. with Confed. Art. IV.] + + +_Section I. State Records._ + +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 II. Privileges of Citizens, etc._ + +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 labour 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 labour, but +shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or +labour may be due.[11] + + + +[Footnote 11: This clause has been cancelled by Amendment XIII., which +abolishes slavery.] + + +_Section III. New States and Territories._[12] + +[Footnote 12: Compare section iii. with Confed. Art. XI.] + + + +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 IV. Guarantee to the States._ + +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. POWER OF AMENDMENT.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Compare Art. V. with Confed. Art. XIII.] + +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 amendments 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. PUBLIC DEBT, SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION, OATH OF +OFFICE, RELIGIOUS TEST. + +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.[14] + +[Footnote 14: Compare clause I with Confed. Art. XII.] + +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.[15] + +[Footnote 15: Compare clauses 2 and 3 with Confed. Art. XIII. and +addendum, "And whereas," etc.] + +ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. + +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,[16] 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. + +[Footnote 16: Rhode Island sent no delegates to the Federal +Convention.] + + George Washington, President, and Deputy from VIRGINIA. + NEW HAMPSHIRE--John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. + MASSACHUSETTS--Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. + CONNECTICUT--William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. + NEW YORK--Alexander Hamilton. + NEW JERSEY--William Livingston, David Brearly, William + Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. + PENNSYLVANIA--Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert + Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, + James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. + DELAWARE--George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, + Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. + MARYLAND--James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, + Daniel Carroll. + VIRGINIA--John Blair, James Madison, Jr. + NORTH CAROLINA--William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, + Hugh Williamson. + SOUTH CAROLINA--John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, + Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. + GEORGIA--William Few, Abraham Baldwin. + Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. + + * * * * * + +AMENDMENTS.[17] + +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. + + +[Footnote 17: Amendments I. to X. were proposed by Congress, Sept. 25, +1789, and declared in force Dec. 15, 1791.] + +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 offence 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 favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his +defence. + +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 reexamined 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.[18] + +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.[19] + +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. + +ARTICLE XII.[20] + +1. 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. + + +[Footnote 18: Compare Amendment X. with Confed. Art. II.] + +[Footnote 19: Proposed by Congress March 5, 1794, and declared in force +Jan, 8, 1798.] + +[Footnote 20: Proposed by Congress Dec. 12, 1803, and declared in force +Sept. 25, 1804.] + +2. 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. + +3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of +President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United +States. + +ARTICLE XIII.[21] + +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. + +2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate +legislation. + +ARTICLE XIV.[22] + +1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and + +[Footnote 21: Proposed by Congress Feb. 1, 1865, and declared in force +Dec. 18, 1865.] + +[Footnote 22: Proposed by Congress June 16, 1866, and declared in force +July 28, 1868.] 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. + +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. + +S. 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. + +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. + +5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate +legislation, the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV. [23] + +[Footnote 23: Proposed by Congress Feb. 26, 1869, and declared in force +March 30, 1870.] + +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, colour, or previous condition of servitude. + +2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by +appropriate legislation. + + * * * * * + +FRANKLIN'S SPEECH ON THE LAST DAY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION [24] + +[Footnote 24: From Madison's _Journal_, in Eliot's _Debates_, +vol. v. p. 554.] + +MONDAY, _September_ 17. _In Convention_--The engrossed +Constitution being read, Doctor Franklin rose with a speech in his +hand, which he had reduced to writing for his own convenience, and +which Mr. Wilson read in the words following: + +MR. PRESIDENT: I confess that there are several parts of this +Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I +shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have experienced +many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller +consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects which I +once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the +older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay +more respect to the judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as +most sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and +that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele, a +Protestant, in a dedication tells the Pope that the only difference +between our churches, in their opinions of the certainty of their +doctrines, is, 'the Church of Rome is infallible, and the Church of +England is never in the wrong.' But though many private persons think +almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, +few express it so naturally as a certain French lady who, in a dispute +with her sister, said, 'I don't know how it happens, sister, but I meet +with nobody but myself that is always in the right--_il n'y a que moi +qui a toujours raison.' In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this +Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a +General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government +but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and +believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a +course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done +before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic +government, being incapable of any other. I doubt, too, whether any +other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better +Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the +advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men +all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their +local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a +perfect production be expected? It, therefore, astonishes me, sir, to +find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does: and I +think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to +hear that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of +Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet +hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I +consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and +because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had +of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a +syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born and here they +shall die. If every one of us, in returning to our constituents, were to +report the objections he has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans +in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and +thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting +naturally in our favour among foreign nations as well as among +ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and +efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing happiness to the +people, depends on opinion--on the general opinion of the goodness of +the government as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. +I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and +for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in +recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by +the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future +thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it well administered. On +the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the +Convention who may still have objections to it would, with me, on this +occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest +our unanimity, put his name to this instrument. + +He then moved that the Constitution be signed by the members, and +offered the following as a convenient form, viz.: "Done in Convention +by the unanimous consent of _the States_ present the seventeenth +of September, etc. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed +our names." This ambiguous form had been drawn up by Mr. Gouverneur +Morris, in order to gain the dissenting members, and put into the +hands of Doctor Franklin, that it might have the better chance of +success. [Considerable discussion followed, Randolph and Gerry stating +their reasons for refusing to sign the Constitution. Mr. Hamilton +expressed his anxiety that every member should sign. A few characters +of consequence, he said, by opposing or even refusing to sign the +Constitution, might do infinite mischief by kindling the latent sparks +that lurk under an enthusiasm in favour of the Convention which may +soon subside. No man's ideas were more remote from the plan than his +own were known to be; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy +and convulsion on one side, and the chance of good to be expected from +the plan on the other? This discussion concluded, the Convention voted +that its journal and other papers should be retained by the President, +subject to the order of Congress.] The members then proceeded to sign +the Constitution as finally amended. The Constitution being signed by +all the members except Mr. Randolph, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Gerry, who +declined giving it the sanction of their names, the Convention +dissolved itself by an adjournment sine die. + +Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Franklin, looking towards +the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to +be painted, observed to a few members near him that painters had found +it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. +I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and +the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that +behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising +or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it +is a rising, and not a setting, sun. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + + +MAGNA CHARTA.[25] + +[Footnote 25: I have, by permission, reproduced the _Old South +Leaflet_, with its notes, etc., in full.] + +OR THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN, GRANTED JUNE 15, A.D. 1215. + +JOHN, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Date of +Normandy, Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his Archbishops, Bishops, +Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Governors, +Officers, and to all Bailiffs, and his faithful subjects, greeting. +Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of +our soul, and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the +honour of God and the advancement of Holy Church, and amendment of +our Realm, by advice of our venerable Fathers, Stephen, Archbishop +of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Cardinal of the Holy Roman +Church: Henry, Archbishop of Dublin; William, of London; Peter, of +Winchester; Jocelin of Bath and Glastonbury; Hugh, of Lincoln; Walter, +of Worcester; William, of Coventry: Benedict, of Rochester--Bishops: +of Master Pandulph, Sub-Deacon and Familiar of our Lord the Pope; +Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights-Templars in England; and of the +noble Persons, William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke; William, Earl of +Salisbury; William, Earl of Warren; William, Earl of Arundel; Alan de +Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin FitzGerald, Peter FitzHerbert, +and Hubert de Burgh, Seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew +FitzHerbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip of Albiney, Robert +de Roppell, John Mareschal, John FitzHugh, and others, our liegemen, +have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present +Charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever:-- + +1. That the Church of England shall be free, and have her whole rights, +and her liberties inviolable; and we will have them so observed, that it +may appear thence that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned chief +and indispensable to the English Church, and which we granted and +confirmed by our Charter, and obtained the confirmation of the same from +our Lord the Pope Innocent III., before the discord between us and our +barons, was granted of mere free will; which Charter we shall observe, +and we do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs for ever. + +2. We also have granted to all the freemen of our kingdom, for us and +for our heirs for ever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and +holden by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever: If +any of our earls, or barons, or others, who hold of us in chief by +military service, shall die, and at the time of his death his heir +shall be of full age, and owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance +by the ancient relief--that is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl, +for a whole earldom, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +baron, for a whole barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +knight, for a whole knight's fee, by a hundred shillings at most; and +whoever oweth less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of +fees. + +3. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, and shall be in +ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without +relief and without fine. + +4. The keeper of the land of such an heir being under age, shall +take of the land of the heir none but reasonable issues, reasonable +customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction and +waste of his men and his goods; and if we commit the custody of any +such lands to the sheriff, or any other who is answerable to us for +the issues of the land, and he shall make destruction and waste of the +lands which he hath in custody, we will take of him amends, and the +land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, +who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we shall +assign them; and if we sell or give to any one the custody of any such +lands, and he therein make destruction or waste, he shall lose the +same custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men +of that fee, who shall in like manner answer to us as aforesaid. + +5. But the keeper, so long as he shall have the custody of the land, +shall keep up the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and other +things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and +shall deliver to the heir, when he comes of full age, his whole land, +stocked with ploughs and carriages, according as the time of wainage +shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably bear. + +6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that before +matrimony shall be contracted, those who are near in blood to the heir +shall have notice. 7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall +forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage and inheritance; +nor shall she give anything for her dower, or her marriage, or her +inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his death; +and she may remain in the mansion house of her husband forty days +after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned. + +8. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, so long as she has a +mind to live without a husband; but yet she shall give security that +she will not marry without our assent, if she hold of us; or without +the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she hold of another. + +9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any +debt so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to pay the +debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long +as the principal debtor has sufficient to pay the debt; and if the +principal debtor shall fail in the payment of the debt, not having +wherewithal to pay it, then the sureties shall answer the debt; and +if they will they shall have the lands and rents of the debtor, until +they shall be satisfied for the debt which they paid for him, unless +the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof against the +said sureties. + +10. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and +die before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for +that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may +hold; and if the debt falls into our hands, we will only take the +chattel mentioned in the deed. + +11. And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall +have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the deceased left +children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them, +according to the tenement of the deceased; and out of the residue the +debt shall be paid, saving, however, the service due to the lords, and +in like manner shall it be done touching debts due to others than the +Jews. + +12. _No scutage or aid[26] shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless +by the general council of our kingdom_; except for ransoming our +person, making our eldest son a knight, and once for marrying our +eldest daughter; and for these there shall be paid no more than a +reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the +City of London. + +[Footnote 26: In the time of the feudal system _scutage_ was a +direct tax in commutation for military service; _aids_ were +direct taxes paid by the tenant to his lord for ransoming his person +if taken captive, and for helping defray the expenses of knighting his +eldest son and marrying his eldest daughter.] + +13. And the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties and +free customs, as well by land as by water: furthermore, we will and +grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and ports, shall +have all their liberties and free customs. + +14. _And for holding the general council of the kingdom concerning +the assessment of aids, except in the three cases aforesaid, and +for the assessing of scutages, we shall cause to be summoned the +archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons of the realm, +singly by our letters. And furthermore, we shall cause to be summoned +generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of us +in chief, for a certain day, that is to say, forty days before their +meeting at least, and to a certain place; and in all letters of such +summons we will declare the cause of such summons. And summons being +thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according +to the advice of such as shall be present, although all that were +summoned come not._ + +15. We will not for the future grant to any one that he may take aid +of his own free tenants, unless to ransom his body, and to make his +eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and for +this there shall be only paid a reasonable aid. + +16. No man shall be distrained to perform more service for a knight's +fee, or other free tenement, than is due from thence. + +17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be holden in +some place certain. + +18. Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin,[27] and of Mort +d'ancestor,[28] and of Darrein Presentment,[29] shall not be taken but +in their proper counties, and after this manner: We, or if we should +be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, will send two justiciaries +through every county four times a year, who, with four knights of each +county, chosen by the county, shall hold the said assizes[30] in the +county, on the day, and at the place appointed. + +[Footnote 27: Dispossession.] + +[Footnote 28: Death of the ancestor; that is, in cases of disputed +succession to land.] + +[Footnote 29: Last presentation to a benefice.] + +[Footnote 30: The word Assize here means an assembly of knights or +other substantial persons, held at a certain time and place where +they sit with the Justice. 'Assisa' or 'Assize' is also taken +for the court, place, or time at which the writs of Assize are +taken.--_Thompson's Notes._] + +19. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day appointed +for holding the assizes in each county, so many of the knights and +freeholders as have been at the assizes aforesaid shall stay to decide +them as is necessary, according as there is more or less business. + +20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but only +according to the degree of the offence; and for a great crime +according to the heinousness of it, saving to him his contenement;[31] +and after the same manner a merchant, saving to him his merchandise. +And a villein shall be amerced after the same manner, saving to him +his wainage, if he falls under our mercy; and none of the aforesaid +amerciaments shall be assessed but by the oath of honest men in the +neighbourhood. + +[Footnote 31: "That by which a person subsists and which is essential +to his rank in life."] + +21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their peers, and +after the degree of the offence. + +22. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced for his lay tenement, +but according to the proportion of the others aforesaid, and not +according to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice. + +23. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be distrained to make bridges +or embankments, unless that anciently and of right they are bound to +do it. + +24. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold +"Pleas of the Crown." [32] + +[Footnote 32: These are suits conducted in the name of the Crown +against criminal offenders.] + +25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trethings, shall stand at +the old rents, without any increase, except in our demesne manors. + +26. If any one holding of us a lay fee die, and the sheriff, or our +bailiffs, show our letters patent of summons for debt which the dead +man did owe to us, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or our bailiff +to attach and register the chattels of the dead, found upon his lay +fee, to the amount of the debt, by the view of lawful men, so as +nothing be removed until our whole clear debt be paid; and the rest +shall be left to the executors to fulfil the testament of the dead; +and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall +go to the use of the dead, saving to his wife and children their +reasonable shares.[33] + +[Footnote 33: A person's goods were divided into three parts, of which +one went to his wife, another to his heirs, and a third he was at +liberty to dispose of. If he had no child, his widow had half; and if he +had children, but no wife, half was divided amongst them. These several +sums were called "reasonable shares." Through the testamentary +jurisdiction they gradually acquired, the clergy often contrived to get +into their own hands all the residue of the estate without paying the +debts of the estate.] + +27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be +distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and friends, by view +of the Church, saving to every one his debts which the deceased owed +to him. + +28. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels +of any man unless he presently give him money for it, or hath respite +of payment by the goodwill of the seller. + +29. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for +castle-guard, if he himself will do it in his person, or by another +able man, in case he cannot do it through any reasonable cause. And if +we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be free from such +guard for the time he shall be in the army by our command. + +30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses +or carts of any freeman for carriage, without the assent of the said +freeman. + +31. Neither shall we nor our bailiffs take any man's timber for our +castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the +timber. + +32. We will retain the lands of those convicted of felony only one +year and a day, and then they shall be delivered to the lord of the +fee.[34] + +[Footnote 34: All forfeiture for felony has been abolished by the 33 +and 34 Vic., c. 23. It seems to have originated in the destruction +of the felon's property being part of the sentence, and this "waste" +being commuted for temporary possession by the Crown.] + + +33. All kydells[35] (wears) for the time to come shall be put down in +the rivers of Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except +upon the sea-coast. + +[Footnote 35: The purport of this was to prevent inclosures of common +property, or committing a "Purpresture." These wears are now called +"kettles" or "kettle-nets" in Kent and Cornwall.] + +34. The writ which is called _præcipe_, for the future, shall not be +made out to any one, of any tenement, whereby a freeman may lose his +court. + +35. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through our +whole realm; and one measure of corn, that is to say, the London +quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth, and russets, and haberjeets, +that is to say, two ells within the lists; and it shall be of weights +as it is of measures. + +36. _Nothing from henceforth shall be given or taken for a writ of +inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be granted freely, and not +denied._[36] + +[Footnote 36: This important writ, or "writ concerning hatred and +malice," may have been the prototype of the writ of _habeas +corpus_, and was granted for a similar purpose.] + +37. If any do hold of us by fee-farm, or by socage, or by burgage, and +he hold also lands of any other by knight's service, we will not have +the custody of the heir or land, which is holden of another man's fee +by reason of that fee-farm, socage,[37] or burgage; neither will we +have the custody of the fee-farm, or socage, or burgage, unless +knight's service was due to us out of the same fee-farm. We will not +have the custody of an heir, nor of any land which he holds of another +by knight's service, by reason of any petty serjeanty[38] by which he +holds of us, by the service of paying a knife, an arrow, or the like. + +[Footnote 37: "Socage" signifies lands held by tenure of performing +certain inferior offices in husbandry, probably from the old French +word _soc_, a plough-share.] + +[Footnote 38: The tenure of giving the king some small weapon of war in +acknowledgment of lands held.] + +38. No bailiff from henceforth shall pat any man to his law[39] upon +his own bare saying, without credible witnesses to prove it. + +[Footnote 39: Equivalent to putting him to his oath. This alludes to +the Wager of Law, by which a defendant and his eleven supporters or +"compurgators" could swear to his non-liability, and this amounted to +a verdict in his favour.] + +39. _No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised, or +outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed, nor will we pass upon +him, nor will we send upon him, unless by the lawful judgment of his +peers, or by the law of the land._ + +40. _We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either +justice or right._ + +41. All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct, to go out of, +and to come into England, and to stay there and to pass as well by +land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed +customs, without any unjust tolls; except in time of war, or when they +are of any nation at war with us. And if there be found any such in +our land, in the beginning of the war, they shall be attached, without +damage to their bodies or goods, until it be known unto us, or our +chief justiciary, how our merchants be treated in the nation at war +with us; and if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our +dominions. + +42. It shall be lawful, for the time to come, for any one to go out +of our kingdom, and return safely and securely by land or by water, +saving his allegiance to us; unless in time of war, by some short +space, for the common benefit of the realm, except prisoners and +outlaws, according to the law of the land, and people in war with us, +and merchants who shall be treated as is above mentioned.[40] + +[Footnote 40: The Crown has still technically the power of confining +subjects within the kingdom by the writ "ne exeat regno," though the +use of the writ is rarely resorted to.] + +43. If any man hold of any escheat,[41] as of the honour of +Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats +which be in our hands, and are baronies, and die, his heir shall give +no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would to +the baron, if it were in the baron's hand; and we will hold it after +the same manner as the baron held it. + +[Footnote 41: The word _escheat_ is derived from the French +_escheoir_, to return or happen, and signifies the return of +an estate to a lord, either on failure of tenant's issue or on his +committing felony. The abolition of feudal tenures by the Act of +Charles II. (12 Charles II. c. 24) rendered obsolete this part and +many other parts of the Charter.] + +44. Those men who dwell without the forest from henceforth shall not +come before our justiciaries of the forest, upon common, summons, but +such as are impleaded, or are sureties for any that are attached for +something concerning the forest.[42] + +[Footnote 42: The laws for regulating the royal forests, and +administering justice in respect of offences committed in their +precincts, formed a large part of the law.] + +45. We will not make any justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, +but of such as know the law of the realm and mean duly to observe it. + +46. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by charter +from the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall have the +keeping of them, when vacant, as they ought to have. + +47. All forests that have been made forests in our time shall +forthwith be disforested; and the same shall be done with the +water-banks that have been fenced in by us in our time. + +48. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, foresters, and +warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their keepers, +shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, by twelve sworn +knights of the same county, chosen by creditable persons of the same +county; and within forty days after the said inquest be utterly +abolished, so as never to be restored: so as we are first acquainted +therewith, or our justiciary, if we should not be in England. + +49. We will immediately give up all hostages and charters delivered +unto us by our English subjects, as securities for their keeping the +peace, and yielding us faithful service. + +50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks the relations of +Gerard de Atheyes, so that for the future they shall have no bailiwick +in England; we will also remove Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and +Gyon, from the Chancery; Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martyn, and his +brothers; Philip Mark, and his brothers, and his nephew, Geoffrey, and +their whole retinue. + +51. As soon as peace is restored, we will send out of the kingdom all +foreign knights, cross-bowmen, and stipendiaries, who are come with +horses and arms to the molestation of our people. + +52. If any one has been dispossessed or deprived by us, without the +lawful judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liberties, or +right, we will forthwith restore them to him; and if any dispute arise +upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five-and-twenty +barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace. And for +all those things of which any person has, without the lawful judgment +of his peers, been dispossessed or deprived, either by our father King +Henry, or our brother King Richard, and which we have in our hands, or +are possessed by others, and we are bound to warrant and make good, +we shall have a respite till the term usually allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which there is a plea depending, or +whereof an inquest hath been made, by our order before we undertook +the crusade; but as soon as we return from our expedition, or if +perchance we tarry at home and do not make our expedition, we will +immediately cause full justice to be administered therein. + +53. The same respite we shall have, and in the same manner, about +administering justice, disafforesting or letting continue the forests, +which Henry our father, and our brother Richard, have afforested; and +the same concerning the wardship of the lands which are in another's +fee, but the wardship of which we have hitherto had, by reason of a +fee held of us by knight's service; and for the abbeys founded in any +other fee than our own, in which the lord of the fee says he has a +right; and when we return from our expedition, or if we tarry at home, +and do not make our expedition, we will immediately do full justice to +all the complainants in this behalf. + +54. No man shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal[43] of a woman, +for the death of any other than her husband. + +[Footnote 43: An _Appeal_ here means an "accusation." The appeal +here mentioned was a suit for a penalty in which the plaintiff was a +relation who had suffered through a murder or manslaughter. One of the +incidents of this "Appeal of Death" was the Trial by Battle. These +Appeals and Trial by Battle were not abolished before the passing of +the Act 59 Geo. III., c. 46.] + +55. All unjust and illegal fines made by us, and all amerciaments +imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall +be entirely given up, or else be left to the decision of the +five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned for the preservation of +the peace, or of the major part of them, together with the aforesaid +Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others +whom he shall think fit to invite; and if he cannot be present, the +business shall notwithstanding go on without him; but so that if one +or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons be plaintiffs in +the same cause, they shall be set aside as to what concerns this +particular affair, and others be chosen in their room, out of the said +five-and-twenty, and sworn by the rest to decide the matter. + +56. If we have disseised or dispossessed the Welsh of any lands, +liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers, +either in England or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to +them; and if any dispute arise upon this head, the matter shall be +determined in the Marches by the judgment of their peers; for tenements +in England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales +according to the law of Wales, for tenements of the Marches according to +the law of the Marches: the same shall the Welsh do to us and our +subjects. + + +57. As for all those things of which a Welshman hath, without the lawful +judgment of his peers, been disseised or deprived of by King Henry our +father, or our brother King Richard, and which we either have in our +hands or others are possessed of, and we are obliged to warrant it, we +shall have a respite till the time generally allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which a suit is depending, or whereof an +inquest has been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade: but +when we return, or if we stay at home without performing our expedition, +we will immediately do them full justice, according to the laws of the +Welsh and of the parts before mentioned. + +58. We will without delay dismiss the son of Llewellin, and all the + +Welsh hostages, and release them from the engagements they have +entered into with us for the preservation of the peace. + +59. We will treat with Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the +restoring his sisters and hostages, and his right and liberties, in +the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest of our barons +of England; unless by the charters which we have from his father, +William, late King of Scots, it ought to be otherwise; and this shall +be left to the determination of his peers in our court. + +60. All the aforesaid customs and liberties, which we have granted to +be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to us, all people of +our kingdom, as well clergy as laity, shall observe, as far as they +are concerned, towards their dependents. + +61. And whereas, for the honour of God and the amendment of our +kingdom, and for the better quieting the discord that has arisen +between us and our barons, we have granted all these things aforesaid; +willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our +subjects the underwritten security, namely that the barons may choose +five-and-twenty barons of the kingdom, whom they think convenient; who +shall take care, with all their might, to hold and observe, and cause +to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by +this our present Charter confirmed in this manner; that is to say, +that if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, +shall in any circumstance have failed in the performance of them +towards any person, or shall have broken through any of these articles +of peace and security, and the offence be notified to four barons +chosen out of the five-and-twenty before mentioned, the said four +barons shall repair to us, or our justiciary, if we are out of the +realm, and, laying open the grievance, shall petition to have it +redressed without delay: and if it be not redressed by us, or if we +should chance to be out of the realm, if it should not be redressed by +our justiciary within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been +notified to us, or to our justiciary (if we should be out of the +realm), the four barons aforesaid shall lay the cause before the rest +of the five-and-twenty barons; and the said five-and-twenty barons, +together with the community of the whole kingdom, shall distrain and +distress us in all the ways in which they shall be able, by seizing +our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner they can, +till the grievance is redressed, according to their pleasure; saving +harmless our own person, and the persons of our Queen and children; +and when it is redressed, they shall behave to us as before. And any +person whatsoever in the kingdom may swear that he will obey the +orders of the five-and-twenty barons aforesaid in the execution of the +premises, and will distress us, jointly with them, to the utmost of +his power; and we give public and free liberty to any one that shall +please to swear to this, and never will hinder any person from taking +the same oath. + +62. As for all those of our subjects who will not, of their own +accord, swear to join the five-and-twenty barons in distraining and +distressing us, we will issue orders to make them take the same oath +as aforesaid. And if any one of the five-and-twenty barons dies, or +goes out of the kingdom, or is hindered any other way from +carrying the things aforesaid into execution, the rest of the said +five-and-twenty barons may choose another in his room, at their +discretion, who shall be sworn in like manner as the rest. In all +things that are committed to the execution of these five-and-twenty +barons, if, when they are all assembled together, they should happen +to disagree about any matter, and some of them, when summoned, will +not or cannot come, whatever is agreed upon, or enjoined, by the major +part of those that are present shall be reputed as firm and valid as +if all the five-and-twenty had given their consent; and the aforesaid +five-and-twenty shall swear that all the premises they shall +faithfully observe, and cause with all their power to be observed. And +we will procure nothing from any one, by ourselves nor by another, +whereby any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or +lessened; and if any such thing shall have been obtained, let it be +null and void; neither will we ever make use of it either by ourselves +or any other. And all the ill-will, indignations, and rancours that +have arisen between us and our subjects, of the clergy and laity, from +the first breaking out of the dissensions between us, we do fully +remit and forgive: moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said +dissensions, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the +restoration of peace and tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to +all, both clergy and laity, and as far as in us lies do fully forgive. +We have, moreover, caused to be made for them the letters patent +testimonial of Stephen, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Lord +Archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of Master +Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid. + +63. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin, that the Church of England be +free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid +liberties, rights, and concessions, truly and peaceably, freely and +quietly, fully and wholly to themselves and their heirs, of us and our +heirs, in all things and places, forever, as is aforesaid. It is also +sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all the +things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith, and without evil +subtilty. Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above +named, and many others, in the meadow called Runingmede, between +Windsor and Staines, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year of our +reign. + + * * * * * + +The translation here given is that published in Sheldon Amos's work +on _The English Constitution_. The translation given by Sir E. +Creasy was chiefly followed in this, but it was collated with another +accurate translation by Mr. Richard Thompson, accompanying his +_Historical Essay on Magna Charta_, published in 1829, and also +with the Latin text. "The explanation of the whole Charter," observes +Mr. Amos, must be sought chiefly in detailed accounts of the Feudal +system in England, as explained in such works as those of Stubbs, +Hallam, and Blackstone. The scattered notes here introduced have +only for their purpose to elucidate the most unusual and perplexing +expressions. The Charter printed in the Statute Book is that issued +in the ninth year of Henry III., which is also the one specially +confirmed by the Charter of Edward I. The Charter of Henry III. +differs in some (generally) insignificant points from that of John. +The most important difference is the omission in the later Charter of +the 14th and 15th Articles of John's Charter, by which the King is +restricted from levying aids beyond the three ordinary ones, without +the assent of the 'Common Council of the Kingdom.' and provision is +made for summoning it. This passage is restored by Edward I. Magna +Charter has been solemnly confirmed upwards of thirty times. See the +chapter on the Great Charter, in Green's _History of the English +People_. See also Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_. "The whole of the constitutional history of England," +says Stubbs, "is a commentary on this Charter, the illustration of +which must be looked for in the documents that precede and follow." + + * * * * * + +"CONFIRMATIO CHARTARUM" OF EDWARD I. + +1297. + +I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and +Duke Guyan, to all those that these present letters shall hear or see, +greeting. Know ye that we, to the honour of God and of holy Church, +and to the profit of our realm, have granted for us and our heirs, +that the Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which +were made by common assent of all the realm in the time of King Henry +our father, shall be kept in every point without breach. And we will +that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal as well to our +justices of the forest as to others, and to all sheriffs of shires, +and to all our other officers, and to all our cities throughout the +realm, together with our writs in the which it shall be contained that +they cause the foresaid Charters to be published, and to declare to +the people that we have confirmed them in all points; and that our +justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other ministers, which under us have +the laws of our land to guide, shall allow the said Charters pleaded +before them in judgment in all their points; that is to wit, the Great +Charter as the common law, and the Charter of the Forest according to +the assize of the Forest, for the wealth of our realm. + +II. And we will that if any judgment be given from henceforth, +contrary to the points of the Charters aforesaid, by the justices or +by any other our ministers that hold plea before them against the +points of the Charters, it shall be undone and holden for naught. + +III. And we will that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal +to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there to remain, and shall +be read before the people two times by the year. IV. And that all +archbishops and bishops shall pronounce the sentence of great +excommunication against all those that by word, deed, or counsel do +contrary to the foresaid Charters, or that in any point break or undo +them. And that the said curses be twice a year denounced and published +by the prelates aforesaid. And if the prelates or any of them be +remiss in the denunciation of the said sentences, the Archbishops of +Canterbury and York for the time being, as is fitting, shall compel +and distrain them to make that denunciation in form aforesaid. + +V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear that the +aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime towards our wars +and other business, of their own grant and goodwill, howsoever they +were made, might turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, because +they might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise the +prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers; we have granted +for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks, nor +prises into a custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore, or +that may be found by roll or in any other manner. + +VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well to +archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, +as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that +for no business from henceforth will we take such manner of aids, +tasks, nor prises but by the common consent of the realm, and for the +common profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and +accustomed. + +VII. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realm +find themselves sore grieved with the matelote of wools, that is to +wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have made +petition to us to release the same; we, at their requests, have +clearly released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we +shall not take such thing nor any other without their common assent +and goodwill; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, +and leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness +of which things we have caused these our letters to be made patents. +Witness Edward our son, at London, the 10th day of October, the +five-and-twentieth of our reign. + +And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same terms, word +for word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's Great Seal, that is +to say, at Ghent, the 5th day of November, in the 52th year of the +reign of our aforesaid Lord the King, and sent into England. + + * * * * * + +The words of this important document, from Professor Stubbs's +translation, are given as the best explanation of the constitutional +position and importance of the Charters of John and Henry III. See +historical notice in Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_, p. 477. This is far the most important of the numerous +ratifications of the Great Charter. Hallam calls it "that famous +statute, inadequately denominated the Confirmation of the Charters, +because it added another pillar to our constitution, not less important +than the Great Charter itself." It solemnly confirmed the two Charters, +the Charter of the Forest (issued by Henry II. in 1217--see text in +Stubbs, p. 338) being then considered as of equal importance with Magna +Charta itself, establishing them in all points as the law of the land; +but it did more. "Hitherto the king's prerogative of levying money by +name of _tallage_ or _prise_, from his towns and tenants in +demesne, had passed unquestioned. Some impositions, that especially on +the export of wool, affected all the king's subjects. It was now the +moment to enfranchise the people and give that security to private +property which Magna Charta had given to personal liberty." Edward's +statute binds the king never to take any of these "aids, tasks, and +prises" in future, save by the common assent of the realm. Hence, as +Bowen remarks, the Confirmation of the Charters, or an abstract of it +under the form of a supposed statute _de tallagio non concedendo_ +(see Stubbs, p. 487), was more frequently cited than any other enactment +by the parliamentary leaders who resisted the encroachments of Charles I. +The original of the _Confirmatio Chartarum_, which is in Norman French, +is still in existence, though considerably shriveled by the fire which +damaged so many of the Cottonian manuscripts in 1731. + + +THE GRANT OF THE GREAT CHARTER. + +An island in the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been chosen as +the place of conference: the King encamped on one bank, while the +barons--covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of Runnymede, +on the other. Their delegates met in the island between them, but the +negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional +submission. The Great Charter was discussed, agreed to, and signed in a +single day. One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured +by age and fire, but with the royal seal still hanging from the brown, +shrivelled parchment. It is impossible to gaze without reverence on the +earliest monument of English freedom which we can see with our own eyes +and touch with our own hands, the great Charter to which from age to age +patriots have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in itself +the Charter was no novelty, nor did it claim to establish any new +constitutional principles. The Charter of Henry the First formed the +basis of the whole, and the additions to it are for the most part formal +recognitions of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by +Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the older charters were +now exchanged for precise and elaborate provisions. The bonds of +unwritten custom which the older grants did little more than recognize +had proved too weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now threw +them aside for the restraints of written law. It is in this way that the +Great Charter marks the transition from the age of traditional rights, +preserved in the nation's memory and officially declared by the Primate, +to the age of written legislation, of Parliaments and Statutes, which +was soon to come. The Church had shown its power of self-defence in the +struggle over the interdict, and the clause which recognized its rights +alone retained the older and general form. But all vagueness ceases when +the Charter passes on to deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, +their right to justice, to _security of person and property, to good +government_. 'No freeman,' ran the memorable article that lies at the +base of our whole judicial system, 'shall be seized or imprisoned, or +dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin; we will not go +against any man nor send against him, save by legal judgment of his +peers or by the law of the land.' 'To no man will we sell,' runs +another, 'or deny, or delay, right or justice.' The great reforms of the +past reigns were now formally recognized; judges of assize were to hold +their circuits four times in the year, and the Court of Common Pleas was +no longer to follow the King in his wanderings over the realm, but to +sit in a fixed place. But the denial of justice under John was a small +danger compared with the lawless exactions both of himself and his +predecessor. Richard had increased the amount of the scutage which Henry +II. had introduced, and applied it to raise funds for his ransom. He had +restored the Danegeld, or land tax, so often abolished, under the new +name of 'carucage,' had seized the wool of the Cistercians and the plate +of the churches, and rated movables as well as land. John had again +raised the rate of scutage, and imposed aids, fines, and ransoms at his +pleasure without counsel of the baronage. The Great Charter met this +abuse by the provision on which our constitutional system rests. With +the exception of the three customary feudal aids which still remained to +the crown, 'no scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm save by the +Common Council of the realm;' and to this Great Council it was provided +that prelates and the greater barons should be summoned by special writ, +and all tenants in chief through the sheriffs and bailiffs, at least +forty days before. But it was less easy to provide means for the control +of a King whom no man could trust, and a council of twenty-four barons +was chosen from the general body of their order to enforce on John the +observance of the Charter, with the right of declaring war on the King +should its provisions be infringed. Finally, the Charter was published +throughout the whole country, and sworn to at every hundred-mote and +town-mote by order from the King.--_Green's Short History of the English +People_, p. 123. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX D. + + + + +A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. + +AN ACT FOR DECLARING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECT, AND +SETTLING THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN. 1689. + +Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the estates of +the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February, in +the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [o.s.],[44] +present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and +style of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being present +in their proper persons, a certain Declaration in writing, made by the +said Lords and Commons, in the words following, viz.: + +[Footnote 44: In New Style Feb. 23, 1689.] + +Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of divers evil +counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavour +to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion, and the laws and +liberties of this kingdom: + +1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and +suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent of +Parliament. + +2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly +petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power. + +3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the Great +Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of Commissioners for +Ecclesiastical Causes. + +4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of +prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was +granted by Parliament. + +5. By raising and keeping a +standing army within this kingdom in time of peace, without consent of +Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law. + +6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to be +disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both armed and employed +contrary to law. + +7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in +Parliament. + +8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes +cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary and +illegal causes. + +9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified +persons have been returned, and served on juries in trials, and +particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not +freeholders. + +10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in +criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty +of the subjects. + +11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and cruel +punishments inflicted. + +12. And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures +before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the +same were to be levied. + +All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and +statutes, and freedom of this realm. + +And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated the +government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the Prince +of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious +instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) +did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and divers +principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the +Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and other letters to +the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque ports, +for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to +be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the +two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year one thousand six hundred +eighty and eight,[45] in order to such an establishment, as that their +religion, laws, and liberties might not again be in danger of being +subverted; upon which letters elections have been accordingly made. + +[Footnote 45: In New Style Feb. 1, 1689.] + +And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, +pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now +assembled in a full and free representation of this nation, taking +into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the +ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case +have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient +rights and liberties, declare: + + +1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of +laws by regal authority, without consent of Parliament, is illegal. + +2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution +of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of +late, is illegal. + +3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners +for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of +like nature, are illegal and pernicious. + +4. _That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence +and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time or in +other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal._[46] + +5. _That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, +and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are +illegal._[47] + +6. _That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom +in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against +law._[48] + +7. _That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their +defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law._[49] + +8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. + +9. _That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in +Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or +place out of Parliament._[50] + +10. _That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive +fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted._[51] + +11. _That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and +jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be +freeholders._[52] + +[Footnote 46: Compare this clause 4 with clauses 12 and 14 of Magna +Charta, and with Art. I. Section vii. clause 1 of the Constitution of +the United States.] + +[Footnote 47: Compare clause 5 with Amendment I.] + +[Footnote 48: Compare clause 6 with Amendment III.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare clause 7 with Amendment II.] + +[Footnote 50: Compare clause 9 with Constitution, Art. I. Section vi. +clause 1.] + +[Footnote 51: Compare clause 10 with Amendment VIII.] + +[Footnote 52: Compare clause 11 with Amendments VI. and VII.] + +12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of +particular persons before conviction are illegal and void. + +13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, +strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament ought to be held +frequently. + +And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the +premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that no +declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of +the people in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn +hereafter into consequence or example. + +To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by +the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the +only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. + +Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the +Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, +and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, +which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their +religion, rights, and liberties: + +II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of +Orange, be, and be declared, King and Queen of England, France, and +Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and +royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said Prince +and Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them; +and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and +executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince +and Princess, during their joint lives; and after their deceases, the +said crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to +the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of such +issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and +for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of +Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the +said Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly. + +The act goes on to declare that, their Majesties having accepted the +crown upon these terms, the rights and liberties asserted and claimed +in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights +and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, +allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every +the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and +observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all +officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and +their successors according to the same in all times to come. + +The act then declares that William and Mary are and of right ought +to be King and Queen of England, etc.; and it goes on to regulate the +succession after their deaths. + + +The passing of the Bill of Rights in 1689 restored to the monarchy +the character which it had lost under the Tudors and the Stuarts. The +right of the people through its representatives to depose the King, +to change the order of succession, and to set on the throne whom they +would, was now established. All claim of divine right, or hereditary +right independent of the law, was formally put an end to by the +election of William and Mary. Since their day no English sovereign has +been able to advance any claim to the crown save a claim which rested +on a particular clause in a particular Act of Parliament. William, +Mary, and Anne were sovereigns simply by virtue of the Bill of Rights. +George the First and his successors have been sovereigns solely by +virtue of the Act of Settlement. An English monarch is now as much the +creature of an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his +realm.--_Green's Short History_, p. 673. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX E. + + + +THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. + +1638(9). + +_The first written constitution that created a government._ + +Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise disposition +of his diuyne pruidence so to Order and dispose of things that we the +Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harteford and Wethersfield are +now cohabiting and dwelling in and vppon the River of Conectecotte and +the Lands thereunto adioyneing; And well knowing where a people are +gathered togather the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace +and vnion of such a people there should be an orderly and decent +Gouerment established according to God, to order and dispose of the +affayres of the people at all seasons as occation shall require; doe +therefore assotiate and conioyne our selues to be as one Publike State +or Comonwelth; and doe, for our selues and our Successors and such as +shall be adioyned to vs att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination +and Confederation togather, to mayntayne and p'rsearue the liberty and +purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus w'ch we now p'rfesse, as also +the disciplyne of the Churches, w'ch according to the truth of the +said gospell is now practised amongst vs; As also in o'r Ciuell +Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, +Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, as +followeth:-- + +1. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that there shall be yerely two +generall Assemblies or Courts, the one the second thursday in Aprill, +the other the second thursday in September, following; the first shall +be called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yerely Chosen from +tyme to tyme soe many Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be +found requisitte: Whereof one to be chosen Gouernour for the yeare +ensueing and vntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate to be +chosen for more than one yeare; p'ruided allwayes there be sixe chosen +besids the Gouernour; w'ch being chosen and sworne according to an Oath +recorded for that purpose shall haue power to administer iustice +according to the Lawes here established, and for want thereof according +to the rule of the word of God; w'ch choise shall be made by all that +are admitted freemen and haue taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe +cohabitte w'thin this Jurisdiction, (hauing beene admitted Inhabitants +by the maior p'rt of the Towne wherein they liue,) or the mayor p'rte of +such as shall be then p'rsent. + +2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of the +aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner: euery p'rson p'rsent +and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the p'rsons deputed to +receaue them) one single pap'r w'th the name of him written in +yet whom he desires to haue Gouernour, and he that hath the greatest +number of papers shall be Gouernor for that yeare. And the rest of +the Magestrats or publike Officers to be chosen in this manner: The +Secretary for the tyme being shall first read the names of all that +are to be put to choise and then shall seuerally nominate them +distinctly, and euery one that would hane the p'rson nominated to be +chosen shall bring in one single paper written vppon, and he that +would not haue him chosen shall bring in a blanke: and euery one that +hath more written papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that +yeare; w'ch papers shall be receaued and told by one or more that +shall be then chosen by the court and sworne to be faythfull therein; +but in case there should not be sixe chosen as aforesaid, besids the +Gouernor, out of those w'ch are nominated, then he or they w'ch haue +the most written pap'rs shall be a Magestrate or Magestrats for the +ensueing yeare, to make vp the foresaid number. + +3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary shall not +nominate any p'rson, nor shall any p'rson be chosen newly into the +Magestracy w'ch was not p'rpownded in some Generall Courte before, to +be nominated the next Election; and to that end yt shall be lawfull +for ech of the Townes aforesaid by their deputyes to nominate any two +whom they conceaue fitte to be put to election; and the Courte may +ad so many more as they iudge requisitt. + +4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe p'rson be chosen + +Gouernor aboue once in two yeares, and that the Gouernor be always +a member of some approved congregation, and formerly of the +Magestracy w'th this Jurisdiction; and all the Magestrats Freemen of +this Comonwelth: and that no Magestrate or other publike officer shall +execute any p'rte of his or their Office before they are seuerally +sworne, w'ch shall be done in the face of the Courte if they be +p'rsent, and in case of absence by some deputed for that purpose. + +5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the aforesaid Conrte +of Election the seu'rall Townes shall send their deputyes, and when +the Elections are ended they may p'rceed in any publike searuice as at +other Courts. Also the other Generall Courte in September shall be for +makeing of lawes, and any other publike occation, w'ch conserns the +good of the Comonwelth. + +6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Gou'rnor shall, +ether by himselfe or by the secretary, send out sumons to the +Constables of eu'r Towne for the cauleing of these two standing +Courts, on month at lest before their seu'rall tymes: And also if the +Gou'rnor and the gretest p'rte of the Magestrats see cause vppon any +spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, they may giue order to +the secretary soe to doe w'thin fowerteene dayes warneing; and +if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a shorter notice, giueing +sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els +be questioned for the same; And if the Gou'rnor and Mayor p'rte of +Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the two Generall +standing Courts or ether of them, as also at other tymes when the +occations of the Comonwelth require, the Freemen thereof, or the Mayor +p'rte of them, shall petition to them soe to doe: if then yt be ether +denyed or neglected the said Freemen or the Mayor p'rte of them shall +haue power to giue order to the Constables of the seuerall Townes to +doe the same, and so may meete togather, and ehuse to themselues a +Moderator, and may p'rceed to do any Acte of power, w'ch any other +Generall Courte may. + +7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are warrants +giuen out for any of the said Generall Courts, the Constable or +Constables of ech Towne shall forthw'th give notice distinctly to the +inhabitants of the same, in some Publike Assembly or by goeing or +sending from howse to howse, that at a place and tyme by him or +them lymited and sett, they meet and assemble the: selues togather +to elect and chuse certen deputyes to be att the Generall Courte then +following to agitate the afayres of the comonwelth; w'ch said Deputyes +shall be chosen by all that are admitted Inhabitants in the seu'rall +Townes and haue taken the oath of fidellity; p'ruided that non be +chosen a Deputy for any Generall Courte w'ch is not a Freeman of this +Comonwelth. + +The foresaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following: euery +p'rson that is p'rsent and quallified as before exp'rssed, shall bring +the names of such, written in seu'rrall papers, as they desire to haue +chosen for that Imployment. and these 3 or 4, more or lesse, being the +number agreed on to be chosen for that tyme, that haue greatest +number of papers written for the: shall be deputyes for that +Courte; whose names shall be endorsed on the backe side of the warrant +and returned into the Courte, w'th the Constable or Constables hand +vnto the same. + +8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, Hartford and +Wethersfield shall haue power, ech Towne, to send fower of their freemen +as deputyes to euery Generall Courte; and whatsoeuer other Townes shall +be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many +deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, a resonable p'rportion to the +number of Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be attended +therein; w'ch deputyes shall have the power of the whole Towne to giue +their voats and alowance to all such lawes and orders as may be for the +publike good, and unto w'ch the said Townes are to be bownd. + +9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen shall haue +power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of meeting togather +before any Generall Courte to aduise and consult of all such things as +may concerne the good of the publike, as also to examine their owne +Elections, whether according to the order, and if they or the gretest +p'rte of them find any election to be illegall they may seclud such for +p'rsent from their meeting, and returne the same and their resons to the +Courte; and if yt proue true, the Courte may fyne the p'rty or p'rtyes +so intruding and the Towne, if they see cause, and giue out a warrant to +goe to a newe election in a legall way, either in p'rte or in whole. +Also the said deputyes shall haue power to fyne any that shall be +disorderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due tyme or place +according to appoyntment; and they may returne the said fynes into the +Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the tresurer to take notice of +yt, and to estreete or levy the same as he doth other fynes. + +10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that euery Generall Courte, +except such as through neglecte of the Gou'rnor and the greatest p'rte +of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe call, shall consist of the +Gouernor, or some one chosen to moderate the Court, and 4 other +Magestrats at lest, w'th the mayor p'rte of the deputyes of the geuerall +Townes legally chosen; and in case the Freemen or mayor p'rte of them, +through neglect or refusall of the Gouernor and mayor p'rte of the +magestrats, shall call a Courte, y't shall consist of the mayor p'rte of +Freemen that are p'rsent or their deputyes, w'th a Moderator chosen by +the: In w'ch said Generall Courts shall consist the supreme power of the +Comonwelth, and they only shall haue power to make laws or repeale the:, +to graunt leuyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose of lands vndisposed of, +to seuerall Townes or p'rsons, and also shall haue power to call ether +Courte or Magestrate or any other p'rson whatsoeuer into question for +any misdemeanour, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise +according to the nature of the offence; and also may deale in any other +matter that concerns the good of this comonwelth, excepte election of +Magestrats, w'ch shall be done by the whole boddy of Freemen. + +In w'ch Courte the Gouernour or Moderator shall haue power to order the +Courte to giue liberty of spech, and silence vnceasonable and disorderly +speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in case the vote be equall +to haue the casting voice. But non of these Courts shall be adiorned or +dissolued w'thout the consent of the maior p'rte of the Court. + +11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any Generall Courte +vppon the occations of the Comonwelth haue agreed vppon any sume or +somes of mony to be leuyed vppon the seuerall Townes w'thin this +Jurisdiction, that a Comittee be chosen to sett out and appoynt w't +shall be the p'rportion of euery Towne to pay of the said letiy, +p'rvided the Comittees be made up of an equall number out of each Towne. + +14'th January, 1638, the 11 Orders abouesaid are voted. + +THE OATH OF THE GOU'RNOR, FOR THE [P'RSENT]. + +I ---- being now chosen to be Gou'rnor wthin this Jurisdiction, for +the yeare ensueing, and vntil a new be chosen, doe sweare by the +greate and dreadfull name of the everliueing God, to p'rmote the +publicke good and peace of the same, according to the best of my +skill; as also will mayntayne all lawfull priuiledges of this +Comonwealth; as also that all wholesome lawes that are or shall be +made by lawfull authority here established, be duly executed; and will +further the execution of Justice according to the rule of Gods word; +so helpe me God, in the name of the Lo: Jesus Christ. + + +THE OATH OF A MAGESTRATE, FOR THE P'RSENT. + +I, ---- being chosen a Magestrate w'thin this Jurisdiction for the +yeare ensueing, doe sweare by the great and dreadfull name of the +euerliueing God, to p'rmote the publike good and peace of the same, +according to the best of my skill, and that I will mayntayne all the +lawfull priuiledges thereof according to my vnderstanding, as also +assist in the execution of all such wholsome lawes as are made or +shall be made by lawfull authority heare established, and will further +the execution of Justice for the tyme aforesaid according to the +righteous rule of Gods word; so helpe me God, etc. + +[Until 1752, the legal year in England began March 25 (Lady Day), not +January 1. All the days between January 1 and March 25 of the year +which we now call 1639 were therefore then a part of the year 1638; so +that the date of the Constitution is given by its own terms as 1638, +instead of 1639.] + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +THE STATES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ORIGIN. + + +1. The thirteen original states. + + +2. States formed directly from other states. + Vermont from territory disputed between New York and + New Hampshire, Kentucky from Virginia, Maine + from Massachusetts, West Virginia from Virginia. + + +3. States from the Northwest Territory (see p. 253). + Ohio, Michigan, + Indiana, Wisconsin, + Illinois, Minnesota, in part. + +4. States from other territory ceded by states. + Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, + Alabama, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, + Mississippi, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia. + +5. States from the Louisiana purchase (see p. 253). + Louisiana, North Dakota, + Arkansas, South Dakota, + Missouri, Montana, + Kansas, Minnesota, in part, + Nebraska, Wyoming, in part, + Iowa, Colorado, in part. + +6. States from Mexican cessions. + California, Wyoming, in part, + Nevada, Colorado, in part. + +7. States from territory defined by treaty with Great Britain +(see p. 254). + Oregon, Washington, Idaho. + +8. States from other sources. + Florida, from a Spanish cession, + Texas, by annexation (see p. 254). + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. + +(_Ratio of representation based on census of_ 1890--173,901.) + + Popula- Popula- Rep + tion to Area in tion, in Elect. +Dates. No. Names. sq.m. sq. m. 1890. Cong vote + 1892. 1892. +Ratified the Constitution. +1787, Dec. 7 1 Delaware 82.1 2,050 168,493 1 3 + Dec. 12 2 Pennsylvania 111.2 45,215 5,258,014 30 32 + Dec. 18 3 New Jersey 179.7 7,815 1,444,933 8 10 +1788, Jan. 2 4 Georgia 30.8 59,475 1,837,353 11 13 + Jan. 9 5 Connecticut 149.5 4,990 746,258 4 6 + Feb. 6 6 Massachusetts 269.2 8,315 2,238,943 13 15 + April 28 7 Maryland 85.3 12,210 1,042,390 6 8 + May 23 8 South Carolina 37.6 30,570 1,151,149 7 9 + June 21 9 New Hampshire 40.4 9,305 376,530 2 4 + June 25 10 Virginia 39. 42,450 1,655,980 10 12 + July 26 11 New York 121.9 49,170 5,997,853 34 35 +1789, Nov. 21 12 North Carolina 30.9 52,250 1,617,947 9 11 +1790, May 29 13 Rhode Island 276.4 1,250 345,506 2 4 + +Admitted to the Union. +1791, March 4 14 Vermont 34.6 9,565 332,422 2 4 +1792, June 1 15 Kentucky 46. 40,400 1,858,635 11 13 +1796, June 1 16 Tennessee 42. 42,050 1,767,518 10 12 +1803, Feb. 19 17 Ohio 89.4 41,060 3,672,316 21 23 +1812, April 30 18 Louisiana 22.9 48,720 1,118,587 6 8 +1816, Dec. 11 19 Indiana 60.3 36,350 2,192,404 13 15 +1817, Dec. 10 20 Mississippi 42.7 46,810 1,289,600 7 9 +1818, Dec. 3 21 Illinois 67.5 56,650 3,826,351 22 24 +1819, Dec. 14 22 Alabama 28.9 52,250 1,513,017 9 11 +1820, March 15 23 Maine 20. 33,040 661,086 4 6 +1821, Aug. 10 24 Missouri 38.5 69,415 2,679,184 15 17 +1836, June 15 25 Arkansas 20.9 53,850 1,128,179 6 8 +1837, Jan. 25 26 Michigan 35.5 58,915 2,093,889 12 14 +1845, March 3 27 Florida 6.6 58,680 391,422 2 4 +1815, Dec. 29 28 Texas 8.4 265,780 2,235,523 13 15 +1846, Dec. 28 29 Iowa 34.1 56,025 1,911,896 11 13 +1848, May 29 30 Wisconsin 30. 56,040 1,686,880 10 12 +1850, Sept. 9 31 California 7.6 158,360 1,208,130 7 9 +1858, May 11 32 Minnesota 15.6 83,365 1,301,826 7 9 +1859, Feb. 14 33 Oregon 3.2 96,030 313,767 2 4 +1861, Jan. 29 34 Kansas 17.3 82,080 1,427,096 8 10 +1863, June 19 35 West Virginia 30.7 24,780 762,794 4 6 +1864, Oct. 31 36 Nevada 0.4 110,700 45,761 1 3 +1867, March 1 37 Nebraska 13.6 77,510 1,058,910 6 8 +1876, Aug. 1 38 Colorado 3.9 103,925 412,198 2 4 +1889, Nov. 2 { 39 North Dakota } 2.5 70,795 182,719 1 3 + { 40 South Dakota } 4.2 77,650 328,808 2 4 +1889, Nov. 8 41 Montana 0.9 146,080 132,159 1 3 +1889, Nov. 11 42 Washington 5. 69,180 349,390 2 4 +1890, July 3 43 Idaho 0.9 84,800 84,385 1 3 +1890, July 10 44 Wyoming 0.6 97,890 60,705 1 3 + +Organised. +1850, Sept. 9 Utah 2.4 84,970 207,905 +1850, Sept. 9 New Mexico 1.2 122,580 153,593 +1863, Feb. 24 Arizona 0.5 113,020 59,620 +1868, July 27 Alaska 577,390 no census +1834, June 30 Indian Territory 31,400 no census +1889, April 22 Oklahoma 1.5 39,030 61,834 +1791, Mar 3 Dist. of C. 3,291.1 70 230,392 + +1892, total House of Representatives 356 + Senate 88 = electoral votes, +444. + +APPENDIX H. + +POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1890, + +_Showing Percentages of Urban Population._ + +Date. | Pop. of U.S. | No. of | Pop. of Cities. | % of + | | Cities | |of Urban Pop. +------------------------------------------------------------------- +1790 | 3,929,214 | 6 | 131,472 | 3.33 +1800 | 5,308,483 | 6 | 210,873 | 3.9 +1810 | 7,239,881 | 11 | 356,920 | 4.9 +1820 | 9,633,822 | 13 | 474,135 | 4.9 +1830 | 12,866,020 | 26 | 864,509 | 6.7 +1840 | 17,069,453 | 44 | 1,453,994 | 8.5 +1850 | 23,191,876 | 85 | 2,897,586 | 12.5 +1860 | 31,443,321 | 141 | 5,072,256 | 16.1 +1870 | 38,558,371 | 226 | 8,071,875 | 20.9 +1880 | 50,155,783 | 286 | 11,318,597 | 22.5 +1890 | 62,622,250 | 443 | 18,235,670 | 29.1 +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +APPENDIX I. + +AN EXAMINATION PAPER FOR CUSTOMS CLERKS. + +Applicant's No.. + +APPLICANT'S DECLARATION. + +DIRECTIONS.--1. The number above is _your examination number_. +Write it at the top of every sheet given you in this examination. + +2. Fill promptly all the blanks in this sheet. Any omission may +lead to the rejection of your papers. + +3. Write all answers and exercises in ink. + +4. Write your name on no other sheet but this. + +Place this sheet in the envelope. Write your number on the envelope +and seal the same. + +DECLARATION. + +I declare upon my honour as follows: + +1. My true and full name is (if female, please say whether +Mrs. or Miss) + +2. Since my application was made I have been living at (give +all the places) + +3. My post-office address in full is + +4. If examined within twelve months for the civil service--for +any post-office, custom-house, or Department at Washington--state +the time, place, and result. + +5. If you have ever been in the civil service, state where and +in what position, and when you left it and the reasons therefor. + +6. Are you now under enlistment in the army or navy? + +7. If you have been in the military or naval service of the +United States, state which, and whether you were honourably +discharged, when, and for what cause. + +8. Since my application no change has occurred in my health +or physical capacity except the following: + +9. I was born at ----, on the ---- day of ----, 188. + +10. My present business or employment is + +11. I swore to my application for this examination as near as +I can remember at (town or city of) ----, on the ---- day +of ----, 188. + +All the above statements are true, to the best of my knowledge +and belief. + +(_Signature in usual form_.)------------ + +Dated at the city of ----, State of ----, this ---- day +of ----, 188_. + +FIRST SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ One of the examiners will distinctly read (at a +rate reasonable for copying) fifteen lines from the Civil-Service Law +or Rules, and each applicant will copy the same below from the reading +as it proceeds. + +_Question 2._ Write below at length the names of fifteen States +and fifteen cities of the Union. + +_Question 3. Copy the following precisely_: + +"And in my opinion, sir, this principle of claiming monopoly of office +by the right of conquest, unless the public shall effectually rebuke +and restrain it, will effectually change the character of our +Government. It elevates party above country; it forgets the common +weal in the pursuit of personal emolument; it tends to form, it does +form, we see that it has formed, a political combination, united by +no common principles or opinions among its members, either upon the +powers of the Government or the true policy of the country, but held +together simply as an association, under the charm of a popular +head, seeking to maintain possession of the Government by a vigorous +exercise of its patronage, and for this purpose agitating and alarming +and distressing social life by the exercise of a tyrannical party +proscription. Sir, if this course of things cannot be checked, good +men will grow tired of the exercise of political privileges. They will +see that such elections are but a mere selfish contest for office, +and they will abandon the Government to the scramble of the bold, the +daring, and the desperate."--_Daniel Webster on Civil Service, in +1832_. + +_Question 4._ Correct any errors in spelling which you find in +the following sentences, writing your letters so plainly that no one +of them can be mistaken: + +Unquestionebly every federil offeser should be able to spell corectly +the familier words of his own languege. + +Lose her hankercheif and elivate her head immediatly or she will +spedily loose her life by strangelation. + + +SECOND SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ Multiply 2341705 by 23870 and divide the product by +6789. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 2._ Divide two hundred and five thousand two hundred +and five, and two hundred and five ten-thousandths, by one hundred +thousand one hundred, and one hundredth. + +_Question 3._ Multiply 10-2/3 by 7-1/8 and divide the product by +9-1/2, reducing the same to the simplest form. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 4._ The annual cost of the public schools of a city +is $36,848. What school-tax must be assessed, the cost of collecting +being 2 per cent., and 6 per cent of the assessed tax being +uncollectible? + + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 5._ Add 7-3/4, 3/5 of 6-2/9, 8-11/12, 6-1/2 divided by +8-1/8, and reduce to lowest terms. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 6._ The Government sold 3000 old muskets at 22-1/2 per +cent, of their cost. The purchaser becoming insolvent paid only 13 per +cent. of the price he agreed to pay; that is, he paid $900. What did +each musket cost the Government? + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 7._ What will it cost to carpet a room 36 feet wide by +72 feet long with 3/4 width carpet at $2.12 per yard, including cost +of carpet-lining at 11 cents a square yard and 12 cents a yard for +making and laying the carpet? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 8. A owned 7/8 of a ship and sold 4/5 of his share to +B, who sold 5/9 of what he bought to C, who sold 6/7 of what he bought +to D. What part of the whole vessel did D buy? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 9. A man bought a cargo of wool and sold seven +thousand and forty-five ten-thousandths of it. How much had he left? + +_Give operation in full in decimal fractions_. + +_Question_ 10. A merchant imported from Bremen 32 pieces of linen +of 32 yards each, on which he paid for the duties, at 24 per cent, +$122.38, and other charges to the amount of $40.96. What was the +invoice value per yard, and the cost per yard after duties and charges +were paid? + +_Give operation, in full_. + + +THIRD SUBJECT. + + +_Question_ 1. On a mortgage for $3,125, dated July 5, 1880 +(interest at 3-1/2 per cent), a payment of $840 was made April 23, +1881. What amount was due January 17, 1882? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 2. The Government sold an old vessel for $160,000, +payable two fifths in eight months and the residue in seventeen months +from the sale. What was the present cash value of the vessel, the +current rate of interest on money being five per cent? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 3. Write a promissory note to be given by J. Brown +to J. Smith, for 60 days, without grace, for $500, at 5 per cent +interest, and state what amount will be due at maturity of the note. + +_Question_ 4. James X. Young, a contractor, had the following +dealings with the Treasury Department: He furnished January 4, 1882, +14 tables at $16 each; June 6, 1882, 180 desks at $18.50 each; +December 7, 1882, 150 chairs at $2 each, and July 18, 1883, 14 +book-cases at $90 each. He was paid cash as follows: January 31, 1882, +$224; June 30, $1,800; December 18, $300; and July 31, 1883, he was +allowed on settlement $75 for cartage and charged $25 for breakages. +State his account and show balance due. + + +FOURTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. State the meaning of tense and of mood, and explain +the difference between them in the English language or grammar. + +_Question_ 2. Correct any errors you find in the following +sentences: + +The boy done it, and he is as restless here as he will be if he was +with you. + +He had did it and spoke of doing it before we come here. + +_Question_ 3. Write a letter to Senator Jackson answering in full +his letter of September 7 to the Secretary of the Treasury in which +he asks: "How must my nephew proceed to obtain a clerkship in the +Treasury Department, under the Civil-Service Law, and what are the +requisite qualifications of a good clerk?" + + +FIFTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. Write without abbreviation the names of fifteen +seaports of the Union. + +_Question_ 2. Name four of the principal tributaries of the +Mississippi River. + +_Question_ 3. Bound the State in which you live. + +_Question_ 4. Which States are peninsular, and upon what waters +are they situated? + +_Question_ 5. Name six of the principal railroads in the United +States. + +_Question_ 6. Name seven of the leading agricultural products of +the United States, and state in what section of the country each is +most extensively cultivated. + + + + + +APPENDIX J. + + +THE NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT OF 1890. + +CHAP. 94.--AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE FIVE OF THE PENAL CODE RELATING TO +CRIMES AGAINST THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. + +Approved by the Governor April 4, 1890. Passed, three fifths being +present. + +_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and +Assembly, do enact as follows:_ + + +SECTION 1. Title five of the Penal Code, entitled "Of crimes against +the elective franchise," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: + +Section 41. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To pay, lend, or contribute, or offer or promise to pay, lend, or +contribute any money or other valuable consideration, to or for any +voter, or to or for any other person, to induce such voter to vote or +refrain from voting at any election, or to induce any voter to vote +or refrain from voting at such election for any particular person or +persons, or to induce such voter to come to the polls or remain away +from the polls at such election, or on account of such voter having +voted or refrained from voting or having voted or refrained from +voting for any particular person, or having come to the poll or +remained away from the polls at such election. + +2. To give, offer, or promise any office, place, or employment, or +to promise to procure or endeavour to procure any office, place, or +employment to or for any voter, or to or for any other person, in +order to induce such voter to vote or refrain from voting at any +election, or to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting at +such election for any particular person or persons. + +3. To make any gift, loan, promise, offer, procurement, or agreement, +as aforesaid, to, for, or with any person in order to induce such +person to procure or endeavour to procure the election of any person, +or the vote of any voter at any election. + +4. To procure or engage, promise or endeavour to procure, in +consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or +agreement, the election of any person or the vote of any voter at such +election. + +5. To advance or pay or cause to be paid any money or other valuable +thing to or for the use of any other person with the intent that the +same, or any part thereof, shall be used in bribery at any election, +or to knowingly pay, or cause to be paid, any money or other valuable +thing to any person in discharge or repayment of any money, wholly or +in part, expended in bribery at any election. + +Section 41_a_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To receive, agree, or contract for, before or during an election, +any money, gift, loan, or other valuable consideration, office, place, +or employment for himself or any other person, for voting or agreeing +to vote, or for coming or agreeing to come to the polls, or for +remaining, away or agreeing to remain away from the polls, or for +refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting, or for voting or +agreeing to vote or refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting for +any particular person or persons at any election. + +2. To receive any money or other valuable thing during or after an +election on account of himself or any other person having voted or +refrained from voting at such election, or on account of himself +or any other person having voted or refrained from voting for any +particular person at such election, or on account of himself or any +other person having come to the polls or remained away from the polls +at such election, or on account of having induced any other person to +vote or refrain from voting or to vote or refrain from voting for any +particular person or persons at such election. + +41_b_. It shall be unlawful for any candidate for public office, +before or during an election, to make any bet or wager with a voter, +or take a share or interest in or in any manner become a party to any +such bet or wager, or provide or agree to provide any money to be used +by another in making such bet or wager, upon any event or contingency +whatever. Nor shall it be lawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, to make a bet or wager with a voter, depending upon +the result of any election, with the intent thereby to procure the +challenge of such voter, or to prevent him from voting at such +election. + +Section 41_c_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or any other person in his behalf, to make use +of, or threaten to make use of, any force, violence, or restraint, or +to inflict or threaten the infliction by himself, or through any other +person, of any injury, damage, harm, or loss, or in any manner to +practice intimidation upon or against any person, in order to induce +or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting at any election, +or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or +persons at any election, or on account of such person having voted or +refrained from voting at any election. And it shall be unlawful for +any person by abduction, duress, or any forcible or fraudulent device +or contrivance whatever to impede, prevent, or otherwise interfere +with, the free exercise of the elective franchise by any voter; or to +compel, induce, or prevail upon any voter either to give or refrain +from giving his vote at any election, or to give or refrain from +giving his vote for any particular person at any election. It shall +not be lawful for any employer in paying his employees the salary or +wages due them to inclose their pay in "pay envelopes" upon which +there is written or printed any political mottoes, devices, or +arguments containing threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such +employees. Nor shall it be lawful for any employer, within ninety days +of general election to put up or otherwise exhibit in his factory, +work-shop, or other establishment or place where his employees may be +working, any hand-bill or placard containing any threat, notice, or +information that in case any particular ticket or candidate shall be +elected, work in his place or establishment will cease, in whole or in +part, or his establishment be closed up, or the wages of his workmen +be reduced, or other threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of his +employees. This section shall apply to corporations, as well as to +individuals, and any person or corporation violating the provisions +of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and any +corporation violating this section shall forfeit its charter. + +Section 41_d_. Every candidate who is voted for at any public +election held within this state shall, within ten days after such +election, file as hereinafter provided an itemized statement, showing +in detail all the moneys contributed or expended by him, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person, in aid of his +election. Such statement shall give the names of the various persons +who received such moneys, the specific nature of each item, and the +purpose for which it was expended or contributed. There shall be +attached to such statement an affidavit subscribed and sworn to by +such candidate, setting forth in substance that the statement thus +made is in all respects true, and that the same is a full and detailed +statement of all moneys so contributed or expended by him, directly +or indirectly, by himself or through any other person in aid of his +election. Candidates for offices to be filled by the electors of the +entire state, or any division or district thereof greater than a +county, shall file their statements in the office of the secretary of +state. The candidates for town, village, and city offices, excepting +the city of New York, shall file their statements in the office of the +town, village, or city clerk respectively, and in cities wherein there +is no city clerk, with the clerk of the common council wherein the +election occurs. Candidates for all other offices, including all +offices in the city and county of New York, shall file their +statements in the office of the clerk of the county wherein the +election occurs. + +Section 41_e_. A person offending against any provision of +sections forty-one and forty-one-a of this act is a competent witness +against another person so offending, and may be compelled to attend +and testify upon any trial, hearing, proceeding, or investigation in +the same manner as any other person. But the testimony so given shall +not be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, +against the person so testifying. A person so testifying shall not +thereafter be liable to indictment, prosecution, or punishment for the +offense with reference to which his testimony was given and may plead +or prove the giving of testimony accordingly, in bar of such an +indictment or prosecution. + + +Section 41_f_. Whosoever shall violate any provision of this title, upon +conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail +for not less than three months nor more than one year. The offenses +described in section[53] forty-one and forty-one-a of this act are hereby +declared to be infamous crimes. When a person is convicted of any +offense mentioned in section forty-one of this act he shall in addition +to the punishment above prescribed, forfeit any office to which he may +have been elected at the election with reference to which such offense +was committed; and when a person is convicted of any offense mentioned +in section forty-one-a of this act he shall in addition to the +punishment above prescribed be excluded from the right of suffrage for a +period of five years after such conviction, and it shall be the duty of +the county clerk of the county in which any such conviction shall be +had, to transmit a certified copy of the record of conviction to the +clerk of each county of the state, within ten days thereafter, which +said certified copy shall be duly filed by the said county clerks in +their respective offices. Any candidate for office who refuses or +neglects to file a statement as prescribed in section forty-one-d of +this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, punishable as above +provided and shall also forfeit his office. + +[Footnote 53: So in the original.] + +Section 41_g_. Other crimes against the elective franchise are +defined, and the punishment thereof prescribed by special statutes. + + +Section 2. Section forty-one of the Penal Code, as it existed prior to +the passage of this act, is hereby repealed. + + + +Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately. APPENDIX K. + + +FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ADOPTED IN MASSACHUSETTS, + 1889. + + OFFICIAL BALLOT + + FOR + + PRECINCT, WARD, + + OF (CITY OR TOWN), + + NOVEMBER__, 18__. + + [Fac-Simile of Signature of Secretary.] + _Secretary of the Commonwealth_. + +SAMPLE BALLOT, + +With explanations and illustration. + +Prepared by the Ballot Act League with the approval of the Secretary +of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Some representative districts elect one, some two, and a few three +representatives to the General Court. Worcester County elects four +commissioners of insolvency instead of three as in other counties. + +No county commissioners or special commissioners will be voted for in +the cities of Boston and Chelsea or the county of Nantucket. + + * * * * * + +Forms for nominating candidates can be had at the department of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Carefully observe the official specimen ballots to be posted and +published just before election day. + + +To vote for a Person, mark a Cross X + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +OLIVER AMES, of Easton Republican. +WILLIAM H EARLE, of Worcester Prohibition. +WILLIAM E. RUSSELL, of Cambridge Democratic. + +LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +JOHN BASCOM, of Williamstown Prohibition. +JOHN Q.A. BRACKETT, of Arlington Republican. +JOHN W. CORCORAN, of Clinton Democratic. + +SECRETARY Vote for ONE. +WILLIAM S. OSGOOD, of Boston Democratic. +HENRY R. PEIRCE, of Abington Republican. +HENRY C. SMITH, of Williamsburg Prohibition. + +TREASURER Vote for ONE. +JOHN M. FISHER, of Attleborough Prohibition. +GEORGE A. MARDEN, of Lowell Republican. +HENRY O. THACHER, of Yarmouth Democratic. + +AUDITOR Vote for ONE. +CHARLES R. LADD, of Springfield Republican. +EDMUND A. STOWE, of Hudson Prohibition. +WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, of Worcester Democratic. + +ATTORNEY-GENERAL Vote for ONE. +ALLEN COFFIN, of Nantucket Prohibition. +SAMUEL O. LAMB, of Greenfield Democratic. +ANDREW J. WATERMAN, of Pittsfield Republican. + +COUNCILLOR, Third District Vote for ONE. +ROBERT O. FULLER, of Cambridge Republican. +WILLIAM E. PLUMMER, of Newton Democratic. +SYLVANUS C. SMALL, of Winchester Prohibition. + +SENATOR, Third Middlesex District Vote for ONE. +FREEMAN HUNT, of Cambridge Democratic. +CHESTER W. KINGSLEY, of Cambridge /Republican. + \Prohibition. + +DISTRICT ATTORNEY, Northern District Vote for ONE. +CHARLES S. LINCOLN, of Somerville Democratic. +JOHN M. READ, of Lowell Prohibition. +WILLIAM B. STEVENS, of Stoneham Republican. + + + +------------------------------------------------------------- +in the Square at the right of the name. +------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------- +REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT + +First Middlesex District. Vote for TWO. + +WILLIAM H. MARBLE, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +ISAAC McLEAN, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +GEORGE A. PERKINS, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +JOHN READ, of Cambridge Republican. __ +CHESTER V. SANGER, of Cambridge Republican. __ +WILLIAM A. START, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SHERIFF Vote for ONE. + +HENRY G. CUSHING, of Lowell Republican. __ +HENRY G. HARKINS, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +WILLIAM H. SHERMAN, of Ayer Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- +COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY Vote for THREE. + +JOHN W. ALLARD, of Framingham Democratic. __ +GEORGE J. BURNS, of Ayer Republican. __ +WILLIAM P. CUTTER, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE, of Lowell Republican. __ +JAMES HICKS, of Cambridge. Prohibition. __ +JOHN C. KENNEDY, of Newton Republican. __ +RICHARD J. McKELLEGET, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +EDWARD D. McVEY, of Lowell Democratic. __ +ELMER A. STEVENS, of Somerville Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +COUNTY COMMISSIONER Vote for ONE. + +WILLIAM S. FROST, of Marlborough Republican. __ +JOSEPH W. BARBER, of Sherborn Prohibition. __ +JAMES SKINNER, of Woburn Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS Vote for TWO. + +HENRY BRADLEE, of Medford Democratic. __ +LYMAN DYKE, of Stoneham Republican. __ +JOHN J. DONOVAN, of Lowell Democratic. __ +WILLIAM E. KNIGHT, of Shirley Prohibition. __ +ORSON E. MALLORY, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +EDWIN E. THOMPSON, of Woburn Republican. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +[Illustration: SKETCH OF POLLING PLACE.] + +SUGGESTIONS TO VOTERS. + +Give your name and residence to the ballot clerk, who, on finding your +name on the check list, will admit you within the rail and hand you a +ballot. + +Go alone to one of the voting shelves and there unfold your ballot. + +Mark a cross X in the square at the right of the name of each person +for whom you wish to vote. No other method of marking, such as erasing +names, will answer. + + +Thus, if you wished to vote for John Bowles for Governor, you would +mark your ballot in this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. X +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. + +If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, +write, or insert by a sticker, the name in the blank line at the end +of the list of candidates for the office, and mark a cross X in the +square at the right of it. Thus, if you wished to vote for George T. +Morton, of Chelsea, for Governor, you would prepare your ballot in +this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. +_George T. Morton, of Chelsea_ X + +Notice, that for some offices you may vote for "two" or "three" +candidates, as stated in the ballot at the right of the name of the +office to be voted for, e.g.: "COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY. Vote for +THREE." + +If you spoil a ballot, return it to the ballot clerk, who will give +you another. You cannot have more than two extra ballots, or three in +all. You cannot remain within the rail more than ten minutes, and in +case all the shelves are in use and other voters waiting, you are +allowed only five minutes at the voting shelf. + +Before leaving the voting shelf, fold your ballot in the same way as +it was folded when you received it, and keep it so folded until you +place it in the ballot box. + +Do not show any one how you have marked your ballot. + +Go to the ballot box and give your name and residence to the officer +in charge. + +Put your folded ballot in the box with the certificate of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth uppermost and in sight. + +You are not allowed to carry away a ballot, whether spoiled or not. + +A voter who declares to the presiding official (under oath, if +required) that he was a voter before May 1, 1857, and cannot read, or +that he is blind or physically unable to mark his ballot, can receive +the assistance of one or two of the election officers in the marking +of his ballot. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civil Government in the United States +Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11276 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf55238 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11276 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11276) diff --git a/old/11276-8.txt b/old/11276-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3a56f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11276-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14426 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Civil Government in the United States +Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins, by John Fiske + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Civil Government in the United States Considered with + Some Reference to Its Origins + +Author: John Fiske + +Release Date: February 25, 2004 [EBook #11276] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE U.S. *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Keren Vergon, Bradley Norton and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT +IN THE UNITED STATES +CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS + +BY + +JOHN FISKE + + [Greek: Aissomai pai Zaevos Heleutheroiu, + Imeran eurnsthene amphipolei, Soteira Tucha + tiv gar en ponto kubernontai thoai + naes, en cherso te laipsaeroi polemoi + kagorai boulaphoroi.] + + PINDAR, _Olymp_. xii. + + Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! + Sail on, O Union, strong and great!... + Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee,--are all with thee! + + LONGFELLOW. + + + +1890 + +BY JOHN FISKE. + + +_Dedication_ + +This little book is dedicated, with the author's best wishes and +sincere regard, to the many hundreds of young friends whom he has +found it so pleasant to meet in years past, and also to those whom he +looks forward to meeting in years to come, in studies and readings +upon the rich and fruitful history of our beloved country. + +PREFACE. + +Some time ago, my friends, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., requested +me to write a small book on Civil Government in the United States, +which might be useful as a text-book, and at the same time serviceable +and suggestive to the general reader interested in American history. +In preparing the book certain points have been kept especially in +view, and deserve some mention here. + +It seemed desirable to adopt a historical method of exposition, not +simply describing our political institutions in their present shape, +but pointing out their origin, indicating some of the processes +through which they have acquired that present shape, and thus keeping +before the student's mind the fact that government is perpetually +undergoing modifications in adapting itself to new conditions. +Inasmuch as such gradual changes in government do not make themselves, +but are made by men--and made either for better or for worse--it is +obvious that the history of political institutions has serious lessons +to teach us. The student should as soon as possible come to understand +that every institution is the outgrowth of experiences. One probably +gets but little benefit from abstract definitions and axioms +concerning the rights of men and the nature of civil society, such as +we often find at the beginning of books on government. Metaphysical +generalizations are well enough in their place, but to start with such +things--as the French philosophers of the eighteenth century were fond +of doing--is to get the cart before the horse. It is better to have +our story first, and thus find out what government in its concrete +reality has been, and is. Then we may finish up with the metaphysics, +or do as I have done--leave it for somebody else. + +I was advised to avoid the extremely systematic, intrusively +symmetrical, style of exposition, which is sometimes deemed +indispensable in a book of this sort. It was thought that students +would be more likely to become interested in the subject if it were +treated in the same informal manner into which one naturally falls in +giving lectures to young people. I have endeavoured to bear this in +mind without sacrificing that lucidity in the arrangement of topics +which is always the supreme consideration. For many years I have been +in the habit of lecturing on history to college students in different +parts of the United States, to young ladies in private schools, and +occasionally to the pupils in high and normal schools, and in writing +this little book I have imagined an audience of these earnest and +intelligent young friends gathered before me. + +I was especially advised--by my friend, Mr. James MacAlister, +superintendent of schools in Philadelphia, for whose judgment I have +the highest respect--to make it a _little_ book, less than three +hundred pages in length, if possible. Teachers and pupils do not have +time enough to deal properly with large treatises. Brevity, therefore, +is golden. A concise manual is the desideratum, touching lightly upon +the various points, bringing out their relationships distinctly, and +referring to more elaborate treatises, monographs, and documents, for +the use of those who wish to pursue the study at greater length. + +Within limits thus restricted, it will probably seem strange to +some that so much space is given to the treatment of local +institutions,--comprising the governments of town, county, and city. +It may be observed, by the way, that some persons apparently conceive +of the state also as a "local institution." In a recent review of +Professor Howard's admirable "Local Constitutional History of the +United States," we read, the first volume, which is all that is yet +published, treats of the development of the township, hundred, and +shire; the second volume, we suppose, being designed to treat of +the State Constitutions. The reviewer forgets that there is such a +subject as the "development of the city and local magistracies" (which +is to be the subject of that second volume), and lets us see that in +his apprehension the American state is an institution of the same +order as the town and county. We can thus readily assent when we +are told that many youth have grown to manhood with so little +appreciation of the political importance of the state as to believe +it nothing more than a geographical division.[1] In its historic +genesis, the American state is not an institution of the same order +as the town and county, nor has it as yet become depressed or +"mediatized" to that degree. The state, while it does not possess such +attributes of sovereignty as were by our Federal Constitution granted +to the United States, does, nevertheless, possess many very important +and essential characteristics of a sovereign body, as is here +pointed out on pages 172-177. The study of our state governments is +inextricably wrapped up with the study of our national government, +in such wise that both are parts of one subject, which cannot be +understood unless both parts are studied. Whether in the course of our +country's future development we shall ever arrive at a stage in which +this is not the case, must be left for future events to determine. +But, if we ever do arrive at such a stage, "American institutions" +will present a very different aspect from those with which we are now +familiar, and which we have always been accustomed (even, perhaps, +without always understanding them) to admire. + +[Footnote 1: Young's _Government Class Book_, p. iv.] + +The study of local government properly includes town, county, and +city. To this part of the subject I have devoted about half of my +limited space, quite unheedful of the warning which I find in the +preface of a certain popular text-book, that "to learn the duties of +town, city, and county officers, has nothing whatever to do with the +grand and noble subject of Civil Government," and that "to attempt +class drill on petty town and county offices, would be simply +burlesque of the whole subject." But, suppose one were to say, with +an air of ineffable scorn, that petty experiments on terrestrial +gravitation and radiant heat, such as can be made with commonplace +pendulums and tea-kettles, have nothing whatever to do with the grand +and noble subject of Physical Astronomy! Science would not have got +very far on that plan, I fancy. The truth is, that science, while it +is perpetually dealing with questions of magnitude, and knows very +well what is large and what is small, knows nothing whatever of any +such distinction as that between things that are "grand" and things +that are "petty." When we try to study things in a scientific spirit, +to learn their modes of genesis and their present aspects, in order +that we may foresee their tendencies, and make our volitions count +for something in modifying them, there is nothing which we may safely +disregard as trivial. This is true of whatever we can study; it is +eminently true of the history of institutions. Government is not a +royal mystery, to be shut off, like old Deiokes,[2] by a sevenfold +wall from the ordinary business of life. Questions of civil government +are practical business questions, the principles of which are as often +and as forcibly illustrated in a city council or a county board of +supervisors, as in the House of Representatives at Washington. It is +partly because too many of our citizens fail to realize that local +government is a worthy study, that we find it making so much trouble +for us. The "bummers" and "boodlers" do not find the subject beneath +their notice; the Master who inspires them is wide awake and--for a +creature that divides the hoof--extremely intelligent. + +[Footnote 2: Herodotus, i. 98.] + +It is, moreover, the mental training gained through contact with +local government that enables the people of a community to conduct +successfully, through their representatives, the government of the +state and the nation. And so it makes a great deal of difference +whether the government of a town or county is of one sort or another. +If the average character of our local governments for the past quarter +of a century had been _quite_ as high as that of the Boston +town-meeting or the Virginia boards of county magistrates, in the days +of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, who can doubt that many an airy +demagogue, who, through session after session, has played his pranks +at the national capital, would long ago have been abruptly recalled to +his native heath, a sadder if not a wiser man? We cannot expect the +nature of the aggregate to be much better than the average natures +of its units. One may hear people gravely discussing the difference +between Frenchmen and Englishmen in political efficiency, and +resorting to assumed ethnological causes to explain it, when, very +likely, to save their lives they could not describe the difference +between a French commune and an English parish. To comprehend the +interesting contrasts between Gambetta in the Chamber of Deputies, and +Gladstone in the House of Commons, one should begin with a historical +inquiry into the causes, operating through forty generations, which +have frittered away self-government in the rural districts and small +towns of France, until there is very little left. If things in America +ever come to such a pass that the city council of Cambridge must ask +Congress each year how much money it can be allowed to spend for +municipal purposes, while the mayor of Cambridge holds his office +subject to removal by the President of the United States, we may +safely predict further extensive changes in the character of the +American people and their government. It was not for nothing that our +profoundest political thinker, Thomas Jefferson, attached so much +importance to the study of the township. + +In determining the order of exposition, I have placed local government +first, beginning with the township as the simplest unit. It is well to +try to understand what is near and simple, before dealing with what is +remote and complex. In teaching geography with maps, it is wise to get +the pupil interested in the streets of his own town, the country roads +running out of it, and the neighbouring hills and streams, before +burdening his attention with the topographical details of Borrioboola +Gha. To study grand generalizations about government, before attending +to such of its features as come most directly before us, is to run the +risk of achieving a result like that attained by the New Hampshire +school-boy, who had studied geology in a text-book, but was not aware +that he had ever set eyes upon an igneous rock. + +After the township, naturally comes the county. The city, as is here +shown, is not simply a larger town, but is much more complex in +organization. Historically, many cities have been, or still are, +equivalent to counties; and the development of the county must be +studied before we can understand that of the city. It has been briefly +indicated how these forms of local government grew up in England, and +how they have become variously modified in adapting themselves to +different social conditions in different parts of the United States. + +Next in order come the general governments, those which possess and +exert, in one way or another, attributes of sovereignty. First, the +various colonial governments have been considered, and some features +of their metamorphosis into our modern state governments have been +described. In the course of this study, our attention is called to +the most original and striking feature of the development of civil +government upon American soil,--the written constitution, with the +accompanying power of the courts in certain cases to annul the acts +of the legislature. This is not only the most original feature of our +government, but it is in some respects the most important. Without the +Supreme Court, it is not likely that the Federal Union could have been +held together, since Congress has now and then passed an act which the +people in some of the states have regarded as unconstitutional and +tyrannical; and in the absence of a judicial method of settling such +questions, the only available remedy would have been nullification. I +have devoted a brief chapter to the origin and development of written +constitutions, and the connection of our colonial charters therewith. + +Lastly, we come to the completed structure, the Federal Union; and by +this time we have examined so many points in the general theory +of American government, that our Federal Constitution can be more +concisely described, and (I believe) more quickly understood, than if +we had made it the subject of the first chapter instead of the last. +In conclusion, there have been added a few brief hints and suggestions +with reference to our political history. These remarks have been +intentionally limited. It is no part of the purpose of this book +to give an account of the doings of political parties under the +Constitution. But its study may fitly be supplemented by that of +Professor Alexander Johnston's "History of American Politics." + +This arrangement not only proceeds from the simpler forms of +government to the more complex, but it follows the historical order of +development. From time immemorial, and down into the lowest strata +of savagery that have come within our ken, there have been clans and +tribes; and, as is here shown, a township was originally a stationary +clan, and a county was originally a stationary tribe. There were +townships and counties (or equivalent forms of organization) before +there were cities. In like manner there were townships, counties, and +cities long before there was anything in the world that could properly +be called a state. I have remarked below upon the way in which English +shires coalesced into little states, and in course of time the English +nation was formed by the union of such little states, which lost their +statehood (_i.e._, their functions of sovereignty, though not +their self-government within certain limits) in the process. Finally, +in America, we see an enormous nationality formed by the federation +of states which partially retain their statehood; and some of these +states are themselves of national dimensions, as, for example, New +York, which is nearly equal in area, quite equal in population, and +far superior in wealth, to Shakespeare's England. + +In studying the local institutions of our different states, I have been +greatly helped by the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and +Politics," of which the eighth annual series is now in course of +publication. In the course of the pages below I have frequent occasion +to acknowledge my indebtedness to these learned and sometimes profoundly +suggestive monographs; but I cannot leave the subject without a special +word of gratitude to my friend, Dr. Herbert Adams, the editor of the +series, for the noble work which he is doing in promoting the study of +American history. It had always seemed to me that the mere existence of +printed questions in text-books proves that the publishers must have +rather a poor opinion of the average intelligence of teachers; and it +also seemed as if the practical effect of such questions must often be +to make the exercise of recitation more mechanical for both teachers and +pupils, and to encourage the besetting sin of "learning by heart." +Nevertheless, there are usually two sides to a case; and, in deference +to the prevailing custom, for which, no doubt, there is much to be said, +full sets of questions have been appended to each chapter and section. +It seemed desirable that such questions should be prepared by some one +especially familiar with the use of school-books; and for these I have +to thank Mr. F.A. Hill, Head Master of the Cambridge English High +School. I confess that Mr. Hill's questions have considerably modified +my opinion as to the merits of such apparatus. They seem to add very +materially to the usefulness of the book. + +It will be observed that there are two sets of these questions, +entirely distinct in character and purpose. The first set--"Questions +on the Text"--is appended to each _section_, so as to be as near +the text as possible. These questions furnish an excellent topical +analysis of the text.[3] In a certain sense they ask "what the book +says," but the teacher is advised emphatically to discourage any such +thing as committing the text to memory. The tendency to rote-learning +is very strong. I had to contend with it in teaching history to +seniors at Harvard twenty years ago, but much has since been done +to check it through the development of the modern German seminary +methods. (For an explanation of these methods, see Dr. Herbert +Adams on "Seminary Libraries and University Extension," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., xi.) With younger students the tendency is of course +stronger. It is only through much exercise that the mind learns how +to let itself--as Matthew Arnold used to say--"play freely about the +facts." + +[Footnote 3: "This," says Mr. Hill, "will please those who prefer the +topical method, while it does not forbid the easy transformation +of topics to questions, which others may demand." In the table of +contents I have made a pretty full topical analysis of the book, which +may prove useful for comparison with Mr. Hill's.] + +In order to supply the pupil with some wholesome exercise of this +sort, Mr. Hill has added, at the end of each _chapter_, a set of +"Suggestive Questions and Directions." Here he has thoroughly divined +the purpose of the book and done much to further it. + +Problems or cases are suggested for the student to consider, and +questions are asked which cannot be disposed of by a direct appeal to +the text. Sometimes the questions go quite outside of the text, and +relate to topics concerning which it provides no information whatever. +This has been done with a purpose. The pupil should learn how to go +outside of the book and gather from scattered sources information +concerning questions that the book suggests. In other words, he should +begin to learn _how to make researches_, for that is coming to be +one of the useful arts, not merely for scholars, but for men and +women in many sorts of avocations. It is always useful, as well as +ennobling, to be able to trace knowledge to its sources. Work of this +sort involves more or less conference and discussion among classmates, +and calls for active aid from the teacher; and if the teacher does not +at first feel at home in these methods, practice will nevertheless +bring familiarity, and will prove most wholesome training. For the aid +of teachers and pupils, as well as of the general reader who wishes to +pursue the subject, I have added a bibliographical note at the end of +each chapter, immediately after Mr. Hill's "Suggestive Questions and +Directions." + +This particular purpose in my book must be carefully borne in mind. +It explains the omission of many details which some text-books on the +same subject would be sure to include. To make a manual complete and +self-sufficing is precisely what I have not intended. The book is +designed to be suggestive and stimulating, to leave the reader with +scant information on some points, to make him (as Mr. Samuel Weller +says) "vish there wos more," and to show him how to go on by himself. +I am well aware that, in making an experiment in this somewhat new +direction, nothing is easier than to fall into errors of judgment. I +can hardly suppose that this book is free from such errors; but if in +spite thereof it shall turn out to be in any way helpful in bringing +the knowledge and use of the German seminary method into our higher +schools, I shall be more than satisfied. + +Just here, let me say to young people in all parts of our country:--If +you have not already done so, it would be well worth while for you +to organize a debating society in your town or village, for the +discussion of such historical and practical questions relating to the +government of the United States as are suggested in the course of this +book. Once started, there need be no end of interesting and profitable +subjects for discussion. As a further guide to the books you need +in studying such subjects, use Mr. W.E. Foster's "References to the +Constitution of the United States," the invaluable pamphlet mentioned +below on page 277. If you cannot afford to buy the books, get the +public library of your town or village to buy them; or, perhaps, +organize a small special library for your society or club. Librarians +will naturally feel interested in such a matter, and will often +be able to help with advice. A few hours every week spent in such +wholesome studies cannot fail to do much toward the political +education of the local community, and thus toward the general +improvement of the American people. For the amelioration of things +will doubtless continue to be effected in the future, as it has been +effected in the past, not by ambitious schemes of sudden and universal +reform (which the sagacious man always suspects, just as he +suspects all schemes for returning a fabulously large interest upon +investments), but by the gradual and cumulative efforts of innumerable +individuals, each doing something to help or instruct those to whom +his influence extends. He who makes two clear ideas grow where there +was only one hazy one before, is the true benefactor of his species. + +In conclusion, I must express my sincere thanks to Mr. Thomas Emerson, +superintendent of schools in Newton, for the very kind interest he has +shown in my work, in discussing its plan with me at the outset, in +reading the completed manuscript, and in offering valuable criticisms. + +CAMBRIDGE, _August_ 5, 1890. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + +"Too much taxes". + +What is taxation? + +Taxation and eminent domain. + +What is government? + +The "ship of state". + +"The government". + +Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which imposes +taxes. + +Difference between taxation and robbery. + +Sometimes taxation is robbery. + +The study of history is full of practical lessons, and helpful to +those who would be good citizens. + +Perpetual vigilance is the price of liberty. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +The most ancient and simple form of government. + +New England settled by church congregations. + +Policy of the early Massachusetts government as to land grants. + +Smallness of the farms + +Township and village + +Social position of the settlers + +The town-meeting + +Selectmen; town-clerk + +Town-treasurer; constables; assessors of taxes and overseers of the +poor + +Act of 1647 establishing public schools + +School committees + +Field-drivers and pound-keepers; fence-viewers; other town officers + +Calling the town-meeting + +Town, county, and state taxes + +Poll-tax + +Taxes on real-estate; taxes on personal property + +When and where taxes are assessed + +Tax-lists + +Cheating the government + +The rate of taxation + +Undervaluation; the burden of taxation + +The "magic-fund" delusion + +Educational value of the town-meeting + +By-laws + + +Power and responsibility + +There is nothing especially American, democratic, or meritorious about +"rotation in office" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +Town-meetings in ancient Greece and Rome + +Clans; the _mark_ and the _tun_ + +The Old-English township, the manor, and the parish + +The vestry-meeting + +Parish and vestry clerks; beadles, waywardens, haywards, +common-drivers, churchwardens, etc. + +Transition from the English parish to the New England township + +Building of states out of smaller political units + +Representation; shire-motes; Earl Simon's Parliament + +The township as the "unit of representation" in the shire-mote and in +the General Court + +Contrast with the Russian village-community which is not represented +in the general government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings_. + +Why do we have counties? + +Clans and tribes + +The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of small +states + +Ealdorman and sheriff; shire-mote and county court + +The coroner, or "crown officer" + +Justices of the peace; the Quarter Sessions; the lord lieutenant + +Decline of the English county; beginnings of counties in Massachusetts + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Modern County in Massachusetts_. + +County commissioners, etc.; shire-towns and court-houses + +Justices of the peace, and trial justices + +The sheriff + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County_. + +Virginia sparsely settled; extensive land grants to individuals + +Navigable rivers; absence of towns; slavery + +Social position of the settlers + +Virginia parishes; the vestry was a close corporation + +Powers of the vestry + +The county was the unit of representation + +The county court was virtually a close corporation + +The county-seat, or Court House + +Powers of the court; the sheriff + +The county-lieutenant + +Contrast between old Virginia and old New England, in respect of local +government + +Jefferson's opinion of township government + +"Court-day" in old Virginia + +Virginia has been prolific in great leaders + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems._ + +Parishes in South Carolina + +The back country; the "regulators" + +The district system + +The modern South Carolina county + +The counties are too large + +Tendency of the school district to develop into something like a +township + +Local institutions in colonial Maryland; the hundred + +Clans; brotherhoods, or phratries; and tribes + +Origin of the hundred; the hundred court; the high constable + +Decay of the hundred; hundred-meeting in Maryland + +The hundred in Delaware; the levy court, or representative county +assembly + +The old Pennsylvania county + +Town-meetings in New Tort + +The county board of supervisors + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +Westward movement of population along parallels of latitude + +Method of surveying the public lands + +Origin of townships in the West + +Formation of counties in the West + +Some effects of this system + +The reservation of a section for public schools + +In this reservation there were the germs of township government + +But at first the county system prevailed + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West._ + +The town-meeting in Michigan + +Conflict between township and county systems in Illinois + +Effects of the Ordinance of 1787 + +Intense vitality of the township system + +County option and township option in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, +and Dakota + +Grades of township government in the West + +An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the United +States + +Effect of the self-governing school district in the South, in preparing +the way for the self-governing township + +Woman-suffrage in the school district + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government._ + +Summary of the foregoing results; township government is direct, +county government is indirect + +Representative government is necessitated in a county by the extent of +territory, and in a city by the multitude of people + +Josiah Quincy's account of the Boston town-meeting in 1830 + +Distinctions between towns and cities in America and in England + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities._ + +Origin of the _chesters_ and _casters_ in Roman camps + +Coalescence of towns into fortified boroughs + +The borough as a hundred; it acquires a court + +The borough as a county; it acquires a sheriff + +Government of London under Henry I + +The guilds; the town guild, and Guild Hall + +Government of London as perfected in the thirteenth century; mayor, +aldermen, and common council + +The city of London, and the metropolitan district + +English cities were for a long time the bulwarks of liberty + +Simon de Montfort and the cities + +Oligarchical abuses in English cities, beginning with the Tudor period + +The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 + +Government of the city of New York before the Revolution + +Changes after the Revolution + +City government in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century + +The very tradition of good government was lacking in these cities + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Government of Cities in the United States_. + +Several features of our municipal governments + +In many cases they do not seem to work well + +Rapid growth of American cities + +Some consequences of this rapid growth + +Wastefulness resulting from want of foresight + +Growth in complexity of government in cities + +Illustrated by list of municipal officers in Boston. + +How city government comes to be a mystery to the citizens, in some +respects harder to understand than state and national government + +Dread of the "one-man power" has in many cases led to scattering and +weakening of responsibility + +Committees inefficient for executive purposes; the "Circumlocution +Office" + +Alarming increase of city debts, and various attempts to remedy the +evil + +Experience of New York with state interference in municipal affairs; +unsatisfactory results + +The Tweed Ring in New York + +The present is a period of experiments + +The new government of Brooklyn + +Necessity of separating municipal from national politics + +Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted; evils wrought by +ignorant voters + +Evils wrought by wealthy speculators; testimony of the Pennsylvania +Municipal Commission + +Dangers of a restricted suffrage + +Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national politics + +The "spoils system" must be destroyed, root and branch; ballot reform +also indispensable + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments_. + +Claims of Spain to the possession of North America + +Claims of France and England + +The London and Plymouth Companies + +Their common charter + +Dissolution of the two companies + +States formed in the three zones + +Formation of representative governments; House of Burgesses in +Virginia + +Company of Massachusetts Bay + +Transfer of the charter from England to Massachusetts + +The General Court; assistants and deputies + +Virtual independence of Massachusetts, and quarrels with the Crown + +New charter of Massachusetts in 1692; its liberties curtailed + +Republican governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island + +Counties palatine in England; proprietary charter of Maryland + +Proprietary charter of Pennsylvania + +Quarrels between Penns and Calverts; Mason and Dixon's line + +Other proprietary governments + +They generally became unpopular + +At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of colonial +government: 1. Republican; 2. Proprietary; 3. Royal + +(After 1692 the government of Massachusetts might be described as +Semi-royal) + +In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which alone +could impose taxes + +The governor's council was a kind of upper house + +The colonial government was much like the English system in miniature + +The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament + +Except in the regulation of maritime commerce + +In England there grew up the theory of the imperial supremacy of +parliament + +And the conflict between the British and American theories was +precipitated by becoming involved in the political schemes of George +III. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments + +Committees of correspondence; provincial congresses + +Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents" + +Origin of the senates + +Likenesses and differences between British and American systems + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The State Governments_. + +Later modifications + +Universal suffrage + +Separation between legislative and executive departments; its +advantages and disadvantages as compared with the European plan + +In our system the independence of the executive is of vital importance + +The state executive + +The governor's functions: 1. Adviser of legislature; 2. Commander of +state militia; 3. Royal prerogative of pardon; 4. Veto power + +Importance of the veto power as a safeguard against corruption In +building the state, the local self-government was left unimpaired + +Instructive contrast with France + +Some causes of French political incapacity + +Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the American Union + +Illustration from recent English history + +Independence of the state courts + +Constitution of the state courts + +Elective and appointive judges + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + +In the American state there is a power above the legislature + +Germs of the idea of a written constitution + +Development of the idea of contract in Roman law; mediaeval charters + +The "Great Charter" (1215) + +The Bill of Rights (1689) + +Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane (1666) + +The Mayflower compact (1620) + +The "Fundamental Orders" of Connecticut (1639) + +Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the modern state +constitution + +Abnormal development of some recent state constitutions, encroaching +upon the legislature + +The process of amending constitutions + +The Swiss "Referendum" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union_. + +Circumstances favourable to the union of the colonies. The New England +Confederacy (1643-84). Albany Congress (1754); Stamp Act Congress +(1765); Committees of Correspondence (1772-75). The Continental Congress +(1774-89). The several states were never at any time sovereign states. +The Articles of Confederation. Nature and powers of the Continental +Congress. It could not impose taxes, and therefore was not fully endowed +with sovereignty. Decline of the Continental Congress. Weakness of the +sentiment of union; anarchical tendencies. The Federal Convention +(1787). + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress_. + +The House of Representatives. The three fifths compromise. The +Connecticut compromise. The Senate. Electoral districts; the +"Gerrymander". The election at large. Time of assembling. Privileges of +members. The Speaker. Impeachment in England; in the United States. The +president's veto power. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive_. + +The title of "President". The electoral college. The twelfth +amendment. The electoral commission (1877). Provisions against a lapse +of the presidency. + +Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled + +Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now always on a +general ticket + +"Minority presidents" + +Advantages of the electoral system + +Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus (1800-24) + +Nominating conventions; the "primary"; the district convention; the +national convention + +Qualifications for the presidency; the term of office + +Powers and duties of the president + +The president's message + +Executive departments; the cabinet + +The secretary of state + +Diplomatic and consular service + +The secretary of the treasury + +The other departments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +Difference between confederation and federal union + +Powers granted to Congress + +The "Elastic Clause" + +Powers denied to the states + +Evils of an inconvertible paper currency + +Powers denied to Congress + +Bills of attainder + +Intercitizenship; mode of mating amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary._ + +Need for a federal judiciary + +Federal courts and judges + +District attorneys and marshals + +The federal jurisdiction + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +The Northwest Territory and the Ordinance of 1787 + +Other territories and their government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments_. + +Provisions for ratification + +Concessions to slavery + +Demand for a bill of rights + + +The first ten amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics_. + +Federal taxation + +Hamilton's policy; excise; tariff + +Origin of American political parties; strict and loose construction of +the Elastic Clause + + +Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank. + +Civil Service reform + +Origin of the "spoils system" in the state polities of New Tort and +Pennsylvania + +"Rotation in office;" the Crawford Act + +How the "spoils system" was made national + +The Civil Service Act of 1883 + +The Australian ballot + +The English system of accounting for election expenses + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +APPENDIX. + +A. The Articles of Confederation + +B. The Constitution of the United States + +C. Magna Charta + +D. Part of the Bill of Rights, 1689 + +E. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut + +F. The States classified according to origin + +G. Table of states and territories + +H. Population of the United States 1790-1880, with percentages of +urban population + +I. An Examination Paper for Customs Clerks + +J. The New York Corrupt Practices Act of 1890 + +K. Specimen of an Australian ballot + +INDEX + + + + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + + +In that strangely beautiful story, "The Cloister and the Hearth," in +which Charles Reade has drawn such a vivid picture of human life at the +close of the Middle Ages, there is a good description of the siege of a +revolted town by the army of the Duke of Burgundy. Arrows whiz, +catapults hurl their ponderous stones, wooden towers are built, secret +mines are exploded. The sturdy citizens, led by a tall knight who seems +to bear a charmed life, baffle every device of the besiegers. At length +the citizens capture the brother of the duke's general, and the +besiegers capture the tall knight, who turns out to be no knight after +all, but just a plebeian hosier. The duke's general is on the point of +ordering the tradesman who has made so much trouble to be shot, but the +latter still remains master of the situation; for, as he dryly observes, +if any harm comes to him, the enraged citizens will hang the general's +brother. Some parley ensues, in which the shrewd hosier promises for the +townsfolk to set free their prisoner and pay a round sum of money if the +besieging army will depart and leave them in peace. The offer is +accepted, and so the matter is amicably settled. As the worthy citizen +is about to take his leave, the general ventures a word of inquiry as to +the cause of the town's revolt. "What, then, is your grievance, my good +friend?" Our hosier knight, though deft with needle and keen with lance, +has a stammering tongue. He answers: "Tuta--tuta--tuta--tuta--too much +taxes!" + +[Sidenote: "Too much taxes."] +"Too much taxes:" those three little words furnish us with a clue +wherewith to understand and explain a great deal of history. A great +many sieges of towns, so horrid to have endured though so picturesque +to read about, hundreds of weary marches and deadly battles, thousands +of romantic plots that have led their inventors to the scaffold, have +owed their origin to questions of taxation. The issue between the +ducal commander and the warlike tradesman has been tried over and +over again in every country and in every age, and not always has the +oppressor been so speedily thwarted and got rid of. The questions as +to how much the taxes shall be, and who is to decide how much they +shall be, are always and in every stage of society questions of most +fundamental importance. And ever since men began to make history, a +very large part of what they have done, in the way of making history, +has been the attempt to settle these questions, whether by discussion +or by blows, whether in council chambers or on the battlefield. The +French Revolution of 1789, the most terrible political convulsion of +modern times, was caused chiefly by "too much taxes," and by the fact +that the people who paid the taxes were not the people who decided +what the taxes were to be. Our own Revolution, which made the United +States a nation independent of Great Britain, was brought on by the +disputed question as to who was to decide what taxes American citizens +must pay. + +[Sidenote: What is taxation?] +What, then, are taxes? The question is one which is apt to come up, +sooner or later, to puzzle children. They find no difficulty in +understanding the butcher's bill for so many pounds of meat, or the +tailor's bill for so many suits of clothes, where the value received +is something that can be seen and handled. But the tax bill, though +it comes as inevitably as the autumnal frosts, bears no such obvious +relation to the incidents of domestic life; it is not quite so clear +what the money goes for; and hence it is apt to be paid by the head +of the household with more or less grumbling, while for the younger +members of the family it requires some explanation. + +It only needs to be pointed out, however, that in every town some +things are done for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town, +things which concern one person just as much as another. Thus roads +are made and kept in repair, school-houses are built and salaries paid +to school-teachers, there are constables who take criminals to jail, +there are engines for putting out fires, there are public libraries, +town cemeteries, and poor-houses. Money raised for these purposes, +which are supposed to concern all the inhabitants, is supposed to be +paid by all the inhabitants, each one furnishing his share; and the +share which each one pays is his town tax. + +[Sidenote: Taxation and eminent domain.] +From this illustration it would appear that taxes are private property +taken for public purposes; and in making this statement we come +very near the truth. Taxes are portions of private property which a +government takes for its public purposes. Before going farther, let +us pause to observe that there is one other way, besides taxation, in +which government sometimes takes private property for public purposes. +Roads and streets are of great importance to the general public; and +the government of the town or city in which you live may see fit, in +opening a new street, to run it across your garden, or to make you +move your house or shop out of the way for it. In so doing, the +government either takes away or damages some of your property. It +exercises rights over your property without asking your permission. +This power of government over private property is called "the right of +eminent domain." It means that a man's private interests must not be +allowed to obstruct the interests of the whole community in which +he lives. But in two ways the exercise of eminent domain is unlike +taxation. In the first place, it is only occasional, and affects only +certain persons here or there, whereas taxation goes on perpetually +and affects all persons who own property. In the second place, when +the government takes away a piece of your land to make a road, it pays +you money in return for it; perhaps not quite so much as you believe +the piece of land was worth in the market; the average human nature is +doubtless such that men seldom give fair measure for measure unless +they feel compelled to, and it is not easy to put a government under +compulsion. Still it gives you something; it does not ask you to part +with your property for nothing. Now in the case of taxation, the +government takes your money and seems to make no return to you +individually; but it is supposed to return to you the value of it in +the shape of well-paved streets, good schools, efficient protection +against criminals, and so forth. + +[Sidenote: What is government?] +In giving this brief preliminary definition of taxes and taxation, we +have already begun to speak of "the government" of the town or city +in which you live. We shall presently have to speak of other +"governments,"--as the government of your state and the government of +the United States; and we shall now and then have occasion to allude +to the governments of other countries in which the people are free, +as, for example, England; and of some countries in which the people +are not free, as, for example, Russia. It is desirable, therefore, +that we should here at the start make sure what we mean by +"government," in order that we may have a clear idea of what we are +talking about. + +[Sidenote: The "ship of state."] +Our verb "to govern" is an Old French word, one of the great host of +French words which became a part of the English language between the +eleventh and fourteenth centuries, when so much French was spoken in +England. The French word was _gouverner_, and its oldest form was +the Latin _gubernare_, a word which the Romans borrowed from +the Greek, and meant originally "to steer the ship." Hence it very +naturally came to mean "to guide," "to direct," "to command." The +comparison between governing and steering was a happy one. To govern +is not to command as a master commands a slave, but it is to issue +orders and give directions for the common good; for the interests of +the man at the helm are the same as those of the people in the ship. +All must float or sink together. Hence we sometimes speak of the "ship +of state," and we often call the state a "commonwealth," or something +in the weal or welfare of which all the people are alike interested. + +Government, then, is the directing or managing of such affairs as +concern all the people alike,--as, for example, the punishment of +criminals, the enforcement of contracts, the defence against foreign +enemies, the maintenance of roads and bridges, and so on. To the +directing or managing of such affairs all the people are expected to +contribute, each according to his ability, in the shape of taxes. +Government is something which is supported by the people and kept +alive by taxation. There is no other way of keeping it alive. + +[Sidenote: "The government."] +The business of carrying on government--of steering the ship of +state--either requires some special training, or absorbs all the +time and attention of those who carry it on; and accordingly, in all +countries, certain persons or groups of persons are selected or in +some way set apart, for longer or shorter periods of time, to perform +the work of government. Such persons may be a king with his council, +as in the England of the twelfth century; or a parliament led by a +responsible ministry, as in the England of to-day; or a president +and two houses of congress, as in the United States; or a board of +selectmen, as in a New England town. When we speak of "a government" +or "the government," we often mean the group of persons thus set +apart for carrying on the work of government. Thus, by "the Gladstone +government" we mean Mr. Gladstone, with his colleagues in the cabinet +and his Liberal majority in the House of Commons; and by "the Lincoln +government," properly speaking, was meant President Lincoln, with the +Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. + +[Sidenote: Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which +taxes] +"The government" has always many things to do, and there are many +different lights in which we might regard it. But for the present +there is one thing which we need especially to keep in mind. "The +government" is the power which can rightfully take away a part of your +property, in the shape of taxes, to be used for public purposes. A +government is not worthy of the name, and cannot long be kept in +existence, unless it can raise money by taxation, and use force, if +necessary, in collecting its taxes. The only general government of the +United States during the Revolutionary War, and for six years after +its close, was the Continental Congress, which had no authority to +raise money by taxation. In order to feed and clothe the army and pay +its officers and soldiers, it was obliged to _ask_ for money from +the several states, and hardly ever got as much as was needed. It was +obliged to borrow millions of dollars from France and Holland, and to +issue promissory notes which soon became worthless. After the war was +over it became clear that this so-called government could neither +preserve order nor pay its debts, and accordingly it ceased to be +respected either at home or abroad, and it became necessary for the +American people to adopt a new form of government. Between the old +Continental Congress and the government under which we have lived +since 1789, the differences were many; but by far the most essential +difference was that the new government could raise money by taxation, +and was thus enabled properly to carry on the work of governing. + +If we are in any doubt as to what is really the government of some +particular country, we cannot do better than observe what person or +persons in that country are clothed with authority to tax the people. +Mere names, as customarily applied to governments, are apt to be +deceptive. Thus in the middle of the eighteenth century France and +England were both called "kingdoms;" but so far as kingly power was +concerned, Louis XV. was a very different sort of a king from George +II. The French king could impose taxes on his people, and it might +therefore be truly said that the government of France was in the king. +Indeed, it was Louis XV's immediate predecessor who made the famous +remark, "The state is myself." But the English king could not impose +taxes; the only power in England that could do that was the House of +Commons, and accordingly it is correct to say that in England, at the +time of which we are speaking, the government was (as it still is) in +the House of Commons. + +[Sidenote: Difference between taxation and robbery.] +I say, then, the most essential feature of a government--or at any +rate the feature with which it is most important for us to become +familiar at the start--is its power of taxation. The government is +that which taxes. If individuals take away some of your property for +purposes of their own, it is robbery; you lose your money and get +nothing in return. But if the government takes away some of your +property in the shape of taxes, it is supposed to render to you an +equivalent in the shape of good government, something without which +our lives and property would not be safe. Herein seems to lie the +difference between taxation and robbery. When the highwayman points +his pistol at me and I hand him my purse and watch, I am robbed. But +when I pay the tax-collector, who can seize my watch or sell my house +over my head if I refuse, I am simply paying what is fairly due from +me toward supporting the government. + +[Sidenote: Sometimes taxation _is_ robbery.] +In what we have been saying it has thus far been assumed that the +government is in the hands of upright and competent men and is +properly administered. It is now time to observe that robbery may be +committed by governments as well as by individuals. If the business of +governing is placed in the hands of men who have an imperfect sense of +their duty toward the public, if such men raise money by taxation and +then spend it on their own pleasures, or to increase their political +influence, or for other illegitimate purposes, it is really robbery, +just as much as if these men were to stand with pistols by the +roadside and empty the wallets of people passing by. They make a +dishonest use of their high position as members of government, and +extort money for which they make no return in the shape of services +to the public. History is full of such lamentable instances of +misgovernment, and one of the most important uses of the study of +history is to teach us how they have occurred, in order that we may +learn how to avoid them, as far as possible, in the future. + +[Sidenote: The study of history.] +When we begin in childhood the study of history we are attracted +chiefly by anecdotes of heroes and their battles, kings and their +courts, how the Spartans fought at Thermopylae, how Alfred let the +cakes burn, how Henry VIII. beheaded his wives, how Louis XIV. used to +live at Versailles. It is quite right that we should be interested in +such personal details, the more so the better; for history has been +made by individual men and women, and until we have understood the +character of a great many of those who have gone before us, and how +they thought and felt in their time, we have hardly made a fair +beginning in the study of history. The greatest historians, such as +Freeman and Mommsen, show as lively an interest in persons as in +principles; and I would not give much for the historical theories of a +man who should declare himself indifferent to little personal details. + +[Sidenote: It is full of practical lessons;] +Some people, however, never outgrow the child's notion of history +as merely a mass of pretty anecdotes or stupid annals, without any +practical bearing upon our own every-day life. There could not be a +greater mistake. Very little has happened in the past which has not +some immediate practical lessons for us; and when we study history +in order to profit by the experience of our ancestors, to find out +wherein they succeeded and wherein they failed, in order that we may +emulate their success and avoid their errors, then history becomes the +noblest and most valuable of studies. It then becomes, moreover, an +arduous pursuit, at once oppressive and fascinating from its endless +wealth of material, and abounding in problems which the most diligent +student can never hope completely to solve. + +[Sidenote: and helpful to those who would be good citizens.] +[Sidenote: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.] +Few people have the leisure to undertake a systematic and thorough +study of history, but every one ought to find time to learn the +principal features of the governments under which we live, and to get +some inkling of the way in which these governments have come into +existence and of the causes which have made them what they are. Some +such knowledge is necessary to the proper discharge of the duties of +citizenship. Political questions, great and small, are perpetually +arising, to be discussed in the newspapers and voted on at the polls; +and it is the duty of every man and woman, young or old, to try to +understand them. That is a duty which we owe, each and all of us, to +ourselves and to our fellow-countrymen. For if such questions are +not settled in accordance with knowledge, they will be settled in +accordance with ignorance; and that is a kind of settlement likely +to be fraught with results disastrous to everybody. It cannot be too +often repeated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. +People sometimes argue as if they supposed that because our national +government is called a republic and not a monarchy, and because we +have free schools and universal suffrage, therefore our liberties are +forever secure. Our government is, indeed, in most respects, a marvel +of political skill; and in ordinary times it runs so smoothly that now +and then, absorbed as most of us are in domestic cares, we are apt to +forget that it will not run of itself. To insure that the government +of the nation or the state, of the city or the township, shall +be properly administered, requires from every citizen the utmost +watchfulness and intelligence of which he is capable. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +_To the teacher_. Encourage full answers. Do not permit anything +like committing the text to memory. In the long run the pupil who +relies upon his own language, however inferior it may be to that of +the text, is better off. Naturally, with thoughtful study, the pupil's +language will feel the influence of that of the text, and so improve. +The important thing in any answer is the fundamental thought. This +idea once grasped, the expression of it may receive some attention. +The expression will often be broken and faulty, partly because of +the immaturity of the pupil, and partly because of the newness and +difficulty of the theme. Do not let the endeavour to secure excellent +expression check a certain freedom and spontaneity that should be +encouraged in the pupil. When the teacher desires to place special +stress on excellent presentation, it is wise to assign topics +beforehand, so that each pupil may know definitely what is expected of +him, and prepare himself accordingly. + +1. Tell the story that introduces the chapter. + +2. What lesson is it designed to teach? + +3. What caused the French Revolution? + +4. What caused the American Revolution? + +5. Compare the tax bill with that of the butcher or tailor. + +6. What are taxes raised for in a town? For whose benefit? + +7. Define taxes. + +8. Define the right of eminent domain. + +9. Distinguish between taxes and the right of eminent domain. + +10. What is the origin of the word "govern"? + +11. Define government. + +12. By whom is it supported, how is it kept alive, and by whom is it +carried on? + +13. Give illustrations of governments. + +14. What one power must government have to be worthy of the name? + +15. What was the principal weakness of the government during the +American Revolution? + + +16. Compare this government with that of the United States since 1789. + +17. If it is doubtful what the real government of a country is, how +may the doubt be settled? + +18. Illustrate by reference to France and England in the eighteenth +century. + + +19. What is the difference between taxation and robbery? + +20. Under what conditions may taxation become robbery? + +21. To what are we easily attracted in our first study of history? + +22. What ought to be learned from history? + +23. What sort of knowledge is helpful in discharging the duties of +citizenship? + +24. Show how "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +_To the teacher_. The object of this series of questions and +suggestions is to stimulate reading, investigating, and thinking. It +is not expected, indeed it is hardly possible, that each pupil shall +respond to them all. A single question may cost prolonged study. +Assign the numbers, therefore, to individuals to report upon at a +subsequent recitation,--one or more to each pupil, according to the +difficulty of the numbers. Reserve some for class consideration or +discussion. Now and then let the teacher answer a question himself, +partly to furnish the pupils with good examples of answers, and partly +to insure attention to matters that might otherwise escape notice. + +1. Are there people who receive no benefit from their payment of +taxes? + +2. Are the benefits received by people in proportion to the amounts +paid by them? + +3. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the French +Revolution. + +4. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the American +Revolution. + +5. Give illustrations of the exercise of the right of eminent domain +in your own town or county or state. + +6. Do railroad corporations exercise such a right? How do they succeed +in getting land for their tracks? + +7. In case of disagreement, how is a fair price determined for +property taken by eminent domain? + +8. What persons are prominent to-day in the government of your own +town or city? Of your own county? Of your own state? Of the United +States? + +9. Who constitute the government of the school to which you belong? +Does this question admit of more than one answer? Has the government +of your school any power to tax the people to support the school? + +10. What is the difference between a state and the government of a +state? + +11. Which is the more powerful branch of the English Parliament? Why? + +12. Is it a misuse of the funds of a city to provide entertainments +for the people July 4? To expend money in entertaining distinguished +guests? To provide flowers, carriages, cigars, wines, etc., for such +guests? + +13. What is meant by subordinating public office to private ends? Cite +instances from history. + +14. What histories have you read? What one of them, if any, would you +call a "child's history," or a "drum and trumpet" history? What one of +them, if any, has impressed any lessons upon you? + +15. Mention some principles that history has taught you. + +16. Mention a few offices, and tell the sort of intelligence that is +needed by the persons who hold them. What results might follow if such +intelligence were lacking? + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +It is designed in the bibliographical notes to indicate some +authorities to which reference may be made for greater detail than is +possible in an elementary work like the present. It is believed +that the notes will prove a help to teacher and pupil in special +investigations, and to the reader who may wish to make selections from +excellent sources for purposes of self-culture. It is hardly necessary +to add that it is sometimes worth much to the student to know where +valuable information may be obtained, even when it is not practicable +to make immediate use of it. + +Certain books should always be at the teacher's desk during the +instruction in civil government, and as easily accessible as the large +dictionary; as, for instance, the following: The General Statutes of the +state, the manual or blue-book of the state legislature, and, if the +school is in a city, the city charter and ordinances. It is also +desirable to add to this list the statutes of the United States and a +manual of Congress or of the general government. Manuals may be obtained +through representatives in the state legislature and in Congress. They +will answer nearly every purpose if they are not of the latest issue. +The _Statesman's Year Book_, published by Macmillan & Co., New York, +every year, is exceedingly valuable for reference. Certain almanacs, +particularly the comprehensive ones issued by the New York _Tribune_ and +the New York _World_, are rich in state and national statistics, and so +inexpensive as to be within everybody's means. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT.--As to the causes of the American revolution, +see my _War of Independence_, Boston, 1889; and as to the weakness of +the government of the United States before 1789, see my _Critical Period +of American History_, Boston, 1888. As to the causes of the French +revolution, see Paul Lacombe, _The Growth of a People_, N.Y., 1883, and +the third volume of Kitchin's _History of France_, London, 1887; also +Morse Stephens, _The French Revolution_, vol. i., N.Y., 1887; Taine, +_The Ancient Regime_,--N.Y., 1876, and _The Revolution_, 2 vols., N.Y., +1880. The student may read with pleasure and profit Dickens's _Tale of +Two Cities_. For the student familiar with French, an excellent book is +Albert Babeau, _Le Village sous l'ancien Régime_, Paris, 1879; see also +Tocqueville, _L'ancien Régime et la Révolution_, 7th ed., Paris, 1866. +There is a good sketch of the causes of the French revolution in the +fifth volume of Leeky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +N.Y., 1887; see also Buckle's _History of Civilization_, chaps, +xii.-xiv. There is no better commentary on my first chapter than the +lurid history of France in the eighteenth century. The strong contrast +to English and American history shows us most instructively what we have +thus far escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +Of the various kinds of government to be found in the United States, +we may begin by considering that of the New England township. As +we shall presently see, it is in principle of all known forms of +government the oldest as well as the simplest. Let us observe how the +New England township grew up. + +[Sidenote: New England was settled by church congregations.] +When people from England first came to dwell in the wilderness of +Massachusetts Bay, they settled in groups upon small irregular-shaped +patches of land, which soon came to be known as townships. There were +several reasons why they settled thus in small groups, instead of +scattering about over the country and carving out broad estates for +themselves. In the first place, their principal reason for coming to +New England was their dissatisfaction with the way in which church +affairs were managed in the old country. They wished to bring about a +reform in the church, in such wise that the members of a congregation +should have more voice than formerly in the church-government, and +that the minister of each congregation should be more independent than +formerly of the bishop and of the civil government. They also wished +to abolish sundry rites and customs of the church of which they had +come to disapprove. Finding the resistance to their reforms quite +formidable in England, and having some reason to fear that they might +be themselves crushed in the struggle, they crossed the ocean in order +to carry out their ideas in a new and remote country where they might +be comparatively secure from interference. Hence it was quite natural +that they should come in congregations, led by their favourite +ministers,--such men, for example, as Higginson and Cotton, Hooker and +Davenport. When such men, famous in England for their bold preaching +and imperiled thereby, decided to move to America, a considerable +number of their parishioners would decide to accompany them, and +similarly minded members of neighbouring churches would leave their +own pastor and join in the migration. Such a group of people, arriving +on the coast of Massachusetts, would naturally select some convenient +locality, where they might build their houses near together and all go +to the same church. + +[Sidenote: Land grants.] +This migration, therefore, was a movement, not of individuals or of +separate families, but of church-congregations, and it continued to be +so as the settlers made their way inland and westward. The first +river towns of Connecticut were founded by congregations coming from +Dorchester, Cambridge, and Watertown. This kind of settlement was +favoured by the government of Massachusetts, which made grants of +land, not to individuals but to companies of people who wished to live +together and attend the same church. + +In the second place, the soil of New England was not favourable to the +cultivation of great quantities of staple articles, such as rice +or tobacco, so that there was nothing to tempt people to undertake +extensive plantations. + +[Sidenote: Small farms.] +Most of the people lived on small farms, each family raising but +little more than enough food for its own support; and the small size +of the farms made it possible to have a good many in a compact +neighbourhood. It appeared also that towns could be more easily +defended against the Indians than scattered plantations; and this +doubtless helped to keep people together, although if there had been +any strong inducement for solitary pioneers to plunge into the great +woods, as in later years so often happened at the West, it is not +likely that any dread of the savages would have hindered them. + +[Sidenote: Township and village.] +[Sidenote: Social positions of settlers.] +Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in townships. A +township would consist of about as many farms as could be disposed +within convenient distance from the meeting-house, where all the +inhabitants, young and old, gathered every Sunday, coming on horseback +or afoot. The meeting-house was thus centrally situated, and near +it was the town pasture or "common," with the school-house and the +block-house, or rude fortress for defence against the Indians. For the +latter building some commanding position was apt to be selected, and +hence we so often find the old village streets of New England running +along elevated ridges or climbing over beetling hilltops. Around the +meeting-house and common the dwellings gradually clustered into a +village, and after a while the tavern, store, and town-house made +their appearance. + +Among the people who thus tilled the farms and built up the villages of +New England, the differences in what we should call social position, +though noticeable, were not extreme. While in England some had been +esquires or country magistrates, or "lords of the manor,"--a phrase +which does not mean a member of the peerage, but a landed proprietor +with dependent tenants[1]; some had been yeomen, or persons holding +farms by some free kind of tenure; some had been artisans or tradesmen +in cities. All had for many generations been more or less accustomed to +self-government and to public meetings for discussing local affairs. +That self-government, especially as far as church matters were +concerned, they were stoutly bent upon maintaining and extending. +Indeed, that was what they had crossed the ocean for. Under these +circumstances they developed a kind of government which we may describe +in the present tense, for its methods are pretty much the same to-day +that they were two centuries ago. + +[Footnote 1: Compare the Scottish "laird."] + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting.] +In a New England township the people directly govern themselves; the +government is the people, or, to speak with entire precision, it is +all the male inhabitants of one-and-twenty years of age and upwards. +The people tax themselves. Once each year, usually in March but +sometimes as early as February or as late as April, a "town-meeting" +is held, at which all the grown men of the township are expected to be +present and to vote, while any one may introduce motions or take part +in the discussion. In early times there was a fine for non-attendance, +but at is no longer the case; it is supposed that a due regard to his +own interests will induce every man to come. + +The town-meeting is held in the town-house, but at first it used to be +held in the church, which was thus a "meeting-house" for civil as well +as ecclesiastical purposes. At the town-meeting measures relating +to the administration of town affairs are discussed and adopted or +rejected; appropriations are made for the public expenses of the +town, or in other words the amount of the town taxes for the year is +determined; and town officers are elected for the year. Let us first +enumerate these officers. + +[Sidenote: Selectmen.] +The principal executive magistrates of the town are the selectmen. +They are three, five, seven, or nine in number, according to the size +of the town and the amount of public business to be transacted. The +odd number insures a majority decision in case of any difference of +opinion among them. They have the general management of the public +business. They issue warrants for the holding of town-meetings, and +they can call such a meeting at any time during the year when there +seems to be need for it, but the warrant must always specify the +subjects which are to be discussed and acted on at the meeting. The +selectmen also lay out highways, grant licenses, and impanel jurors; +they may act as health officers and issue orders regarding sewerage, +the abatement of nuisances, or the isolation of contagious diseases; +in many cases they act as assessors of taxes, and as overseers of the +poor. They are the proper persons to listen to complaints if anything +goes wrong in the town. In county matters and state matters they speak +for the town, and if it is a party to a law-suit they represent it in +court; for the New England town is a legal corporation, and as such +can hold property, and sue and be sued. In a certain sense the +selectmen may be said to be "the government" of the town during the +intervals between the town-meetings. + +[Sidenote: Town-clerk.] +An officer no less important than the selectmen is the town-clerk. He +keeps the record of all votes passed in the town-meetings. He also +records the names of candidates and the number of votes for each in +the election of state and county officers. He records the births, +marriages, and deaths in the township, and issues certificates to +persons who declare an intention of marriage. He likewise keeps on +record accurate descriptions of the position and bounds of public +roads; and, in short, has general charge of all matters of +town-record. + +[Sidenote: Town-treasurer.] +Every town has also its treasurer, who receives and takes care of the +money coming in from the taxpayers, or whatever money belongs to the +town. Out of this money he pays the public expenses. He must keep a +strict account of his receipts and payments, and make a report of them +each year. + +[Sidenote: Constables.] +Every town has one or more constables, who serve warrants from the +selectmen and writs from the law courts. They pursue criminals and +take them to jail. They summon jurors. In many towns they serve as +collectors of taxes, but in many other towns a special officer is +chosen for that purpose. When a person, fails to pay his taxes, +after a specified time the collector has authority to seize upon his +property and sell it at auction, paying the tax and costs out of the +proceeds of the sale, and handing over the balance to the owner. In +some cases, where no property can be found and there is reason to +believe that the delinquent is not acting in good faith, he can be +arrested and kept in prison until the tax and costs are paid, or until +he is released by the proper legal methods. + +[Sidenote: Assessors of taxes and overseers of the poor.] +Where the duties of the selectmen are likely to be too numerous, the +town may choose three or more assessors of taxes to prepare the tax +lists; and three or more overseers of the poor, to regulate the +management of the village almshouse and confer with other towns +upon such questions as often arise concerning the settlement and +maintenance of homeless paupers. + +[Sidenote: Public schools.] +Every town has its school committee. In 1647 the legislature of +Massachusetts enacted a law with the following preamble: "It being +one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the +knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an +unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of +tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the original +might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of deceivers; to the +end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, +in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavours;" it was +therefore ordered that every township containing fifty families or +householders should forthwith set up a school in which children might +be taught to read and write, and that every township containing one +hundred families or householders should set up a school in which +boys might be fitted for entering Harvard College. Even before this +statute, several towns, as for instance Roxbury and Dedham, had begun +to appropriate money for free schools; and these were the beginnings +of a system of public education which has come to be adopted +throughout the United States. + +[Sidenote: School committees.] +The school committee exercises powers of such a character as to make +it a body of great importance. The term of service of the members is +three years, one third being chosen annually. The number of members +must therefore be some multiple of three. The slow change in the +membership of the board insures that a large proportion of the members +shall always be familiar with the duties of the place. The school +committee must visit all the public schools at least once a month, and +make a report to the town every year. It is for them to decide what +text-books are to be used. They examine candidates for the position +of teacher and issue certificates to those whom they select. The +certificate is issued in duplicate, and one copy is handed to the +selectmen as a warrant that the teacher is entitled to receive a +salary. Teachers are appointed for a term of one year, but where their +work is satisfactory the appointments are usually renewed year after +year. A recent act in Massachusetts _permits_ the appointment of +teachers to serve during good behaviour, but few boards have as yet +availed themselves of this law. If the amount of work to be done seems +to require it, the committee appoints a superintendent of schools. He +is a sort of lieutenant of the school committee, and under its general +direction carries on the detailed work of supervision. + +Other town officers are the surveyors of highways, who are responsible +for keeping the roads and bridges in repair; field-drivers and +pound-keepers; fence-viewers; surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood, +and sealers of weights and measures. + +[Sidenote: Field-drivers and pound keepers.] +The field-driver takes stray animals to the pound, and then notifies +their owner; or if he does not know who is the owner he posts a +description of the animals in some such place as the village store +or tavern, or has it published in the nearest country newspaper. +Meanwhile the strays are duly fed by the pound-keeper, who does not +let them out of his custody until all expenses have been paid. + +[Sidenote: Fence-viewers.] +If the owners of contiguous farms, gardens, or fields get into a +dispute about their partition fences or walls, they may apply to +one of the fence-viewers, of whom each town has at least two. The +fence-viewer decides the matter, and charges a small fee for his +services. Where it is necessary he may order suitable walls or fences +to be built. + +[Sidenote: Other officers.] +The surveyors of lumber measure and mark lumber offered for sale. +The measurers of wood do the same for firewood. The sealers test the +correctness of weights and measures used in trade, and tradesmen +are not allowed to use weights and measures that have not been thus +officially examined and sealed. Measurers and sealers may be appointed +by the selectmen. + +Such are the officers always to be found in the Massachusetts town, +except where the duties of some of them are discharged by the +selectmen. Of these officers, the selectmen, town-clerk, treasurer, +constable, school committee, and assessors must be elected by ballot +at the annual town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: Calling the town-meeting.] +When this meeting is to be called the selectmen issue a warrant for +the purpose, specifying the time and place of meeting and the nature +of the business to be transacted. The constable posts copies of the +warrant in divers conspicuous places not less than a week before the +time appointed. Then, after making a note upon the warrant that he has +duly served it, he hands it over to the town-clerk. On the appointed +day, when the people have assembled, the town-clerk calls the meeting +to order and reads the warrant. The meeting then proceeds to choose by +ballot its presiding officer, or "moderator," and business goes on +in accordance with parliamentary customs pretty generally recognized +among all people who speak English. + +[Sidenote: Town, country, and state taxes.] +At this meeting the amount of money to be raised by taxation for town +purposes is determined. But, as we shall see, every inhabitant of a +town lives not only under a town government, but also under a county +government and a state government, and all these governments have to +be supported by taxation. In Massachusetts the state and the county +make use of the machinery of the town government in order to assess +and collect their taxes. The total amounts to be raised are equitably +divided among the several towns and cities, so that each town pays its +proportionate share. Each year, therefore, the town assessors know +that a certain amount of money must be raised from the taxpayers of +their town,--partly for the town, partly for the county, partly for +the state,--and for the general convenience they usually assess it +upon the taxpayers all at once. The amounts raised for the state and +county are usually very much smaller than the amount raised for +the town. As these amounts are all raised in the town and by town +officers, we shall find it convenient to sum up in this place what we +have to say about the way in which taxes are raised. Bear in mind that +we are still considering the New England system, and our illustration +is taken from the practice in Massachusetts. But the general +principles of taxation are so similar in the different states that, +although we may now and then have to point to differences of detail, +we shall not need to go over the whole subject again. We have now to +observe how and upon whom the taxes are assessed. + +[Sidenote: Poll-tax.] +They are assessed partly upon persons, but chiefly upon property, and +property is divisible into real estate and personal estate. The tax +assessed upon persons is called the poll-tax, and cannot exceed the +sum of two dollars upon every male citizen over twenty years old. In +cases of extreme poverty the assessors may remit the poll-tax. + +[Sidenote: Real-estate taxes.] +As to real estate, there are in every town some lands and buildings +which, for reasons of public policy, are exempted from paying taxes; +as, for example, churches, graveyards, and tombs; many charitable +institutions, including universities and colleges; and public +buildings which belong to the state or to the United States. All lands +and buildings, except such as are exempt by law, must pay taxes. + +[Sidenote: Taxes on personal property.] +Personal property includes pretty much everything that one can own +except lands and buildings,--pretty much everything that can be moved +or carried about from one place to another. It thus includes ready +money, stocks and bonds, ships and wagons, furniture, pictures, and +books. It also includes the amount of debts due to a person in excess +of the amount that he owes; also the income from his employment, +whether in the shape of profits from business or a fixed salary. + +Some personal property is exempted from taxation; as, for example, +household furniture to the amount of $1,000 in value, and income +from employment to the extent of $2,000. The obvious intent of this +exemption is to prevent taxation from bearing too hard upon persons +of small means; and for a similar reason the tools of farmers and +mechanics are exempted.[2] + +[Footnote 2: United States bonds are also especially exempted from +taxation.] + +[Sidenote: When and where taxes are assessed.] +The date at which property is annually reckoned for assessment is in +Massachusetts the first day of May. The poll-tax is assessed upon each +person in the town or city where he has his legal habitation on that +day; and as a general rule the taxes upon his personal property are +assessed to him in the same place. But taxes upon lands or buildings +are assessed in the city or town where they are situated, and to the +person, wherever he lives, who is the owner of them on the first day +of May. Thus a man who lives in the Berkshire mountains, say for +example in the town of Lanesborough, will pay his poll-tax to that +town. For his personal property, whether it he bonds of a railroad in +Colorado, or shares in a bank in New York, or costly pictures in his +house at Lanesborough, he will likewise pay taxes to Lanesborough. So +for the house in which he lives, and the land upon which it stands, he +pays taxes to that same town. But if he owns at the same time a house +in Boston, he pays taxes for it to Boston, and if he owns a block of +shops in Chicago he pays taxes for the same to Chicago. It is very apt +to be the case that the rate of taxation is higher in large cities +than in villages; and accordingly it often happens that wealthy +inhabitants of cities, who own houses in some country town, move into +them before the first of May, and otherwise comport themselves as +legal residents of the country town, in order that their personal +property may be assessed there rather than in the city. + + +[Sidenote: Tax lists.] +About the first of May the assessors call upon the inhabitants of +their town to render a true statement as to their property. The most +approved form is for the assessors to send by mail to each taxable +inhabitant a printed list of questions, with blank spaces which he is +to fill with written answers. The questions relate to every kind +of property, and when the person addressed returns the list to the +assessors he must make oath that to the best of his knowledge and +belief his answers are true. He thus becomes liable to the penalties +for perjury if he can be proved to have sworn falsely. A reasonable +time--usually six or eight weeks--is allowed for the list to be +returned to the assessors. If any one fails to return his list by the +specified time, the assessors must make their own estimate of the +probable amount of his property. If their estimate is too high, he may +petition the assessors to have the error corrected, but in many cases +it may prove troublesome to effect this. + +[Sidenote: Cheating the government.] +Observe here an important difference between the imposition of taxes +upon real estate and upon personal property. Houses and lands cannot +run away or be tucked out of sight. Their value, too, is something +of which the assessors can very likely judge as well as the owner. +Deception is therefore extremely difficult, and taxation for real +estate is pretty fairly distributed among the different owners. With +regard to personal estate it is very different. It is comparatively +easy to conceal one's ownership of some kinds of personal property, or +to understate one's income. Hence the temptation to lessen the burden +of the tax bill by making false statements is considerable, and +doubtless a good deal of deception is practised. There are many people +who are too honest to cheat individuals, but still consider it a +venial sin to cheat the government. + +[Sidenote: The rate of taxation.] +After the assessors have obtained all their returns they can calculate +the total value of the taxable property in the town; and knowing the +amount of the tax to be raised, it is easy to calculate the rate at +which the tax is to be assessed. In most parts of the United States a +rate of one and a half per cent, or $15 tax on each $1,000 worth of +property, would be regarded as moderate; three per cent would be +regarded as excessively high. At the lower of these rates a man worth +$50,000 would pay $750 for his yearly taxes. The annual income of +$50,000, invested on good security, is hardly more than $2,500. +Obviously $750 is a large sum to subtract from such an income. + +[Sidenote: Undervaluation.] +[Sidenote: The burden of taxation.] +In point of fact, however, the tax is seldom quite as heavy as +this. It is not easy to tell exactly how much a man is worth, and +accordingly assessors, not wishing to be too disagreeable in the +discharge of their duties, have naturally fallen into a way of giving +the lower valuation the benefit of the doubt, until in many places a +custom has grown up of regularly undervaluing property for purposes of +taxation. Very much as liquid measures have gradually shrunk until +it takes five quart bottles to hold a gallon, so there has been a +shrinkage of valuations until it has become common to tax a man for +only three fourths or perhaps two thirds of what his property is +worth in the market. This makes the rate higher, to be sure, but +the individual taxpayer nevertheless seems to feel relieved by it. +Allowing for this undervaluation, we may say that a man worth $50,000 +commonly pays not less than $500 for his yearly taxes, or about one +fifth of the annual income of the property. We thus begin to see what +a heavy burden taxes are, and how essential to good government it is +that citizens should know what their money goes for, and should be +able to exert some effective control over the public expenditures. +Where the rate of taxation in a town rises to a very high point, such +as two and a half or three per cent, the prosperity of the town is apt +to be seriously crippled. Traders and manufacturers move away to other +towns, or those who would otherwise come to the town in question stay +away, because they cannot afford to use up all their profits in paying +taxes. If such a state of things is long kept up, the spirit of +enterprise is weakened, the place shows signs of untidiness and want +of thrift, and neighbouring towns, once perhaps far behind it in +growth, by and by shoot ahead of it and take away its business. + +[Sidenote: The "magic fund" delusion.] +Within its proper sphere, government by town-meeting is the form of +government most effectively under watch and control. Everything is +done in the full daylight of publicity. The specific objects for which +public money is to be appropriated are discussed in the presence of +everybody, and any one who disapproves of any of these objects, or of +the way in which it is proposed to obtain it, has an opportunity to +declare his opinions. Under this form of government people are not +so liable to bewildering delusions as under other forms. I refer +especially to the delusion that "the Government" is a sort of +mysterious power, possessed of a magic inexhaustible fund of wealth, +and able to do all manner of things for the benefit of "the People." +Some such notion as this, more often implied than expressed, is very +common, and it is inexpressibly dear to demagogues. It is the prolific +root from which springs that luxuriant crop of humbug upon which +political tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn. In point of +fact no such government, armed with a magic fund of its own, has ever +existed upon the earth. No government has ever yet used any money +for public purposes which it did not first take from its own +people,--unless when it may have plundered it from some other people +in victorious warfare. + +The inhabitant of a New England town is perpetually reminded that "the +Government" is "the People." Although he may think loosely about +the government of his state or the still more remote government at +Washington, he is kept pretty close to the facts where local affairs +are concerned, and in this there is a political training of no small +value. + +[Sidenote: Educational value of the town-meeting.] +In the kind of discussion which it provokes, in the necessity of facing +argument with argument and of keeping one's temper under control, the +town-meeting is the best political training school in existence. Its +educational value is far higher than that of the newspaper, which, in +spite of its many merits as a diffuser of information, is very apt to do +its best to bemuddle and sophisticate plain facts. The period when +town-meetings ware most important from the wide scope of their +transactions was the period of earnest and sometimes stormy discussion +that ushered in our Revolutionary war. Country towns were then of more +importance relatively than now; one country town--Boston--was at the +same time a great political centre; and its meetings were presided over +and addressed by men of commanding ability, among whom Samuel Adams, +"the man of the town-meeting," was foremost[3]. In those days +great principles of government were discussed with a wealth of knowledge +and stated with masterly skill in town-meeting. + +[Footnote 3: The phrase is Professor Hosmer's: see his _Samuel Adams, the +Man of the Town Meeting_, in "Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies," vol. II. no. +iv.; also his _Samuel Adams_, in "American Statesmen" series; Boston, +1885.] + +[Sidenote: By-laws.] +The town-meeting is to a very limited extent a legislative body; it can +make sundry regulations for the management of its local affairs. Such +regulations are known by a very ancient name, "by-laws." _By_ is an Old +Norse word meaning "town," and it appears in the names of such towns as +_Derby_ and _Whitby_ in the part of England overrun by the Danes in the +ninth and tenth centuries. By-laws are town laws[4]. + +[Footnote 4: In modern usage the roles and regulations of clubs, learned +societies, and other associations, are also called by-laws.] + +[Sidenote: Power and responsibility.] +In the selectmen and various special officers the town has an +executive department; and here let us observe that, while these +officials are kept strictly accountable to the people, they are +entrusted with very considerable authority. Things are not so arranged +that an officer can plead that he has failed in his duty from lack of +power. There is ample power, joined with complete responsibility. This +is especially to be noticed in the case of the selectmen. They must +often be called upon to exercise a wide discretion in what they do, +yet this excites no serious popular distrust or jealousy. The annual +election affords an easy means of dropping an unsatisfactory officer. +But in practice nothing has been more common than for the same persons +to be reelected as selectmen or constables or town-clerks for year +after year, as long as they are able or willing to serve. The notion +that there is anything peculiarly American or democratic in what +is known as "rotation in office" is therefore not sustained by the +practice of the New England town, which is the most complete democracy +in the world. It is the most perfect exhibition of what President +Lincoln called "government of the people by the people and for the +people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What reason exists for beginning the study of government with that of +the New England township? + +2. Give the origin of the township in New England according to the +following analysis:-- + + a. Settlement in groups. + b. The chief reason for coming to New England. + c. The leaders of the groups. + d. The favouring action of the Massachusetts government. + e. Small farms. + f. Defence against the Indians. + g. The limits of a township. + h. The village within the township. + +3. What was the social standing of the first settlers? + +4. What training had they received in self-government? + +5. Who do the governing in a New England township? + +6. Give an account of the town-meeting in accordance with the following +analysis:-- + + a. The name of the meeting. + b. The time for holding it. + c. The place for holding it. + d. The persons who take part in it. + e. The sort of business done in it. + +7. Give an account of the selectmen:-- + + a. Their number. + b. The reason for an odd number. + c. Their duties. + +8. When public schools were established by Massachusetts in 1647, what +reasons were assigned for the law? + + +9. What classes or grades of schools were then established? + +10. What are the duties of the Massachusetts school committee? + +11. What is the term of service of teachers in that state? + +12. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. Field-drivers. + b. Pound-keepers. + c. Fence-viewers. + d. Surveyors of lumber. + e. Measurers of wood. + f. Sealers of weights and measures. + +13. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. The town-clerk. + b. The treasurer. + c. Constables. + d. Assessors. + e. Overseers of the poor. + +14. Describe a warrant for a town-meeting. + +15. For what other purposes than those of the town are taxes raised? + +16. Explain the following:-- + + a. The poll-tax. + b. The tax on personal property, + c. The tax on real estate. + +17. What kinds of real estate are exempted from taxation, and why? + +18. What kinds of personal property are exempted, and why? + +19. Where must the several kinds of taxes be assessed and paid? +Illustrate. + +20. If a person changes his residence from one town in the state to +another before May 1, what consequences about taxes might follow? + +21. How do the assessors ascertain the property for which one should be +taxed? + +22. What difficulties beset the taxation of personal property? + +23. Mention a common practice in assigning values to property. +What is the effect on the tax-rate? Illustrate. + +24. How do high taxes operate as a burden? + +25. Describe a delusion from which people who directly govern +themselves are practically free. + +26. What is the educational value of the town-meeting? + +27. What are by-laws? Explain the phrase. + +28. What of the power and responsibility of selectmen? + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in Greece and Rome.] +It was said above that government by town-meeting is in principle the +oldest form of government known in the world. The student of ancient +history is familiar with the _comitia_ of the Romans and the +_ecclesia_ of the Greeks. These were popular assemblies, held in +those soft climates in the open air, usually in the market-place,--the +Roman _forum_, the Greek _agora_. The government carried on +in them was a more or less qualified democracy. In the palmy days of +Athens it was a pure democracy. The assemblies which in the Athenian +market-place declared war against Syracuse, or condemned Socrates to +death, were quite like New England town-meetings, except that they +exercised greater powers because there was no state government above +them. + +[Sidenote: Clans.] +The principle of the town-meeting, however, is older than Athens or +Rome. Long before streets were built or fields fenced in, men wandered +about the earth hunting for food in family parties, somewhat as lions +do in South Africa. Such family groups were what we call _clans_, +and so far as is known they were the earliest form in which civil +society appeared on the earth. Among all wandering or partially +settled tribes the clan is to be found, and there are ample +opportunities for studying it among our Indians in North America. The +clan usually has a chief or head-man, useful mainly as a leader in +wartime; its civil government, crude and disorderly enough, is in +principle a pure democracy. + +[Sidenote: The _mark_ and the _tun_.] +When our ancestors first became acquainted with American Indians, the +most advanced tribes lived partly by hunting and fishing, but partly +also by raising Indian corn and pumpkins. They had begun to live in +wigwams grouped together in small villages and surrounded by strong rows +of palisades for defence. Now what these red men were doing our own +fair-haired ancestors in northern and central Europe had been doing some +twenty centuries earlier. The Scandinavians and Germans, when first +known in history, had made considerable progress in exchanging a +wandering for a settled mode of life. When the clan, instead of moving +from place to place, fixed upon some spot for a permanent residence, a +village grew up there, surrounded by a belt of waste land, or somewhat +later by a stockaded wall. The belt of land was called a _mark_, and the +wall was called a _tun_.[5] Afterwards the enclosed space came to be +known sometimes as the _mark_, sometimes as the _tun_ or _town_. In +England the latter name prevailed. The inhabitants of a mark or town +were a stationary clan. It was customary to call them by the clan name, +as for example "the Beorings" or "the Crossings;" then the town would be +called _Barrington_, "town of the Beorings," or _Cressingham_, +"home of the Cressings." Town names of this sort, with which the map of +England is thickly studded, point us back to a time when the town was +supposed to be the stationary home of a clan. + +[Footnote 1: Pronounced "toon."] + +[Sidenote: The Old English township.] +[Sidenote: The manor.] +The Old English town had its _tungemot_, or town-meeting, in +which "by-laws" were made and other important business transacted. +The principal officers were the "reeve" or head-man, the "beadle" or +messenger, and the "tithing-man" or petty constable. These officers +seem at first to have been elected by the people, but after a while, +as great lordships grew up, usurping jurisdiction over the land, the +lord's steward and bailiff came to supersede the reeve and beadle. +After the Norman Conquest the townships, thus brought under the sway +of great lords, came to be generally known by the French name of +manors or "dwelling places." Much might be said about this change, but +here it is enough for us to bear in mind that a manor was essentially +a township in which the chief executive officers were directly +responsible to the lord rather than to the people. It would be +wrong, however, to suppose that the manors entirely lost their +self-government. Even the ancient town-meeting survived in them, in a +fragmentary way, in several interesting assemblies, of which the most +interesting were the _court leet_, for the election of certain +officers and the trial of petty offences, and the _court baron_, +which was much like a town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: The parish.] +Still more of the old self-government would doubtless have survived +in the institutions of the manor if it had not been provided for in +another way. The _parish_ was older than the manor. After the +English had been converted to Christianity local churches were +gradually set up all over the country, and districts called parishes +were assigned for the ministrations of the priests. Now a parish +generally coincided in area with a township, or sometimes with a group +of two or three townships. In the old heathen times each town seems to +have had its sacred place or shrine consecrated to some local deity, +and it was a favourite policy with the Roman missionary priests to +purify the old shrine and turn it into a church. In this way the +township at the same time naturally became the parish. + +[Sidenote: Township, manor, and parish.] +[Sidenote: The vestry-meeting.] +As we find it in later times, both before and since the founding of +English colonies in North America, the township in England is likely +to be both a manor and a parish. For some purposes it is the one, for +some purposes it is the other. The townsfolk may be regarded as a +group of tenants of the lord's manor, or as a group of parishioners of +the local church. In the latter aspect the parish retained much of the +self-government of the ancient town. The business with which the lord +was entitled to meddle was strictly limited, and all other business +was transacted in the "vestry-meeting," which was practically the old +town-meeting under a new name. In the course of the thirteenth century +we find that the parish had acquired the right of taxing itself for +church purposes. Money needed for the church was supplied in the +form of "church-rates" voted by the ratepayers themselves in the +vestry-meeting, so called because it was originally held in a room of +the church in which vestments were kept. + +[Sidenote: Parish officers.] +The officers of the parish were the constable, the parish and vestry +clerks,[6] the beadle,[7] the "waywardens" or surveyors of highways, +the "haywards" or fence-viewers, the "common drivers," the collectors +of taxes, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century overseers of +the poor were added. There were also churchwardens, usually two for +each, parish. Their duties were primarily to take care of the church +property, assess the rates, and call the vestry-meetings. They also +acted as overseers of the poor, and thus in several ways remind one of +the selectmen of New England. The parish officers were all elected by +the ratepayers assembled in vestry-meeting, except the common driver +and hayward, who were elected by the same ratepayers assembled in +court leet. Besides electing parish officers and granting the rates, +the vestry-meeting could enact by-laws; and all ratepayers had an +equal voice in its deliberations. + +[Footnote 6: Of these two officers the vestry clerk is the counterpart +of the New England town-clerk.] + +[Footnote 7: Originally a messenger or crier, the beadle came to +assume some of the functions of the tithing-man or petty constable, +such as keeping order in church, punishing petty offenders, waiting on +the clergyman, etc. In New England towns there were formerly officers +called tithing-men, who kept order in church, arrested tipplers, +loafers, and Sabbath-breakers, etc.] + + +[Sidenote: The transition from England to New England.] +During the last two centuries the constitution of the English parish +has undergone some modifications which need not here concern us. The +Puritans who settled in New England had grown up under such parish +government as is here described, and they were used to hearing the +parish called, on some occasions and for some purposes, a township. If +we remember now that the earliest New England towns were founded +by church congregations, led by their pastors, we can see how town +government in New England originated. It was simply the English +parish government brought into a new country and adapted to the new +situation. Part of this new situation consisted in the fact that the +lords of the manor were left behind. There was no longer any occasion +to distinguish between the township as a manor and the township as a +parish; and so, as the three names had all lived on together, side by +side, in England, it was now the oldest and most generally descriptive +name, "township," that survived, and has come into use throughout a +great part of the United States. The townsfolk went on making by-laws, +voting supplies of public money, and electing their magistrates in +America, after the fashion with which they had for ages been familiar +in England. Some of their offices and customs were of hoary antiquity. +If age gives respectability, the office of constable may vie with that +of king; and if the annual town-meeting is usually held in the month +of March, it is because in days of old, long before Magna Charta was +thought of, the rules and regulations for the village husbandry were +discussed and adopted in time for the spring planting. + +[Sidenote: Building up states.] +To complete our sketch of the origin of the New England town, one +point should here be briefly mentioned in anticipation of what will +have to be said hereafter; but it is a point of so much importance +that we need not mind a little repetition in stating it. + + +[Sidenote: Representation.] +We have seen what a great part taxation plays in the business of +government, and we shall presently have to treat of county, state, and +federal governments, all of them wider in their sphere than the town +government. In the course of history, as nations have gradually been +built up, these wider governments have been apt to absorb or supplant +and crush the narrower governments, such as the parish or township; +and this process has too often been destructive to political freedom. +Such a result is, of course, disastrous to everybody; and if it were +unavoidable, it would be better that great national governments need +never be formed. But it is not unavoidable. There is one way of +escaping it, and that is to give the little government of the town +some real share in making up the great government of the state. That +is not an easy thing to do, as is shown by the fact that most peoples +have failed in the attempt. The people who speak the English language +have been the most successful, and the device by which they have +overcome the difficulty is REPRESENTATION. The town sends to the wider +government a delegation of persons who can _represent_ the town +and its people. They can speak for the town, and have a voice in the +framing of laws and imposition of taxes by the wider government. + +[Sidenote: Shire-motes.] +[Sidenote: Earl Simon's Parliament.] +In English townships there has been from time immemorial a system of +representation. Long before Alfred's time there were "shire-motes," or +what were afterwards called county meetings, and to these each town +sent its reeve and "four discreet men" as _representatives_. Thus +to a certain extent the wishes of the townsfolk could be brought to +bear upon county affairs. By and by this method was applied on a much +wider scale. It was applied to the whole kingdom, so that the people +of all its towns and parishes succeeded in securing a representation +of their interests in an elective national council or House of +Commons. This great work was accomplished in the thirteenth century by +Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and was completed by Edward +I. Simon's parliament, the first in which the Commons were fully +represented, was assembled in 1265; and the date of Edward's +parliament, which has been called the Model Parliament, was 1295. +These dates have as much interest for Americans as for Englishmen, +because they mark the first definite establishment of that grand +system of representative government which we are still carrying on +at our various state capitals and at Washington. For its humble +beginnings we have to look back to the "reeve and four" sent by the +ancient townships to the county meetings. + +[Sidenote: Township as unit of representation.] +The English township or parish was thus at an early period the "unit +of representation" in the government of the county. It was also a +district for the assessment and collection of the national taxes; in +each parish the assessment was made by a board of assessors chosen by +popular vote. These essential points reappear in the early history of +New England. The township was not only a self-governing body, but +it was the "unit of representation" in the colonial legislature, +or "General Court;" and the assessment of taxes, whether for town +purposes or for state purposes, was made by assessors elected by the +townsfolk. In its beginnings and fundamentals our political liberty +did not originate upon American soil, but was brought hither by +our forefathers the first settlers. They brought their political +institutions with them as naturally as they brought their language and +their social customs. + +[Sidenote: The Russian village community; not represented in the +national government.] +Observe now that the township is to be regarded in two lights. It must +be considered not only in itself, but as part of a greater whole. +We began by describing it as a self-governing body, but in order to +complete our sketch we were obliged to speak of it as a body which +has a share in the government of the state and the nation. The latter +aspect is as important as the former. If the people of a town had only +the power of managing their local affairs, without the power of taking +part in the management of national affairs, their political freedom +would be far from complete. In Russia, for example, the larger part of +the vast population is resident in village communities which have to a +considerable extent the power of managing their local affairs. Such +a village community is called a _mir_, and like the English +township it is lineally descended from the stationary clan. The people +of the Russian _mir_ hold meetings in which they elect sundry +local officers, distribute the burden of local taxation, make +regulations concerning local husbandry and police, and transact other +business which need not here concern us. But they have no share in the +national government, and are obliged to obey laws which they have +no voice in making, and pay taxes assessed upon them without their +consent; and accordingly we say with truth that the Russian people do +not possess political freedom. One reason for this has doubtless +been that in times past the Russian territory was the great frontier +battle-ground between civilized Europe and the wild hordes of western +Asia, and the people who lived for ages on that turbulent frontier +were subjected to altogether too much conquest. They have tasted too +little of civil government and too much of military government,--a +pennyworth of wholesome bread to an intolerable deal of sack. The +early English, in their snug little corner of the world, belted by +salt sea, were able to develop their civil government with less +destructive interference. They made a sound and healthful beginning +when they made the township the "unit of representation" for the +county. Then the township, besides managing its own affairs, began to +take part in the management of wider affairs. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Obtain the following documents:-- + + a. A town warrant. + b. A town report. + c. A tax bill, a permit, a certificate, or any town paper that + has or may have an official signature. + d. A report of the school committee. + +If you live in a city, send to the clerk of a neighbouring town for a +warrant, inclosing a stamp for the reply. City documents will answer +most of the purposes of this exercise. + +Make any of the foregoing documents the basis of a report. + +2. Give an account of the following:-- + + a. The various kinds of taxes raised in your town, the amount of each + kind, the valuation, the rate, the proposed use of the money, etc. + b. The work of any department of the town government for a year, as, for + example, that of the overseers of the poor. + c. Any pressing need of your town, public sentiment towards it, the + probable cost of satisfying it, the obstacles in the way of meeting + it, etc. + +3. A good way to arouse interest in the subject of town government is to +organize the class as a town-meeting, and let it discuss live local +questions in accordance with articles in a warrant. For helpful details +attend a town-meeting, read the record of some meeting, consult some +person familiar with town proceedings, or study the General Statutes. + +To insure a discussion, it may be necessary at the outset for the +teacher to assign to the several pupils single points to be expanded and +presented in order. + +There is an advantage in the teacher's serving as moderator. He may, as +teacher, pause to give such directions and explanations as may be +helpful to young citizens. + +The pupils should be held up to the more obvious requirements of +parliamentary law, and shown how to use its rules to accomplish various +purposes. + +4. Has the state a right to direct the education of its youth? If the +state has such a right, are there any limits to the exercise of it? Does +the right to direct the education of its youth carry with it the right +to abolish private schools? + +5. Is it wise to assist private educational institutions with public +funds? + +6. Ought teachers, if approved, to be appointed for one year only, or +during good behaviour? + +7. What classes of officers in a town should serve during good +behaviour? What classes may be frequently changed without injury to the +public? + +8. Compare the school committee in your own state (if it is not +Massachusetts) with that in Massachusetts. + +9. Illustrate from personal knowledge the difference between +real estate and personal property. + +10. A loans B $1000. May A be taxed for the $1000? Why? May B be taxed +for the $1000? Why? Is it right to tax both for $1000? Suppose B with +the money buys goods of C. Is it right to tax the three for $1000 each? + +11. A taxpayer worth $100,000 in personal property makes no return to +the assessors. In their ignorance the assessors tax him for $50,000 +only, and the tax is paid without question. Does the taxpayer act +honourably? + +12. What difficulties beset the work of the assessors? + +13. Would anything be gained by exempting personal property from +taxation? If so, what? Would anything be lost? If so, what? + +14. Does any one absolutely escape taxation? + +15. Does the poll-tax payer pay, in any sense, more than his poll-tax? + +16. Are there any taxes that people pay without seeming to know it? If +so, what? (See below, chap. viii. section 8.). + +17. Have we clans to-day among ourselves? (Think of family reunions, +people of the same name in a community, descendants of early settlers, +etc.). What important differences exist between these modern so-called +clans and the ancient ones? + +18. What is a "clannish" spirit? Is it a good spirit or a bad +one? Is it ever the same as patriotism? + +19. Look up the meaning of _ham_, _wick_, and _stead_. Think of towns +whose names contain these words; also of towns whose names contain the +word _tun_ or _ton_ or _town_. + +20. Give an account of the tithing-man in early New England. + +21. In what sense is the word "parish" commonly used in the United +States? Is the parish the same as the church? Has it any limits of +territory? + +22. In Massachusetts, clergymen were formerly paid out of the taxes of +the township. How did this come about? In this practice was there a +union or a separation of church and state? + +23. Ministers are not now supported by taxation in the United States. +What important change in the parish idea does this fact indicate? Is it +a change for the better? + +24. Are women who do not vote represented in town government? + +25. Are boys and girls represented in town government? + +26. Is there anybody in a town who is not represented in its government? + +27. How are citizens of a town represented in state government? + +28. How are citizens of a town represented in the national government? + +29. Imagine a situation in which the ballot of a single voter in +a town might affect the action of the national government. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. There is a good account in +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_. N. +T. & Chicago, 1875. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. Here the _Johns Hopkins University +Studies in Historical and Political Science_, edited by Dr. Herbert +Adams, are of great value. Note especially series I, no. i, E. A. +Freeman, _Introduction to American Institutional History_; I., ii. iv. +viii. ix.-x. H. B. Adams, _The Germanic Origin of New England Towns, +Saxon Tithing-Men in America, Norman Constables in America, Village +Communities of Cape Ann and Salem_; II., x. Edward Channing, _Town and +County Government in the English Colonies of North America_; IV., +xi.-xii. Melville Egleston, _The Land System of the New England +Colonies_; VII., vii.-ix. C. M. Andrews, _The River Towns of +Connecticut_. + +See also Howard's _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. "Township, Hundred, and Shire," Baltimore, 1889, a +work of extraordinary merit. + +The great book on local self-government in England is Toulmin Smith's +_The Parish_, 2d ed., London, 1859. For the ancient history of the +township, see Gomme's _Primitive Folk-Moots_, London, 1880; Gomme's +_Village Community_, London, 1890; Seebohm's _English Village +Community_, London, 1883; Nasse's _Agricultural Community of the Middle +Ages_, London, 1872; Laveleye's _Primitive Property_, London, 1878; +Phear's _Aryan Village in India and Ceylon_, London, 1880; Hearn (of the +University of Melbourne, Australia), _The Aryan Household_, London & +Melbourne, 1879; and the following works of Sir Henry Maine: _Ancient +Law_, London, 1861; _Village Communities in the East and West_, London, +1871; _Early History of Institutions_, London, 1875; _Early Law and +Custom_, London, 1883. All of Maine's works are republished in New York. +See also my _American Political Ideas_, N. Y., 1885. + +Gomme's _Literature of Local Institutions_, London, 1886, +contains an extensive bibliography of the subject, with valuable +critical notes and comments. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings._ + +It is now time for us to treat of the county, and we may as well begin +by considering its origin. In treating of the township we began by +sketching it in its fullest development, as seen in New England. With. +the county we shall find it helpful to pursue a different method and +start at the beginning. + +If we look at the maps of the states which make up our Union, we see +that they are all divided into counties (except that in Louisiana the +corresponding divisions are named parishes). The map of England shows +that country as similarly divided into counties. + +[Sidenote: Why do we have counties?] +If we ask why this is so, some people will tell us that it is +convenient, for purposes of administration, to have a state, or a +kingdom, divided into areas that are larger than single towns. There +is much truth in this. It is convenient. If it were not so, counties +would not have survived, so as to make a part of our modern maps. +Nevertheless, this is not the historic reason why we have the +particular kind of subdivisions known as counties. We have them +because our fathers and grandfathers had them; and thus, if we would +find out the true reason, we may as well go back to the ancient times +when our forefathers were establishing themselves in England. + +[Sidenote: Clans and tribes.] +We have seen how the clan of our barbarous ancestors, when it became +stationary, was established as the town or township. But in those early +times _clans_ were generally united more or less closely into _tribes_. +Among all primitive or barbarous races of men, so far as we can make +out, society is organized in tribes, and each tribe is made up of a +number of clans or family groups. Now when our English forefathers +conquered Britain they settled there as clans and also as tribes. The +clans became townships, and the tribes became shires or counties; that +is to say, the names were applied first to the people and afterwards to +the land they occupied. A few of the oldest county names in England +still show this plainly. _Essex_, _Middlesex_, and _Sussex_ were +originally "East Saxons," "Middle Saxons," and "South Saxons;" and on +the eastern coast two tribes of Angles were distinguished as "North +folk" and "South folk," or _Norfolk_ and _Suffolk_. When you look on the +map and see the town of _Icklinghiam_ in the county of _Suffolk_, it +means that this place was once known as the "home" of the "Icklings" or +"children of Ickel," a clan which formed part of the tribe of "South +folk." + +[Sidenote: The English nation, like the American, grew out of the +union of small states.] +In those days there was no such thing as a Kingdom of England; there +were only these groups of tribes living side by side. Each tribe had its +leader, whose title was _ealdorman_ or "elder man." [1] After a while, as +some tribes increased in size and power, their ealdormen took the title +of kings. The little kingdoms coincided sometimes with a single shire, +sometimes with two or more shires. Thus there was a kingdom of Kent, and +the North and South Folk were combined in a kingdom of East Anglia. In +course of time numbers of shires combined into larger kingdoms, such as +Northumbria, Mercia, and the West Saxons; and finally the king of the +West Saxons became king of all England, and the several _shires_ became +subordinate parts or "shares" of the kingdom. In England, therefore, the +shires are older than the nation. The shires were not made by dividing +the nation, but the nation was made by uniting the shires. The English +nation, like the American, grew out of the union of little states that +had once been independent of one another, but had many interests in +common. For not less than three hundred years after all England had been +united under one king, these shires retained their self-government +almost as completely as the several states of the American Union.[2] A +few words about their government will not be wasted, for they will help +to throw light upon some things that still form a part of our political +and social life. + +[Footnote 1: The pronunciation, was probably something like yáwl-dor-man.] + + +[Footnote 2: Chalmers, _Local Government_, p. 90.] + +[Sidenote: Shire-mote, ealdorman, and sheriff.] +The shire was governed by the _shire-mote_ (i.e. "meeting"), +which was a representative body. Lords of lands, including abbots and +priors, attended it, as well as the reeve and four selected men +from each township. There were thus the germs of both the kind of +representation that is seen in the House of Lords and the much more +perfect kind that is seen in the House of Commons. After a while, +as cities and boroughs grew in importance, they sent representative +burghers to the shire-mote. There were two presiding officers; one was +the _ealdorman_, who was now appointed by the king; the other was +the _shire-reeve_ (i.e. "sheriff"), who was still elected by the +people and generally held office for life. + + + +[Sidenote: The county court.] +This shire-mote was both a legislative body and a court of justice. It +not only made laws for the shire, but it tried civil and criminal +causes. After the Norman Conquest some changes occurred. The shire now +began to be called by the French name "county," because of its analogy +to the small pieces of territory on the Continent that were governed by +"counts." [3] The shire-mote became known as the county court, but cases +coming before it were tried by the king's _justices in eyre_, or circuit +judges, who went about from county to county to preside over the +judicial work. The office of ealdorman became extinct. The sheriff was +no longer elected by the people for life, but appointed by the king for +the term of one year. This kept him strictly responsible to the king. It +was the sheriff's duty to see that the county's share of the national +taxes was duly collected and paid over to the national treasury. The +sheriff also summoned juries and enforced the judgments of the courts, +and if he met with resistance in so doing he was authorized to call out +a force of men, known as the _posse comitatus_ (i.e. power of the +county), and overcome all opposition. Another county officer was the +_coroner_, or crowner_,[4] so called because originally (in Alfred's +time) he was appointed by the king, and was especially the crown officer +in the county. Since the time of Edward I., however, coroners have been +elected by the people. Originally coroners held small courts of inquiry +upon cases of wreckage, destructive fires, or sudden death, but in +course of time their jurisdiction became confined to the last-named +class of cases. If a death occurred under circumstances in any way +mysterious or likely to awaken suspicion, it was the business of the +coroner, assisted by not less than twelve _jurors_ (i. e, "sworn men"), +to hold an _inquest_ for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death. +The coroner could compel the attendance of witnesses and order a medical +examination of the body, and if there were sufficient evidence to charge +any person with murder or manslaughter, the coroner could have such +person arrested and committed for trial. + +[Footnote 3: Originally _comites_, or "companions" of the king.] +[Footnote 4: This form of the word, sometimes supposed to be a vulgarism, +is as correct as the other. See Skeat, _Etym_. Dict., s.v.] + + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +[Sidenote: The Quarter sessions.] +[Sidenote: The lord-lieutenant.] +Another important county officer was the _justice of the peace_. +Originally six were appointed by the crown in each county, but in +later times any number might be appointed. The office was created by a +series of statutes in the reign of Edward III., in order to put a stop +to the brigandage which still flourished in England; it was a common +practice for robbers to seize persons and hold them for ransom.[5] By +the last of these statutes, in 1362, the justices of the peace in each +county were to hold a court four times in the year. The powers of this +court, which came to be known as the Quarter Sessions, were from time +to time increased by act of parliament, until it quite supplanted the +old county court. In modern times the Quarter Sessions has become +an administrative body quite as much as a court. The justices, who +receive no salary, hold office for life, or during good behaviour. +They appoint the chief constable of the county, who appoints the +police. They also take part in the supervision of highways and +bridges, asylums and prisons. Since the reign of Henry VIII., the +English county has had an officer known as the lord-lieutenant, who +was once leader of the county militia, but whose functions to-day are +those of keeper of the records and principal justice of the peace. + +[Footnote 5: Longman's _Life and Times of Edward III._, vol. i. +p. 301.] + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of Massachusetts counties.] +During the past five hundred years the English county has gradually +sunk from a self-governing community into an administrative district; +and in recent times its boundaries have been so crossed and +crisscrossed with those of other administrative areas, such as those +of school-boards, sanitary boards, etc., that very little of the old +county is left in recognizable shape. Most of this change has been +effected since the Tudor period. The first English settlers in America +were familiar with the county as a district for the administration of +justice, and they brought with them coroners, sheriffs, and quarter +sessions. In 1635 the General Court of Massachusetts appointed four +towns--Boston, Cambridge, Salem, and Ipswich--as places where courts +should be held quarterly. In 1643 the colony, which then included +as much of New Hampshire as was settled, was divided into four +"shires,"--Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk, the latter lying +then to the northward and including the New Hampshire towns. The +militia was then organized, perhaps without consciousness of the +analogy, after a very old English fashion; the militia of each town +formed a company, and the companies of the shire formed a regiment. +The county was organized from the beginning as a judicial district, +with its court-house, jail, and sheriff. After 1697 the court, held by +the justices of the peace, was called the Court of General Sessions. +It could try criminal causes not involving the penalty of death or +banishment, and civil causes in which the value at stake was less than +forty shillings. It also had control over highways going from town to +town; and it apportioned the county taxes among the several towns. + +The justices and sheriff were appointed by the governor, as in England +by the king. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why do we have counties in the United States? Contrast the popular +reason with the historic. + +2. What relation did the tribe hold to the clan among our ancestors? + +3. In time what did the clans and the tribes severally become? + +4. Show how old county names in England throw light on the + county development. + +5. Trace the growth of the English nation in accordance with + the following outline:-- + a. Each tribe and its leader, + b. A powerful tribe and its leader. + c. The relation of a little kingdom to the shire. + d. The final union under one king. + e. The relative ages of the shire and the nation. + +6. Give an account (1) of the shire-mote, (2) of the two kinds + of representation in it, (3) of its presiding officers, and + (4) of its two kinds of duties. + +7. Let the pupil make written analyses or outlines of the following + topics, to be used by him in presenting the topics + orally, or to be passed in to the teacher:-- + a. What changes took place in the government of the shire + after the Norman Conquest? + b. Trace the development of the coroner's office. + c. Give an account of the justices of the peace and the courts + held by them. + d. Show what applications the English settlers in Massachusetts made of + their knowledge of the English county. + + + + +Section 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts. + +The modern county system of Massachusetts may now be very briefly +described. The county, like the town, is a corporation; it can hold +property and sue or be sued. It builds the court-house and jail, and +keeps them in repair. The town in which these buildings are placed is +called, as in England, the shire town. + +[Sidenote: County commissioners.] +In each county there are three commissioners, elected by the people. +Their term of service is three years, and one goes out each year. +These commissioners represent the county in law-suits, as the +selectmen represent the town. They "apportion the county taxes among +the towns;" "lay out, alter, and discontinue highways within the +county;" "have charge of houses of correction;" and erect and keep in +repair the county buildings.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Martin's _Civil Government_, p. 197.] + +[Sidenote: County treasurer.] +The revenues of the county are derived partly from taxation and partly +from the payment of fines and costs in the courts. These revenues are +received and disbursed by the county treasurer, who is elected by the +people for a term of three years. + +[Sidenote: Courts.] +The Superior Court of the state holds at least two sessions annually +in each county, and tries civil and criminal causes. There is also +in each county a probate court with jurisdiction over all matters +relating to wills, administration of estates, and appointment of +guardians; it also acts as a court of insolvency. The custody of wills +and documents relating to the business of this court is in the hands +of an officer known as the register of probate, who is elected by the +people for a term of five years. + +[Sidenote: Shire town and court-house.] +To preserve the records of all land-titles and transfers of land +within the county, all deeds and mortgages are registered in an +office in the shire town, usually within or attached to the court The +register of deeds is an officer elected by the people for a term of +three years. In counties where there is much business there may be +more than one. + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor for a term of seven +years, and the appointment may be renewed. Their functions have been +greatly curtailed, and now amount to little more than administering +oaths, and in some cases issuing warrants and taking bail. They may join +persons in marriage, and, when specially commissioned as "trial +justices," have criminal jurisdiction over sundry petty offences. + + +[Sidenote: The Sheriff.] +The sheriff is elected by the people for a term of three years. He may +appoint deputies, for whom he is responsible, to assist him in his +work. He must attend all county courts, and the meetings of the county +commissioners whenever required. He must inflict, either personally +or by deputy, the sentence of the court, whether it be fine, +imprisonment, or death. He is responsible for the preservation of the +peace within the county, and to this end must pursue criminals and may +arrest disorderly persons. If he meets with resistance he may call out +the _posse comitatus_; if the resistance grows into insurrection +he may apply to the governor and obtain the aid of the state militia; +if the insurrection proves too formidable to be thus dealt with, the +governor may in his behalf apply to the president of the United States +for aid from the regular army. In this way the force that may be +drawn upon, if necessary, for the suppression of disorder in a single +locality, is practically unlimited and irresistible. + +We have now obtained a clear outline view of the township and county in +themselves and in their relation to one another, with an occasional +glimpse of their relation to the state; in so far, at least, as such a +view can be gained from a reference to the history of England and of +Massachusetts. We must next trace the development of local government in +other parts of the United States; and in doing so we can advance at +somewhat quicker pace, not because our subject becomes in any wise less +important or less interesting, but because we have already marked out +the ground and said things of general application which will not need to +be said over again. + + + QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + Give an account of the modern county in Massachusetts under + the following heads:-- + + 1. The county a corporation. + 2. The county commissioners and their duties. + 3. The county treasurer and his duties. + 4. The courts held in a county. + 5. The shire town and the court-house. + 6. The register of deeds and his duties. + 7. Justices of the peace and trial justices. + 8. The sheriff and his duties. + 9. The force at the sheriff's disposal to suppress disorder. + + + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County._ + +By common consent of historians, the two most distinctive and most +characteristic lines of development which English forms of government +have followed, in propagating themselves throughout the United States, +are the two lines that have led through New England on the one hand +and through Virginia on the other. We have seen what shape local +government assumed in New England; let us now observe what shape it +assumed in the Old Dominion. + +[Sidenote: Virginia sparsely settled.] +The first point to be noticed in the early settlement of Virginia is +that people did not live so near together as in New England. This was +because tobacco, cultivated on large estates, was a source of wealth. +Tobacco drew settlers to Virginia as in later days gold drew settlers +to California and sparsely Australia. They came not in organized +groups or congregations, but as a multitude of individuals. Land +was granted to individuals, and sometimes these grants were of +enormous extent. John Bolling, who died in 1757, left an estate of +40,000 acres, and this is not mentioned as an extraordinary amount of +land for one man to own.[7] From an early period it was customary +to keep these great estates together by entailing them, and this +continued until entails were abolished in 1776 through the influence +of Thomas Jefferson. + +[Footnote 7: Edward Channing, "Town and County Government," in +_Johns Hopkins University Studies_, vol. ii. p. 467.] + +[Sidenote: Absence of towns.] +A glance at the map of Virginia shows to what a remarkable degree it +is intersected by navigable rivers. This fact made it possible for +plantations, even at a long distance from the coast, to have each its +own private wharf, where a ship from England could unload its cargo of +tools, cloth, or furniture, and receive a cargo of tobacco in return. +As the planters were thus supplied with most of the necessaries of +life, there was no occasion for the kind of trade that builds up +towns. Even in comparatively recent times the development of town life +in Virginia has been very slow. In 1880, out of 246 cities and towns +in the United States with a population exceeding 10,000, there were +only six in Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Slavery] +The cultivation of tobacco upon large estates caused a great demand for +cheap labour, and this was supplied partly by bringing negro slaves from +Africa, partly by bringing criminals from English jails. The latter were +sold into slavery for a limited term of years, and were known as +"indentured white servants." So great was the demand for labour that it +became customary to kidnap poor friendless wretches on the streets of +seaport towns in England and ship them off to Virginia to be sold into +servitude. At first these white servants were more numerous than the +negroes, but before the end of the seventeenth century the blacks had +come to be much the more numerous. + +[Sidenote: Social position of settlers.] +In this rural community the owners of plantations came from the same +classes of society as the settlers of New England; they were for the +most part country squires and yeomen. But while in New England there +was no lower class or society sharply marked off from the upper, on +the other hand in Virginia there was an insurmountable distinction +between the owners of plantations and the so-called "mean whites" or +"white trash." This class was originally formed of men and women +who had been indentured white servants, and was increased by such +shiftless people as now and then found their way to the colony, but +could not win estates or obtain social recognition. With such a +sharp division between classes, an aristocratic type of society was +developed in Virginia as naturally as a democratic type was developed +in New England. + +[Sidenote: Virginia parishes.] +[Sidenote: The vestry of a close corporation.] +In Virginia there were no town-meetings. The distances between +plantations cooperated with the distinction between classes to prevent +the growth of such an institution. The English parish, with its +churchwardens and vestry and clerk, was reproduced in Virginia under +the same name, but with some noteworthy peculiarities. If the whole +body of ratepayers had assembled in vestry meeting, to enact by-laws +and assess taxes, the course of development would have been like that +of the New England town-meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which +exercised the chief authority in the parish, was composed of twelve +chosen men. This was not government by a primary assembly, it was +representative government. At first the twelve vestrymen were elected +by the people of the parish, and thus resembled the selectmen of +New England; but after a while "they obtained the power of filling +vacancies in their own number," so that they became what is called a +"close corporation," and the people had nothing to do with choosing +them. Strictly speaking, that was not representative government; it +was a step on the road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic +government. + +[Sidenote: Powers of the vestry.] +It was the vestry, thus constituted, that apportioned the parish +taxes, appointed the churchwardens, presented the minister for +induction into office, and acted as overseers of the poor. The +minister presided in all vestry meetings. His salary was paid in +tobacco, and in 1696 it was fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco +yearly. In many parishes the churchwardens were the collectors of the +parish taxes. The other officers, such as the sexton and the parish +clerk, were appointed either by the minister or by the vestry. + +With the local government thus administered, we see that the larger +part of the people had little directly to do. Nevertheless in these +small neighbourhoods government was in full sight of the people. Its +proceedings went on in broad daylight and were sustained by public +sentiment. As Jefferson said, "The vestrymen are usually the most +discreet farmers, so distributed through the parish that every part of +it may be under the immediate eye of some one of them. They are well +acquainted with the details and economy of private life, and they +find sufficient inducements to execute their charge well, in their +philanthropy, in the approbation of their neighbours, and the +distinction which that gives them." [8] + +[Footnote 8: See Howard, _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. p. 122.] + +[Sidenote: The county was the unit of representation.] +The difference, however, between the New England township and the +Virginia parish, in respect of self-government, was striking enough. +We have now to note a further difference. In New England, as we have +seen, the township was the unit of representation in the colonial +legislature; but in Virginia the parish was not the unit of +representation. The county was that unit. In the colonial legislature +of Virginia the representatives sat not for parishes, but for +counties. The difference is very significant. As the political life of +New England was in a manner built up out of the political life of +the towns, so the political life of Virginia was built up out of the +political life of the counties. This was partly because the vast +plantations were not grouped about a compact village nucleus like the +small farms at the North, and partly because there was not in Virginia +that Puritan theory of the church according to which each congregation +is a self-governing democracy. The conditions which made the New +England town-meeting were absent. The only alternative was some kind +of representative government, and for this the county was a small +enough area. The county in Virginia was much smaller than in +Massachusetts or Connecticut. In a few instances the county consisted +of only a single parish; in some cases it was divided into two +parishes, but oftener into three or more. + +[Sidenote: The county court was virtually a close corporation.] +In Virginia, as in England and in New England, the county was an area +for the administration of justice. There were usually in each county +eight justices of the peace, and their court was the counterpart of +the Quarter Sessions in England. They were appointed by the governor, +but it was customary for them to nominate candidates for the governor +to appoint, so that practically the court filled its own vacancies and +was a close corporation, like the parish vestry. Such an arrangement +tended to keep the general supervision and control of things in the +hands of a few families. + +This county court usually met as often as once a month in some +convenient spot answering to the shire town of England or New England. +More often than not the place originally consisted of the court-house +and very little else, and was named accordingly from the name of the +county, as Hanover Court House or Fairfax Court House; and the small +shire towns that have grown up in such spots often retain these names +to the present day. Such names occur commonly in Virginia, West +Virginia, and South Carolina, very rarely in Kentucky, North Carolina, +Alabama, Ohio, and nowhere else in the United States.[9] Their number +has diminished from the tendency to omit the phrase "Court House," +leaving the name of the county for that of the shire town, as for +example in Culpeper, Va. In New England the process of naming has been +just the reverse; as in Hartford County, Conn., or Worcester County, +Mass., which have taken their names from the shire towns. In this, +as in so many cases, whole chapters of history are wrapped up in +geographical names.[10] + +[Footnote 9: In Mitchell's Atlas, 1883, the number of cases is in Va. +38, W. Va. 13, S. C. 16, N. C. 2, Ala. 1, Ky. 1, Ohio, 1.] + +[Footnote 10: A few of the oldest Virginia counties, organized as +such in 1634, had arisen from the spreading and thinning of single +settlements originally intended to be cities and named accordingly. +Hence the curious names (at first sight unintelligible) of "James City +County," and "Charles City County."] + +[Sidenote: Powers of the court] +The county court in Virginia had jurisdiction in criminal actions not +involving peril of life or limb, and in civil suits where the sum at +stake exceeded twenty-five shillings. Smaller suits could be tried +by a single justice. The court also had charge of the probate and +administration of wills. The court appointed its own clerk, who kept +the county records. It superintended the construction and repair of +bridges and highways, and for this purpose divided the county into +"precincts," and appointed annually for each precinct a highway +surveyor. The court also seems to have appointed constables, one for +each precinct. The justices could themselves act as coroners, but +annually two or more coroners for each parish were appointed by the +governor. As we have seen that the parish taxes--so much for salaries +of minister and clerk, so much for care of church buildings, so much +for relief of the poor, etc.--were computed and assessed by the +vestry; so the county taxes, for care of court-house and jail, roads +and bridges, coroner's fees, and allowances to the representatives +sent to the colonial legislature, were computed and assessed by the +county court. The general taxes for the colony were estimated by a +committee of the legislature, as well as the county's share of the +colony tax. + +[Sidenote: The sheriff.] +The taxes for the county, and sometimes the taxes for the parish also, +were collected by the sheriff. They were usually paid, not in money, +but in tobacco; and the sheriff was the custodian of this tobacco, +responsible for its proper disposal. The sheriff was thus not only +the officer for executing the judgments of the court, but he was also +county treasurer and collector, and thus exercised powers almost as +great as those of the sheriff in England in the twelfth century. He +also presided over elections for representatives to the legislature. +It is interesting to observe how this very important officer was +chosen. "Each year the court presented the names of three of its +members to the governor, who appointed one, generally the senior +justice, to be the sheriff of the county for the ensuing year." [11] +Here again we see this close corporation, the county court, keeping +the control of things within its own hands. + +[Footnote 11: Edward Channing, _op. cit_. p. 478.] + +[Sidenote: The county lieutenant] +One other important county officer needs to be mentioned. We have seen +that in early New England each town had its train-band or company of +militia, and that the companies in each county united to form the +county regiment. In Virginia it was just the other way. Each county +raised a certain number of troops, and because it was not convenient +for the men to go many miles from home in assembling for purposes of +drill, the county was subdivided into military districts, each with +its company, according to rules laid down by the governor. The +military command in each county was vested in the county lieutenant, +an officer answering in many respects to the lord lieutenant of +the English shire at that period. Usually he was a member of the +governor's council, and as such exercised sundry judicial functions. +He bore the honorary title of "colonel," and was to some extent +regarded as the governor's deputy; but in later times his duties were +confined entirely to military matters.[12] + +[Footnote 12: For an excellent account of local government in Virginia +before the Revolution, see Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of the U.S._, +vol. i. pp. 388-407; also Edward Ingle in _Johns Hopkins Univ. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii.] + +If now we sum up the contrasts between local government in Virginia +and that in New England, we observe:-- + +1. That in New England the management of local affairs was mostly in the +hands of town officers, the county being superadded for certain +purposes, chiefly judicial; while in Virginia the management was chiefly +in the hands of county officers, though certain functions, chiefly +ecclesiastical, were reserved to the parish. + +2. That in New England the local magistrates were almost always, with +the exception of justices, chosen by the people; while in Virginia, +though some of them were nominally appointed by the governor, yet in +practice they generally contrived to appoint themselves--in other +words the local boards practically filled their own vacancies and were +self-perpetuating. + +[Sidenote: Jefferson's opinion of township government.] +These differences are striking and profound. There can be no doubt +that, as Thomas Jefferson clearly saw, in the long run the interests +of political liberty are much safer under the New England system +than under the Virginia system. Jefferson said, "Those wards, +called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their +governments, and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever +devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government, +and for its preservation[13]....As Cato, then, concluded every speech +with the words _Carthago delenda est_, so do I every opinion with +the injunction: Divide the counties into wards!" [14] + +[Footnote 13: Jefferson's _Works_, vii. 13.] + +[Footnote 14: _Id_., vi. 544] + +[Sidenote: "Court Day."] +We must, however, avoid the mistake of making too much of this contrast. +As already hinted, in those rural societies where people generally knew +one another, its effects were not so far-reaching as they would be in +the more complicated society of to-day. Even though Virginia had not the +town-meeting, it had its familiar court-day, which was a holiday for +all the country-side, especially in the fall and spring. From all +directions came in the people on horseback, in wagons, and afoot. On the +court-house green assembled, in indiscriminate confusion, people of all +classes,--the hunter from the backwoods, the owner of a few acres, the +grand proprietor, and the grinning, heedless negro. Old debts were +settled, and new ones made; there were auctions, transfers of property, +and, if election times were near, stump-speaking.[15] + +[Sidenote: Virginia prolific in great leaders.] +For seventy years or more before the Declaration of Independence the +matters of general public concern, about which stump speeches were made +on Virginia court-days, were very similar to those that were discussed +in Massachusetts town-meetings when representatives were to be chosen +for the legislature. Such questions generally related to some real or +alleged encroachment upon popular liberties by the royal governor, who, +being appointed and sent from beyond sea, was apt to have ideas and +purposes of his own that conflicted with those of the people. This +perpetual antagonism to the governor, who represented British imperial +interference with American local self-government, was an excellent +schooling in political liberty, alike for Virginia and for +Massachusetts. When the stress of the Revolution came, these two leading +colonies cordially supported each other, and their political +characteristics were reflected in the kind of achievements for which +each was especially distinguished. The Virginia system, concentrating +the administration of local affairs in the hands of a few county +families, was eminently favourable for developing skilful and vigorous +leadership. And while in the history of Massachusetts during the +Revolution we are chiefly impressed with the wonderful degree in which +the mass of the people exhibited the kind of political training that +nothing in the world except the habit of parliamentary discussion can +impart; on the other hand, Virginia at that time gave us--in Washington, +Jefferson, Henry, Madison, and Marshall, to mention no others--such a +group of consummate leaders as the world has seldom seen equalled. + +[Footnote 15: Ingle, _loc. cit._] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why was Virginia more sparsely settled than Massachusetts? + +2. Why was it that towns were built up more slowly in Virginia than in +Massachusetts? + +3. How was the great demand for labour in Virginia met? + +4. What distinction of classes naturally arose? + +5. Contrast the type of society thus developed in Virginia with that + developed in New England. + +6. Compare the Virginia parish in its earlier government with the + English parish from which it was naturally copied. + +7. Show how the vestry became a close corporation. + +8. Who were usually chosen as vestrymen, and what were their powers? + +9. Compare Virginia's unit of representation in the colonial +legislature with that of Massachusetts, and give the reason for the +difference. + +10. Describe the county court, showing in particular how it became a +close corporation. + +11. Bring out some of the history wrapped up in the names of county +seats. + +12. What were the chief powers of the county court? + +13. Describe the assessment of the various taxes. + +14. What were the sheriff's duties? + +15. Describe the organization and command of the militia in each +county. + +16. Sum up the differences between local government in Virginia and +that in New England (1) as to the management of local affairs and (2) +as to the choice of local officers. + +17. What did Jefferson think of the principle of township government? + +18. What was the equivalent in Virginia of the New England +town-meeting? + +19. What was the value of this frequent assembling? + +20. What schooling in political liberty before the Revolution did +Virginia and Massachusetts alike have? + + +21. What was an impressive feature of the New England system? + +22. What was an impressive feature of the Virginia system? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How many counties are there in your state? + +2. Name and place them if the number is small. + +3. In what county do you live? + +4. Give its dimensions. Are they satisfactory? Why? + +5. Give its boundaries. + +6. Is there anything interesting in the meaning or origin of its name? + +7. How many towns and cities does it contain? + +8. What is the county seat? Is it conveniently situated? Reasons for +thinking so? + +9. If convenient, visit any county building, note the uses to which it +is put, and report such facts as may be thus found out. + +10. Obtain a deed, no matter how old, and answer these questions about +it:-- + + a. Is it recorded? If so, where? + b. Would it be easy for you to find + the record? + c. Why should such a record be kept? + d. What officer + has charge of such records? + e. What sort of work must he and his + assistants do? + f. The place of such records is called what? + g. What sort of facilities for the public should such a place have? What + safety precautions should be observed there? + h. Why should the county + keep such records rather than the city or the town? + i. Is there a record of the deed by which the preceding owner came into + possession of the property? + j. What sort of title did the first owner have? Is + there any record of it? Was the first owner Indian or European? + +(The teacher might obtain a deed and base a class exercise upon it. It +is easy with a deed for a text to lead pupils to see the common-sense +basis of an important county institution, and thereafter to give very +sensible views as to what it should be, even if it is not fully known +what it is.) + +11. Is there a local court for your town or city? 12. How do its cases +compare in magnitude with those tried at the county seat? + +13. If a man steals and is prosecuted, who becomes the plaintiff? + +14. If a man owes and is sued for debt, who becomes the plaintiff? + +15. What is a criminal action? + +16. What is a civil action? + +17. What is the result to the defendant in the former case, if he is +convicted? + + +18. What is the result to the defendant in the latter case, if the +decision is against him? + +19. Is lying a crime or a sin? May it ever become a crime? + +20. Are courts of any service to the vast numbers who are never +brought before them? Why? + + +21. May good citizens always keep out of the courts if they choose? Is +it their duty always to keep out of them? + +22. Is there any aversion among people that you know to being brought +before the courts? Why? + +23. What is the purpose of a jail? Is this purpose realized in fact? + +24. Should a disturbance of a serious nature break out in your town, +whose immediate duty would it be to quell it? Suppose this duty should +prove too difficult to perform, then what? + +25. What is the attitude of good citizenship towards officers who are +trying to enforce the laws? What is the attitude of good citizenship +if the laws are not satisfactory or if the officers are indiscreet in +enforcing them? + +26. Suppose a man of property dies and leaves a will, what troubles +are possible about the disposal of his property? Suppose he leaves no +will, what troubles are possible? Whose duty is it to exercise control +over such matters and hold people up to legal and honourable conduct +in them? + +27. What is an executor? What is an administrator? + +28. If parents die, whose duty is it to care for their children? If +property is left to such children, are they free to use it as they +please? What has the county to do with such cases? + +29. How much does your town or city contribute towards county +expenses? How does this amount compare with that raised by other towns +in the county? + +30. Give the organization of your county government. + +31. Would it be better for the towns to do themselves the work now +done for them by the county? + + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. This subject is treated in +connection with the township in several of the books above mentioned. +See especially Howard, _Local Const. Hist._ + +Section 2. THE MODERN COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS. There is a good account +in Martin's _Text Book_ above mentioned. + +Section 3. THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. The best account is in _J.H.U. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii. Edward Ingle, _Virginia Local Institutions._ + + +In dealing with the questions on page 69, both teachers and pupils +will find Dole's _Talks about Law_ (Boston, 1887) extremely +valuable and helpful. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems_. + +We have now completed our outline sketch of town and county government +as illustrated in New England on the one hand and in Virginia on the +other. There are some important points in the early history of local +government in other portions of the original thirteen states, to +which we must next call attention; and then we shall be prepared to +understand the manner in which our great western country has been +organized under civil government. We must first say something about +South Carolina and Maryland. + +[Sidenote: Parishes in South Carolina.] +South Carolina was settled from half a century to a century later +than Massachusetts and Virginia, and by two distinct streams of +immigration. The lowlands near the coast were settled by Englishmen +and by French Huguenots, but the form of government was purely +English. There were parishes, as in Virginia, but popular election +played a greater part in them. The vestrymen were elected yearly by +all the taxpayers of the parish. The minister was also elected by his +people, and after 1719 each parish sent its representatives to the +colonial legislature, though in a few instances two parishes were +joined together for the purpose of choosing representatives. The +system was thus more democratic than in Virginia; and in this +connection it is worth while to observe that parochial libraries and +free schools were established as early as 1712, much earlier than in +Virginia. + +[Sidenote: The back country] +During the first half of the eighteenth century a very different stream +of immigration, coming mostly along the slope of the Alleghanies from +Virginia and Pennsylvania, and consisting in great part of Germans, +Scotch Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish, peopled the upland western regions +of South Carolina. For some time this territory had scarcely any civil +organization. It was a kind of "wild West." There were as yet no +counties in the colony. There was just one sheriff for the whole colony, +who "held his office by patent from the crown." [1] A court sat in +Charleston, but the arm of justice was hardly long enough to reach +offenders in the mountains. "To punish a horse-thief or prosecute a +debtor one was sometimes compelled to travel a distance of several +hundred miles, and be subjected to all the dangers and delays incident +to a wild country." When people cannot get justice in what in civilized +countries is the regular way, they will get it in some irregular way. So +these mountaineers began to form themselves into bands known as +"regulators," quite like the "vigilance committees" formed for the same +purposes in California a hundred years later. For thieves and murderers +the "regulators" provided a speedy trial, and the nearest tree served as +a gallows. + +[Footnote 1: B. J. Ramage, in _Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies_, I., xii.] + +[Sidenote: The district system.] +In order to put a stop to this lynch law, the legislature in 1768 +divided the back country into districts, each with its sheriff and +court-house, and the judges were sent on circuit through these +districts. The upland region with its districts was thus very +differently organized from the lowland region with its parishes, and the +effect was for a while almost like dividing South Carolina into two +states. At first the districts were not allowed to choose their own +sheriffs, but in course of time they acquired this privilege. It was +difficult to apportion the representation in the state legislature so as +to balance evenly the districts in the west against the parishes in the +east, and accordingly there was much dissatisfaction, especially in the +west which did not get its fair share. In 1786 the capital was moved +from Charleston to Columbia as a concession to the back country, and in +1808 a kind of compromise was effected, in such wise that the uplands +secured a permanent majority in the house of representatives, while the +lowlands retained control of the senate. The two sections had each its +separate state treasurer, and this kind of double government lasted +until the Civil War. + +[Sidenote: The modern South Carolina county.] +At the close of the war "the parishes were abolished and the district +system was extended to the low country." But soon afterward, by the +new constitution of 1868, the districts were abolished and the state +was divided into 34 counties, each of which sends one senator to the +state senate, while they send representatives in proportion to +their population. In each county the people elect three county +commissioners, a school commissioner, a sheriff, a judge of probate, +a clerk, and a coroner. In one respect the South Carolina county is +quite peculiar: it has no organization for judicial purposes. "The +counties, like their institutional predecessor the district, are +grouped into judicial circuits, and a judge is elected by the +legislature for each circuit. Trial justices are appointed by the +governor for a term of two years." + +[Sidenote: The counties are too large.] +This system, like the simple county system everywhere, is a +representative system; the people take no direct part in the +management of affairs. In one respect it seems obviously to need +amendment. In states where county government has grown up naturally, +after the Virginia fashion, the county is apt to be much smaller than +in states where it is simply a district embracing several township +governments. Thus the average size of a county in Massachusetts is 557 +square miles, and in Connecticut 594 square miles; but in Virginia +it is only 383 and in Kentucky 307 square miles. In South Carolina, +however, where the county did not grow up of itself, but has been +enacted, so to speak, by a kind of afterthought, it has been made too +large altogether. The average area of the county in South Carolina is +about 1,000 square miles. Charleston County, more than 40 miles in +length and not less than 35 in average width, is larger than the +state of Rhode Island. Such an area is much too extensive for +local self-government. Its different portions are too far apart to +understand each other's local wants, or to act efficiently toward +supplying them; and roads, bridges, and free schools suffer +accordingly. An unsuccessful attempt has been made to reduce the size +of the counties. But what seems perhaps more likely to happen is the +practical division of the counties into school districts, and the +gradual development of these school districts into something like +self-governing townships. To this very interesting point we shall +again have occasion to refer. + + +[Sidenote: The _hundred_ in Maryland.] +[Sidenote: Clans, brotherhoods, and tribes] +We come now to Maryland. The early history of local institutions in +this state is a fascinating subject of study. None of the American +colonies had a more distinctive character of its own, or reproduced +old English usages in a more curious fashion. There was much in +colonial Maryland, with its lords of the manor, its bailiffs and +seneschals, its courts baron and courts leet, to remind one of the +England of the thirteenth century. But of these ancient institutions, +long since extinct, there is but one that needs to be mentioned in the +present connection. In Maryland the earliest form of civil community +was called, not a parish or township, but a _hundred_. This +curious designation is often met with in English history, and the +institution which it describes, though now almost everywhere extinct, +was once almost universal among men. It will be remembered that the +oldest form of civil society, which is still to be found among some +barbarous races, was that in which families were organized into clans +and clans into tribes; and we saw that among our forefathers in +England the dwelling-place of the clan became the township, and the +home of the tribe became the shire or county. Now, in nearly all +primitive societies that have been studied, we find a group that is +larger than the clan but smaller than the tribe,--or, in other words, +intermediate between clan and tribe. Scholars usually call this group +by its Greek name, _phratry_ or "brotherhood", for it was known +long ago that in ancient Greece clans were grouped into brotherhoods +and brotherhoods into tribes. Among uncivilized people all over the +world we find this kind of grouping. For example, a tribe of North +American Indians is regularly made up of phratries, and the phratries +are made up of clans; and, strange as it might at first seem, a good +many half-understood features of early Greek and Roman society have +had much light thrown upon them from the study of the usages of +Cherokees and Mohawks. + +Wherever men have been placed, the problem of forming civil society +has been in its main outlines the same; and in its earlier stages it +has been approached in pretty much the same way by all. + +[Sidenote: The hundred court.] +The ancient Romans had the brotherhood, and called it a _curia_. +The Roman people were organized in clans, curies, and tribes. But for +military purposes the curia was called a _century_, because +it furnished a quota of one hundred men to the army. The word +_century_ originally meant a company of a hundred men, and it was +only by a figure of speech that it afterward came to mean a period +of a hundred years. Now among all Germanic peoples, including the +English, the brotherhood seems to have been called the hundred. +Our English forefathers seem to have been organized, like other +barbarians, in clans, brotherhoods, and tribes; and the brotherhood +was in some way connected with the furnishing a hundred warriors to +the host. In the tenth century we find England covered with small +districts known as hundreds. Several townships together made a +hundred, and several hundreds together made a shire. The hundred +was chiefly notable as the smallest area for the administration of +justice. The hundred court was a representative body, composed of the +lords of lands or their stewards, with the reeve and four selected men +and the parish priest from each township. There was a chief magistrate +for the hundred, known originally as the hundredman, but after the +Norman conquest as the high constable. + +[Sidenote: Decay of the hundred.] +[Sidenote: Hundred meetings in Maryland] +By the thirteenth century the importance of the hundred had much +diminished. The need for any such body, intermediate between township +and county, ceased to be felt, and the functions of the hundred were +gradually absorbed by the county. Almost everywhere in England, by the +reign of Elizabeth, the hundred had fallen into decay. It is curious +that its name and some of its peculiarities should have been brought +to America, and should in one state have remained to the present day. +Some of the early settlements in Virginia were called hundreds, but +they were practically nothing more than parishes, and the name soon +became obsolete, except upon the map, where we still see, for example, +Bermuda Hundred. But in Maryland the hundred flourished and became the +political unit, like the township in New England. The hundred was the +militia district, and the district for the assessment of taxes. In the +earliest times it was also the representative district; delegates +to the colonial legislature sat for hundreds. But in 1654 this was +changed, and representatives were elected by counties. The officers +of the Maryland hundred were the high constable, the commander of +militia, the tobacco-viewer, the overseer of roads, and the assessor +of taxes. The last-mentioned officer was elected by the people, the +others were all appointed by the governor. The hundred had also its +assembly of all the people, which was in many respects like the New +England town-meeting. These hundred-meetings enacted by-laws, levied +taxes, appointed committees, and often exhibited a vigorous political +life. But after the Revolution they fell into disuse, and in 1824 the +hundred became extinct in Maryland; its organization was swallowed up +in that of the county. + +[Sidenote: The hundred in Delaware] +[Sidenote: The levy court, or representative county assembly.] +In Delaware, however, the hundred remains to this day. There it +is simply an imperfectly developed township, but its relations with +the county, as they have stood with but little change since 1743, +are very interesting. Each hundred used to choose its own assessor +of taxes, and every year in the month of November the assessors from +all the hundreds used to meet in the county court-house, along with +three or more justices of the peace and eight grand jurors, and assess +the taxes for the ensuing year. A month later they assembled again, +to hear complaints from persons who considered themselves overtaxed; +and having disposed of this business, they proceeded to appoint +collectors, one for each hundred. This county assembly was known as +the "court of levy and appeal," or more briefly as the levy court. +It appointed the county treasurer, the road commissioners, and the +overseers of the poor. Since 1793 the levy court has been composed +of special commissioners chosen by popular vote, but its essential +character has not been altered. As a thoroughly representative body, +it reminds one of the county courts of the Plantagenet period. + +[Sidenote: The old Pennsylvania county.] +We next come to the great middle colonies, Pennsylvania and New York. +The most noteworthy feature of local government in Pennsylvania was +the general election of county officers by popular vote. The county +was the unit of representation in the colonial legislature, and on +election days the people of the county elected at the same time their +sheriffs, coroners, assessors, and county commissioners. In this +respect Pennsylvania furnished a model which has been followed by most +of the states since the Revolution, as regards the county governments. +It is also to be noted that before the Revolution, as Pennsylvania +increased in population, the townships began to participate in the +work of government, each township choosing its overseers of the poor, +highway surveyors, and inspectors of elections.[3] + +[Footnote 3: Town-meetings were not quite unknown in Pennsylvania; +see W. P. Holcomb, "Pennsylvania Boroughs," _J. H. U. Studies_, +IV., iv.] + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in New York.] +[Sidenote: The county board of supervisors.] +New York had from the very beginning the rudiments of an excellent +system of local self-government. The Dutch villages had their +assemblies, which under the English rule were developed into +town-meetings, though with less ample powers than those of New +England. The governing body of the New York town consisted of the +constable and eight overseers, who answered in most respects to the +selectmen of New England. Four of the overseers were elected each year +in town-meeting, and one of the retiring overseers was at the same +time elected constable. In course of time the elective offices came +to include assessors and collectors, town clerk, highway surveyors, +fence-viewers, pound-masters, and overseers of the poor. At first +the town-meetings seem to have been held only for the election of +officers, but they acquired to a limited extent the power of levying +taxes and enacting by-laws. In 1703 a law was passed requiring each +town to elect yearly an officer to be known as the "supervisor," whose +duty was "to compute, ascertain, examine, oversee, and allow the +contingent, publick, and necessary charges" of the county.[4] For +this purpose the supervisors met once a year at the county town. The +principle was the same as that of the levy court in Delaware. This +board of supervisors was a strictly representative government, and +formed a strong contrast to the close corporation by which county +affairs were administered in Virginia. The New York system is +of especial interest, because it has powerfully influenced the +development of local institutions throughout the Northwest. + +[Footnote 4: Howard, _Local Const. Hist_., i. 111.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the early local government of eastern South Carolina. + +2. Describe the early local government of western South Carolina. + +3. Explain the difference. + +4. What effort was made in 1768 to put a stop to lynch law? + +5. What difficulties arose from the attempted adjustment of +1768? + +6. What compromises were made between the two sections +down to the time of the Civil War? + +7. What changes have been made in local government since the +Civil War? + +8. Mention a peculiarity of the South Carolina county. + +9. Compare its size with that of counties in other states. + +10. What disadvantage is due to this great size? + +11. What was the earliest form of civil community in Maryland, +and from what source did it come? + +12. Trace the development of the hundred in accordance with +the following outline:-- + + a. Intermediate groups between clans and tribes. + b. Illustrations from Greece and the North American Indians. + c. The Roman century and the German hundred. + +13. Describe the English hundred in the tenth century. + +14. Describe the hundred court. + +15. Describe the Maryland hundred and its decay. + +16. What is the relation of the Delaware hundred to the county? + +17. Describe the Delaware levy court. + +18. What were the prominent features of the Pennsylvania +county? + +19. Compare the town-meetings of New York with those of New +England. + +20. What was the government of the New York county? + +21. How did this government compare with that of the Virginia county? + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +[Sidenote: Westward movement of population.] +The westward movement of population in the United States has for the +most part followed the parallels of latitude. Thus Virginians and +North Carolinians, crossing the Alleghanies, settled Kentucky and +Tennessee; thus people from New England filled up the central and +northern parts of New York, and passed on into Michigan and Wisconsin; +thus Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois received many settlers from New York +and Pennsylvania. In the early times when Kentucky was settled, the +pioneer would select a piece of land wherever he liked, and after +having a rude survey made, and the limits marked by "blazing" the +trees with a hatchet, the survey would be put on record in the state +land-office. So little care was taken that half a dozen patents would +sometimes be given for the same tract. Pieces of land, of all shapes +and sizes, lay between the patents.... Such a system naturally begat +no end of litigation, and there remain in Kentucky curious vestiges of +it to this day. [5] + +[Footnote 5: Hinsdale, _Old Northwest_, p. 261.] + +[Sidenote: Method of surveying the public lands.] +[Sidenote: Origins of Western townships.] +In order to avoid such confusion in the settlement of the territory +north of the Ohio river, Congress passed the land-ordinance of 1785, +which was based chiefly upon the suggestions of Thomas Jefferson, and +laid the foundation of our simple and excellent system for surveying +national lands. According to this system as gradually perfected, the +government surveyors first mark out a north and south line which is +called the _principal meridian_. Twenty-four such meridians have been +established. The first was the dividing line between Ohio and Indiana; +the last one runs through Oregon a little to the west of Portland. On +each side of the principal meridian there are marked off subordinate +meridians called _range [6] Then a true parallel of latitude is drawn, +crossing these meridians at right angles. It is called the _base line_, +or standard parallel. Eleven such base lines, for example, run across +the great state of Oregon. Finally, on each side of the base line are +drawn subordinate parallels called _township lines_, six miles apart, +and numbered north and south from their base line. By these range lines +and township lines the whole land is thus divided into townships just +six miles square, and the townships are all numbered. Take, for example, +the township of Deerfield in Michigan. That is the fourth township north +of the base line, and it is in the fifth range east of the first +principal meridian. It would be called township number 4 north range 5 +east, and was so called before it was settled and received a name. +Evidently one must go 24 miles from the principal meridian, or 18 miles +from the base line, in order to enter this township. It is all as simple +as the numbering of streets in Philadelphia.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The following is a diagram of the first principal meridian, +and of the base line running across southern Michigan. A B is the +principal meridian; C D is the base line. The figures on the base line +mark the range lines; the figures on the principal meridian mark the +township lines. E is township 4 north in range 5 east; F is township 5 +south in range 4 west; G is township 3 north in range 3 west. +[Illustration] As the intervals between meridians diminish as we go +northward, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a correction line, the +nature of which will be seen from the following diagram:-- +[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF CORRECTION LINE.]] + +[Footnote 7: In Philadelphia the streets for the most part cross each +other at right angles and at equal distances, so that the city is laid +out like a checkerboard. The parallel streets running in one direction +have names, often taken from trees. Market Street is the central +street from which the others are reckoned in both directions according +to the couplet + + "Market, Arch, Race, and Vine, + Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine," etc. + +The cross streets are not named but numbered, as First, Second, etc. +The houses on one side of the street have odd numbers and on the other +side even numbers, as is the general custom in the United States. With +each new block a new century of numbers begins, although there are +seldom more than forty real numbers in a block. For example, the +corner house on Market Street, just above Fifteenth, is 1501 Market +Street. At somewhere about 1535 or 1539 you come to Sixteenth Street; +then there is a break in the numbering, and the next corner house is +1601. So in going along a numbered street, say Fifteenth, from Market, +the first number will be 1; after passing Arch, 101; after passing +Race, 201, etc. With this system a very slight familiarity with the +city enables one to find his way to any house, and to estimate the +length of time needful for reaching it. St. Louis and some other large +cities have adopted the Philadelphia plan, the convenience of which +is as great as its monotony. In Washington the streets running in +one direction are lettered A, B, C, etc., and the cross streets are +numbered; and upon the checkerboard plan is superposed another plan in +which broad avenues radiate in various directions from the Capitol, +and a few other centres. These avenues cut through the square system +of streets in all directions, so that instead of the dull checkerboard +monotony there is an almost endless variety of magnificent vistas.] + +[Sidenote: and of Western counties.] +If now we look at Livingston County, in which, this township of Deerfield +is situated, we observe that the county is made up of sixteen townships, +in four rows of four; and the next county, Washtenaw, is made up of +twenty townships, in five rows of four. Maps of our Western states +are thus apt to have somewhat of a checkerboard aspect, not unlike +the wonderful country which Alice visited after she had gone through +the looking-glass. Square townships are apt to make square or +rectangular counties, and the state, too, is likely to acquire a more +symmetrical shape. + + +Nothing could be more unlike the jagged, irregular shape of counties +in Virginia or townships in Massachusetts, which grew up just as it +happened. The contrast is similar to that between Chicago, with its +straight streets crossing at right angles, and Boston, or London, with +their labyrinths of crooked lanes. For picturesqueness the advantage +is entirely with the irregular city, but for practical convenience it +is quite the other way. So with our western lands the simplicity and +regularity of the system have made it a marvel of convenience for the +settlers, and doubtless have had much to do with the rapidity with +which civil governments have been built up in the West. "This fact," +says a recent writer, "will be appreciated by those who know from +experience the ease and certainty with which the pioneer on the +great plains of Kansas, Nebraska, or Dakota is enabled to select his +homestead or 'locate his claim' unaided by the expensive skill of the +surveyor." [8] + +[Footnote 8: Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of U. S._, vol. i. p. +139.] + +[Sidenote: Some effects of the system.] +There was more in it than this, however. There was a germ of +organization planted in these western townships, which must be noted +as of great importance. Each township, being six miles in length and +six miles in breadth, was divided into thirty-six numbered sections, +each containing just one square mile, or 640 acres. Each section, +moreover, was divided into 16 tracts of 40 acres each, and sales to +settlers were and are generally made by tracts at the rate of a dollar +and a quarter per acre. For fifty dollars a man may buy forty acres of +unsettled land, provided he will actually go and settle upon it, and +this has proved to be a very effective inducement for enterprising +young men to "go West." Many a tract thus bought for fifty dollars has +turned out to be a soil upon which princely fortunes have grown. A +tract of forty acres represents to-day in Chicago or Minneapolis an +amount of wealth difficult for the imagination to grasp. + +[Sidenote: The reservation for public schools.] +[Sidenote: In this reservation there were the germs of township +government.] +But in each of these townships there was at least one section which +was set apart for a special purpose. This was usually the sixteenth +section, nearly in the centre of the township; and sometimes the +thirty-sixth section, in the southeast corner, was also reserved. +These reservations were for the support of public schools. Whatever +money was earned, by selling the land or otherwise, in these sections, +was to be devoted to school purposes. This was a most remarkable +provision. No other nation has ever made a gift for schools on so +magnificent a scale. We have good reason for taking pride in such a +liberal provision. But we ought not to forget that all national +gifts really involve taxation, and this is no exception to the rule, +although in this case it is not a taking of money, but a keeping of it +back. The national government says to the local government, whatever +revenues may come from that section of 640 acres, be they great or +small, be it a spot in a rural grazing district, or a spot in some +crowded city, are not to go into the pockets of individual men and +women, but are to be reserved for public purposes. This is a case of +disguised taxation, and may serve to remind us of what was said some +time ago, that a government _cannot_ give anything without in one +way or another depriving individuals of its equivalent. No man can sit +on a camp-stool and by any amount of tugging at that camp-stool lift +himself over a fence. Whatever is given comes from somewhere, +and whatever is given by governments comes from the people. This +reservation of one square mile in every township for purposes of +education has already most profoundly influenced the development of +local government in our western states, and in the near future its +effects are likely to become still deeper and wider. To mark out a +township on the map may mean very little, but when once you create in +that township some institution that needs to be cared for, you have +made a long stride toward inaugurating township government. When +a state, as for instance Illinois, grows up after the method just +described, what can be more natural than for it to make the township a +body corporate for school purposes, and to authorize its inhabitants +to elect school officers and tax themselves, so far as may be +necessary, for the support of the schools? But the school-house, +in the centre of the township, is soon found to be useful for many +purposes. It is convenient to go there to vote for state officers or +for congressmen and president, and so the school township becomes an +election district. Having once established such a centre, it is almost +inevitable that it should sooner or later be made to serve sundry +other purposes, and become an area for the election of constables, +justices of the peace, highway surveyors, and overseers of the poor. +In this way a vigorous township government tends to grow up about the +school-house as a nucleus, somewhat as in early New England it grew up +about the church. + +[Sidenote: At first the county system prevailed.] +This tendency may be observed in almost all the western states and +territories, even to the Pacific coast. When the western country was +first settled, representative county government prevailed almost +everywhere. This was partly because the earliest settlers of the West +came in much greater numbers from the middle and southern states than +from New England. It was also partly because, so long as the country +was thinly settled, the number of people in a township was very small, +and it was not easy to have a government smaller than that of the +county. It was something, however, that the little squares on the +map, by grouping which the counties were made, were already called +townships. There is much in a name. It was still more important that +these townships were only six miles square; for that made it sure +that, in due course of time, when population should have become dense +enough, they would be convenient areas for establishing township +government. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What feature is conspicuous in the westward movement of population +in the United States? + +2. What looseness characterized early surveys in Kentucky? + +3. What led to the passage of the land ordinance of 1785? + +4. Give the leading features of the government survey of western +lands:--_a_. The principal meridians. + b. The range lines, + c. The base lines. + d. The township lines. + +5. Illustrate the application of the system in the case of a town. + +6. Contrast in shape western townships and counties with corresponding +divisions in Massachusetts and Virginia. + +7. Contrast them in convenience and in picturesqueness. + +8. What had the convenience of the government system to do with the +settlement of the West? + +9. What were the divisions of the township, and what disposition was +made of them? + +10. What important reservations were made in the townships? + +11. Show how these reservations involved a kind of taxation. + +12. What profound influence has the reservation for schools exerted +upon local government? + +13. Why did the county system prevail at first? + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West_. + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting in Michigan.] The first western state to +adopt the town-meeting was Michigan, where the great majority of the +settlers had come from New England, or from central New York, which +was a kind of westward extension of New England.[9] Counties were +established in Michigan Territory in 1805, and townships were first +incorporated in 1825. This was twelve years before Michigan became a +state. At first the powers of the town-meeting were narrowly +limited. It elected the town and county officers, but its power of +appropriating money seems to have been restricted to the purpose +of extirpating noxious animals and weeds. In 1827, however, it was +authorized to raise money for the support of schools, and since then +its powers have steadily increased, until now they approach those of +the town-meeting in Massachusetts. + +[Footnote 9: "Of the 496 members of the Michigan Pioneer Association +in 1881, 407 are from these sections" [New England and New York]. +Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v] + +[Sidenote: Settlement of Illinois.] +The history of Illinois presents an extremely interesting example of +rivalry and conflict between the town system of New England and the +county system of the South. Observe that this great state is so long +that, while the parallel of latitude starting from its northern +boundary runs through Marblehead in Massachusetts, the parallel +through its southernmost point, at Cairo, runs a little south of +Petersburg in Virginia. In 1818, when Illinois framed its state +government and was admitted to the Union, its population was chiefly +in the southern half, and composed for the most part of pioneers from +Virginia and Virginia's daughter-state Kentucky. These men brought +with them the old Virginia county system, but with the very great +difference that the county officers were not appointed by the +governor, or allowed to be a self-perpetuating board, but were elected +by the people of the county. This was a true advance in the democratic +direction, but an essential defect of the southern system remained in +the absence of any kind of local meeting for the discussion of public +affairs and the enactment of local laws. + +[Sidenote: Effects of the Ordinance of 1787.] +By the famous Ordinance of 1787, to which we shall again have occasion +to refer, negro slavery had been forever prohibited to the north of +the Ohio river, so that, in spite of the wishes of her early settlers, +Illinois was obliged to enter the Union as a free state. But in 1820 +Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and this turned the stream of +southern migration aside from Illinois to Missouri. These emigrants, +to whom slaveholding was a mark of social distinction, preferred to +go where they could own slaves. About the same time settlers from New +England and New York, moving along the southern border of Michigan +and the northern borders of Ohio and Indiana, began pouring into +the northern part of Illinois. These new-comers did not find the +representative county system adequate for their needs, and they +demanded township government. A memorable political struggle ensued +between the northern and southern halves of the state, ending in 1848 +with the adoption of a new constitution. It was provided that the +legislature should enact a general law for the political organization +of townships, under which any county might act whenever a majority of +its voters should so determine.[10] This was introducing the principle +of local option, and in accordance therewith township governments with +town-meetings were at once introduced in the northern counties of the +state, while the southern counties kept on in the old way. Now comes +the most interesting part of the story. The two systems being thus +brought into immediate contact in the same state, with free choice +between them left to the people, the northern system has slowly but +steadily supplanted the southern system, until at the present day only +one fifth part of the counties in Illinois remain without township +government. + +[Footnote 10: Shaw, _Local Government if Illinois_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., iii.] + +[Sidenote: Intense vitality of the township system.] +This example shows the intense vitality of the township system. It is +the kind of government that people are sure to prefer when they +have tried it under favourable conditions. In the West the hostile +conditions against which it has to contend are either the recent +existence of negro slavery and the ingrained prejudice in favour of +the Virginia method, as in Missouri; or simply the sparseness of +population, as in Nebraska. Time will evidently remove the latter +obstacle, and probably the former also. It is very significant that in +Missouri, which began so lately as 1879 to erect township governments +under a local option law similar to that of Illinois, the process +has already extended over about one sixth part of the state; and in +Nebraska, where the same process began in 1883, it has covered nearly +one third of the organized counties of the state. + +[Sidenote: County option and township option.] +The principle of local option as to government has been carried still +farther in Minnesota and Dakota. The method just described may be +called county option; the question is decided by a majority vote of +the people of the county. But in Minnesota in 1878 it was enacted that +as soon as any one of the little square townships in that state should +contain as many as twenty-five legal voters, it might petition the +board of county commissioners and obtain a township organization, even +though, the adjacent townships in the same county should remain under +county government only. Five years later the same provision was +adopted by Dakota, and under it township government is steadily +spreading. + +[Sidenote: Grades of township government.] +Two distinct grades of township government are to be observed in the +states west of the Alleghanies; the one has the town-meeting for +deliberative purposes, the other has not. In Ohio and Indiana, which +derived their local institutions largely from Pennsylvania, there is +no such town-meeting, the administrative offices are more or less +concentrated in a board of trustees, and the town is quite subordinate +to the county. The principal features of this system have been +reproduced in Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. + +The other system, was that which we have seen beginning in +Michigan, under the influence of New York and New England. Here the +town-meeting, with legislative powers, is always present. The most +noticeable feature of the Michigan system is the relation between +township and county, which was taken from New York. The county board +is composed of the supervisors of the several townships, and thus +represents the townships. It is the same in Illinois. It is held +by some writers that this is the most perfect form of local +government,[11] but on the other hand the objection is made that county +boards thus constituted are too large.[12] We have seen that in the +states in question there are not less than 16, and sometimes more than +20, townships in each county. In a board of 16 or 20 members it is +hard to fasten responsibility upon anybody in particular; and thus +it becomes possible to have "combinations," and to indulge in that +exchange of favours known as "log-rolling," which is one of the +besetting sins of all large representative bodies. Responsibility +is more concentrated in the smaller county boards of Massachusetts, +Wisconsin, and Minnesota. + +[Footnote 11: Howard, _Local Const. Hist._, passim.] + +[Footnote 12: Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v.] + +[Sidenote: An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the +United States.] +It is one signal merit of the peaceful and untrammelled way in which +American institutions have grown up, the widest possible scope being +allowed to individual and local preferences, that different states +adopt different methods of attaining the great end at which all are +aiming in common,--good government. One part of our vast country can +profit by the experience of other parts, and if any system or method +thus comes to prevail everywhere in the long run, it is likely to +be by reason of its intrinsic excellence. Our country affords an +admirable field for the study of the general principles which lie at +the foundations of universal history. Governments, large and small, +are growing up all about us, and in such wise that we can watch +the processes of growth, and learn lessons which, after making due +allowances for difference of circumstance, are very helpful in the +study of other times and countries. + +The general tendency toward the spread of township government in the +more recently settled parts of the United States is unmistakable, and +I have already remarked upon the influence of the public school system +in aiding this tendency. The school district, as a preparation for +the self-governing township, is already exerting its influence in +Colorado, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and +Washington. + +[Sidenote: Township government is germinating in the South.] +Something similar is going on in the southern states, as already +hinted in the case of South Carolina. Local taxation for school +purposes has also been established in Kentucky and Tennessee, in both +Virginias, and elsewhere. There has thus begun a most natural and +wholesome movement, which might easily be checked, with disastrous +results, by the injudicious appropriation of national revenue for +the aid of southern schools. It is to be hoped that throughout the +southern, states, as formerly in Michigan, the self-governing school +district may prepare the way for the self-governing township, with its +deliberative town-meeting. Such a growth must needs be slow, inasmuch +as it requires long political training on the part of the negroes and +the lower classes of white people; but it is along such a line of +development that such political training can best be acquired; and in +no other way is complete harmony between the two races so likely to be +secured. + +[Sidenote: woman suffrage.] +Dr. Edward Bemis, who in a profoundly interesting essay[13] has called +attention to this function of the school district as a stage in the +evolution of the township, remarks also upon the fact that "it is in +the local government of the school district that woman suffrage is +being tried." In several states women may vote for school committees, +or may be elected to school committees, or to sundry administrative +school offices. At present (1894) there are not less than twenty-one +states in which women have school suffrage. In Colorado and Wyoming +women have full suffrage, voting at municipal, state, and +national elections. In Kansas they have municipal suffrage, and a +constitutional amendment granting them full suffrage is now awaiting +ratification. In England, it may be observed, unmarried women and +widows who pay taxes vote not only on school matters, but generally in +the local elections of vestries, boroughs, and poor-law unions. In +the new Parish Councils Bill this municipal suffrage is extended +to married women. In the Isle of Man women vote for members of +Parliament. In Australia they have long had municipal suffrage, and in +1893 they were endowed with full rights of suffrage in New Zealand. + +[Footnote 13: Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest, J.H.U. +Studies, I., v.] + +The historical reason why the suffrage has so generally been +restricted to men is perhaps to be sought in the conditions under +which voting originated. In primeval times voting was probably adopted +as a substitute for fighting. The smaller and presumably weaker party +yielded to the larger without an actual trial of physical strength; +heads were counted instead of being broken. Accordingly it was only +the warriors who became voters. The restriction of political activity +to men has also probably been emphasized by the fact that all the +higher civilizations have passed through a well-defined patriarchal +stage of society in which each household was represented by its +oldest warrior. From present indications it would seem that under the +conditions of modern industrial society the arrangements that have so +long subsisted are likely to be very essentially altered. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the origin and development of the town-meeting in +Michigan. + +2. Describe the settling of southern Illinois. + +3. Describe the settling of northern Illinois. + +4. What difference in thought and feeling existed between these +sections? + +5. What systems of local government came into rivalry in Illinois, and +why? + +6. What compromise between them was put into the state constitution? + +7. Which system, the town or the county, has shown the greater +vitality, and why? + +8. What obstacles has the town system to work against? + +9. Show how the principle of local option in government has been +applied in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Dakota. + +10. What two grades of town government exist west of the Alleghanies? + +11. What objection exists to large county boards of government? + +12. Why is our country an excellent field for the study of the +principles of government? + +13. What unmistakable tendency in the ease of township government is +noticeable? + +14. Speak of township government in the South. + +15. What part have women in the affairs of the school district in many +states? + +16. What is the historical reason why suffrage has been restricted to +men? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +It may need to be repeated (see page 12) that it is not expected +that each pupil shall answer all the miscellaneous questions put, or +respond to all the suggestions made in this book. Indeed, the teacher +may be pardoned if now and then he finds it difficult himself to +answer a question,--particularly if it is framed to provoke thought +rather than lead to a conclusion, or if it is better fitted for some +other community or part of the country than that in which he lives. +Let him therefore divide the questions among his pupils, or assign to +them selected questions. In cases that call for special knowledge, +let the topics go to pupils who may have exceptional facilities for +information at home. + +The important point is not so much the settlement of all the questions +proposed as it is the encouragement of the inquiring and thinking spirit +on the part of the pupil. + +1. What impression do you get from this chapter about the hold of town +government upon popular favour? + +2. What do you regard as the best features of town government? + +3. Is there any tendency anywhere to divide towns into smaller towns? If +it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +4. Is there any tendency anywhere to unite towns into larger towns or +into cities? If it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +5. In every town-meeting there are leaders,--usually men of character, +ability, and means. Do you understand that these men practically have +their own way in town affairs,--that the voters as a whole do but little +more than fall in with the wishes and plans of their leaders? Or is +there considerable independence in thought and action on the side of the +voters? + +6. Can a town do what it pleases, or is it limited in its action? If +limited, by whom or by what is it restricted, and where are the +restrictions recorded? (Consult the Statutes.) + +7. Why should the majority rule in town-meeting? Suggest, if possible, a +better way. + +8. Is it, on the whole, wise that the vote of the poor man shall count +as much as that of the rich, the vote of the ignorant as much as that of +the intelligent, the vote of the unprincipled as much as that of the +high-toned? + +9. Have the poor, the ignorant, or the unprincipled any interests to be +regarded in government? + +10. Is the single vote a man casts the full measure of his influence and +power in the town-meeting? + +11. What are the objections to a suffrage restricted by property and +intellectual qualifications? To a suffrage unrestricted by such +qualifications? + +12. Do women vote in your town? If so, give some account of their voting +and of the success or popularity of the plan. + +13. Is lynch law ever justifiable? + + +14. Ought those who resort to lynch law to be punished? If so, for what? + +15. Compare the condition or government of a community where lynch law +is resorted to with the condition or government of a community where it +is unknown. + + +16. May the citizen who is not an officer of the law interfere (1) to +stop the fighting of boys in the public streets, (2) to capture a thief +who is plying his trade, (3) to defend a person who is brutally +assaulted? Is there anything like lynch law i.e. such interference? Where +does the citizen's duty begin and end In such cases? + +17. How came the United States to own the public domain or any part of +it? (Consult my _Critical Period of Amer. Hist_., pp. 187-207.) + +18. How does this domain get into the possession of individuals? + +19. Is it right for the United States to give any part of it away? If +right, under what conditions is it right? If wrong, under what +conditions is It wrong? + +20. What is the "homestead act" of the United States, and what is its +object? + +21. Can perfect squares of the same size be laid out with the range and +township lines of the public surveys? Are all the sections of a township +of the same size? Explain. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Section 1. VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS.--_J.H.V. Studies_, I., vi., +Edward Ingle, _Parish Institutions of Maryland_; I., vii., John +Johnson, _Old Maryland Manors_; I., xii., B.J. Ramage, _Local +Government and Free Schools in South Carolina_; III., v.-vii., L. + +W. Wilhelm, _Local Institutions of Maryland_; IV., i., Irving +Elting, _Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River_. + +Section 2. SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.--_J. H. U. Studies_, +III., i. H. B. Adams, _Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to +the United States_; IV., vii.-ix., Shoshuke Sato, _History of the +Land Question in the United States_. + +Section 3. THE REPRESENTATIVE TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM.--_J H. U. +Studies_, I., iii., Albert Shaw, _Local Government in Illinois_; I., v., +Edward Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_; II., +vii., Jesse Macy, _Institutional Beginnings in a Western State (Iowa)_. +For farther illustration of one set of institutions supervening upon +another, see also V., v.-vi., J. G. Bourinot, _Local Government in +Canada_; VIII., in., D. E. Spencer, _Local Government in Wisconsin_. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government_. + +[Sidenote: Summary of foregoing results.] +In the foregoing survey of local institutions and their growth, we +have had occasion to compare and sometimes to contrast two different +methods of government as exemplified on the one hand in the township +and on the other hand in the county. In the former we have direct +government by a primary assembly,[1] the town-meeting; in the latter +we have indirect government by a representative board. If the county +board, as in colonial Virginia, perpetuates itself, or is appointed +otherwise than by popular vote, it is not strictly a representative +board, in the modern sense of the phrase; the government is a kind of +oligarchy. If, as in colonial Pennsylvania, and in the United States +generally to-day, the county board consists of officers elected by +the people, the county government is a representative democracy. The +township government, on the other hand, as exemplified in New England +and in the northwestern states which have adopted it, is a pure +democracy. The latter, as we have observed, has one signal advantage +over all other kinds of government, in so far as it tends to make +every man feel that the business of government is part of his own +business, and that where he has a stake in the management of public +affairs he has also a voice. When people have got into the habit of +leaving local affairs to be managed by representative boards, their +active interest in local affairs is liable to be somewhat weakened, as +all energies in this world are weakened, from want of exercise. When +some fit subject of complaint is brought up, the individual is too apt +to feel that it is none of his business to furnish a remedy, let the +proper officers look after it. He can vote at elections, which is a +power; he can perhaps make a stir in the newspapers, which is also a +power; but personal participation in town-meeting is likewise a +power, the necessary loss of which, as we pass to wider spheres of +government, is unquestionably to be regretted. + +[Footnote 1: A primary assembly is one in which the members attend of +their own right, without having been elected to it; a representative +assembly is composed of elected delegates.] + +[Sidenote: Direct government impossible in a county.] +Nevertheless the loss is inevitable. A primary assembly of all the +inhabitants of a county, for purposes of local government, is out +of the question. There must be representative government, for this +purpose the county system, an inheritance from the ancient English +shire, has furnished the needful machinery. Our county government is +near enough to the people to be kept in general from gross abuses of +power. There are many points which can be much better decided in +small representative bodies than in large miscellaneous meetings. The +responsibility of our local boards has been fairly well preserved. The +county system has had no mean share in keeping alive the spirit of +local independence and self-government among our people. As regards +efficiency of administration, it has achieved commendable success, +except in the matter of rural highways; and if our roads are worse +than those of any other civilized country, that is due not so much +to imperfect administrative methods as to other causes,--such as the +sparseness of population, the fierce extremes of sunshine and frost, +and the fact that since this huge country began to be reclaimed from +the wilderness, the average voter, who has not travelled in Europe, +knows no more about good roads than he knows about the temples of +Paestum or the pictures of Tintoretto, and therefore does not realize +what demands he may reasonably make. + +This last consideration applies in some degree, no doubt, to the +ill-paved and filthy streets which are the first things to arrest +one's attention in most of our great cities. It is time for us now to +consider briefly our general system of city government, in its origin +and in some of its most important features. + +[Sidenote: The Boston town-meeting in 1820.] +Representative government in counties is necessitated by the extent of +territory covered; in cities it is necessitated by the multitude +of people. When the town comes to have a very large population, it +becomes physically impossible to have town-meetings. No way could be +devised by which all the taxpayers of the city of New York could be +assembled for discussion. In 1820 the population of Boston was about +40,000, of whom rather more than 7,000 were voters qualified to attend +the town-meetings. Consequently when a town-meeting was held on any +exciting subject in Faneuil Hall, those only who obtained places near +the moderator could even hear the discussion. A few busy or interested +individuals easily obtained the management of the most important +affairs in an assembly in which the greater number could have neither +voice nor hearing. When the subject was not generally exciting, +town-meetings were usually composed of the selectmen, the town +officers, and thirty or forty inhabitants. Those who thus came were +for the most part drawn to it from some official duty or private +interest, which, when performed or attained, they generally troubled +themselves but little, or not at all, about the other business of the +meeting.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, p. 28.] + +Under these circumstances it was found necessary in 1822 to drop +the town-meeting altogether and devise a new form of government for +Boston. After various plans had been suggested and discussed, it was +decided that the new government should be vested in a Mayor; a select +council of eight persons to be called the Board of Aldermen; and a +Common Council of forty-eight persons, four from each of twelve wards +into which the city was to be divided. All these officials were to be +elected by the people. At the same time the official name "Town of +Boston" was changed to "City of Boston." + +[Sidenote: Distinctions between towns and cities.] +There is more or less of history involved in these offices and +designations, to which we may devote a few words of explanation. In +New England local usage there is an ambiguity in the word "town." +As an official designation it means the inhabitants of a township +considered as a community or corporate body. In common parlance it +often means the patch of land constituting the township on the map, as +when we say that Squire Brown's elm is "the biggest tree in town." But +it still oftener means a collection of streets, houses, and families +too large to be called a village, but without the municipal government +that characterizes a city. Sometimes it is used _par excellence_ +for a city, as when an inhabitant of Cambridge, itself a large +suburban city, speaks of going to Boston as going "into town." But +such cases are of course mere survivals from the time when the suburb +was a village. In American usage generally the town is something +between village and city, a kind of inferior or incomplete city. The +image which it calls up in the mind is of something urban and not +rural. This agrees substantially with the usage in European history, +where "town" ordinarily means a walled town or city as contrasted with +a village. In England the word is used either in this general sense, +or more specifically as signifying an inferior city, as in America. +But the thing which the town lacks, as compared with the complete +city, is very different in America from what it is in England. In +America it is municipal government--with mayor, aldermen, and common +council--which must be added to the town in order to make it a city. +In England the town may (and usually does) have this municipal +government; but it is not distinguished by the Latin name "city" +unless it has a cathedral and a bishop. Or in other words the English +city is, or has been, the capital of a diocese. Other towns in England +are distinguished as "boroughs," an old Teutonic word which was +originally applied to towns as _fortified_ places.[3] The voting +inhabitants of an English city are called "citizens;" those of +a borough are called "burgesses." Thus the official corporate +designation of Cambridge is "the mayor, aldermen, and _burgesses_ +of Cambridge;" but Oxford is the seat of a bishopric, and its +corporate designation is "the mayor, aldermen, and _citizens_ of +Oxford." + +[Footnote 3: The word appears in many town names, such as +_Edinburgh, Scarborough, Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds_; and +on the Continent, as _Hamburg, Cherbourg, Burgos_, etc. In +Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, the name +"borough" is applied to a certain class of municipalities with some of +the powers of cities.] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the essential difference between township government +and county government? + +2. What is the distinct advantage of the former? + +3. Why is direct government impossible in the county? + +4. Speak of the degree of efficiency in county government. + +5. Why is direct government impossible in a city? + +6. What difficulties in direct government were experienced in +Boston in 1820 and many years preceding? + +7. What remedy for these difficulties was adopted? + +8. Show how the word "town" is used to indicate + + a. The land of a township. + b. A somewhat large collection of streets, houses, and families. + c. And even, in some instances, a city. + +9. What is the town commonly understood to be in American +usage? + +10. What is the difference in the United States between a town +and a city? + +11. What is the difference in England between a town and a +city? + +12. Distinguish between citizens and burgesses in England. + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities_. + +[Sidenote: "Chesters."] +[Sidenote: Coalescence of towns to fortified boroughs.] +What, then, was the origin of the English borough or city? In the days +when Roman legions occupied for a long time certain military stations in +Britain, their camps were apt to become centres of trade and thus to +grow into cities. Such places were generally known as _casters_ or +_chesters_, from the Latin _castra_, "camp," and there are many of them +on the map of England to-day. But these were exceptional cases. As a +rule the origin of the borough was as purely English as its name. We +have seen that the town was originally the dwelling-place of a +stationary clan, surrounded by palisades or by a dense quickset hedge. +Now where such small enclosed places were thinly scattered about they +developed simply into villages. But where, through the development of +trade or any other cause, a good many of them grew up close together +within a narrow compass, they gradually coalesced into a kind of +compound town; and with the greater population and greater wealth, there +was naturally more elaborate and permanent fortification than that of +the palisaded village. There were massive walls and frowning turrets, +and the place came to be called a fortress or "borough." The borough, +then, was simply several townships packed tightly together; a hundred +smaller in extent and thicker in population than other hundreds.[4] + +[Footnote 4: Freeman, _Norman Conquest_, vol. v. p. 466. For a +description of the _hundred_, see above, pp. 75-80.] + +[Sidenote: The borough as a hundred.] +From this compact and composite character of the borough came several +important results. We have seen that the hundred was the smallest area +for the administration of justice. The township was in many respects +self-governing, but it did not have its court, any more than the New +England township of the present day has its court. The lowest court +was that of the hundred, but as the borough was equivalent to a +hundred it soon came to have its own court. And although much +obscurity still surrounds the early history of municipal government in +England, it is probable that this court was a representative board, +like any other hundred court, and that the relation of the borough to +its constituent townships resembled the relation of the modern city to +its constituent wards. + +[Sidenote: The borough as a county.] +But now as certain boroughs grew larger and annexed outlying +townships, or acquired adjacent territory which presently became +covered with streets and houses, their constitution became still more +complex. The borough came to embrace several closely packed hundreds, +and thus became analogous to a shire. In this way it gained for itself +a sheriff and the equivalent of a county court. For example, under the +charter granted by Henry I. in 1101, London was expressly recognized +as a county by itself. Its burgesses could elect their own chief +magistrate, who was called the port-reeve, inasmuch as London is a +seaport; in some other towns he was called the borough-reeve. He was +at once the chief executive officer and the chief judge. The burgesses +could also elect their sheriff, although in all rural counties Henry's +father, William the Conqueror, had lately deprived the people of +this privilege and appointed the sheriffs himself. London had its +representative board, or council, which was the equivalent of a county +court. Each ward, moreover, had its own representative board, which +was the equivalent of a hundred court. Within the wards, or hundreds, +the burgesses were grouped together in township, parish, or manor.... +Into the civic organization of London, to whose special privileges +all lesser cities were ever striving to attain, the elements of local +administration embodied in the township, the hundred, and the shire +thus entered as component parts.[5] Constitutionally, therefore, +London was a little world in itself, and in a less degree the same was +true of other cities and boroughs which afterwards obtained the same +kind of organization, as for example, York and Newcastle, Lincoln and +Norwich, Southampton and Bristol. + +[Footnote 5: Hannis Taylor, _Origin and Growth of the English +Constitution_, vol. i. p. 458.] + +[Sidenote: The guilds.] +[Sidenote: mayor, aldermen, and common council.] +In such boroughs or cities all classes of society were brought into +close contact,--barons and knights, priests and monks, merchants and +craftsmen, free labourers and serfs. But trades and manufactures, +which always had so much to do with the growth of the city, acquired +the chief power and the control of the government. From an early +period tradesmen and artisans found it worth while to form themselves +into guilds or brotherhoods, in order to protect their persons and +property against insult and robbery at the hands of great lords and +their lawless military retainers. Thus there came to be guilds, or +"worshipful companies," of grocers, fishmongers, butchers, weavers, +tailors, ironmongers, carpenters, saddlers, armourers, needle-makers, +etc. In large towns there was a tendency among such trade guilds +to combine in a "united brotherhood," or "town guild," and this +organization at length acquired full control of the city government. +In London this process was completed in the course of the thirteenth +century. To obtain the full privileges of citizenship one had to +be enrolled in a guild. The guild hall became the city hall. The +_aldermen_, or head men of sundry guilds, became the head men +of the several wards. There was a representative board, or _common +council_, elected by the citizens. The aldermen and common council +held their meetings in the Guildhall, and over these meetings presided +the chief magistrate, or port-reeve, who by this time, in accordance +with the fashion then prevailing, had assumed the French title of +_mayor_. As London had come to be a little world in itself, +so this city government reproduced on a small scale the national +government; the mayor answering to the king, the aristocratic board of +aldermen to the House of Lords, and the democratic common council to +the House of Commons. A still more suggestive comparison, perhaps, +would be between the aldermen and our federal Senate, since the +aldermen represented wards, while the common council represented the +citizens. + +[Sidenote: The city of London.] +The constitution thus perfected in the city of London[6] six hundred +years ago has remained to this day without essential change. The voters +are enrolled members of companies which represent the ancient guilds. +Each year they choose one of the aldermen to be lord mayor. Within the +city he has precedence next to the sovereign and before the royal +family; elsewhere he ranks as an earl, thus indicating the equivalence +of the city to a county, and with like significance he is lord +lieutenant of the city and justice of the peace. The twenty-six +aldermen, one for each ward, are elected by the people, such as are +entitled to vote for members of parliament; they are justices of the +peace. The common councilmen, 206 in number, are also elected by the +people, and their legislative power within the city is practically +supreme; parliament does not think of overruling it. And the city +government thus constituted is one of the most clean-handed and +efficient in the world.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The city of London extends east and west from the Tower +to Temple Bar, and north and south from Finsbury to the Thames, with +a population of not more than 100,000, and is but a small part of the +enormous metropolitan area now known as London, which is a circle of +twelve miles radius in every direction from its centre at Charing +Cross, with a population of more than 5,000,000. This vast area is an +agglomeration of many parishes, manors, etc., and has no municipal +government in common.] + +[Footnote 7: Loftie, _History of London _, vol. i. p. 446] +[Sidenote: English cities, the bulwarks of liberty.] + +The development of other English cities and boroughs was so far like +that of London that merchant guilds generally obtained control, and +government by mayor, aldermen, and common council came to be the +prevailing type. Having also their own judges and sheriffs, and not +being obliged to go outside of their own walls to obtain justice, to +enforce contracts and punish crime, their efficiency as independent +self-governing bodies was great, and in many a troubled time they +served as staunch bulwarks of English liberty. The strength of their +turreted walls was more than supplemented by the length of their +purses, and such immunity from the encroachments of lords and king +as they could not otherwise win, they contrived to buy. Arbitrary +taxation they generally escaped by compounding with the royal +exchequer in a fixed sum or quit-rent, known as the _firma +burgi_. We have observed the especial privilege which Henry I. +confirmed to London, of electing its own sheriff. London had been +prompt in recognizing his title to the crown, and such support, in +days when the succession was not well regulated, no prudent king could +afford to pass by without some substantial acknowledgment. It was +never safe for any king to trespass upon the liberties of London, and +through the worst times that city has remained a true republic with +liberal republican sentiments. If George III. could have been guided +by the advice of London, as expressed by its great alderman Beckford, +the American colonies would not have been driven into rebellion. + +[Sidenote: Simon de Montfort and the cities.] +The most signal part played by the English boroughs and cities, in +securing English freedom, dates from the thirteenth century, when +the nation was vaguely struggling for representative government on a +national scale, as a means of curbing the power of the crown. In that +memorable struggle, the issue of which to some extent prefigured +the shape that the government of the United States was to take five +hundred years afterward, the cities and boroughs supported Simon de +Montfort, the leader of the popular party and one of the foremost +among the heroes and martyrs of English liberty. Accordingly on the +morrow of his decisive victory at Lewes in 1264, when for the moment +he stood master of England, as Cromwell stood four centuries later +Simon called a parliament to settle the affairs of the kingdom, and +to this parliament he invited, along with the lords who came by +hereditary custom, not only two elected representatives from each +rural county, but also two elected representatives from each city and +borough. In this parliament, which met in 1265, the combination of +rural with urban representatives brought all parts of England together +in a grand representative body, the House of Commons, with interests +in common; and thus the people presently gained power enough to defeat +all attempts to establish irresponsible government, such as we call +despotism, on the part of the crown. + + +[Sidenote: Oligarchical abuses in English cities (cir. 1500-1835).] +If we look at the later history of English cities and boroughs, it +appears that, in spite of the splendid work which they did for the +English people at large, they did not always succeed in preserving +their own liberties unimpaired. London, indeed, has always maintained +its character as a truly representative republic. But in many English +cities, during the Tudor and Stuart periods, the mayor and aldermen +contrived to dispense with popular election, and thus to become close +corporations or self-perpetuating oligarchical bodies. There was a +notable tendency toward this sort of irresponsible government in +the reign of James I., and the Puritans who came to the shores of +Massachusetts Bay were inspired with a feeling of revolt against such +methods. This doubtless lent an emphasis to the mood in which they +proceeded to organize themselves into free self-governing townships. +The oligarchical abuses in English cities and boroughs remained until +they were swept away by the great Municipal Reform Act of 1835. + +[Sidenote: Government of the city of New York (1686-1821).] +The first city governments established in America were framed in +conscious imitation of the corresponding institutions in England. +The oldest city government in the United States is that of New York. +Shortly after the town was taken from the Dutch in 1664, the new +governor, Colonel Nichols, put an end to its Dutch form of government, +and appointed a mayor, five aldermen, and a sheriff. These officers +appointed inferior officers, such as constables, and little or nothing +was left to popular election. But in 1686, under Governor Dongan, +New York was regularly incorporated and chartered as a city. Its +constitution bore an especially close resemblance to that of Norwich, +then the third city in England in size and importance. The city of New +York was divided into six wards. The governing corporation consisted +of the mayor, the recorder, the town-clerk, six aldermen, and six +assistants. All the land not taken up by individual owners was granted +as public land to the corporation, which in return paid into the +British exchequer one beaver-skin yearly. This was a survival of the +old quit-rent or _firma burgi_.[8] The city was made a county, +and thus had its court, its sheriff and coroner, and its high +constable. Other officers were the chamberlain or treasurer, seven +inferior constables, a sergeant-at-arms, and a clerk of the market, +who inspected weights and measures, and punished delinquencies in the +use of them. The principal judge was the recorder, who, as we have +just seen, was one of the corporation. The aldermen, assistants, and +constables were elected annually by the people; but the mayor and +sheriff were appointed by the governor. The recorder, town-clerk, and +clerk of the market were to be appointed by the king, but in case +the king neglected to act, these appointments also were made by the +governor. The high constable was appointed by the mayor, the treasurer +by the mayor, aldermen, and assistants, who seem to have answered +to the ordinary common council. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen, +without the assistants, were a judicial body, and held a weekly court +of common pleas. When the assistants were added, the whole became a +legislative body empowered to enact by-laws. + +[Footnote 8: Jameson, "The Municipal Government of New York," _Mag. +Amer. Hist_., vol. viii. p. 609.] + +Although this charter granted very imperfect powers of +self-government, the people contrived to live under it for a hundred +and thirty-five years, until 1821. Before the Revolution their +petitions succeeded in obtaining only a few unimportant amendments.[9] +When the British army captured the city in September, 1776, it was +forthwith placed under martial law, and so remained until the army +departed in November, 1783. During those seven years New York was not +altogether a comfortable place in which to live. After 1783 the city +government remained as before, except that the state of New York +assumed the control formerly exercised by the British crown. Mayor and +recorder, town-clerk and sheriff, were now appointed by a council of +appointment consisting of the governor and four senators. This did not +work well, and the constitution of 1821 gave to the people the power +of choosing their sheriff and town-clerk, while the mayor was to be +elected by the common council. Nothing but the appointment of the +recorder remained in the hands of the governor. Thus nearly forty +years after the close of the War of Independence the city of New York +acquired self-government as complete as that of the city of London. +In 1857, as we shall see, this self-government was greatly curtailed, +with results more or less disastrous. + + +[Footnote 9: Especially in the so-called Montgomerie charter of 1730.] + +[Sidenote: City government in Philadelphia (1701-1789).] +The next city governments to be organized in the American colonies, +after that of New York, were those of Philadelphia, incorporated in +1701, and Annapolis, incorporated in 1708. These governments were +framed after the wretched pattern then so common in England. In +both the mayor, the recorder, the aldermen, and the common council +constituted a close self-electing corporation. The resulting abuses +were not so great as in England, probably because the cities were +so small. But in course of time, especially in Philadelphia as it +increased in population, the viciousness of the system was abundantly +illustrated. As the people could not elect the governing corporation +or any of its members, they very naturally and reasonably distrusted +it, and through the legislature they contrived so to limit its powers +of taxation that it was really unable to keep the streets in repair, +to light them at night, or to support an adequate police force. An +attempt was made to supply such wants by creating divers independent +boards of commissioners, one for paving and draining, another for +street-lamps and watchmen, a third for town-pumps, and so on. In this +way responsibility got so minutely parcelled out and scattered, and +there was so much jealousy and wrangling between the different boards +and the corporation, that the result was chaos. The public money was +habitually wasted and occasionally embezzled, and there was general +dissatisfaction. In 1789 the close corporation was abolished, and +thereafter the aldermen and common council were elected by the +citizens, the mayor was chosen by the aldermen out of their own +number, and the recorder was appointed by the mayor and aldermen. Thus +Philadelphia obtained a representative government. + +[Sidenote: Traditions of good government lacking.] +These instances of New York and Philadelphia sufficiently illustrate +the beginnings of city government in the United States. In each case +the system was copied from England at a time when city government +in England was sadly demoralized. What was copied was not the free +republic of London, with its noble traditions of civic honour and +sagacious public spirit, but the imperfect republics or oligarchies +into which the lesser English boroughs were sinking, amid the foul +political intrigues and corruption which characterized the Stuart +period. The government of American cities in our own time is admitted +on all hands to be far from satisfactory. It is interesting to observe +that the cities which had municipal government before the Revolution, +though they have always had their full share of able and high-minded +citizens, do not possess even the tradition of good government. And +the difficulty, in those colonial times, was plainly want of adequate +self-government, want of responsibility on the part of the public +servants toward their employers the people. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the origin of the _casters_ and _chesters_ that are found +in England to-day? + +2. Trace the development of the English borough until it became +a kind of hundred. + +3. Compare this borough, with the hundred in the administration +of justice. + +4. Trace the further development of the borough in cases in +which it became a county. + +5. Illustrate this development with London, showing how the elements of +the township, the hundred, and the shire government enter into its civic +organization. + +6. Explain the origin and the objects of the various guilds. + +7. Speak of the "town guild" under the following heads:-- + + a. Its composition and power. + b. Its relation to citizenship. + c. Its place of meeting. + d. The aldermen. + e. The common council. + f. The chief magistrate. + +8. Compare the government of London with that of Great Britain or of the +United States. + +9. Give some account of the lord mayor, the aldermen, and the councilmen +of London. + +10. Distinguish between London the city and London the metropolis. + +11. Show how the English cities and boroughs became bulwarks of liberty +by (1) their facilities for obtaining justice, (2) the strength of their +walls, and (3) the length of their purses. + +12. Contrast the power of London with that of the throne. + +13. What notable advance in government was made under the leadership of +Simon de Montfort? + +14. What abuses crept into the government of many of the English cities? + +15. What was the Puritan attitude towards such abuses? + +16. Give an account of the government of New York city:-- + + a. The charter of 1686. + b. The governing corporation. + c. The public land. + d. The city's privileges as a county. + e. Officers by election and by appointment. + f. Judicial functions. + g. Martial law. + h. The charter of 1821. + +17. Give an account of the government of Philadelphia:-- + + a. The governments after which it was patterned. + b. The viciousness of the system adopted. + c. The legislative interference that was thus provoked. + d. The division of responsibility and the results of such + division. + e. The nature of the changes made in 1789. + +18. Why are the traditions of good government lacking in the older +American cities? + + +Section 3. The Government of Cities in the United States. + +[Sidenote: Several features of our city governments.] +At the present day American municipal governments are for the most +part constructed on the same general plan, though with many variations +in detail. There is an executive department, with the mayor at its +head. The mayor is elected voters of the city, and holds office +generally for one year, but sometimes for two or three years, and in +St. Louis and Philadelphia even for four years. Under the mayor are +various heads of departments,--street commissioners, assessors, +overseers of the poor, etc.,--sometimes elected by the citizens, +sometimes appointed by the mayor or the city council. This city +council Is a legislative body, usually consisting of two chambers, the +aldermen and the common council, elected by the citizens; but in many +small cities, and a few of the largest,--such as New York, Brooklyn, +Chicago, and San Francisco,--there is but one such chamber. Then there +are city judges, sometimes appointed by the governor of the state, to +serve for life or during good behaviour, but usually elected by the +citizens for short terms. + +All appropriations of money for city purposes are made by the city +council; and as a general rule this council has some control over the +heads of executive departments, which it exercises through committees. +Thus there may be a committee upon streets, upon public buildings, +upon parks or almshouses or whatever the municipal government is +concerned with. The head of a department is more or less dependent +upon his committee, and in practice this is found to divide and weaken +responsibility. The heads of departments are apt to be independent of +one another, and to owe no allegiance in common to any one. The mayor, +when he appoints them, usually does so subject to the approval, of the +city council or of one branch of it. The mayor is usually not a member +of the city council, but can veto its enactments, which however can be +passed over his veto by a two thirds majority. + +[Sidenote: They do not seem to work well.] +[Sidenote: some difficulties to be stated.] +City governments thus constituted are something like state governments +in miniature. The relation of the mayor to the city council is +somewhat like that of the governor to the state legislature, and of +the president to the national congress. In theory nothing could well +be more republican, or more unlike such city governments as those of +New York and Philadelphia before the Revolution. Yet in practice it +does not seem to work well. New York and Philadelphia seem to +have heard as many complaints in the nineteenth century as in the +eighteenth, and the same kind of complaints,--of excessive taxation, +public money wasted or embezzled, ill-paved and dirty streets, +inefficient police, and so on to the end of the chapter. In most of +our large cities similar evils have been witnessed, and in too many of +the smaller ones the trouble seems to be the same in kind, only less +in degree. Our republican government, which, after making all due +allowances, seems to work remarkably well in rural districts, and in +the states, and in the nation, has certainly been far less successful +as applied to cities. Accordingly our cities have come to furnish +topics for reflection to which writers and orators fond of boasting +the unapproachable excellence of American institutions do not like to +allude. Fifty years ago we were wont to speak of civil government +in the United States as if it had dropped from heaven or had been +specially created by some kind of miracle upon American soil; and we +were apt to think that in mere republican forms there was some kind of +mystic virtue which made them a panacea for all political evils. Our +later experience with cities has rudely disturbed this too confident +frame of mind. It has furnished facts which do not seem to fit our +self-complacent theory, so that now our writers and speakers are +inclined to vent their spleen upon the unhappy cities, perhaps too +unreservedly. We hear them called "foul sinks of corruption" and +"plague spots on our body politic." Yet in all probability our cities +are destined to increase in number and to grow larger and larger; so +that perhaps it is just as well to consider them calmly, as presenting +problems which had not been thought of when our general theory of +government was first worked out a hundred years ago, but which, after +we have been sufficiently taught by experience, we may hope to succeed +in solving, just as we have heretofore succeeded in other things. A +general discussion of the subject does not fall within the province of +this brief historical sketch. But our account would be very incomplete +if we were to stop short of mentioning some of the recent attempts +that have been made toward reconstructing our theories of city +government and improving its practical working. And first, let us +point out a few of the peculiar difficulties of the problem, that we +may see why we might have been expected, up to the present time, +to have been less successful in managing our great cities than in +managing our rural communities, and our states, and our nation. + + +[Sidenote: Rapid growth of American cities.] +In the first place, the problem is comparatively new and has taken us +unawares. At the time of Washington's inauguration to the presidency +there were no large cities in the United States. Philadelphia had a +population of 42,000; New York had 33,000; Boston, which came next, with +18,000, was not yet a city. Then came Baltimore, with 13,000; while +Brooklyn was a village of 1,600 souls. Now these five cities have a +population of more than 4,000,000, or more than that of the United +States in 1789. And consider how rapidly new cities have been added to +the list. One hardly needs to mention the most striking cases, such as +Chicago, with 4,000 inhabitants in 1840. and at least 1,000,000 in 1890; +or Denver, with its miles of handsome streets and shops, and not one +native inhabitant who has reached his thirtieth birthday. Such facts are +summed up in the general statement that, whereas in 1790 the population +of the United States was scarcely 4,000,000, and out of each 100 +inhabitants only 3 dwelt in cities and the other 97 in rural places; on +the other hand in 1880, when the population was more than 50,000,000, +out of each 100 inhabitants 23 dwelt in cities and 77 in rural places. +But duly to appreciate the rapidity of this growth of cities, we must +observe that most of it has been subsequent to 1840. In 1790 there were +six towns in the United States that might be ranked as cities from their +size, though to get this number we must include Boston. In 1800 the +number was the same. By 1810 the number had risen from 6 to 11; by 1820 +it had reached 13; by 1830 this thirteen had doubled and become 26; and +in 1840 there were 44 cities altogether. The urban population increased +from 210,873 in 1800 to 1,453,994 in 1840. But between 1840 and 1880 the +number of new cities which came into existence was 242, and the urban +population increased to 11,318,547. Nothing like this was ever known +before in any part of the world, and perhaps it is not strange that such +a tremendous development did not find our methods of government fully +prepared to deal with it. + + +[Sidenote: Want of practical foresight.] +This rapidity of growth has entailed some important consequences. In the +first place it obliges the city to make great outlays of money in order +to get immediate results. Public works must be undertaken with a view to +quickness rather than thoroughness. Pavements, sewers, and reservoirs of +some sort must be had at once, even if inadequately planned and +imperfectly constructed; and so, before a great while, the work must be +done over again. Such conditions of imperative haste increase the +temptations to dishonesty as well as the liability to errors of judgment +on the part of the men who administer the public funds.[10] Then the +rapid growth of a city, especially of a new city, requiring the +immediate construction of a certain amount of public works, almost +necessitates the borrowing of money, and debt means heavy taxes. It is +like the case of a young man who, in order to secure a home for his +quickly growing family, buys a house under a heavy mortgage. Twice a +year there comes in a great bill for interest, and in order to meet it +he must economize in his table or now and then deny himself a new suit +of clothes. So if a city has to tax heavily to pay its debts, it must +cut down its current expenses somewhere, and the results are sure to be +visible in more or less untidiness and inefficiency. Mr. Low tells us +that "very few of our American cities have yet paid in full the cost of +their original water-works." Lastly, much wastefulness results from want +of foresight. It is not easy to predict how a city will grow, or the +nature of its needs a few years hence. Moreover, even when it is easy +enough to predict a result, it is not easy to secure practical foresight +on the part of a city council elected for the current year. Its members +are afraid of making taxes too heavy this year, and considerations of +ten years hence are apt to be dismissed as "visionary." It is always +hard for us to realize how terribly soon ten years hence will be here. +The habit of doing things by halves has been often commented on (and, +perhaps, even more by our own writers than by foreigners) as especially +noticeable in America. It has doubtless been fostered by the conditions +which in so many cases have made it absolutely necessary to adopt +temporary makeshifts. These conditions have produced a certain habit of +mind. + +[Footnote 10: This and some of the following considerations have been +ably set forth and illustrated by Hon. Seth Low, president of Columbia +College, and lately mayor of Brooklyn, in an address at Johns Hopkins +University, published in _J. H. U. Studies, Supplementary Notes_, +no. 4.] + +[Sidenote: Growth in complexity of government in cities.] +Let us now observe that as cities increase in size the amount of +government that is necessary tends in some respects to increase. +Wherever there is a crowd there is likely to be some need of rules and +regulations. In the country a man may build his house pretty much as he +pleases; but in the city he may be forbidden to build it of wood, and +perhaps even the thickness of the party walls or the position of the +chimneys may come in for some supervision on the part of the government. +For further precaution against spreading fires, the city has an +organized force of men, with costly engines, engine-houses, and stables. +In the country a board of health has comparatively little to do; in the +city it is often confronted with difficult sanitary problems which call +for highly paid professional skill on the part of physicians and +chemists, architects and plumbers, masons and engineers. So, too, the +water supply of a great city is likely to be a complicated business, and +the police force may well need as much, management as a small army. In +short, with a city, increase in size is sure to involve increase in +complexity of organization, and this means a vast increase in the number +of officials for doing the work and of details to be superintended. For +example, let us enumerate the executive department and officers of the +city of Boston at the present time. + +[Sidenote: Municipal officers in Boston.] +There are three street commissioners with power to lay out streets and +assess damages thereby occasioned. These are elected by the people. The +following officers are appointed by the mayor, with the concurrence of +the aldermen: a superintendent of streets, an inspector of buildings, +three commissioners each for the fire and health departments, four +overseers of the poor, besides a board of nine directors for the +management of almshouses, houses of correction, lunatic hospital, etc.; +a city hospital board of five members, five trustees of the public +library, three commissioners each for parks and water-works; five chief +assessors, to estimate the value of property and assess city, county, +and state taxes; a city collector, a superintendent of public buildings, +five trustees of Mount Hope Cemetery, six sinking fund commissioners, +two record commissioners, three registrars of voters, a registrar of +births, deaths, and marriages, a city treasurer, city auditor, city +solicitor, corporation counsel, city architect, city surveyor, +superintendent of Faneuil Hall Market, superintendent of street lights, +superintendent of sewers, superintendent of printing, superintendent of +bridges, five directors of ferries, harbour master and ten assistants, +water registrar, inspector of provisions, inspector of milk and vinegar, +a sealer and four deputy sealers of weights and measures, an inspector +of lime, three inspectors of petroleum, fifteen inspectors of pressed +hay, a culler of hoops and staves, three fence-viewers, ten +field-drivers and pound-keepers, three surveyors of marble, nine +superintendents of hay scales, four measurers of upper leather, fifteen +measurers of wood and bark, twenty measurers of grain, three weighers of +beef, thirty-eight weighers of coal, five weighers of boilers and heavy +machinery, four weighers of ballast and lighters, ninety-two +undertakers, 150 constables, 968 election officers and their deputies. A +few of these officials serve without pay, some are paid by salaries +fixed by the council, some by fees. Besides these there is a clerk of +the common council elected by that body, and also the city clerk, city +messenger, and clerk of committees, in whose election both branches of +the city council concur. The school committee, of twenty-four members, +elected by the people, is distinct from the rest of the city government, +and so is the board of police, composed of three commissioners appointed +by the state executive.[11] + +[Footnote 11: Bugbee, "The City Government of Boston," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., iii.] + +[Sidenote: How city government comes to be a mystery.] +This long list may serve to give some idea of the mere quantity of +administrative work required in a large city. Obviously under such +circumstances city government must become more or less of a mystery to +the great mass of citizens. They cannot watch its operations as the +inhabitants of a small village can watch the proceedings of their +township and county governments. Much work must go on which cannot +even be intelligently criticised without such special knowledge as it +would be idle to expect in the average voter, or perhaps in any voter. +It becomes exceedingly difficult for the taxpayer to understand just +what his money goes for, or how far the city expenses might reasonably +be reduced; and it becomes correspondingly easy for municipal +corruption to start and acquire a considerable headway before it can +be detected and checked. + +[Sidenote: In some respects it is more of a mystery that state and +national government.] +In some respects city government is harder to watch intelligently +than the government of the state or of the nation. For these wider +governments are to some extent limited to work of general supervision. +As compared with the city, they are more concerned with the +establishment and enforcement of certain general principles, and less +with the administration of endlessly complicated details. I do not +mean to be understood as saying that there is not plenty of intricate +detail about state and national governments. I am only comparing one +thing with another, and it seems to me that one chief difficulty with +city government is the bewildering vastness and multifariousness of +the details with which it is concerned. The modern city has come to be +a huge corporation for carrying on a huge business with many branches, +most of which call for special aptitude and training. + +[Sidenote: The mayor at first had too little power.] +As these points have gradually forced themselves upon public attention +there has been a tendency in many of our large cities toward +remodeling their governments on new principles. The most noticeable +feature of this tendency is the increase in the powers of the mayor. + +A hundred years ago our legislators and constitution-makers were much +afraid of what was called the "one-man power." In nearly all the +colonies a chronic quarrel had been kept up between the governors +appointed by the king and the legislators elected by the people, and +this had made the "one-man power" very unpopular. Besides, it was +something that had been unpopular in ancient Greece and Rome, and it +was thought to be essentially unrepublican in principle. Accordingly +our great grandfathers preferred to entrust executive powers to +committees rather than to single individuals; and when they assigned +an important office to an individual they usually took pains to +curtail its power and influence. This disposition was visible in our +early attempts to organize city governments like little republics. +First, in the board of aldermen and the common council we had a +two-chambered legislature. Then, lest the mayor should become +dangerous, the veto power was at first generally withheld from him, +and his appointments of executive officers needed to be confirmed by +at least one branch of the city council. These executive officers, +moreover, as already observed, were subject to more or less control or +oversight from committees of the city council. + +[Sidenote: Scattering and weakening of responsibility.] +Now this system, in depriving the mayor of power, deprived him of +responsibility, and left the responsibility nowhere in particular. In +making appointments the mayor and council would come to some sort of +compromise with each other and exchange favours. Perhaps for private +reasons incompetent or dishonest officers would get appointed, and +if the citizens ventured to complain the mayor would say that he +appointed as good men as the council could be induced to confirm, +and the council would declare their willingness to confirm good +appointments if the mayor could only be persuaded to make them. + +[Sidenote: Committees inefficient for executive purposes.] +Then the want of subordination of the different executive departments +made it impossible to secure unity of administration or to carry out +any consistent and generally intelligible policy. Between the various +executive officers and visiting committees there was apt to be a +more or less extensive interchange of favours, or what is called +"log-rolling;" and sums of money would be voted by the council only +thus to leak away in undertakings the propriety or necessity of which +was perhaps hard to determine. There was no responsible head who could +be quickly and sharply called to account. Each official's hands were +so tied that whatever went wrong he could declare that it was not his +fault. The confusion was enhanced by the practice of giving executive +work to committees or boards instead of single officers. Benjamin +Franklin used to say, if you wish to be sure that a thing is done, go +and do it yourself. Human experience certainly proves that this is the +only absolutely safe way. The next best way is to send some competent +person to do it for you; and if there is no one competent to be +had, you do the next best thing and entrust the work to the least +incompetent person you can find. If you entrust it to a committee your +prospect of getting it done is diminished and it grows less if +you enlarge your committee. By the time you have got a group of +committees, independent of one another and working at cross purposes, +you have got Dickens's famous Circumlocution Office, where the great +object in life was "how not to do it." + +[Sidenote 1: Increase of city debts.] + +[Sidenote 2: Attempt to cure the evil by state interference; + experience of New York.] + +Amid the general dissatisfaction over the extravagance and +inefficiency of our city governments, people's attention was first +drawn to the rapid and alarming increase of city indebtedness in +various parts of the country. A heavy debt may ruin a city as surely +as an individual, for it raises the rate of taxation, and thus, as was +above pointed out, it tends to frighten people and capital away from +the city. At first it was sought to curb the recklessness of city +councils in incurring lavish expenditures by giving the mayor a veto +power. Laws were also passed limiting the amount of debt which a city +would be allowed to incur under any circumstances. Clothing the +mayor with the veto power is now seen to have been a wise step; and +arbitrary limitation of the amount of debt, though a clumsy expedient, +is confessedly a necessary one. But beyond this, it was in some +instances attempted to take the management of some departments of city +business out of the hands of the city and put them into the hands of +the state legislature. The most notable instance of this was in New +York in 1857. The results, there and elsewhere, have been generally +regarded as unsatisfactory. After a trial of thirty years the +experience of New York has proved that a state legislature is not +competent to take proper care of the government of cities. Its +members do not know enough about the details of each locality, and +consequently local affairs are left to the representatives from each +locality, with "log-rolling" as the inevitable result. A man fresh +from his farm on the edge of the Adirondacks knows nothing about the +problems pertaining to electric wires in Broadway, or to rapid transit +between Harlem and the Battery; and his consent to desired legislation +on such points can very likely be obtained only by favouring some +measure which he thinks will improve the value of his farm, or perhaps +by helping him to debauch the civil service by getting some neighbour +appointed to a position for which he is not qualified. All this is +made worse by the fact that the members of a state government are +generally less governed by a sense of responsibility toward the +citizens of a particular city than even the worst local government +that can be set up in such a city.[12] + +[Footnote 1: It is not intended to deny that there may be instances +in which the state government may advantageously participate in the +government of cities. It may be urged that, in the case of great +cities, like New York or Boston, many people who are not residents +either do business in the city or have vast business interests there, +and thus may be as deeply interested in its welfare as any of the +voters. It may also be said that state provisions for city government +do not always work badly. There are many competent judges who approve +of the appointment of police commissioners by the executive of +Massachusetts. There are generally two sides to a question; and to +push a doctrine to extremes is to make oneself a _doctrinaire_ +rather than a wise citizen. But experience clearly shows that in all +doubtful cases it is safer to let the balance incline in favour of +local self-government than the other way.] + +Moreover, even if legislatures were otherwise competent to manage the +local affairs of cities, they have not time enough, amid the pressure +of other duties, to do justice to such matters. In 1870 the number of +acts passed by the New York legislature was 808. Of these, 212, or +more than one fourth of the whole, related to cities and villages. The +808 acts, when printed, filled about 2,000 octavo pages; and of these +the 212 acts filled more than 1,500 pages. This illustrates what +I said above about the vast quantity of details which have to be +regulated in municipal government. Here we have more than three +fourths of the volume of state-legislation devoted to local affairs; +and it hardly need be added that a great part of these enactments were +worse than worthless because they were made hastily and +without due consideration,--though not always, perhaps, without what +lawyers call _a_ consideration.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Nothing could be further from my thought than to cast any +special imputation upon the New York legislature, which is probably a +fair average specimen of law-making bodies. The theory of legislative +bodies, as laid down in text-books, is that they are assembled for the +purpose of enacting laws for the welfare of the community in +general. In point of fact they seldom rise to such a lofty height of +disinterestedness. Legislation is usually a mad scramble in which the +final result, be it good or bad, gets evolved out of compromises and +bargains among a swarm of clashing local and personal interests. +The "consideration" may be anything from log-rolling to bribery. In +American legislatures it is to be hoped that downright bribery is +rare. As for log-rolling, or exchange of favours, there are many +phases of it in which that which may be perfectly innocent shades +off by almost imperceptible degrees into that which is unseemly or +dishonourable or even criminal; and it is in this hazy region that +Satan likes to set his traps for the unwary pilgrim.] + +[Sidenote: Tweed Ring in New York.] +The experience of New York thus proved that state intervention and +special legislation did not mend matters. It did not prevent the +shameful rule of the Tweed Ring from 1868 to 1871, when a small band +of conspirators got themselves elected or appointed to the principal +city offices, and, having had their own corrupt creatures chosen +judges of the city courts, proceeded to rob the taxpayers at their +leisure. By the time they were discovered and brought to justice, +their stealings amounted to many millions of dollars, and the rate of +taxation had risen to more than two per cent. + +[Sidenote: New experiments.] +The discovery of these wholesale robberies, and of other villainies +on a smaller scale in other cities, has led to much discussion of the +problems of municipal government, and to many attempts at practical +reform. The present is especially a period of experiments, yet in +these experiments perhaps a general drift of opinion may be discerned. +People seem to be coming to regard cities more as if they were huge +business corporations than as if they were little republics. The +lesson has been learned that in executive matters too much limitation +of power entails destruction of responsibility; the "ring" is now more +dreaded than the "one-man power;" and there is accordingly a manifest +tendency to assail the evil by concentrating power and responsibility +in the mayor. + +[Sidenote: New government of Brooklyn.] +The first great city to adopt this method was Brooklyn. In the first +place the city council was simplified and made a one-chambered council +consisting of nineteen aldermen. Besides this council of aldermen, the +people elect only three city officers,--the mayor, comptroller, +and auditor. The comptroller is the principal finance officer and +book-keeper of the city; and the auditor must approve bills against +the city, whether great or small, before they can be paid. The mayor +appoints, without confirmation by the council, all executive heads of +departments; and these executive heads are individuals, not +boards. Thus there is a single police commissioner, a single fire +commissioner, a single health commissioner, and so on; and each of +these heads appoints his own subordinates; so that the principle +of defined responsibility permeates the city government from top +to bottom,[14] In a few cases, where the work to be done is rather +discretionary than executive in character, it is intrusted to a board; +thus there is a board of assessors, a board of education, and a board +of elections. These are all appointed by the mayor, but for terms +not coinciding with his own; "so that, in most cases, no mayor would +appoint the whole of any such board unless he were to be twice elected +by the people." But the executive officers are appointed by the mayor +for terms coincident with his own, that is for two years. "The mayor +is elected at the general election in November; he takes office on the +first of January following, and for one month the great departments of +the city are carried on for him by the appointees of his predecessor. +On the first of February it becomes his duty to appoint his own heads +of departments, and thus each incoming mayor has the opportunity to +make an administration in all its parts in sympathy with himself." + +[Footnote 14: Seth Low on "Municipal Government," in Bryce's +_American Commonwealth_, vol. i. p. 626.] + +With all these immense executive powers entrusted to the mayor, +however, he does not hold the purse-strings. He is a member of a board +of estimate, of which the other four members are the comptroller +and auditor, with the county treasurer and supervisor. This board +recommends the amounts to be raised by taxation for the ensuing year. +These estimates are then laid before the council of aldermen, who +may cut down single items as they see fit, but have not the power to +increase any item. The mayor must see to it that the administrative +work of the year does not use up more money than is thus allowed him. + +[Sidenote: Some of its merits.] +This Brooklyn system has great merits. It ensures unity of +administration, it encourages promptness and economy, it locates +and defines responsibility, and it is so simple that everybody can +understand it. The people, having but few officers to elect, are +more likely to know something about them. Especially since everybody +understands that the success of the government depends upon the +character of the mayor, extraordinary pains are taken to secure good +mayors; and the increased interest in city politics is shown by the +fact that in Brooklyn more people vote for mayor than for governor +or for president. Fifty years ago such a reduction in the number of +elective officers would have greatly shocked all good Americans. But +In point of fact, while in small townships where everybody knows +everybody popular control is best ensured by electing all public +officers, it is very different in great cities where it is impossible +that the voters in general should know much about the qualifications +of a long list of candidates. In such cases citizens are apt to vote +blindly for names about which they know nothing except that they occur +on a Republican or a Democratic ticket; although, if the object of +a municipal election is simply to secure an upright and efficient +municipal government, to elect a city magistrate because he is a +Republican or a Democrat is about as sensible as to elect him because +he believes in homoeopathy or has a taste for chrysanthemums.[15] To +vote for candidates whom one has never heard of is not to insure +popular control, but to endanger it. It is much better to vote for +one man whose reputation we know, and then to hold him strictly +responsible for the appointments he makes. The Brooklyn system seems +to be a step toward lifting city government out of the mire of party +politics. + +[Footnote 15: Of course from the point of view of the party politician, +it Is quite different. Each party has its elaborate "machine" for +electing state and national officers; and in order to be kept at +its maximum of efficiency the machine must be kept at work on all +occasions, whether such occasions are properly concerned with +differences in party politics or not. To the party politician it +of course makes a great difference whether a city magistrate is a +Republican or a Democrat. To him even the political complexion of his +mail-carrier is a matter of importance. But these illustrations +only show that party politics may be carried to extremes that are +inconsistent with the best interests of the community. Once in a while +it becomes necessary to teach party organizations to know their place, +and to remind them that they are not the lords and masters but the +servants and instruments of the people.] + +This system went into operation in Brooklyn in January, 1882, and +seems to have given general satisfaction. Since then changes in a +similar direction, though with variations in detail, have been made in +other cities, and notably in Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted.] +In speaking of the difficulties which beset city government in the +United States, mention is often (and perhaps too exclusively) made +of the great mass of ignorant voters, chiefly foreigners without +experience in self-government, with no comprehension of American +principles and traditions, and with little or no property to suffer +from excessive taxation. Such people will naturally have slight +compunctions about voting away other people's money; indeed, they are +apt to think that "the Government" has got Aladdin's lamp hidden away +somewhere in a burglar-proof safe, and could do pretty much everything +that is wanted, if it only would. In the hands of demagogues such +people may be dangerous, they are supposed to be especially accessible +to humbug and bribes, and their votes have no doubt been used to +sustain and perpetuate most flagrant abuses. We often hear it said +that the only way to get good government is to deprive such people of +their votes and limit the suffrage to persons who have some property +at stake. Such a measure has been seriously recommended in New York, +but it is generally felt to be impossible without a revolution. + + +[Sidenote: Testimony of Pennsylvania Municipal Commission.] +Perhaps, after all, it may not be so desirable as it seems. The +ignorant vote has done a great deal of harm, but not all the harm. In +1878 it was reported by the Pennsylvania Municipal Commission, as +a remarkable but notorious fact, that the accumulations of debt in +Philadelphia and other cities of the state have been due, not to a +non-property-holding, irresponsible element among the electors, but to +the desire for speculation among the property-owners themselves. Large +tracts of land outside the built-up portion of the city have been +purchased, combinations made among men of wealth, and councils +besieged until they have been driven into making appropriations to +open and improve streets and avenues, largely in advance of the real +necessities of the city. Extraordinary as the statement may seem +at first, the experience of the past shows clearly that frequently +property-owners need more protection against themselves than against +the non-property-holding class.[16] This is a statement of profound +significance, and should be duly pondered by advocates of a restricted +suffrage. + +[Footnote 16: Allinson and Penrose, _Philadelphia, 1681-1887; a +History of Municipal Development_, p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: Dangers of a restricted suffrage.] +It should also be borne in mind that, while ignorant and needy voters, +led by unscrupulous demagogues, are capable of doing much harm with +their votes, it is by no means clear that the evil would be removed +by depriving them of the suffrage. It is very unsafe to have in any +community a large class of people who feel that political rights +or privileges are withheld from them by other people who are their +superiors in wealth or knowledge. Such poor people are apt to have +exaggerated ideas of what a vote can do; very likely they think it is +because they do not have votes that they are poor; thus they are ready +to entertain revolutionary or anarchical ideas, and are likely to be +more dangerous material in the hands of demagogues than if they were +allowed to vote. Universal suffrage has its evils, but it undoubtedly +acts as a safety-valve. The only cure for the evils which come +from ignorance and shiftlessness is the abolition of ignorance and +shiftlessness; and this is slow work. Church and school here find +enough to keep them busy; but the vote itself, even if often misused, +is a powerful educator; and we need not regret that the restriction of +the suffrage has come to be practically impossible. + +[Sidenote: Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national +politics.] +The purification of our city governments will never be completed +until they are entirely divorced from national party politics. The +connection opens a limitless field for "log-rolling," and rivets +upon cities the "spoils system," which is always and everywhere +incompatible with good government. It is worthy of note that the +degradation of so many English boroughs and cities during the Tudor +and Stuart periods was chiefly due to the encroachment of national +politics upon municipal politics. Because the borough returned members +to the House of Commons, it became worth while for the crown to +intrigue with the municipal government, with the ultimate object of +influencing parliamentary elections. The melancholy history of the +consequent dickering and dealing, jobbery and robbery, down to 1835, +when the great Municipal Corporations Act swept it all away, may be +read with profit by all Americans.[17] It was the city of London only, +whose power and independence had kept it free from complications with +national politics, that avoided the abuses elsewhere prevalent, so +that it was excepted from the provisions of the Act of 1835, and still +retains its ancient constitution. + +[Footnote 17: See _Parliamentary Reports_, 1835, "Municipal +Corporations Commission;" also Sir Erskine May, _Const. Hist._, +vol. ii. chap, xv.] + +In the United States the entanglement of municipal with national +politics has begun to be regarded as mischievous and possibly +dangerous, and attempts have in some cases been made toward checking +it by changing the days of election, so that municipal officers may +not be chosen at the same time with presidential electors. Such a +change is desirable, but to obtain a thoroughly satisfactory result, +it will be necessary to destroy the "spoils system" root and branch, +and to adopt effective measures of ballot reform. To these topics I +shall recur when treating of our national government. But first we +shall have to consider the development of our several states. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +Give an account of city government in the United States, under the +following heads:-- + +1. The American city:-- + + a. The mayor. + b. The heads of departments. + c. The city council. + d. The judges. + e. Appropriations. + +f. The power of committees. + +2. The practical workings of city governments:-- + + a. The contrast they show between theory and practice. + b. Various complaints urged against city governments. + c. Their effect upon the old-time confidence in the perfection of our + institutions. + +3. The growth of American cities:-- + + a. The cities of Washington's time and those of to-day. + b. The population of cities in 1790 and their population to-day. + c. City growth since 1840. + +4. Some consequences of rapid city growth:-- + a. The pressure to construct public works. + b. The incurring of heavy debts. + c. The wastefulness due to a lack of foresight. + d. The increase in government due to the complexity of a city. + e. An illustration of this complexity in Boston. + f. The consequent mystery that enshrouds much of city government. + +5. Some evils due to the fear of a "one-man" power:-- + a. The objection to such power a century ago. + b. Restrictions imposed upon the mayor's power. + c. The division and weakening of responsibility. + d. The lack of unity in the administration of business. + e. The inefficiency of committees for executive purposes. + f. The alarming increase in city debts. + +6. Attempts to remedy some of the evils of city government:-- + a. The power of veto granted to the mayor. + b. The limitation of city indebtedness. + c. State control of some city departments. + +7. Difficulties inherent in state control of cities:-- + a. Lack of familiarity with city affairs. + b. The tendency to "log-rolling." + c. Lack of time due to the pressure of state affairs. + d. The failure of state control as shown in the rule of the Tweed ring. + +8. The government of the city of Brooklyn:-- + a. The elevation of the "one-man" power above that of the "ring." + b. Officers elected by the people. + c. Officers appointed by the mayor. + d. The principle of well-defined responsibility. + e. The appointment of certain boards by the mayor. + f. The holding of the purse-strings. + g. The inadequacy of the township elective system, in a city like + Brooklyn. + +9. Restriction of the suffrage:-- + a. The dangers from large masses of ignorant voters. + b. The responsibility for the debt of Philadelphia and other cities. + c. The dangers from large classes who feel that political rights are + denied them. + +d. Suffrage as a "safety-valve." + +10. The mixture of city politics with those of the state or nation: + + a. The degradation of the English borough. + b. The exemption, of London from the Municipal Corporations Act. + c. The importance of separate days for municipal elections. + d. The importance of abolishing the "spoils system." + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +(Chiefly for pupils who live in cities.) + +1. When was your city organized? + +2. Give some account of its growth, its size, and its present +population. How many wards has it? Give their boundaries. +In which ward do you live? + +3. Examine its charter, and report a few of its leading provisions. + + +4. What description of government in this chapter comes nearest +to that of your city? + +5. Consider the suggestions about the study of town government +(pp. 43, 44), and act upon such of them as are applicable +to city government. + +6. What is the general impression about the purity of your city +government? (Consult several citizens and report what you find out.) + +7. What important caution should be observed about vague rumours of +inefficiency or corruption? + +8. What are the evidences of a sound financial condition in a city? + +9. Is the financial condition of your city sound? + +10. When debts are incurred, are provisions made at the same time for +meeting them when due? + +11. What are "sinking funds"? + +12. What wants has a city that a town is free from? + +13. Describe your system of public water works, making an analysis of +important points that may be presented. + +14. Do the same for your park system or any other system that involves a +long time for its completion as well as a great outlay. + +15. Are the principles of civil service reform recognized in your city? +If so, to what extent? Do they need to be extended further? + +16. Describe the parties that contended for the supremacy in your last +city election and tell what questions were at issue between them. + +17. What great corporations exact an influence in your city affairs? Is +such influence bad because it is great? What is a possible danger from +such influence? + +18. In view of the vast number and range of city interests, what is the +most that the average citizen can reasonably be asked to know and to do +about them? What things is it indispensable for him to know and to do is +he is to contribute to good government? + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. DIRECT AND INDIRECT GOVERNMENT.--The transition from +direct to indirect government, as illustrated in the gradual +development of a township into a city, may be profitably studied in +Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, Boston, 1852; and in +Winsor's _Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. pp. 189-302, +Boston, 1881. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES.--See Loftie's +_History of London_, 2 vols., London, 1883; Toulmin Smith's +_English Gilds_, with Introduction by Lujo Brentano, London, +1870; and the histories of the English Constitution, especially those +of Gneist, Stubbs, Taswell-Langmead, and Hannis Taylor. + +Section 3. GOVERNMENT OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.--_J.H.U. Studies_, +III., xi.-xii., J.A. Porter, _The City of Washington_; IV., iv., W.P. +Holcomb, _Pennsylvania Boroughs_; IV., x., C.H. Lovermore, _Town and +City Government of New Haven_; V., i.-ii., Allinson and Penrose, _City +Government of Philadelphia_; V., iii., J.M. Bugbee, _The City Government +of Boston_; V., iv., M.S. Snow, _The City Government of St. Louis_; +VII., ii.-iii., B. Moses, _Establishment of Municipal Government in San +Francisco_; VII., iv., W.W. Howe, _Municipal History of New Orleans_; +also _Supplementary Notes_, No. 4, Seth Low, _The Problem of City +Government_ (compare No. 1, Albert Shaw, _Municipal Government in +England_.) See, also, the supplementary volumes published at +Baltimore,--Levermore's _Republic of New Haven_, 1886, Allinson and +Penrose's _Philadelphia_, 1681-1887: _a History of Municipal +Development_, 1887. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Claims of Spain to the possession of North America.] +In the year 1600 Spain was the only European nation which had obtained +a foothold upon the part of North America now comprised within the +United States. Spain claimed the whole continent on the strength of +the bulls of 1493 and 1494, in which Pope Alexander VI. granted her +all countries to be discovered to the west of a certain meridian +which, happens to pass a little to the east of Newfoundland. From +their first centre in the West Indies the Spaniards had made a +lodgment in Florida, at St. Augustine, in 1565; and from Mexico they +had in 1605 founded Santa Fé, in what is now the territory of New +Mexico. + +[Sidenote: Claims of France and England.] +France and England, however, paid little heed to the claim of Spain. +France had her own claim to North America, based on the voyages of +discovery made by Verrazano in 1524 and Cartier in 1534, in the course +of which New York harbour had been visited and the St. Lawrence partly +explored. England had a still earlier claim, based on the discovery +of the North American continent in 1497 by John Cabot. It presently +became apparent that to make such claims of any value, discovery must +be followed up by occupation of the country. Attempts at colonization +had been made by French Protestants in Florida in 1562-65, and by the +English in North Carolina in 1584-87, but both attempts had failed +miserably. Throughout the sixteenth century French and English sailors +kept visiting the Newfoundland fisheries, and by the end of the +century the French and English governments had their attention +definitely turned to the founding of colonies in North America. + +[Sidenote: The London and Plymouth Companies.] +In 1606 two great joint-stock companies were formed in England for +the purpose of planting such colonies. One of these companies had its +headquarters at London, and was called the London Company; the other +had its headquarters at the seaport of Plymouth, in Devonshire, and +was called the Plymouth Company. To the London Company the king +granted the coast of North America from 34° to 38° north latitude; +that is, about from Cape Fear to the mouth of the Rappahannock. To the +Plymouth Company he granted the coast from 41° to 45°; that is, about +from the mouth of the Hudson to the eastern extremity of Maine. These +grants were to go in straight strips or zones across the continent +from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Almost nothing was then known +about American geography; the distance from ocean to ocean across +Mexico was not so very great, and people did not realize that further +north it was quite a different thing. As to the middle strip, starting +from the coast between the Rappahannock and the Hudson, it was open to +the two companies, with the understanding that neither was to plant a +colony within 100 miles of any settlement already begun by the +other. This meant practically that it was likely to be controlled by +whichever company should first come into the field with a flourishing +colony. Accordingly both companies made haste and sent out settlers in +1607, the one to the James River, the other to the Kennebec. The +first enterprise, after much suffering, resulted in the founding of +Virginia; the second ended in disaster, and it was not until 1620 that +the Pilgrims from Leyden made the beginnings of a permanent settlement +upon the territory of the Plymouth Company. + +[Sidenote: Their common charter.] +These two companies were at first organized under a single charter. +Each was to be governed by a council in England appointed by the king, +and these councils were to appoint councils of thirteen to reside in +the colonies, with powers practically unlimited. Nevertheless the king +covenanted with his colonists as follows: Also we do, for us, our +heirs and successors, declare by these presents that all and every the +persons, being our subjects, which shall go and inhabit within the +said colony and plantation, and every their children and posterity, +which shall happen to be born within any of the limits thereof, shall +have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities of free +denizens and natural subjects within any of our other dominions, to +all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within +this our realm of England, or in any other of our dominions. This +principle, that British subjects born in America should be entitled to +the same political freedom as if born in England, was one upon which +the colonists always insisted, and it was the repeated and persistent +attempts of George III. to infringe it that led the American colonies +to revolt and declare themselves independent of Great Britain. + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of the two companies.] +[Sidenote: Settlement of the three zones.] +Both the companies founded in 1606 were short-lived. In 1620 the +Plymouth Company got a new charter, which made it independent of the +London Company. In 1624 the king, James I., quarreled with the London +Company, brought suit against it in court, and obtained from the +subservient judges a decree annulling its charter. In 1635 the +reorganized Plymouth Company surrendered its charter to Charles I. +in pursuance of a bargain which need not here concern us.[1] But the +creation of these short-lived companies left an abiding impression +upon the map of North America and upon the organization of civil +government in the United States. Let us observe what was done with the +three strips or zones into which the country was divided: the northern +or New England zone, assigned to the Plymouth Company; the southern or +Virginia zone, assigned to the London Company; and the central zone, +for which the two companies were, so to speak, to run a race. + +[Footnote 1: See my _Beginnings of New England_, p. 112.] + +[Sidenote: 1. the northern zone.] +[Sidenote: 2. The southern zone.] +In 1663 Charles II. cut off the southern part of Virginia, the area +covering the present states of North and South Carolina and Georgia, +and it was formed into a new province called Carolina. In 1729 the +two groups of settlements which had grown up along its coast were +definitively separated into North and South Carolina; and in 1732 +the frontier portion toward Florida was organized into the colony of +Georgia. Thus four of the original thirteen states--Virginia, the two +Carolinas, and Georgia--were constituted in the southern zone. + +To this group some writers add Maryland, founded in 1632, because its +territory had been claimed by the London Company; but the earliest +settlements in Maryland, its principal towns, and almost the whole of +its territory, come north of latitude 38° and within the middle zone. + +[Sidenote: 3. The middle zone.] +Between the years 1614 and 1621 the Dutch founded their colony of New +Netherland upon the territory included between the Hudson and Delaware +rivers, or, as they quite naturally called them, the North and South +rivers. They pushed their outposts up the Hudson as far as the site +of Albany, thus intruding far into the northern zone. In 1638 Sweden +planted a small colony upon the west side of Delaware Bay, but in 1655 +it was surrendered to the Dutch. Then in 1664 the English took New +Netherland from the Dutch, and Charles II. granted the province to his +brother, the Duke of York. The duke proceeded to grant part of it to +his friends, Berkeley and Carteret, and thus marked off the new colony +of New Jersey. In 1681 the region west of New Jersey was granted to +William Penn, and in the following year Penn bought from the Duke of +York the small piece of territory upon which the Swedes had planted +their colony. Delaware thus became an appendage to Penn's greater +colony, but was never merged in it. Thus five of the original +thirteen states--Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and +Delaware--were constituted in the middle zone. + +As we have already observed, the westward movement of population in +the United States has largely followed the parallels of latitude, and +thus the characteristics of these three original strips or zones have, +with more or less modification, extended westward. The men of New +England, with their Portland and Salem reproduced more than 3000 miles +distant in the state of Oregon, and within 100 miles of the Pacific +Ocean, may be said in a certain sense to have realized literally the +substance of King James's grant to the Plymouth Company. It will be +noticed that the kinds of local government described in our earlier +chapters are characteristic respectively of the three original zones: +the township system being exemplified chiefly in the northern zone, +the county system in the southern zone, and the mixed township-county +system in the central zone. + +[Sidenote: House of Burgesses in Virginia.] +The London and Plymouth companies did not perish until after state +governments had been organized in the colonies already founded upon +their territories. In 1619 the colonists of Virginia, with the aid of +the more liberal spirits in the London Company, secured for themselves +a representative government; to the governor and his council, +appointed in England, there was added a general assembly composed of +two burgesses from each "plantation," [2] elected by the inhabitants. +This assembly, the first legislative body that ever sat in America, +met on the 30th of July, 1619, in the choir of the rude church at +Jamestown. The dignity of the burgesses was preserved, as in the House +of Commons, by sitting with their hats on; and after offering prayer, +and taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy, they proceeded to +enact a number of laws relating to public worship, to agriculture, and +to intercourse with the Indians. Curiously enough, so confident was +the belief of the settlers that they were founding towns, that they +called their representatives "burgesses," and down to 1776 the +assembly continued to be known as the House of "Burgesses," although +towns refused to grow in Virginia, and soon after counties were +organized in 1634 the burgesses sat for counties. Such were the +beginnings of representative government in Virginia. + +[Footnote 2: The word "plantation" is here used, not in its later and +ordinary sense, as the estate belonging to an individual planter, +but in an earlier sense. In this early usage it was equivalent to +"settlement." It was used in New England as well as in Virginia; +thus Salem was spoken of by the court of assistants in 1629 as "New +England's Plantation."] + +[Sidenote: Company of Massachusetts Bay.] +The government of Massachusetts is descended from the Dorchester +Company formed in England in 1623, for the ostensible purpose of +trading in furs and timber and catching fish on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay. After a disastrous beginning this company was +dissolved, but only to be immediately reorganized on a greater scale. +In 1628 a grant of the land between the Charles and Merrimack rivers +was obtained from the Plymouth Company; and in 1629 a charter was +obtained from Charles I. So many men from the east of England had +joined in the enterprise that it could no longer be fitly called a +Dorchester Company. The new name was significantly taken from the +New World. The charter created a corporation under the style of the +Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. The freemen +of the Company were to hold a meeting four times a year; and they were +empowered to choose a governor, a deputy governor, and a council of +eighteen assistants, who were to hold their meetings each month. They +could administer oaths of supremacy and allegiance, raise troops +for the defence of their possessions, admit new associates into the +Company, and make regulations for the management of their business, +with the vague and weak proviso that in order to be valid their +enactment must in no wise contravene the laws of England. Nothing was +said as to the place where the Company should hold its meetings, and +accordingly after a few months the Company transferred itself and +its charter to New England, in order that it might carry out its +intentions with as little interference as possible on the part of the +crown. + +Whether this transfer of the charter was legally justifiable or not +is a question which has been much debated, but with which we need not +here vex ourselves. The lawyers of the Company were shrewd enough to +know that a loosely-drawn instrument may be made to admit of great +liberty of action. Under the guise of a mere trading corporation the +Puritan leaders deliberately intended to found a civil commonwealth in +accordance with their own theories of government. + +[Sidenote: Government of Massachusetts; the General Court] +After their arrival in Massachusetts, their numbers increased so +rapidly that it became impossible to have a primary assembly of all +the freemen, and so a representative assembly was devised after the +model of the Old English county court. The representatives sat for +townships, and were called deputies. At first they sat in the same +chamber with the assistants, but in 1644 the legislative body was +divided into two chambers, the deputies forming the lower house, while +the upper was composed of the assistants, who were sometimes called +magistrates. In elections the candidates for the upper house were put +in nomination by the General Court and voted on by the freemen. In +general the assistants represented the common or central power of +the colony, while the deputies represented the interests of popular +self-government. The former was comparatively an aristocratic and the +latter a democratic body, and there were frequent disputes between the +two. + +It is worthy of note that the governing body thus constituted was at +once a legislative and a judicial body, like the English county court +which served as its model. Inferior courts were organized at an early +date in Massachusetts, but the highest judicial tribunal was the +legislature, which was known as the General Court. It still bears this +name to-day, though it long ago ceased to exercise judicial functions. + +[Sidenote: New charter of Massachusetts] +Now as the freemen of Massachusetts directly chose their governor and +deputy-governor, as well as their chamber of deputies, and also took +part in choosing their council of assistants, their government was +virtually that of an independent republic. The crown could interpose +no effective check upon its proceedings except by threatening to annul +its charter and send over a viceroy who might be backed up, if need +be, by military force. Such threats were sometimes openly made, but +oftener hinted at. They served to make the Massachusetts government +somewhat wary and circumspect, but they did not prevent it from +pursuing a very independent policy in many respects, as when, +for example, it persisted in allowing none but members of the +Congregational church to vote. This measure, by which it was intended +to preserve the Puritan policy unchanged, was extremely distasteful to +the British government. At length in 1684 the Massachusetts charter +was annulled, an attempt was made to suppress town-meetings, and the +colony was placed under a military viceroy, Sir Edmund Andros. After +a brief period of despotic rule, the Revolution in England worked a +change. In 1692 Massachusetts received a new charter, quite different +from the old one. The people were allowed to elect representatives to +the General Court, as before, but the governor and lieutenant-governor +were appointed by the crown, and all acts of the legislature were +to be sent to England for royal approval. The general government of +Massachusetts was thus, except for its possession of a charter, made +similar to that of Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Connecticut and Rhode Island] +The governments of Connecticut and Rhode Island were constructed +upon the same general plan as the first government of Massachusetts. +Governors councils, and assemblies were elected by the people. These +governments were made by the settlers themselves, after they had come +out from Massachusetts; and through a very singular combination of +circumstances[3] they were confirmed by charters granted by Charles II +in 1662, soon after his return from exile. So thoroughly republican +were these governments that they remained without change until 1818 in +Connecticut and until 1842 in Rhode Island. + +[Footnote 3: See my _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 192-196.] + + +We thus observe two kinds of state government in the American +colonies. In both kinds the people choose a representative legislative +assembly; but in the one kind they also choose their governor, while +in the other kind the governor is appointed by the crown. We have now +to observe a third kind. + + + +[Sidenote: Counties palatine in England] +[Sidenote: Charter of Maryland] +After the downfall of the two great companies founded in 1606, the +crown had a way of handing over to its friends extensive tracts of +land in America. In 1632 a charter granted by Charles I to Cecilius +Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded the palatinate colony of Maryland. To +understand the nature of this charter, we must observe that among the +counties of England there were three whose rulers from an early time +were allowed special privileges. Because Cheshire and Durham bordered +upon the hostile countries, Wales and Scotland, and needed to be ever +on the alert, their rulers, the earls of Chester and the bishops of +Durham, were clothed with almost royal powers of command, and similar +powers were afterwards granted through favouritism to the dukes of +Lancaster. The three counties were called counties palatine (i.e. +"palace counties"). Before 1600 the earldom of Chester and the duchy +of Lancaster had been absorbed by the crown, but the bishopric of +Durham remained the type of an almost independent state, and the +colony palatine of Maryland was modelled after it. The charter of +Maryland conferred upon Lord Baltimore the most extensive privileges +ever bestowed by the British crown upon any subject. He was made +absolute lord of the land and water within his boundaries, could erect +towns, cities, and ports, make war or peace, call the whole fighting +population to arms and declare martial law, levy tolls and duties, +establish courts of justice, appoint judges, magistrates, and other +civil officers, execute the laws, and pardon offenders. He could erect +manors, with courts-baron and courts-leet, and confer titles and +dignities, so that they differed from those of England. He could make +laws with the assent of the freemen of the province, and, in cases of +emergency, ordinances not impairing life, limb, or property, without +their assent. He could found churches and chapels, have them +consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of England, and +appoint the incumbents.[4] For his territory and these royal powers +Lord Baltimore was to send over to the palace at Windsor a tribute of +two Indian arrows yearly, and to reserve for the king one fifth part +of such gold and silver as he might happen to get by mining. "The king +furthermore bound himself and his successors to lay no taxes, customs, +subsidies, or contributions whatever upon the people of the province, +and in case of any such demand being made, the charter expressly +declared that this clause might be pleaded as a discharge in full." +Maryland was thus almost an independent state. Baltimore's title was +Lord Proprietary of Maryland, and his title and powers were made +hereditary in his family, so that he was virtually a feudal king. His +rule, however, was effectually limited. The government of Maryland was +carried on by a governor and a two-chambered legislature. The governor +and the members of the upper house of the legislature were appointed +by the lord proprietary, but the lower house of the legislature was +elected, here as elsewhere, by the people; and in accordance with +time-honoured English custom all taxation must originate in the lower +house, which represented the people. + +[Footnote 4: Browne's _Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, p. +19.] + +[Sidenote: Charter of Pennsylvania.] +[Sidenote: Mason and Dixon's line] +Half a century after the founding of Maryland, similar though somewhat +less extensive proprietary powers were granted by Charles II. to +William Penn, and under them the colony of Pennsylvania was founded +and Delaware was purchased. Pennsylvania and Delaware had each its +house of representatives elected by the people; but there was only one +governor and council for the two colonies. The governor and council +were appointed by the lord proprietary, and as the council confined +itself to advising the governor and did not take part in legislation, +there was no upper house. The legislature was one-chambered. The +office of lord proprietary was hereditary in the Penn family. For +about eighty years the Penns and Calverts quarrelled, like true +sovereigns, about the boundary-line between their principalities, +until in 1763 the matter was finally settled. A line was agreed upon, +and the survey was made by two distinguished mathematicians, Charles +Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The line ran westward 244 miles from the +Delaware River, and every fifth milestone was engraved with the arms +of Penn on the one side and those of Calvert on the other. In later +times, after all the states north of Maryland had abolished slavery, +Mason and Dixon's line became famous as the boundary between slave +states and free states. + +[Sidenote: Other proprietary governments.] +At first there were other proprietary colonies besides those just +mentioned, but in course of time the rights or powers of their lords +proprietary were resumed by the crown. When New Netherland was +conquered from the Dutch it was granted to the duke of York as lord +proprietary; but after one-and-twenty years the duke ascended the +throne as James II., and so the part of the colony which he had kept +became the royal province of New York. The part which he had sold to +Berkeley and Carteret remained for a while the proprietary colony of +New Jersey, sometimes under one government, sometimes divided between +two; but the rule of the lords proprietary was very unpopular, and in +1702 their rights were surrendered to the crown. The Carolinas and +Georgia were also at first proprietary colonies, but after a while +they willingly came under the direct sway of the crown. In general the +proprietary governments were unpopular because the lords proprietary, +who usually lived in England and visited their colonies but seldom, +were apt to regard their colonies simply as sources of personal +income. This was not the case with William Penn, or the earlier +Calverts, or with James Oglethorpe, the illustrious founder of +Georgia; but it was too often the case. So long as the lord's rents, +fees, and other emoluments were duly collected, he troubled himself +very little as to what went on in the colony. If that had been all, +the colony would have troubled itself very little about him. But the +governor appointed by this absentee master was liable to be more +devoted to his interests than to those of the people, and the civil +service was seriously damaged by worthless favourites sent over from +England for whom the governor was expected to find some office that +would pay them a salary. On the whole, it seemed less unsatisfactory +to have the governors appointed by the crown; and so before the +Revolutionary War all the proprietary governments had fallen, except +those of the Penns and the Calverts, which doubtless survived because +they were the best organized and best administered. + +[Sidenote: At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of +colonial government: 1. Republican, 2. Proprietary, 3. Royal.] +There were thus at the time of the Revolutionary War three forms of +state government in the American colonies. There were, _first_, +the Republican colonies, in which the governors were elected by the +people, as in Rhode Island and Connecticut; _secondly,_the +Proprietary colonies, in which the governors were appointed by +hereditary proprietors, as in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; +_thirdly_, the Royal colonies,[5] in which the governors were +appointed by the crown, as in Georgia, the two Carolinas, Virginia, +New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. It is +customary to distinguish the Republican colonies as _Charter_ +colonies, but that is not an accurate distinction, inasmuch as the +Proprietary colonies also had charters. And among the Royal colonies, +Massachusetts, having been originally a republic, still had a charter +in which her rights were so defined as to place her in a somewhat +different position from the other Royal colonies; so that Prof. +Alexander Johnston, with some reason, puts her in a class by herself +as a _Semi-royal_ colony. + +[Footnote 5: Or, as they were sometimes called, Royal +_provinces._ In the history of Massachusetts many writers +distinguish the period before 1692 as the _colonial_ period, and +the period 1692 to 1774 as the _provincial_ period.] + +[Sidenote: In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which +alone could impose taxes.] +These differences, it will be observed, related to the character and +method of filling the governor's office. In the Republican colonies +the governor naturally represented the interests of the people, in the +Proprietary colonies he was the agent of the Penns or the Calverts, +in the Royal colonies he was the agent of the king. All the thirteen +colonies alike had a legislative assembly elected by the people. The +basis of representation might be different in different colonies, +as we have seen that in Massachusetts the delegates represented +townships, whereas in Virginia they represented counties; but in all +alike the assembly was a truly representative body, and in all alike +it was the body that controlled the expenditure of public money. These +representative assemblies arose spontaneously because the founders of +the American colonies were Englishmen used from time immemorial to tax +themselves and govern themselves. As they had been wont to vote for +representatives in England, instead of leaving things to be controlled +by the king, so now they voted for representatives in Maryland or New +York, instead of leaving things to be controlled by the governor. The +spontaneousness of all this is quaintly and forcibly expressed by the +great Tory historian Hutchinson, who tells us that in the year 1619 a +house of burgesses _broke out_ in Virginia! as if it had been the +mumps, or original sin, or any of those things that people cannot help +having. + +[Sidenote: The governor's council was a kind of upper house.] +This representative assembly was the lower house in the colonial +legislatures. The governor always had a council to advise with him and +assist him in his executive duties, in imitation of the king's privy +council in England. But in nearly all the colonies this council took +part in the work of legislation, and thus sat as an upper house, with +more or less power of reviewing and amending the acts of the assembly. +In Pennsylvania, as already observed, the council refrained from this +legislative work, and so, until some years after the Revolution, the +Pennsylvania legislature was one-chambered. The members of the council +were appointed in different ways, sometimes by the king or the lord +proprietary, or, as in Massachusetts, by the outgoing legislature, or, +as in Connecticut, they were elected by the people. + +[Sidenote: The colonial government was like the English system in +miniature.] +Thus all the colonies had a government framed after the model to which +the people had been accustomed in England. It was like the English +system in miniature, the governor answering to the king, and the +legislature, usually two-chambered, answering to parliament. And as +quarrels between king and parliament were not uncommon, so quarrels +between governor and legislature were very frequent indeed, except +in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The royal governors, representing +British imperial ideas rather than American ideas, were sure to come +into conflict with the popular assemblies, and sometimes became +the objects of bitter popular hatred. The disputes were apt to be +concerned with questions in which taxation was involved, such as +the salaries of crown officers, the appropriations for war with +the Indians, and so on. Such disputes bred more or less popular +discontent, but the struggle did not become flagrant so long as the +British parliament refrained from meddling with it. + + + +[Sidenote: The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament;] +The Americans never regarded parliament as possessing any rightful +authority over their internal affairs. When the earliest colonies were +founded, it was the general theory that the American wilderness was +part of the king's private domain and not subject to the control of +parliament. This theory lived on in America, but died out in England. +On the one hand the Americans had their own legislatures, which stood +to them in the place of parliament. The authority of parliament was +derived from the fact that it was a representative body, but it did +not represent Americans. Accordingly the Americans held that the +relation of each American colony to Great Britain was like the +relation between England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. +England and Scotland then had the same king, but separate parliaments, +and the English parliament could not make laws for Scotland. Such is +the connection between Sweden and Norway at the present day; they have +the same king, but each country legislates for itself. So the American +colonists held that Virginia, for example, and Great Britain had the +same king, but each its independent legislature; and so with the +other colonies,--there were thirteen parliaments in America, each as +sovereign within its own sphere as the parliament at Westminster, and +the latter had no more right to tax the people of Massachusetts than +the Massachusetts legislature had to tax the people of Virginia. + +In one respect, however, the Americans did admit that parliament had a +general right of supervision over all parts of the British empire.[6] +Maritime commerce seemed to be as much the affair of one part of the +empire as another, and it seemed right that it should be regulated by +the central parliament at Westminster. Accordingly the Americans did +not resist custom-house taxes as long as they seemed to be imposed +for purely commercial purposes; but they were quick to resist direct +taxation, and custom-house taxes likewise, as soon as these began to +form a part of schemes for extending the authority of parliament over +the colonies. + +[Footnote 6: except in the regulation of maritime commerce.] + +In England, on the other hand, this theory that the Americans were +subject to the king's authority but not to that of parliament +naturally became unintelligible after the king himself had become +virtually subject to parliament.[7] The Stuart kings might call +themselves kings by the grace of God, but since 1688 the sovereigns of +Great Britain owe their seat upon the throne to an act of parliament. + +[Footnote 7: In England there grew up the theory of the imperial +supremacy of parliament.] + +To suppose that the king's American subjects were not amenable to the +authority of parliament seemed like supposing that a stream could rise +higher than its source. Besides, after 1700 the British empire began +to expand in all parts of the world, and the business of parliament +became more and more imperial. It could make laws for the East India +Company; why not, then, for the Company of Massachusetts Bay? + +[Sidenote: Conflict between the British and the American theories was +precipitated by George III.] +Thus the American theory of the situation was irreconcilable with +the British theory, and when parliament in 1765, with no unfriendly +purpose, began laying taxes upon the Americans, thus invading the +province of the colonial legislatures, the Americans refused to +submit. The ensuing quarrel might doubtless have been peacefully +adjusted, had not the king, George III., happened to be entertaining +political schemes which were threatened with ruin if the Americans +should get a fair hearing for their side of the case.[8] Thus +political intrigue came in to make the situation hopeless. When a +state of things arises, with which men's established methods of civil +government are incompetent to deal, men fall back upon the primitive +method which was in vogue before civil government began to exist. +They fight it out; and so we had our Revolutionary War, and became +separated politically from Great Britain. It is worthy of note, in +this connection, that the last act of parliament, which brought +matters to a crisis, was the so-called Regulating Act of April, 1774, +the purpose of which was to change the government of Massachusetts. +This act provided that members of the council should be appointed by +the royal governor, that they should be paid by the crown and thus +be kept subservient to it, that the principal executive and judicial +officers should be likewise paid by the crown, and that town-meetings +should be prohibited except for the sole purpose of electing town +officers. Other unwarrantable acts were passed at the same time, but +this was the worst. Troops were sent over to aid in enforcing this +act, the people of Massachusetts refused to recognize its validity, +and out of this political situation came the battles of Lexington and +Bunker Hill. + +[Footnote 8: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-64, 69-71 +(Riverside Library for Young People).] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Various claims to North America:-- + + a. Spanish. + b. English. + c. French. + +2. What was needed to make such claims of any value? + +3. The London and Plymouth companies:-- + + a. The time and purpose of their organization. + b. The grant to the London Company. + c. The grant to the Plymouth Company. + d. The magnitude of the zones granted. + e. The peculiar provisions for the intermediate zone. + f. First attempts at settlement. + +4. To what important principle of the common charter of these +two companies did the colonists persistently cling? + +5. The influence of these short-lived companies upon the settlement +and government of the United States:-- + + a. A review of the zones and their assignment. + b. The states of the northern zone and their origin. + c. The states of the southern zone and their origin. + d. The states of the middle zone and their origin. + e. The influence of the movement of population on local + government in each zone. + +6. Early state government in Virginia:-- + + a. The part appointed and the part elected. + b. The first legislative body in America. + c. The dignity of its members. + d. The reason for the name "House of Burgesses." + +7. Early state government in Massachusetts:-- + + a. The Dorchester Company. + b. The government provided for the Company of Massachusetts + Bay by its charter. + c. The real purpose of the Puritan leaders. + d. The change from the primary assembly of freemen to the + representative assembly. + e. The division of this assembly into two houses, with a comparison + of the houses. + f. The reason for the name "General Court." + g. The loss of the charter and the causes that led to it. + h. The new charter as compared with the old. + +8. Compare the early governments of Connecticut and Rhode +Island with the first government of Massachusetts. + +9. What two kinds of state government have thus far been +observed? + +10. Early state government in Maryland:-- + + a. The favouritism of the crown as shown in land grants. + b. The palatine counties of England. + c. The bishopric of Durham the model of the colony of + Maryland. + d. The extraordinary privileges granted Lord Baltimore. + e. The tribute to be paid in return. + f. The ruler a feudal long. + g. Limitations of the ruler's power. + +11. Early state government in Pennsylvania and Delaware:-- + + a. The powers of Penn as compared with those of Calvert. + b. One governor and council, + c. The legislature of each colony. + d. The quarrels of the Penns and Calverts. + e. Mason and Dixon's line. + +12. What other proprietary governments were organized, and +what was their fate? + +13. Why were proprietary governments unpopular? (Note the +exceptions, however.) + +14. Classify and define the forms of colonial government in existence +at the beginning of the Revolution. + +15. Show that these forms differed chiefly in respect to the governor's +office. + +16. A representative assembly in each of the thirteen colonies:-- + + a. The basis of representation. + b. The control of the public money. + c. The spontaneousness of the representative assembly. + +17. The governor's council:-- + + a. The custom in England. + b. The council as an upper house. + c. The council in Pennsylvania. + +18. Compare the colonial systems with the British (1) in organization +and (2) in the nature of their political quarrels. + + +19. What was the American theory of the relation of each colony +to the British parliament? + +20. What was the American attitude towards maritime regulations? + +21. What was the British theory of the relation of the American +colonies to parliament? + +22. How was the Revolutionary War brought on? + +23. Describe the last act of parliament that brought matters to a +crisis. + + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments.] +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence.] +During the earlier part of the Revolutionary War most of the states +had some kind of provisional government. The case of Massachusetts +may serve as an illustration. There, as in the other colonies, the +governor had the power of dissolving the assembly. This was like the +king's power of dissolving parliament in the days of the Stuarts. +It was then a dangerous power. In modern England there is nothing +dangerous in a dissolution of parliament; on the contrary, it is a +useful device for ascertaining the wishes of the people, for a new +House of Commons must be elected immediately. But in old times the +king would turn his parliament out of doors, and as long as he could +beg, borrow, or steal enough money to carry on government according to +his own notions, he would not order a new election. Fortunately such +periods were not very long. The latest instance was in the reign of +Charles I, who got on without a parliament from 1629 to 1640.[9] In +the American colonies the dissolution of the assembly by the governor +was not especially dangerous, but it sometimes made mischief by +delaying needed legislation. During the few years preceding the +Revolution, the assemblies were so often dissolved that it became +necessary for the people to devise some new way of getting their +representatives together to act for the colony. In Massachusetts this +end was attained by the famous "Committees of Correspondence." No one +could deny that town-meetings were legal, or that the people of +one township had a right to ask advice from the people of another +township. Accordingly each township appointed a committee to +correspond or confer with committees from other townships. This system +was put into operation by Samuel Adams in 1772, and for the next two +years the popular resistance to the crown was organized by these +committees. For example, before the tea was thrown into Boston +harbour, the Boston committee sought and received advice from every +township in Massachusetts, and the treatment of the tea-ships was from +first to last directed by the committees of Boston and five neighbour +towns. + +[Footnote: 9: The kings of France contrived to get along without a +representative assembly from 1614 to 1789, and during this long period +abuses so multiplied that the meeting of the States-General in 1789 +precipitated the great revolution which overthrew the monarchy.] + +[Sidenote: Provincial Congress] +In 1774 a further step was taken. As parliament had overthrown the old +government, and sent over General Gage as military governor, to put +its new system into operation, the people defied and ignored Gage, and +the townships elected delegates to meet together in what was called a +"Provincial Congress." The president of this congress was the chief +provincial executive officer of the commonwealth, and there was a +small executive council, known as the "Committee of Safety." + +[Sidenote: Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents."] +This provisional government lasted about a year. In the summer of +1775 the people went further. They fell back upon their charter and +proceeded to carry on their government as it had been carried on +before 1774, except that the governor was left out altogether. The +people in town-meeting elected their representatives to a general +assembly, as of old, and this assembly chose a council of twenty-eight +members to sit as an upper house. The president of the council was the +foremost executive officer of the commonwealth, but he had not the +powers of a governor. He was no more the governor than the president +of our federal senate is the president of the United States. The +powers of the governor were really vested in the council, which was +an executive as well as a legislative body, and the president was +its chairman. Indeed, the title "president" is simply the Latin for +"chairman," he who "presides" or "sits before" an assembly. In 1775 +it was a more modest title than "governor," and had not the smack of +semi-royalty which lingered about the latter. Governors had made so +much trouble that people were distrustful of the office, and at first +it was thought that the council would be quite sufficient for the +executive work that was to be done. Several of the states thus +organized their governments with a council at the head instead of +a governor; and hence in reading about that period one often comes +across the title "president," somewhat loosely used as if equivalent +to governor. Thus in 1787 we find Benjamin Franklin called "president +of Pennsylvania," meaning "president of the council of Pennsylvania." +But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory and did not last long. +It soon appeared that for executive work one man is better than a +group of men. In Massachusetts, in 1780, the old charter was replaced +by a new written constitution, under which was formed the state +government which, with some emendations in detail, has continued to +the present day. Before the end of the eighteenth century all the +states except Connecticut and Rhode Island, which, had always been +practically Independent, thus remodelled their governments. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the Senates.] +These changes, however, were very conservative. The old form of +government was closely followed. First there was the governor, elected +in some states by the legislature, in others by the people. Then there +was the two-chambered legislature, of which the lower house was the +same institution after the Revolution that it had been before. The +upper house, or council, was retained, but in a somewhat altered +form. The Americans had been used to having the acts of their popular +assemblies reviewed by a council, and so they retained this revisory +body as an upper house. But the fashion of copying names and titles +from the ancient Roman republic was then prevalent, and accordingly +the upper house was called a Senate. There was a higher property +qualification for senators than for representatives, and generally +their terms of service were longer. In some states they were chosen by +the people, in others by the lower house. In Maryland they were chosen +by a special college of electors, an arrangement which was copied in +our federal government in the election of the president of the United +States. In most of the states there was a lieutenant-governor, as +there had been in the colonial period, to serve in case of the +governor's death or incapacity; ordinarily the lieutenant-governor +presided over the senate. + +[Sidenote: Likenesses and differences between British and American +systems.] +Thus our state governments came to be repetitions on a small scale of +the king, lords, and commons of England. The governor answered to the +king, with his dignity very much curtailed by election for a short +period. The senate answered to the House of Lords except in being a +representative and not a hereditary body. It was supposed to represent +more especially that part of the community which was possessed of most +wealth and consideration; and in several states the senators were +apportioned with some reference to the amount of taxes paid by +different parts of the state.[10] When New York made its senate a +supreme court of appeal, it was in deliberate imitation of the House +of Lords. On the other hand, the House of Representatives answered to +the House of Commons as it used to be in the days when its power was +really limited by that of the upper house and the king. At the present +day the English of Commons is a supreme body. In case of a serious +difference with the House of Lords, the upper house must yield, or +else new peers will be created in sufficient number to reverse its +vote; and the lords always yield before this point is reached. So, +too, though the veto power of the sovereign has never been explicitly +abolished, it has not been exercised since 1707, and would not now be +tolerated for a moment. In America there is no such supreme body. The +bill passed by the lower house may be thrown out by the upper house, +or if it passes both it may be vetoed by the governor; and unless the +bill can again pass both houses by more than a simple majority, the +veto will stand. In most of the states a two-thirds vote in the +affirmative is required. + +[Footnote 10: See my _Critical Period of American History_, p. +68.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. The dissolution of assemblies and parliaments:-- + + a. The governor's power over the assembly in the colonies. + b. The king's power over parliament in England. + c. The danger of dissolution in the time of the Stuarts. + d. The safety of dissolution in modern England. + e. The frequency of dissolution before the Revolution. + +2. Representation of the people in the provisional government +of Massachusetts:-- + + a. The committees of correspondence. + b. Their function, with an illustration from the "tea-ships." + c. The provincial congress. + d. The committee of safety. + e. The return to the two-chambered legislature of the charter. + +3. Executive powers in the provisional government of Massachusetts;-- + + a. The foremost executive officer. + b. Where the power of governor was really vested. + c. Why the name of president was preferred to that of governor. + d. The example of Massachusetts followed elsewhere. + e. The end of provisional government in 1780. + +4. The council transformed to a senate:-- + + a. The principle of reviewing the acts of the popular assembly. + b. The borrowing of Roman names. + c. The qualifications and service of senators. + d. The lieutenant-governor. + +5. Our state governments patterned after the government of +England:-- + + a. The governor and the king. + b. The Senate and the House of Lords. + c. The House of Representatives and the House of Commons. + d. Some differences between the British system and the American. + + + +Section 3. _The State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Later modifications.] +During the present century our state governments have undergone +more or less revision, chiefly in the way of abolishing property +qualifications for offices making the suffrage universal, and electing +officers that were formerly appointed. Only in Delaware does there +still remain a property qualification for senators. There is no longer +any distinction in principle between the upper and lower houses of the +legislature. Both represent population, the usual difference being +that the senate consists of fewer members who represent larger +districts. Usually, too, the term of the representatives is two years, +and the whole house is elected at the same time, while the term of +senators is four years, and half the number are elected every two +years. This system of two-chambered legislatures is probably retained +chiefly through a spirit of conservatism, because it is what we +are used to. But it no doubt has real advantages in checking hasty +legislation. People are always wanting to have laws made about all +sorts of things, and in nine cases out of ten their laws would be +pernicious laws; so that it is well not to have legislation made too +easy. + +[Sidenote: The suffrage.] +The suffrage by which the legislature is elected is almost universal. +It is given in all the states to all male citizens who have reached +the age of one-and-twenty. In many it is given also to _denizens_ +of foreign birth who have declared an intention of becoming citizens. +In some it is given without further specification to every male +_inhabitant_ of voting age. Residence in the state for some +period, varying from three months to two years and a half, is also +generally required; sometimes a certain length of residence in the +county, the town, or even in the voting precinct, is prescribed. In +many of the states it is necessary to have paid one's poll-tax. There +is no longer any property qualification, though there was until +recently in Rhode Island, Criminals, idiots, and lunatics are excluded +from the suffrage. Some states also exclude duellists and men who bet +on elections. Connecticut and Massachusetts shut out persons who are +unable to read. In no other country has access to citizenship and the +suffrage been made so easy. + +[Sidenote: Separation between legislation and the executive.] +A peculiar feature of American governments, and something which it is +hard for Europeans to understand, is the almost complete separation +between the executive and the legislative departments. In European +countries the great executive officers are either members of the +legislature, or at all events have the right to be present at its +meetings and take part in its discussions; and as they generally have +some definite policy by which they are to stand or fall, they are wont +to initiate legislation and to guide the course of the discussion. But +in America the legislatures, having no such central points about which +to rally their forces, carry on their work in an aimless, rambling +sort of way, through the agency of many standing committees. When +a measure is proposed it is referred to one of the committees for +examination before the house will have anything to do with it. Such a +preliminary examination is of course necessary where there is a vast +amount of legislative work going on. But the private and disconnected +way in which our committee work is done tends to prevent full and +instructive discussion in the house, to make the mass of legislation, +always chaotic enough, somewhat more chaotic, and to facilitate the +various evil devices of lobbying and log-rolling. + +In pointing out this inconvenience attendant upon the American plan of +separating the executive and legislative departments, I must not be +understood as advocating the European plan as preferable for this +country. The evils that inevitably flow from any fundamental change in +the institutions of a country are apt to be much more serious than the +evils which the change is intended to remove. Political government is +like a plant; a little watering and pruning do very well for it, but +the less its roots are fooled with, the better. In the American system +of government the independence of the executive department, with +reference to the legislative, is fundamental; and on the whole it is +eminently desirable. One of the most serious of the dangers which +beset democratic government, especially where it is conducted on a +great scale, is the danger that the majority for the time being will +use its power tyrannically and unscrupulously, as it is always tempted +to do. Against such unbridled democracy we have striven to guard +ourselves by various constitutional checks and balances. Our written +constitutions and our Supreme Court are important safeguards, as +will be shown below. The independence of our executives is another +important safeguard. But if our executive departments were mere +committees of the legislature--like the English cabinet, for +example--this independence could not possibly be maintained; and the +loss of it would doubtless entail upon us evils far greater than those +which mow flow from want of leadership in our legislatures.[11] + +[Footnote 11: In two admirable essays on "Cabinet Responsibility and +the Constitution," and "Democracy and the Constitution," Mr. Lawrence +Lowell has convincingly argued that the American system is best +adapted to the circumstances of this country. Lowell, _Essays on +Government_, pp. 20-117, Boston, 1890.] + +We must remember that government is necessarily a cumbrous affair, +however conducted. + +The only occasion on which the governor is a part of the legislature +is when he signs or vetoes a bill. Then he is virtually in himself +a third house.[12] As an executive officer the governor is far less +powerful than in the colonial times. We shall see the reason of +this after we have enumerated some of the principal offices in the +executive department. There is always a secretary of state, whose main +duty is to make and keep the records of state transactions. There is +always a state treasurer, and usually a state auditor or comptroller +to examine the public accounts and issue the warrants without which +the treasurer cannot pay out a penny of the state's money. There is +almost always an attorney-general, to appear for the state in the +supreme court in all cases in which the state is a party, and in +all prosecutions for capital offences. He also exercises some +superintendence over the district attorneys, and acts as legal adviser +to the governors and the legislature. There is also in many states +a superintendent of education; and in some there are boards of +education, of health, of lunacy and charity, bureau of agriculture, +commissioners of prisons, of railroads, of mines, of harbours, of +immigration, and so on. Sometimes such boards are appointed by the +governor, but such officers as the secretary of state, the treasurer, +auditor, and attorney-general are, in almost all the states, elected +by the people. They are not responsible to the governor, but to the +people who elect them. They are not subordinate to the governor, but +are rather his colleagues. Strictly speaking, the governor is not the +head of the executive department, but a member of it. The executive +department is parcelled out in several pieces, and his is one of the +pieces. + +[Footnote 12: The state executive.] + +[Sidenote: The governor's functions: 1. Advisor of legislature. 2. +Commander of state militia. 3. Royal prerogative of pardon. 4. Veto power.] +The ordinary functions of the governor are four in number. 1. He +sends a message to the legislature, at the beginning of each session, +recommending such measures as he would like to see embodied in +legislation. 2. He is commander-in-chief of the state militia, and as +such can assist the sheriff of a county in putting down a riot, or +the President of the United States, in the event of a war. On such +occasions the governor may become a personage of immense importance, +as, for example, in our Civil War, when President Lincoln's demands +for troops met with such prompt response from the men who will be +known to history as the great "war governors." 3. The governor is +invested with the royal prerogative of pardoning criminals, or +commuting the sentences pronounced upon them by the courts. This power +belongs to kings in accordance with the old feudal notion that the +king was the source or fountain of justice. When properly used it +affords an opportunity for rectifying some injustice for which the +ordinary machinery of the law could not provide, or for making such +allowances for extraordinary circumstances as the court could not +properly consider. In our country it is too often improperly used to +enable the worst criminals to escape due punishment, just because +it is a disagreeable duty to hang them. Such misplaced clemency is +pleasant for the murderers, but it makes life less secure for honest +men and women, and in the less civilized regions of our country it +encourages lynch law. 4. In all the states except Rhode Island, +Delaware, Ohio, and North Carolina, the governor has a veto upon the +acts of the legislature, as above explained; and in ordinary times +this power, which is not executive but legislative, is probably the +governor's most important and considerable power. In thirteen of +the states the governor can veto particular items in a bill for the +appropriation of public money, while at the same time he approves +the rest of the bill. This is a most important safeguard against +corruption, because where the governor does not have this power it is +possible to make appropriations for unworthy or scandalous purposes +along with appropriations for matters of absolute necessity, and then +to lump them all together in the same bill, so that the governor must +either accept the bad along with the good or reject the good along +with the bad. It is a great gain when the governor can select the +items and veto some while approving others. In such matters the +governor is often more honest and discreet than the legislature, if +for no other reason, because he is one man, and responsibility can be +fixed upon him more clearly than upon two or three hundred. + +Such, in brief outline, is the framework of the American state +governments. But our account would be very incomplete without some +mention of three points, all of them especially characteristic of +the American state, and likely to be overlooked or misunderstood by +Europeans. + +[Sidenote: In building the state, the local self-government was left +unimpaired.] +_First_, while we have rapidly built up one of the greatest +empires yet seen upon the earth, we have left our self-government +substantially unimpaired in the process. This is exemplified in +two ways: first, in the relationship of the state to its towns +and counties, and, secondly, in its relationship to the federal +government. Over the township and county governments the state +exercises a general supervision; indeed, it clothes them with their +authority. Townships and counties have no sovereignty; the state, on +the other hand, has many elements of sovereignty, but it does not use +them to obliterate or unduly restrict the control of the townships +and counties over their own administrative work. It leaves the local +governments to administer themselves. As a rule there is only just +enough state supervision to harmonize the working of so many local +administrations. Such a system of government comes as near as possible +toward making all American citizens participate actively in the +management of public affairs. It generates and nourishes a public +spirit and a universal acquaintance with matters of public interest +such as has probably never before been seen in any great country. +Public spirit of equal or greater intensity may have been witnessed +in small and highly educated communities, such as ancient Athens or +mediaeval Florence, but in the United States it is diffused over an +area equal to the whole of Europe. Among the leading countries of the +world England is the one which comes nearest to the United States +in the general diffusion of enlightened public spirit and political +capacity throughout all classes of society. + +[Sidenote: Instructive contrast with France.] +A very notable contrast to the self-government which has produced such +admirable results is to be seen in France, and as contrasts are +often instructive, let me mention one or two features of the French +government. There is nothing like the irregularity and spontaneity +there that we have observed in our survey of the United States. +Everything is symmetrical. France is divided into eighty-nine +_departments_, most of them larger than the state of Delaware, +some of them nearly as large as Connecticut, and the administration +of one department is exactly like that of all the others. The chief +officer of the department is the prefect, who is appointed by +the minister of the interior at Paris. The prefect is treasurer, +recruiting officer, school superintendent, all in one, and he appoints +nearly all inferior officers. The department has a council, elected +by universal suffrage, but it has no power of assessing taxes. The +central legislature in Paris decides for it how much money it shall +use and how it shall raise it. The department council is not even +allowed to express its views on political matters; it can only attend +to purely local details of administration. + +The smallest civil division in France is the _commune_, which may +be either rural or urban. The commune has a municipal council which +elects a mayor; but when once elected the mayor becomes directly +responsible to the prefect of the department, and through him to the +minister of the interior. If these greater officers do not like what +the mayor does, they can overrule his acts or even suspend him from +office; or upon their complaint the President of the Republic can +remove him. + +[Sidenote: In France whether it is nominally a despotic empire or a +republic at the top, there is scarcely any self-government at the +bottom. Hence government there rests on an insecure foundation.] +Thus in France people do not manage their own affairs, but they are +managed for them by a hierarchy of officials with its head at Paris. +This system was devised by the Constituent Assembly in 1790 and +wrought into completeness by Napoleon in 1800. The men who devised +it in 1790 actually supposed that they were inaugurating a system or +political freedom(!), and unquestionably it was a vast improvement +upon the wretched system which it supplanted; but as contrasted with +American methods and institutions, it is difficult to call it anything +else than a highly centralized despotism. It has gone on without +essential change through all the revolutions which have overtaken +France since 1800. The people have from time to time overthrown an +unpopular government at Paris, but they have never assumed the direct +control of their own affairs. + +Hence it is commonly remarked that while the general intelligence +of the French people is very high, their intelligence in political +matters is, comparatively speaking, very low. Some persons try to +explain this by a reference to peculiarities of race. But if we +Americans were to set about giving to the state governments things +to do that had better be done by counties and towns, and giving the +federal government things to do that had better be done by the states, +it would not take many generations to dull the keen edge of our +political capacity. We should lose it as inevitably as the most +consummate of pianists will lose his facility if he stops practising. +It is therefore a fact of cardinal importance that in the United +States the local governments of township, county, and city are left to +administer themselves instead of being administered by a great bureau +with its head at the state capital. In a political society thus +constituted from the beginning it has proved possible to build up +our Federal Union, in which the states, while for certain purposes +indissolubly united, at the same time for many other purposes retain +their self-government intact. As in the case of other aggregates, the +nature of the American political aggregate has been determined by the +nature of its political units. + +[Sidenote: Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the +American Union.] +_Secondly_, let us observe how great are the functions retained +by our states under the conditions of our Federal Union. The +powers granted to our federal government, such as the control over +international questions, war and peace, the military forces, the +coinage, patents and copyrights, and the regulation of commerce +between the states and with foreign countries,--all these are powers +relating to matters that affect all the states, but could not be +regulated harmoniously by the separate action of the states. In order +the more completely to debar the states from meddling with such +matters, they are expressly prohibited from entering into agreements +with each other or with a foreign power; they cannot engage in war, +save in case of actual invasion or such imminent danger as admits of +no delay; without consent of Congress they cannot keep a military or +naval force in time of peace, or impose custom-house duties. Besides +all this they are prohibited from granting titles of nobility, coining +money, emitting bills of credit, making anything but gold and silver +coin a tender in payment of debts, passing bills of attainder, _ex +post facto_ laws, or laws impairing the obligation of contracts. +The force of these latter restrictions will be explained hereafter. +Such are the limitations of sovereignty imposed upon the states within +the Federal Union. + +Compared with the vast prerogatives of the state legislatures, these +limitations seem small enough. All the civil and religious rights +of our citizens depend upon state legislation; the education of the +people is in the care of the states; with them rests the regulation +of the suffrage; they prescribe the rules of marriage, the legal +relations of husband and wife, of parent and child; they determine the +powers of masters over servants and the whole law of principal and +agent, which is so vital a matter in all business transactions; they +regulate partnership, debt and credit, insurance; they constitute all +corporations, both private and municipal, except such as specially +fulfill the financial or other specific functions of the federal +government; they control the possession, distribution, and use of +property, the exercise of trades, and all contract relations; and they +formulate and administer all criminal law, except only that which +concerns crimes committed against the United States, on the high seas, +or against the law of nations. Space would fail in which to enumerate +the particulars of this vast range of power; to detail its parts would +be to catalogue all social and business relationships, to examine all +the foundations of law and order.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Woodrow Wilson, _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, p. 437.] + +This enumeration, by Mr. Woodrow Wilson, is so much to the point that I +content myself with transcribing it. A very remarkable illustration of +the preponderant part played by state law in America is given by Mr. +Wilson, in pursuance of the suggestion of Mr. Franklin Jameson.[14] +Consider the most important subjects of legislation in England during +the present century, the subjects which make up almost the entire +constitutional history of England for eighty years. These subjects are +Catholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, +the amendment of the poor-laws, the reform of municipal corporations, +the repeal of the corn laws, the admission of Jews to parliament, the +disestablishment of the Irish church, the alteration of the Irish land +laws, the establishment of national education, the introduction of the +ballot, and the reform of the criminal law. In the United States only +two of these twelve great subjects could be dealt with by the federal +government: the repeal of the corn laws, as being a question of national +revenue and custom-house duties, and the abolition of slavery, by virtue +of a constitutional amendment embodying some of the results of our Civil +War. All the other questions enumerated would have to be dealt with by +our state governments; and before the war that was the case with the +slavery question also. A more vivid illustration could not be asked for. + +[Footnote 14: Jameson, "The Study of the Constitutional +History of the States" _J.H.U. Studies_, IV., v.] + +How complete is the circle of points in which the state touches the +life of the American citizen, we may see in the fact that our +state courts make a complete judiciary system, from top to bottom +independent of the federal courts.[15] An appeal may be carried from +a state court to a federal court in cases which are found to involve +points of federal law, or in suits arising between citizens of +different states, or where foreign ambassadors are concerned. Except +for such cases the state courts make up a complete judiciary world of +their own, quite outside the sphere of the United States courts. + +[Footnote 15: Independence of the state courts.] + +[Sidenote: Constitution of the state courts.] +We have already had something to say about courts in connection with +those primitive areas for the administration of justice, the hundred +and the county. In our states there are generally four grades of +courts. There are, first, the _justices of the peace _, with +jurisdiction over "petty police offences and civil suits for trifling +sums." They also conduct preliminary hearings in cases where persons +are accused of serious crimes, and when the evidence seems to warrant +it they may commit the accused person for trial before a higher court. +The mayor's court in a city usually has jurisdiction similar to that +of justices of the peace. Secondly, there are _county_ and +_municipal courts_, which hear appeals from justices of the peace +and from mayor's courts, and have original jurisdiction over a more +important grade of civil and criminal cases. Thirdly, there are +_superior courts_, having original jurisdiction over the most +important cases and over wider of the state areas of country, so that +they do not confine their sessions to one place, but move about from +place to place, like the English _justices in eyre_. Cases are +carried up, on appeal, from the lower to the superior court. Fourthly, +there is in every state a _supreme court_, which generally has no +original jurisdiction, but only hears appeals from the decisions of +the other courts. In New York there is a "supremest" court, styled +the _court of appeals_, which has the power of revising sundry +judgments of the supreme court; and there is something similar in New +Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana.[16] + +[Footnote 16: Wilson. The State, pp. 509-513.] + +[Sidenote: Elective and appointive judges.] +In the thirteen colonies the judges were appointed by the governor, +with or without the consent of the council, and they held office +during life or good behaviour. Among the changes made in our state +constitutions since the Revolution, there have been few more important +than those which have affected the position of the judges. In most of +the states they are now elected by the people for a term of years, +sometimes as short as two years. There is a growing feeling that this +change was a mistake. It seems to have lowered the general character +of the judiciary. The change was made by reasoning from analogy: it +was supposed that in a free country all offices ought to be elective +and for short terms. But the case of a judge is not really analogous +to that of executive officers, like mayors and governors and +presidents. The history of popular liberty is much older than the +history of the United States, and it would be difficult to point to +an instance in which popular liberty has ever suffered from the +life tenure of judges. On the contrary, the judge ought to be as +independent as possible of all transient phases of popular sentiment, +and American experience during the past century seems to teach us that +in the few states where the appointing of judges during life or good +behaviour has prevailed, the administration of justice has been better +than in the states where the judges have been elected for specified +terms. Since 1869 there has been a marked tendency toward lengthening +the terms of elected judges, and in several states there has been a +return to the old method of appointing judges by the governor, subject +to confirmation by the senate.[17] It is one of the excellent features +of our system of federal government, that the several states can thus +try experiments each for itself and learn by comparison of results. +When things are all trimmed down to a dead level of uniformity by the +central power, as in France, a prolific source of valuable experiences +is cut off and shut up. + +[Footnote 17: For details, see the admirable monograph of Henry Hitchcock, +_American State Constitutions_, p. 53.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Modifications of state government during the present century:-- + + a. Property qualifications for office. + b. The distinction between the upper and the lower house. + c. The advantage in retaining a two-chambered legislature. + +2. The suffrage:-- + + a. The persons to whom it is granted. + b. The qualifications established. + c. The persons excluded from its exercise. + +3. The separation of the executive and legislative departments:-- + + a. The relation of the great executive officers to legislation in + Europe. + b. The work of legislation in the United States. + c. The most serious of the dangers that beset democratic + government. + d. Important safeguards against such a danger. + +4. The state executive:-- + + a. The governor as a part of the legislature. + b. Officers always belonging to executive departments. + c. Officers frequently belonging to executive departments. + d. The relation of the governor to other elected executive + officers. + +5. The ordinary functions of the governor:-- + + a. Advising the legislature. + b. Commanding the militia. + c. Pardoning criminals or commuting their sentences. + d. Vetoing acts of the legislature. + +6. Why is the power to veto particular items in a bill appropriating +public money an important safeguard against corruption? + +7. Local self-government in the United States left unimpaired:-- + + a. The extent of state supervision of towns and counties. + b. The spirit thus developed in American citizens. + +8. A lesson from the symmetry of the French government:-- + + a. The departments and their administration. + b. The prefect and his duties. + c. The department council and its sphere of action. + d. The commune. + e. The French system contrasted with the American. + f. A common view of the political intelligence of the French. + g. The probable effect of excessive state control upon the + political intelligence of Americans. + +9. The greatness of the functions retained by the states under +the federal government:-- + + a. Powers granted to the government of the United States. + b. The reason for granting such powers, + c. The powers denied to the states. + d. The reason for such prohibitions. + e. The vast range of powers exercised by the states. + f. The most important subjects of legislation in England for the past + eighty years. + g. The governments, state or national, to which these twelve + subjects would have fallen in the United States. + +10. Speak of the independence of the state courts. + +11. In what cases only may matters be transferred from them to +a federal court? + +12. The constitution of the state courts:-- + + a. Justices of the peace; the mayor's court. + b. County and municipal courts. + c. The superior courts. + d. The supreme court. + e. Still higher courts in certain states. + +13. The selection of judges and their terms of service:-- + + a. In the thirteen colonies. + b. In most of the states since the Revolution. + c. The reasons for a life tenure. + d. The tendency since 1869. + +14. Mention a conspicuous advantage of our system of government over the +French. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Was there ever a charter government in your state? If so, where is +the charter at the present time? What is its present value? Try to see +it, if possible. Pupils of Boston and vicinity, for example, may +examine in the office of the secretary of state, at the state house, the +charter of King Charles (1629) and that of William and Mary (1692). + +2. When was your state organized under its present government? If it is +not one of the original thirteen, what was its history previous to +organization; that is, who owned it and controlled it, and how came it +to become a state? + +3. What are the qualifications for voting in your state? + +4. What are the arguments in favour of an educational qualification for +voters (as, for example, the ability to read the Constitution of the +United States)? What reasons might be urged against such qualifications? + +5. Who is the governor of your state? What political party supported him +for the position? For what ability or eminent service was he selected? + +6. Give illustrations of the governor's exercise of the four functions +of advising, vetoing, pardoning, and commanding (consult the newspapers +while the legislature is in session). + +7. Mention some things done by the governor that are not included +in the enumeration of his functions in the text. + +8. Visit, if practicable, the State House. Observe the various offices, +and consider the general nature of the business done there. Attend a +session of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Obtain some +"orders of the day." + +9. If the legislature is in session, follow its proceedings in the +newspapers. What important measures are under discussion? On what sort +of questions are party lines pretty sharply drawn? On what sort of +questions are party distinctions ignored? + +10. Consult the book of general or public statutes, and report on +the following points:-- + + a. The magnitude of the volume. + b. Does it contain all the laws? If not, what are omitted? + c. Give some of the topics dealt with. + d. Where are the laws to be found that have been made since the printing + of the volume? + e. Are the originals of the laws in the volume? If not, where are they + and in what shape? + +11. Is everybody expected to know all the laws? + +12. Does ignorance of the law excuse one for violating it? + +13. Suppose people desire the legislature to pass some law, as, for +example, a law requiring towns and cities to provide flags for +school-houses, how is the attention of the legislature secured? What are +the various stages through which the bill must pass before it can become +a law? Why should there be so many stages? + +14. Give illustrations of the exercise of federal government, state +government, and local government, in your own town or city. Of which +government do you observe the most signs? Of which do you observe the +fewest signs? Of which government do the officers seem most sensitive to +local opinion? + +15. Are the sessions of the legislature in your state annual or +biennial? What is the argument for each system? + +For answers to numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19, consult the public statutes, +a lawyer, or some intelligent business man. A fair idea of the +successive steps in the courts may be obtained from a good unabridged +dictionary by looking up the technical terms employed in these +questions. + +16. What is the difference between a civil action and a criminal? + + a. In respect to the object to be gained in each? + b. In respect to the party that is the plaintiff? + c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case goes + against him? + +17. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action that is +tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider +(1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) the recognizance, +(5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, +(9) the arguments,(10) the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and +its enforcement. + +What is an appeal?--This procedure seems cumbrous, but it +is founded in common sense. What one of the foregoing steps, for +example, would you omit? Why? + +18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is tried +with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun in a lower court +where the first five stages are the same as in number 17. Then follow +(6) the examination of witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to +appear before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the +complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or county +attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of the grand jury upon the +indictment, (11) the challenging of jurors before the trial, (12) the +arraignment, (13) the plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) +the charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sentence, with +its penalty and the enforcement of it. What are "exceptions?"--Why +should there be a jury in the higher court when there is none in the +lower? What is the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing +steps? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish crime? Why should +an accused person receive so much consideration? + +19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. Consider +(1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the summons to the defendant, (4) +the return, (5) the pleading, (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) +the judgment or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution.--If the +action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides the question +at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in points of law. + +20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and +acquitted, has he any redress? + +21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your +community? + +22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and property +in your community? + +23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a law and the +enforcement of that law? If so, what is it? + +24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 177 may +be taken as a special topic. Consult any modern history of England. + +25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for the +citizen,--an acquaintance with the principles and details of government +and law, or a law-abiding and law-supporting spirit? What reasons have +you for your opinion? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with, +those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce it? (Suppose a +case in which you do not approve the law, and then answer.) + +26. May you ever become an officer of the law? Would you as a citizen be +justified in withholding from an officer that obedience and moral +support which you as an officer might justly demand from every citizen? + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +The State.--For the founding of the several colonies, their charters, +etc., the student may profitably consult the learned monographs in +Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, 8 vols., +Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite full in details, is given in +Lodge's _Short History of the English Colonies in America_, +N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account of the revision and +transformation of the colonial governments in Bancroft's _History of +the United States_, final edition, N.Y., 1886, vol. v. pp. 111-125. + +The series of "American Commonwealths," edited by H.E. Scudder, and +published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be found helpful. The +following have been published: Johnston, _Connecticut: a Study +of a Commonwealth-Democracy_, 1887; Roberts, _New York: the +Planting and Growth of the Empire State_, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, +_Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, 2d ed., 1884; Cooke, +_Virginia: a History of the People_, 1883; Shaler, _Kentucky: +a Pioneer Commonwealth_, 1884; King, _Ohio: First Fruits of +the Ordinance of 1787_,1888; Dunn, _Indiana: a Redemption from +Slavery_, 1888; Cooley, _Michigan: a History of Governments_, +1885; Carr, _Missouri: a Bone of Contention_, 1888; Spring, +_Kansas: the Prelude to the War for the Union_, 1885; Royce, +_California: a Study of American Character_, 1886; Barrows, +_Oregon: the Struggle for Possession_, 1883. + +In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is advised +to consult Dole's _Talks about Law: a Popular Statement of What +our Law is and How it is Administered_, Boston, 1887. This book +deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive way it gives an +account of such facts and principles of law as ought to be familiarly +understood by every man and woman. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + + +[Sidenote: In the American state there is a power above the +legislature.] +Toward the close of the preceding chapter[1] I spoke of three points +especially characteristic of the American state, and I went on to +mention two of them. The third point which I had in mind is so +remarkable and important as to require a chapter all to itself. In the +American state the legislature is not supreme, but has limits to its +authority prescribed by a written document, known as the Constitution; +and if the legislature happens to pass a law which violates the +constitution, then whenever a specific case happens to arise in which +this statute is involved, it can be brought before the courts, and +the decision of the court, if adverse to the statute, annuls it and +renders it of no effect. The importance of this feature of civil +government in the United States can hardly be overrated. It marks a +momentous advance in civilization, and it is especially interesting as +being peculiarly American. Almost everything else in our fundamental +institutions was brought by our forefathers in a more or less highly +developed condition from England; but the development of the written +constitution, with the consequent relation of the courts to the +law-making power, has gone on entirely upon American soil. + +[Footnote 1: See above, p. 172.] + +[Sidenote: Germs of the idea of a written constitution.] +[Sidenote: Our indebtedness to the Romans.] +[Sidenote: Mediæval charters.] +The germs of the written constitution existed a great while ago. +Perhaps it would not be easy to say just when they began to exist. +It was formerly supposed by such profound thinkers as Locke and such +persuasive writers as Rousseau, that when the first men came together +to live in civil society, they made a sort of contract with one +another as to what laws they would have, what beliefs they would +entertain, what customs they would sanction, and so forth. This +theory of the Social Contract was once famous, and exerted a notable +influence on political history, and it is still interesting in the +same way that spinning-wheels and wooden frigates and powdered wigs +are interesting; but we now know that men lived in civil society, +with complicated laws and customs and creeds, for many thousand years +before the notion had ever entered anybody's head that things could +be regulated by contract. That notion we owe chiefly to the ancient +Romans, and it took them several centuries to comprehend the idea and +put it into practice. We owe them a debt of gratitude for it. The +custom of regulating business and politics and the affairs of life +generally by voluntary but binding agreements is something without +which we moderns would not think life worth living. It was after the +Roman world--that is to say, Christendom, for in the Middle Ages the +two terms were synonymous--had become thoroughly familiar with the +idea of contract, that the practice grew up of granting written +charters to towns, or monasteries, or other corporate bodies. The +charter of a mediaeval town was a kind of written contract by which +the town obtained certain specified immunities or privileges from the +sovereign or from a great feudal lord, in exchange for some specified +service which often took the form of a money payment. It was common +enough for a town to buy liberty for hard cash, just as a man might +buy a farm. The word _charter_ originally meant simply a paper or +written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer +of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment +documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable +evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the +towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their +liberties." + +[Sidenote: The "Great Charter" (1215).] +After a while the word charter was applied in England to a particular +document which specified certain important concessions forcibly wrung by +the people from a most unwilling sovereign. This document was called +_Magna Charta_, or the "Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 15, +1215, by John, king of England. After the king had signed it and gone +away to his room, he rolled in a mad fury on the floor, screaming +curses, and gnawing sticks and straw in the impotence of his, wrath.[2] +Perhaps it would be straining words to call a transaction in which the +consent was so one-sided a "contract," but the idea of Magna Charta was +derived from that of the town charters with which people were already +familiar. Thus a charter came to mean "a grant made by the sovereign +either to the whole people or to a portion of them, securing to them the +enjoyment of certain rights." Now in legal usage a charter differs from +a constitution in this, that the former is granted by the sovereign, +while the latter is established by the people themselves: both are the +fundamental law of the land.[3] a The distinction is admirably +expressed, but in history it is not always easy to make it. Magna Charta +was in form a grant by the sovereign, but it was really drawn up by the +barons, who in a certain sense represented the English people; and +established by the people after a long struggle which was only in its +first stages in John's time. To some extent it partook of the nature of +a written constitution. + +[Footnote 2: Green, _Hist. of the English People_, vol. i. p. +248.] + +[Footnote 3: Bouvier, _Law Dictionary_, 12th ed., vol. i. p. +259.] + +[Sidenote: The "Bill of Rights" (1689).] +Let us now observe what happened early in 1689, after James II had +fled from England. On January 28th parliament declared the throne +vacant. Parliament then drew up the "Declaration of Rights," a +document very similar in purport to the first eight amendments to +our Federal Constitution, and on the 13th of February the two houses +offered the crown to William and Mary on condition of their accepting +this declaration of the "true, ancient, and indubitable rights of the +people of this realm." The crown having been accepted on these terms, +parliament in the following December enacted the famous "Bill of +Rights," which simply put their previous declaration into the form of +a declaratory statute. The Bill of Rights was not--even in form--a +grant from a sovereign; it was an instrument framed by the +representatives of the people, and without promising to respect +it William and Mary could no more have mounted the throne than a +president of the United States could be inducted into office if he +were to refuse to take the prescribed oath of allegiance to the +Federal Constitution. The Bill of Rights was therefore, strictly +speaking, a piece of written constitution; it was a constitution as +far as it went. + +[Sidenote: Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane +(1656).] +The seventeenth century, the age when the builders of American +commonwealths were coming from England, was especially notable in +England for two things. One was the rapid growth of modern commercial +occupations and habits, the other was the temporary overthrow of +monarchy, soon followed by the final subjection of the crown to +parliament. Accordingly the sphere of contract and the sphere of +popular sovereignty were enlarged in men's minds, and the notion of a +written constitution first began to find expression. The "Instrument +of Government" which in 1653 created the protectorate of Oliver +Cromwell was substantially a written constitution, but it emanated +from a questionable authority and was not ratified. It was drawn up +by a council of army officers; and "it broke down because the first +parliament summoned under it refused to acknowledge its binding +force." [4] The dissolution of this parliament accordingly left Oliver +absolute dictator. In 1656, when it seemed so necessary to decide what +sort of government the dictatorship of Cromwell was to prepare the way +for, Sir Harry Vane proposed that a _national convention_ should +be called for drawing up a written constitution.[5] The way in which +he stated his case showed that he had in him a prophetic foreshadowing +of the American idea as it was realized in 1787. But Vane's ideas were +too far in advance of his age to be realized then in England. Older +ideas, to which men were more accustomed, determined the course of +events there, and it was left for Americans to create a government by +means of a written constitution. And when American statesmen did so, +they did it without any reference to Sir Harry Vane. His relation to +the subject has been discovered only in later days, but I mention him +here in illustration of the way in which great institutions grow. They +take shape when they express the opinions and wishes of a multitude +of persons; but it often happens that one or two men of remarkable +foresight had thought of them long beforehand. + +[Footnote 4: Gardiner, _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan +Revolution_, p. lx.] + +[Footnote 5: See Hosmer's _Young Sir Henry Vane_, pp. +432-444,--one of the best books ever written for the reader who wishes +to understand the state of mind among the English people in the crisis +when they laid the foundations of the United States.] + +[Sidenote: The Mayflower compact(1620).] +In America the first attempts at written constitutions were in the +fullest sense made by the people, and not through representatives but +directly. In the Mayflower's cabin, before the Pilgrims had landed on +Plymouth rock, they subscribed their names to a compact in which they +agreed to constitute themselves into a "body politic," and to enact such +laws as might be deemed best for the colony they were about to +establish; and they promised "all due submission and obedience" to such +laws. Such a compact is of course too vague to be called a constitution. +Properly speaking, a written constitution is a document which defines +the character and powers of the government to which its framers are +willing to entrust themselves. Almost any kind of civil government might +have been framed under the Mayflower compact, but the document is none +the less interesting as an indication of the temper of the men who +subscribed their names to it. + +[Sidenote: The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut" (1639).] +The first written constitution known to history was that by which the +republic of Connecticut was organized in 1639. At first the affairs +of the Connecticut settlements had been directed by a commission +appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts, but on the 14th of +January, 1639, all the freemen of the three river towns--Windsor, +Hartford, and Wethersfield--assembled at Hartford, and drew up a +written constitution, consisting of eleven articles, in which the +frame of government then and there adopted was distinctly described. +This document, known as the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut", +created the government under which the people of Connecticut lived for +nearly two centuries before they deemed it necessary to amend it. The +charter granted to Connecticut by Charles II. in 1662 was simply a +royal recognition of the government actually in operation since the +adoption of the Fundamental Orders. + +[Sidenote: Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the +modern state constitution.] +In those colonies which had charters these documents served, to a +certain extent, the purposes of a written constitution. They limited the +legislative powers of the colonial assemblies. The question sometimes +came up as to whether some statute made by the assembly was not in +excess of the powers conferred by the charter. This question usually +arose in connection with some particular law case, and thus came before +the courts for settlement,--first before the courts of the colony; +afterwards it might sometimes be carried on appeal before the Privy +Council in England. If the court decided that the statute was in +transgression of the charter, the statute was thereby annulled.[6] The +colonial legislature, therefore, was not a supreme body, even within the +colony; its authority was restricted by the terms of the charter. Thus +the Americans, for more than a century before the Revolution, were +familiarized with the idea of a legislature as a representative body +acting within certain limits prescribed by a written document. They had +no knowledge or experience of a supreme legislative body, such as the +House of Commons has become since the founders of American states left +England. At the time of the Revolution, when the several states framed +new governments, they simply put a written constitution into the +position of supremacy formerly occupied by the charter. Instead of a +document expressed in terms of a royal grant, they adopted a document +expressed in terms of a popular edict. To this the legislature must +conform; and people were already somewhat familiar with the method of +testing the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter brought +before the courts. The mental habit thus generated was probably more +important than any other single circumstance in enabling our Federal +Union to be formed. Without it, indeed, it would have been impossible to +form a durable union. + +[Footnote 6: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. i. pp. 243, +415.] + +[Sidenote: Abnormal development of the state constitution, encroaching +upon the province of the legislature.] +[Sidenote: The Swiss "Referendum" 196] +Before pursuing this subject, we may observe that American state +constitutions have altered very much in character since the first part +of the present century. The earlier constitutions were confined to a +general outline of the organization of the government. They did not +undertake to make the laws, but to prescribe the conditions under +which laws might be made and executed. Recent state constitutions +enter more and more boldly upon the general work of legislation. For +example, in some states they specify what kinds of property shall be +exempt from seizure for debt, they make regulations as to railroad +freight-charges, they prescribe sundry details of practice in the +courts, or they forbid the sale of intoxicating liquors. Until +recently such subjects would have been left to the legislatures, no +one would have thought of putting them into a constitution. The motive +in so doing is a wish to put certain laws into such a shape that it +will be difficult to repeal them. What a legislature sees fit to enact +this year it may see fit to repeal next year. But amending a state +constitution is a slow and cumbrous process. An amendment may be +originated in the legislature, where it must secure more than a mere +majority--perhaps a three fifths or two thirds vote--in order to pass; +in some states it must be adopted by two successive legislatures, +perhaps by two thirds of one and three fourths of the next; in some +states not more than one amendment can be brought before the same +legislature; in some it is provided that amendments must not be +submitted to the people oftener than once in five years; and so +on. After the amendment has at length made its way through the +legislature, it must be ratified by a vote of the people at the next +general election. Another way to get a constitution amended is to call +a convention for that purpose. In order to call a convention, it is +usually necessary to obtain a two thirds vote in the legislature; but +in some states the legislature is required at stated intervals to +submit to the people the question of holding such a convention, as +in New Hampshire every seven years; in Iowa, every ten years; in +Michigan, every sixteen years; in New York, Ohio, Maryland, and +Virginia, every twenty years.[7] A convention is a representative +body elected by the people to meet at some specified time and +place for some specified purpose, and its existence ends with the +accomplishment of that purpose. It is in this occasional character +that the convention differs from an ordinary legislative assembly. +With such elaborate checks against hasty action, it is to be presumed +that if a law can be once embodied in a state constitution, it will be +likely to have some permanence. Moreover, a direct vote by the people +gives a weightier sanction to a law than a vote in the legislature. +There is also, no doubt, a disposition to distrust legislatures and in +some measure do their work for them by direct popular enactment. For +such reasons some recent state constitutions have come almost to +resemble bodies of statutes. Mr. Woodrow Wilson suggestively compares +this kind of popular legislation with the Swiss practice known as the +_Referendum_; in most of the Swiss cantons an important act of +the legislature does not acquire the force of law until it has been +_referred_ to the people and voted on by them. "The objections +to the, _referendum_," says Mr. Wilson, "are, of course, that it +assumes a discriminating judgment and a fullness of information on the +part of the people touching questions of public policy which they do +not often possess, and that it lowers the sense of responsibility on +the part of legislators." [8] Another serious objection to our recent +practice is that it tends to confuse the very valuable distinction +between a constitution and a body of statutes, to necessitate a +frequent revision of constitutions, and to increase the cumbrousness +of law-making. It would, however, be premature at the present time to +pronounce confidently upon a practice of such recent origin. It is +clear that its tendency is extremely democratic, and that it implies +a high standard of general intelligence and independence among the +people. If the evils of the practice are found to outweigh its +benefits, it will doubtless fall into disfavour. + +[Footnote 7: See Henry Hitchcock's admirable monograph, _American +State Constitutions_, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 8: Wilson. The State, p. 490.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. What is to be said with regard to the following +topics? + +I. A power above the legislature:-- + + a. The constitution. + b. The relation of the courts to laws that violate the constitution. + c. The importance of this relation. + d. The American origin of the written constitution. + +2. The germs of the idea of a written constitution:-- + + a. The theory of a "social contract." + b. The objection to this theory. + c. Roman origin of the idea of contract. + +3. Mediæval charters:-- + + a. The charter of a town. + b. The word _charter_. + c. Magna Charta. + d. The difference between a charter and a constitution. + e. The form of Magna Charta as contrasted with its essential nature. + +4. Documents somewhat resembling written constitutions:-- + + a. The Declaration of Rights. + b. The Bill of Rights. + +5. The foreshadowing of the American idea of written constitutions:-- + +a. Two conditions especially notable in England in the seventeenth +century. + b. The influence of these conditions on popular views of government. + c. The "Instrument of Government." + d. Sir Harry Vane's proposition. + e. Why allude to Vane's scheme when nothing came of it? + +6. Early suggestions of written constitutions in America:-- + + a. The compact on the Mayflower. + b. Wherein the compact fell short of a written constitution. + c. The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." + +7. The development of the colonial charter into a written constitution:-- + + a. The limitation of the powers of colonial assemblies. + b. The decision of questions relating to the transgression of a charter + by a colonial legislature. + c. The colonial assembly as contrasted with the House of + Commons. + d. The difference between the written constitution and the + charter for which it was substituted. + e. The readiness of the people to adopt written constitutions. + +8. The extensive development of the written constitution in +some states:-- + + a. The simplicity of the earlier constitutions. + b. Illustrations of the legislative tendencies of later constitutions. + c. The motive for such extension of a constitution. + d. The difficulty of amending a constitution. + e. The legislative method of amendment. + f. The convention method of amendment. + g. The presumed advantage of embodying laws in the constitution. + h. A comparison with the Swiss Referendum. + i. Objections to the Swiss Referendum. + j. Other objections to the practice of putting laws into the + constitution. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Do you belong to any society that has a constitution? Has the society +rules apart from the constitution? Which may be changed the more +readily? Why not put all the rules into the constitution? + +2. Read the constitution of your state in part or in full. Give some +account of its principal divisions, of the topics it deals with, and its +magnitude or fullness. Are there any amendments? If so, mention two or +three, and give the reasons for their adoption. Is there any declaration +of rights in it? If so, what are some of the rights declared, and whose +are they said to be? + +3. Where is the original of your state constitution kept? What sort of +looking document do you suppose it to be? Where would you look for a +copy of it? If a question arises in any court about the interpretation +of the constitution, must the original be produced to settle the wording +of the document? + +4. Has any effort been made in your state to put into the constitution +matters that have previously been subjects of legislative action? If so, +give an account of the effort, and the public attitude towards it. + +5. Which is preferable,--a constitution that commands the approval of +the people as a whole or that which has the support of a dominant +political party only? + +6. Suppose it is your personal conviction that a law is +unconstitutional, may you disregard it? What consequences might ensue +from such disregard? + +7. May people honestly and amicably differ about the interpretation of +the constitution or of a law, in a particular case? If important +interests are dependent on the interpretation, how can the true one be +found out? Does a lawyer's opinion settle the interpretation? What value +has such an opinion? Where must people go for authoritative and final +interpretations of the laws? Can they get such interpretations by simply +asking for them? + +8. The constitution of New Hampshire provides that when the governor +cannot discharge the duties of his office, the president of the senate +shall assume them. During the severe sickness of a governor recently, +the president of the senate hesitated to act in his stead; it was not +clear that the situation was grave enough to warrant such a course. +Accordingly the attorney-general of the state brought an action against +the president of the senate for not doing his duty; the court considered +the situation, decided against the president of the senate, and ordered +him to become acting governor. Why was this suit necessary? Was it +conducted in a hostile spirit? Wherein did the decision help the state? +Wherein did it help the defendant? Wherein may it possibly prove helpful +in the future history of the state? + +9. Mention particular things that the governor, the legislature, and the +judiciary of your state have done or may do. Then find the section or +clause or wording in your state constitution that gives authority for +each of these things. For example, read the particular part that +authorizes your legislature:-- + + a. To incorporate a city. + b. To compel children to attend school. + c. To buy uniforms for a regiment of soldiers. + d. To establish a death penalty. + e. To send a committee abroad to study a system of waterworks. + +10. Trace the authority of a school-teacher, a policeman, a selectman, a +mayor, or of any public officer, back to some part of your constitution. + +11. Mention any parts of your constitution that seem general and +somewhat indefinite, and that admit, therefore, of much freedom in +interpretation. + +12. Show how the people are, in one aspect, subordinate to the +constitution; in another, superior to it. + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Written Constitutions.--Very little has been written or published with +reference to the history of the development of the idea of a written +constitution. The student will find some suggestive hints in Hannis +Taylor's _Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, vol. i, +Boston, 1889. See Henry Hitchcock's _American State Constitutions; a +Study of their Growth_, N.Y., 1887, a learned and valuable essay. See +also _J.H.U. Studies_, I., xi., Alexander Johnston, _The Genesis of a +New England State (Connecticut)_; III., ix.-x., Horace Davis, _American +Constitutions_; also Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American +History_, 1606-1863, N.Y., 1886; Stubbs, _Select Charters and other +Illustrations of English Constitutional History_, Oxford, 1870; +Gardiner's _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution_, Oxford, +1888. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union._ + +Having now sketched the origin and nature of written constitutions, we +are prepared to understand how by means of such a document the +government of our Federal Union was called into existence. We have +already described so much of the civil government in operation in the +United States that this account can be made much more concise than if we +had started at the top instead of the bottom and begun to portray our +national government before saying a word about states and counties and +towns. Bit by bit the general theory of American self-government has +already been set before the reader. We have now to observe, in +conclusion, what a magnificent piece of constructive work has been +performed in accordance with that general theory. We have to observe the +building up of a vast empire out of strictly self-governing elements. + +[Sidenote: English institutions in all the colonies.] +There was always one important circumstance in favour of the union of +the thirteen American colonies into a federal nation. The inhabitants +were all substantially one people. It is true that in some of the +colonies there were a good many persons not of English ancestry, but +the English type absorbed and assimilated everything else. + +All spoke the English language, all had English institutions. Except +the development of the written constitution, every bit of civil +government described in the preceding pages came to America directly +from England, and not a bit of it from any other country, unless by +being first filtered through England. Our institutions were as English +as our speech. It was therefore comparatively easy for people in one +colony to understand people in another, not only as to their words but +as to their political ideas. Moreover, during the first half of the +eighteenth century, the common danger from the aggressive French +enemy on the north and west went far toward awakening in the thirteen +colonies a common interest. And after the French enemy had been +removed, the assertion by parliament of its alleged right to tax the +Americans threatened all the thirteen legislatures at once, and thus +in fact drove the colonies into a kind of federal union. + +[Sidenote: The New England confederacy (1643-84).] +[Sidenote: Albany Congress(1754).] +[Sidenote: Stamp Act Congress (1765).] +Confederations among states have generally owed their origin, in +the first instance, to military necessities. The earliest league in +America, among white people at least, was the confederacy of New +England colonies formed in 1643, chiefly for defence against the +Indians. It was finally dissolved amid the troubles of 1684, when the +first government of Massachusetts was overthrown. Along the Atlantic +coast the northern and the southern colonies were for some time +distinct groups, separated by the unsettled portion of the central +zone. The settlement of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1681, filled this +gap and made the colonies continuous from the French frontier of +Canada to the Spanish frontier of Florida. The danger from France +began to be clearly apprehended after 1689, and in 1698 one of the +earliest plans of union was proposed by William Penn. In 1754, just +as the final struggle with France was about to begin, there came +Franklin's famous plan for a permanent federal union; and this plan +was laid before a congress assembled at Albany for renewing the +alliances with the Six Nations.[1] Only seven colonies were +represented in this congress. Observe the word "congress." If it +had been a legislative body it would more likely have been called +a "parliament." But of course it was nothing of the sort. It was a +diplomatic body, composed of delegates representing state governments, +like European congresses,--like the Congress of Berlin, for example, +which tried to adjust the Eastern Question in 1878. Eleven years after +the Albany Congress, upon the news that parliament had passed the +Stamp Act, a congress of nine colonies assembled at New York in +October, 1765, to take action thereon. + +[Footnote 1: Franklin's plan was afterward submitted to the several +legislatures of the colonies, and was everywhere rejected because the +need for union was nowhere strongly felt by the people.] + +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence (1772-75).] +Nine years elapsed without another congress. Meanwhile the political +excitement, with occasional lulls, went on increasing, and some sort +of cooperation between the colonial governments became habitual. In +1768, after parliament had passed the Townshend revenue acts, there +was no congress, but Massachusetts sent a circular letter to the other +colonies, inviting them to cooperate in measures of resistance, and +the other colonies responded favourably. In 1772, as we have seen, +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts acted +as a sort of provisional government for the commonwealth. In 1773 +Dabney Carr, of Virginia, enlarged upon this idea, and committees of +correspondence were forthwith instituted between the several colonies. +Thus the habit of acting in concert began to be formed. In 1774, +after parliament had passed an act overthrowing the government of +Massachusetts, along with other offensive measures, a congress +assembled in September at Philadelphia, the city most centrally +situated as well as the largest. If the remonstrances adopted at this +congress had been heeded by the British government, and peace had +followed, this congress would probably have been as temporary an +affair as its predecessors; people would probably have waited until +overtaken by some other emergency. But inasmuch as war followed, +the congress assembled again in May, 1775, and thereafter became +practically a permanent institution until it died of old age with the +year 1788. + + +[Sidenote: Continental Congress (1774-1789).] +This congress was called "continental" to distinguish it from the +"provincial congresses" held in several of the colonies at about the +same time. The thirteen colonies were indeed but a narrow strip on the +edge of a vast and in large part unexplored continent, but the word +"continental" was convenient for distinguishing between the whole +confederacy and its several members. + +[Sidenote: The several states were never at any time sovereign +states.] +[Sidenote: The Articles of Confederation] +The Continental Congress began to exercise a certain amount of +directive authority from the time of its first meeting in 1774. Such +authority as it had arose simply from the fact that it represented an +agreement on the part of the several governments to pursue a certain +line of policy. It was a diplomatic and executive, but scarcely yet a +legislative body. Nevertheless it was the visible symbol of a kind of +union between the states. There never was a time when any one of the +original states exercised singly the full powers of sovereignty. Not +one of them was ever a small sovereign state like Denmark or Portugal. +As they acted together under the common direction of the British +government in 1759, the year of Quebec, so they acted together under +the common direction of that revolutionary body, the Continental +Congress, in 1775, the year of Bunker Hill. In that year a +"continental army" was organized in the name of the "United Colonies." +In the following year, when independence was declared, it was done +by the concerted action of all the colonies; and at the same time a +committee was appointed by Congress to draw up a written constitution. +This constitution, known as the "Articles or Confederation," was +submitted to Congress in the autumn of 1777, and was sent to the +several states to be ratified. A unanimous ratification was necessary, +and it was not until March 1781, that unanimity was secured and the +articles adopted. + +Meanwhile the Revolutionary War had advanced into its last stages, +having been carried on from the outset under the general direction +of the Continental Congress. When reading about this period of our +history, the student must be careful not to be misled by the name +"congress" into reasoning as if there were any resemblance whatever +between that body and the congress which was created by our Federal +Constitution. The Continental Congress was not the parent of our +Federal Congress; the former died without offspring, and the latter +had a very different origin, as we shall soon see. The former simply +bequeathed to the latter a name, that was all. + +[Sidenote: Nature and powers of the Continental Congress] +The Continental Congress was an assembly of delegates from the thirteen +states, which from 1774 to 1783 held its sessions at Philadelphia.[2] It +owned no federal property, not even the house in which it assembled, and +after it had been turned out of doors by a mob of drunken soldiers in +June, 1783, it flitted about from place to place, sitting now at +Trenton, now at Annapolis, and finally at New York.[3] Each state sent +to it as many delegates as it chose, though after the adoption of the +articles no state could send less than two or more than seven. Each +state had one vote, and it took nine votes, or two thirds of the whole, +to carry any measure of importance. One of the delegates was chosen +president or chairman of the congress, and this position was one of +great dignity and considerable influence, but it was not essentially +different from the position, of any of the other delegates. There were +no distinct executive officers. Important executive matters were at +first assigned to committees, such as the Finance Committee and the +Board of War, though at the most trying time the finance committee was a +committee of one, in the person of Robert Morris, who was commonly +called the Financier. The work of the finance committee was chiefly +trying to solve the problem of paying bills without spending money, for +there was seldom any money to spend. Congress could not tax the people +or recruit the army. When it wanted money or troops, it could only ask +the state governments for them; and generally it got from a fifth to a +fourth part of the troops needed, but of money a far smaller proportion. +Sometimes it borrowed money from Holland or France, but often its only +resource was to issue paper promises to pay, or the so-called +Continental paper money. There were no federal courts,[4] nor marshals +to execute federal decrees. Congress might issue orders, but it had no +means of compelling obedience. + +[Footnote 2: Except for a few days in December, 1776, when it fled +to Baltimore; and again from September, 1777, to June, 1778, when +Philadelphia was in possession of the British; during that interval +Congress held its meetings at York in Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 3: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +112, 271, 306] + +[Footnote 5: Except the "Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture," for +an admirable account of which see Jameson's _Essays in the +Constitutional History of the United States_, pp. 1-45.] + +[Sidenote: It was not fully endowed with sovereignty.] +The Continental Congress was therefore not in the full sense a +sovereign body. A government is not really a government until it can +impose taxes and thus command the money needful for keeping it in +existence. Nevertheless the Congress exercised some of the most +indisputable functions of sovereignty. "It declared the independence +of the United States; it contracted an offensive and defensive +alliance with France; it raised and organized a Continental army; it +borrowed large sums of money, and pledged what the lenders understood +to be the national credit for their repayment; it issued an +inconvertible paper currency, granted letters of marque, and built a +navy." [6] Finally it ratified a treaty of peace with Great Britain. So +that the Congress was really, in many respects, and in the eyes of the +world at large, a sovereign body. Time soon showed that the continued +exercise of such powers was not compatible with the absence of the +power to tax the people. In truth the situation of the Continental +Congress was an illogical situation. In the effort of throwing off +the sovereignty of Great Britain, the people of these states were +constructing a federal union faster than they realized. Their theory +of the situation did not keep pace with the facts, and their first +attempt to embody their theory, in the Articles of Confederation, was +not unnaturally a failure. + + +[Footnote 6: _Critical Period_, p. 93.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Continental Congress.] +At first the powers of the Congress were vague. They were what are +called "implied war powers;" that is to say, the Congress had a war +with Great Britain on its hands, and must be supposed to have power to +do whatever was necessary to bring the war to a successful conclusion. +At first, too, when it had only begun to issue paper money, there +was a momentary feeling of prosperity. Military success added to its +appearance of strength, and the reputation of the Congress reached its +high water mark early in 1778, after the capture of Burgoyne's army +and the making of the alliance with France. After that time, with the +weary prolonging of the war, the increase of the public debt, and the +collapse of the paper currency, its reputation steadily declined. +There was also much work to be done in reorganizing the state +governments, and this kept at home in the state legislatures many of +the ablest men who would otherwise have been sent to the Congress. +Thus in point of intellectual capacity the latter body was distinctly +inferior in 1783 to what it had been when first assembled nine years +earlier. + +[Sidenote: Anarchical tendencies.] +The arrival of peace did not help the Congress, but made matters worse. +When the absolute necessity of presenting a united front to the common +enemy was removed, the weakness of the union was shown in many +ways that were alarming. The _sentiment_ of union was weak. In spite of +the community in language and institutions, which was so favourable to +union, the people of the several states had many local prejudices which +tended to destroy the union in its infancy. A man was quicker to +remember that he was a New Yorker or a Massachusetts man than that he +was an American and a citizen of the United States. Neighbouring states +levied custom-house duties against one another, or refused to admit into +their markets each other's produce, or had quarrels about boundaries +which went to the verge of war. Things grew worse every year until by +the autumn of 1786, when the Congress was quite bankrupt and most of the +states nearly so, when threats of secession were heard both in New +England and in the South, when there were riots in several states and +Massachusetts was engaged in suppressing armed rebellion, when people in +Europe were beginning to ask whether we were more likely to be seized +upon by France or reconquered piecemeal by Great Britain, it came to be +thought necessary to make some kind of a change. + +[Sidenote: The Federal Convention (1787).] + +Men were most unwillingly brought to this conclusion, because they were +used to their state assemblies and not afraid of them, but they were +afraid of increasing the powers of any government superior to the states, +lest they should thus create an unmanageable tyranny. They believed that +even anarchy, though a dreadful evil, is not so dreadful as despotism, +and for this view there is much to be said. After no end of trouble a +convention was at length got together at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and +after four months of work with closed doors, it was able to offer to the +country the new Federal Constitution. Both in its character and in +the work which It did, this Federal Convention, over which Washington +presided, and of which Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton were members, +was one of the most remarkable deliberative bodies known to history. + +We have seen that the fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress +lay in the fact that it could not tax the people. Hence although it +could for a time exert other high functions of sovereignty, it could +only do so while money was supplied to it from other sources than +taxation; from contributions made by the states in answer to its +"requisitions," from foreign loans, and from a paper currency. But such +resources could not last long. It was like a man's trying to live upon +his own promissory notes and upon gifts and unsecured loans from his +friends. When the supply of money was exhausted, the Congress soon found +that it could no longer comport itself as a sovereign power; it could +not preserve order at home, and the situation abroad may be illustrated +by the fact that George III. kept garrisons in several of our +northwestern frontier towns and would not send a minister to the United +States. This example shows that, among the sovereign powers of a +government, the power of taxation is the fundamental one upon which all +the others depend. Nothing can go on without money. + +But the people of the several states would never consent to grant the +power of taxation, to such a body as the Continental Congress, in +which they were not represented. The Congress was not a legislature, +but a diplomatic body; it did not represent the people, but the state +governments; and a large state like Pennsylvania had no more weight in +it than a little state like Delaware. If there was to be any central +assembly for the whole union, endowed with the power of taxation, +it must be an assembly representing the American people just as the +assembly of a single state represented the people of the state. + +As soon as this point became clear, it was seen to be necessary to +throw the Articles of Confederation overboard, and construct a new +national government. As was said above, our Federal Congress is not +descended from the Continental Congress. Its parentage is to be sought +in the state legislatures. Our federal government was constructed +after the general model of the state governments, with some points +copied from British usages, and some points that were original and +new. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What are the reasons for reserving the Constitution of the +United States for the concluding chapter? + +2. Circumstances that favoured union of the colonies:-- + + a. The origin of their inhabitants. + b. All the details of their civil government. + c. The ease with which they understood one another. + d. Their common dangers, two in particular. + +3. Earlier unions among the colonies:-- + + a. The New England Confederacy,--its time, purpose, and + duration. + b. The French danger, and plans to meet it. + c. The Albany Congress,--its nature and immediate purpose. + d. The Stamp Act Congress. + +4. Committees of correspondence:-- + + a. The circular letter of Massachusetts in 1768. + b. Town committees of correspondence in Massachusetts in + 1772. + c. Colonial committees of correspondence in 1773. + d. The habit established through these committees. + +5. The Continental Congress:-- + + a. The immediate causes that led to it. + b. How it might have been temporary. + c. How it became permanent. + d. Its date, place of meeting, and duration. + e. Why "continental" as distinguished from "provincial?" + f. The nature and extent of its authority. + g. The states represented in it never fully sovereign. + +6. Give an account of the "Articles of Confederation." + +7. Distinguish between the Continental Congress and the +Federal. + +8. The powers of the Continental Congress:-- + a. Its homelessness and wandering. + b. Its delegates and their voting power. + c. Its presiding officer. + d. Its management of executive matters. + e. The finance committee and its problems. + f. The raising of money. + g. The compelling of obedience. + +9. The Continental Congress not a sovereign body:-- + + a. The nature of real government. + b. Some functions of sovereignty exercised by the Congress. + c. The situation illogical. + +10. Explain the "implied war powers" of the Congress. + +11. When was the Congress at the height of its reputation, and +why? + +12. Explain the decline in its reputation from 1778 to 1783. + +13. The alarming weakness of the union after 1783:-- + + a. The effect of peace upon the union. + b. Local prejudices. + c. State antagonisms. + d. The gloomy outlook in 1786. + +14. The Federal Convention in 1787:-- + + a. The reluctance to make the change that was felt to be needed. + b. Some facts about the Convention. + c. The character of its delegates. + d. The fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress. + e. The fundamental power of a strong government. + f. The objection to granting the power of taxation to the Continental + Congress. + g. The sort of assembly demanded for exercising the taxing power. + h. The model on which the federal government was built. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress._ + +[Sidenote: The House of Representatives.] +The federal House of Representatives is descended, through the state +houses of representatives, from the colonial assemblies. It is an +assembly representing the whole population of the country as if it were +all in one great state. It is composed of members chosen every other +year by the people of the states. Persons in any state who are qualified +to vote for state representatives are qualified to vote for federal +representatives. This arrangement left the power of regulating the +suffrage in the hands of the several states, where it still remains, +save for the restriction imposed in 1870 for the protection of the +southern freedmen. A candidate for election to the House of +Representatives must be twenty-five years old, must have been seven +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state in which he is chosen. + +[Sidenote: The three fifths compromise.] +As the Federal Congress is a taxing body, representatives and direct +taxes are apportioned among the several states according to the same +rule, that is, according to population. At this point a difficulty +arose in the Convention as to whether slaves should be counted as +population. If they were to be counted, the relative weight of the +slave states in all matters of national legislation would be much +increased. The northern states thought, with reason, that it would +be unduly increased. The difficulty was adjusted by a compromise +according to which five slaves were to be reckoned as three persons. +Since the abolition of slavery this provision has become obsolete, but +until 1860 it was a very important factor in American history.[7] + +In the federal House of Representatives the great states of course +have much more weight than the small states. In 1790 the four largest +states had 32 representatives, while the other nine had only 33. The +largest state, Virginia, had 10 representatives to 1 from Delaware. +These disparities have increased. In 1880, out of thirty-eight states +the nine largest had a majority of the house, and the largest state, +New York, had 34 representatives to 1 from Delaware. + +[Footnote 7: See my _Critical Period_, pp. 257-262.] + +[Sidenote: The Connecticut compromise] +This feature of the House of Representatives caused +the smaller states in the Convention to oppose the whole scheme of +constructing a new government. They were determined that great and +small states should have equal weight in Congress. Their steadfast +opposition threatened to ruin everything, when fortunately a method +of compromise was discovered. It was intended that the national +legislature, in imitation of the state legislatures, should have an +upper house or senate; and at first the advocates of a strong national +government proposed that the senate also should represent population, +thus differing from the lower house only in the way in which we have +seen that it generally differed in the several states. But it happened +that in the state of Connecticut the custom was peculiar. There it +had always been the custom to elect the governor and upper house by a +majority vote of the whole people, while for each township there was +an equality of representation In the lower house. The Connecticut +delegates in the Convention, therefore, being familiar with a +legislature in which the two houses were composed on different +principles, suggested a compromise. Let the House of Representatives, +they said, represent the people, and let the Senate represent the +states; let all the states, great and small, be represented equally +in the federal Senate. Such was the famous "Connecticut Compromise." +Without it the Convention would probably have broken up without +accomplishing anything. When it was adopted, half the work of making +the new government was done, for the small states, having had their +fears thus allayed by the assurance that they were to be equally +represented in the Senate, no longer opposed the work but cooperated +in it most zealously. + +[Sidenote: The Senate] +Thus it came to pass that the upper house of our national legislature +is composed of two senators from each state. As they represent the +state, they are chosen by its legislature and not by the people; but +when they have taken their seats in the senate they do not vote +by states, like the delegates in the Continental Congress. On the +contrary each senator has one vote, and the two senators from the same +state may, and often do, vote on opposite sides. + +In accordance with the notion that an upper house should be somewhat +less democratic than a lower house, the term of office for senators +was made longer than for representatives. The tendency is to make the +Senate respond more slowly to changes in popular sentiment, and +this is often an advantage. Popular opinion is often very wrong at +particular moments, but with time it is apt to correct its mistakes. +We are usually in more danger of suffering from hasty legislation than +from tardy legislation. Senators are chosen for a term of six years, +and one third of the number of terms expire every second year, so +that, while the whole Senate may be renewed by the lapse of six years, +there is never a "new Senate." The Senate has thus a continuous +existence and a permanent organization; whereas each House of +Representatives expires at the end of its two years' term, and is +succeeded by a "new House," which requires to be organized by electing +its officers, etc., before proceeding to business. A candidate for the +senatorship must have reached the age of thirty, must have been nine +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state which he represents. + +The constitution leaves the times, places, and manner of holding +elections for senators and representatives to be prescribed in each +state by its own legislature; but it gives to Congress the power to +alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing senators. + +Here we see a vestige of the original theory according to which the +Senate was to be peculiarly the home of state rights. + +[Sidenote: Electoral districts.] +[Sidenote: "Gerrymandering."] +In the composition of the House of Representatives the state +legislatures play a very important part. For the purposes of the +election a state is divided into districts corresponding to the number +of representatives the state is entitled to send to Congress. These +electoral districts are marked out by the legislature, and the division +is apt to be made by the preponderating party with an unfairness that is +at once shameful and ridiculous. The aim, of course, is so to lay out +the districts as to secure in the greatest possible number of them a +majority for the party which conducts the operation. This is done +sometimes by throwing the greatest possible number of hostile voters +into a district which is anyhow certain to be hostile, sometimes by +adding to a district where parties are equally divided some place in +which the majority of friendly voters is sufficient to turn the scale. +There is a district in Mississippi (the so-called Shoe String district) +250 miles long by 30 broad, and another in Pennsylvania resembling a +dumb-bell.... In Missouri a district has been contrived longer, if +measured along its windings, than the state itself, into which as large +a number as possible of the negro voters have been thrown.[8] This +trick is called "gerrymandering," from Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, +who was vice-president of the United States from 1813 to 1817. It seems +to have been first devised in 1788 by the enemies of the Federal +Constitution in Virginia, in order to prevent the election of James +Madison to the first Congress, and fortunately it was unsuccessful.[9] +It was introduced some years afterward into Massachusetts. In 1812, +while Gerry was governor of that state, the Republican legislature +redistributed the districts in such wise that the shapes of the towns +forming a single district in Essex county gave to the district a +somewhat dragon-like contour. This was indicated upon a map of +Massachusetts which Benjamin Russell, an ardent Federalist and editor of +the "Centinel," hung up over the desk in his office. The celebrated +painter, Gilbert Stuart, coming into the office one day and observing +the uncouth figure, added with his pencil a head, wings, and claws, and +exclaimed, "That will do for a salamander!" "Better say a Gerrymander!" +growled the editor; and the outlandish, name, thus duly coined, soon +came into general currency. + +[Illustration] + +[Footnote 8: Tyler's _Patrick Henry_, p. 313.] + +[Footnote 9: _Winsor's Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. p. 212; +see also Bryce, _loc. cit_. The word is sometimes incorrectly pronounced +"jerrymander." Mr. Winsor observes that the back line of the creature's +body forms a profile caricature of Gerry's face, with the nose at +Middleton.] + +[Sidenote: The election their at large.] +When after an increase in its number of representatives the state has +failed to redistribute its districts, the additional member or members +are voted for upon a general state ticket, and are called +"representatives at large." In Maine, where the census of 1880 had +_reduced_ the number of representatives and there was some delay in the +redistribution, Congress allowed the State in 1882 to elect all its +representatives upon a general ticket. The advantage of the district +system is that the candidates are likely to be better known by +neighbours, but the election at large is perhaps more likely to secure +able men.[10] It is the American custom to nominate only residents of the +district as candidates for the House of Representatives. A citizen of +Albany, for example, would not be nominated for the district in which +Buffalo is situated. In the British practice, on the other hand, if an +eminent man cannot get a nomination in his own county or borough, there +is nothing to prevent his standing for any other county or borough. This +system seems more favourable to the independence of the legislator than +our system. Some of its advantages are obtained by the election at +large. + +[Footnote 10: The difference is similar to the difference between the +French _scrutin d'arrondissement_ and _scrutin de liste_.] + +[Sidenote: Time of assembling.] +Congress must assemble at least once in every year, and the constitution +appoints the first Monday in December for the time of meeting; but +Congress can, if worth while, enact a law changing the time. The +established custom is to hold the election for representatives upon the +same day as the election for president, the Tuesday after the first +Monday in November. As the period of the new administration does not +begin until the fourth day of the following March, the new House of +Representatives does not assemble until the December following that +date, unless the new president should at some earlier moment summon an +extra session of Congress. It thus happens that ordinarily the +representatives of the nation do not meet for more than a year after +their election; and as their business is at least to give legislative +expression to the popular opinion which elected them, the delay is in +this instance regarded by many persons as inconvenient and injudicious. + +Each house is judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its +own members; determines its own rules of procedure, and may punish its +members for disorderly behaviour, or by a two thirds vote expel a +member. Absent members may be compelled under penalties to attend. Each +house is required to keep a journal of its proceedings and at proper +intervals to publish it, except such parts as for reasons of public +policy had better be kept secret. At the request of one fifth of the +members present, the yeas and nays must be entered on the journal. +During the session of Congress neither house may, without consent of the +other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any other place than that +in which Congress is sitting. + +[Sidenote: Privileges of members.] +Senators and representatives receive a salary fixed by law, and as they +are federal functionaries they are paid from the federal treasury. In +all cases, except treason or felony or breach of the peace, they are +privileged from arrest during their attendance in Congress, as also +while on their way to it and while returning home; "and for any speech +or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other +place." These provisions are reminiscences of the evil days when the +king strove to interfere, by fair means or foul, with free speech in +parliament; and they are important enough to be incorporated in the +supreme law of the land. No person can at the same time hold any civil +office under the United States government and be a member of either +house of Congress. + +[Sidenote: The Speaker.] +The vice-president is the presiding officer of the Senate, with power +to vote only in case of a tie. The House of Representatives elects its +presiding officer, who is called the Speaker. In the early history of +the House of Commons, its presiding officer was naturally enough its +_spokesman_. He could speak for it in addressing the crown. Henry +of Keighley thus addressed the crown in 1301, and there were other +instances during that century, until in 1376 the title of Speaker was +definitely given to Sir Thomas Hungerford, and from that date the list +is unbroken. The title was given to the presiding officers of the +American colonial assemblies, and thence it passed on to the state and +federal legislatures. The Speaker presides over the debates, puts the +question, and decides points of order. He also appoints the committees +of the House of Representatives, and as the initiatory work in our +legislation is now so largely done by the committees, this makes him +the most powerful officer of the government except the President. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in England] +The provisions for impeachment of public officers are copied from the +custom in England. Since the fourteenth century the House of Commons +has occasionally exercised the power of impeaching the king's +ministers and other high public officers, and although the power was +not used during the sixteenth century it was afterward revived and +conclusively established. In 1701 it was enacted that the royal pardon +could not be pleaded against an impeachment, and this act finally secured +the responsibility of the king's ministers to Parliament. An impeachment +is a kind of accusation or indictment brought against a public officer +by the House of Commons. The court in which the case is tried is the House +of Lords, and the ordinary rules of judicial procedure are followed. +The regular president of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who +is the highest judicial officer in the kingdom. A simple majority vote +secures conviction, and then it is left for the House of Commons to +say whether judgment shall be pronounced or not. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in the United States.] +In the United States the House of Representatives has the sole +power of impeachment, and the Senate has the sole power to try all +impeachments. When the president of the United States is tried, +the chief-justice must preside. As a precaution against the use of +impeachment for party purposes, a two thirds vote is required for +conviction; and this precaution proved effectual (fortunately, as most +persons now admit) in the famous case of President Johnson in 1868. In +case of conviction the judgment cannot extend further than "to removal +from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of +honour, trust, or profit under the United States;" but the person +convicted is liable afterward to be tried and punished by the ordinary +process of law. + +[Sidenote: Veto power of the president] +The provisions of the Constitution for legislation are admirably +simple. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the lower +house, but the upper house may propose or concur with amendments, as +on other bills. This provision was inherited from Parliament, through +the colonial legislatures. After a bill has passed both houses it must +be sent to the president for approval. If he approves it, he signs +it; if not, he returns it to the house in which it originated, with +a written statement of his objections, and this statement must be +entered in full upon the journal of the house. The bill is then +reconsidered, and if it obtains a two thirds vote, it is sent, +together with the objections, to the other house. If it there +likewise obtains a two thirds vote, it becomes a law, in spite of the +objections. Otherwise it fails. If the president keeps a bill longer +than ten days (Sundays excepted) without signing it, it becomes a law +without his signature; unless Congress adjourns before the expiration +of the ten days, in which case it fails to become a law, just as if +it had been vetoed. This method of vetoing a bill just before the +expiration of a Congress, by keeping it in one's pocket, so to speak, +was dubbed a "pocket veto," and was first employed by President +Jackson in 1829. The president's veto power is a qualified form of +that which formerly belonged to the English sovereign but has now, as +already observed, become practically obsolete. As a means of guarding +the country against unwise legislation, it has proved to be one of the +most valuable features of our Federal Constitution. In bad hands it +cannot do much harm, it can only delay for a short time a needed law. +But when properly used it can save the country from, laws that if once +enacted would sow seeds of disaster very hard to eradicate; and it has +repeatedly done so. A single man will often act intelligently where +a group of men act foolishly, and, as already observed, he is apt to +have a keener sense of responsibility. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +What is to be said with regard to the following topics? + +1. The House of Representatives:-- + + a. Its relation to the people. + b. The term of service. + c. Qualifications of those who may vote for representatives. + d. Qualifications for membership. + e. The three fifths compromise. + +2. The Connecticut Compromise. + + a. The powers of the different states in the House. + b. Opposition to the scheme of a new government. + c. What the advocates of a strong government wanted the Senate to + represent. + d. A peculiar Connecticut system. + e. The suggestion of the Connecticut delegates. + f. The effect of the compromise. + +3. The Senate:-- + + a. The number of senators. + b. The method of electing senators. + c. The voting of senators. + d. The term of service. + e. The maintenance of a continuous existence. + f. A comparison with the House in respect to nearness to the people. + g. Qualifications for membership. + +4. Elections for senators and representatives:-- + + a. Times, places, and manner of holding elections. + b. The power of Congress over state regulations. + c. Electoral districts. + d. The temptation to unfairness in laying out electoral districts. + e. Illustrations of unfair divisions. + f. "Gerrymandering." + g. Representatives at large. + h. The advantage of the district system. + i. The British system and its advantage. + +5. The assembling of Congress:-- + + a. The time of assembling. + b. The interval between a member's election and the beginning of his + service. + c. The disadvantage of this long interval. + +6. What is the duty of each house in respect (1) to its membership, +(2) its rules, (3) its records, and (4) its adjournment. + +7. Give an account (1) of the pay of a congressman, (2) of his freedom +from arrest, (3) of his responsibility for words spoken in debate, and +(4) of his right to hold other office. + +8. Tell (1) who preside in Congress, (2) how the name _speaker_ +originated, (3) what the speaker's duties are, and (4) what his power +in the government is. + +9. Impeachment of public officers:-- + + a. Old English usage. + b. The conduct of an impeachment trial in England. + c. The conduct of an impeachment trial in the United States. + d. The penalty in case of conviction. + +10. The provisions of the Constitution for legislation:-- + + a. Bills for raising revenue. + b. How a bill becomes a law. + c. The president's veto power. + d. Passage of a bill over the president's veto. + e. The "pocket veto." + f. The veto power in England. + g. The value of the veto power. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive._ + +[Sidenote: The title of "President."] +In signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress the president shares in +legislation, and is virtually a third house. In his other capacities +he is the chief executive officer of the Federal Union; and inasmuch +as he appoints the other great executive officers, he is really the +head of the executive department, not--like the governor of a state--a +mere member of it. His title of "President" is probably an inheritance +from the presidents of the Continental Congress. In Franklin's plan +of union, in 1754, the head of the executive department was called +"Governor General," but that title had an unpleasant sound to American +ears. Our great-grandfathers liked "president" better, somewhat as the +Romans, in the eighth century of their city, preferred "imperator" to +"rex." Then, as it served to distinguish widely between the head of +the Union and the heads of the states, it soon fell into disuse in the +state governments, and thus "president" has come to be a much grander +title than "governor," just as "emperor" has come to be a grander +title than "king." [11] + + +[Footnote 11: See above p. 163.] + +[Sidenote: The electoral college.] +There was no question which perplexed the Federal Convention more than +the question as to the best method of electing the president. There +was a general distrust of popular election for an office so exalted. +At one time the Convention decided to have the president elected by +Congress, but there was a grave objection to this; it would be likely +to destroy his independence, and make him the tool of Congress. +Finally the device of an electoral college was adopted. Each state +is entitled to a number of electors equal to the number of its +representatives in Congress, _plus_ two, the number of its +senators. Thus to-day Delaware, with 1 representative, has 3 electors; +Missouri, with 14 representatives, has 16 electors; New York, with +34 representatives, has 36 electors. No federal senator or +representative, or any person holding civil office under the United +States, can serve as an elector. Each state may appoint or choose its +electors in such manner as it sees fit; at first they were more often +than otherwise chosen by the legislatures, now they are always elected +by the people. The day of election must be the same in all the states. + +By an act of Congress passed in 1792 it is required to be within 34 days +preceding the first Wednesday in December. A subsequent act in 1845 +appointed the Tuesday following the first Monday in November as election +day. + +By the act of 1792 the electors chosen in each state are required to +assemble on the first Wednesday in December at some place in the state +which is designated by the legislature. Before this date the governor of +the state must cause a certified list of the names of the electors to be +made out in triplicate and delivered to the electors. Having met +together they vote for president and vice-president, make out a sealed +certificate of their vote in triplicate, and attach to each copy a copy +of the certified list of their names. One copy must be delivered by a +messenger to the president of the Senate at the federal capital before +the first Wednesday in January; the second is sent to the same officer +through the mail; the third is to be deposited with the federal judge of +the district in which the electors meet. If by the first Wednesday in +January the certificate has not been received at the federal capital, +the secretary of state is to send a messenger to the district judge and +obtain the copy deposited with him. The interval of a month was allowed +to get the returns in, for those were not the days of railroad and +telegraph. The messengers were allowed twenty-five cents a mile, and +were subject to a fine of a thousand dollars for neglect of duty. On the +second Wednesday in February, Congress is required to be in session, and +the votes received are counted and the result declared.[12] + +[Footnote 12: See note on p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: The twelfth amendment (1804).] +At first the electoral votes did not state whether the candidates named +in them were candidates for the presidency or for the vice-presidency. +Each elector simply wrote down two names, only one of which could be the +name of a citizen of his own state. In the official count the candidate +who had the largest number of votes, provided they were a majority of +the whole number, was declared president, and the candidate who had the +next to the largest number was declared vice-president. The natural +result of this was seen in the first contested election in 1796, which +made Adams president, and his antagonist vice-president. In the next +election in 1800 it gave to Jefferson and his colleague Burr exactly the +same number of votes. In such a case the House of Representatives must +elect, and such intrigues followed for the purpose of defeating +Jefferson that the country was brought to the verge of civil war. It +thus became necessary to change the method. By the twelfth amendment to +the constitution, declared in force in 1804, the present method was +adopted. The electors make separate ballots for president and for +vice-president. In the official count the votes for president are first +inspected. If no candidate has a majority, then the House of +Representatives must immediately choose the president from the three +names highest on the list. In this choice the house votes by states, +each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose must consist of at +least one member from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all +the states is necessary for a choice. Then if no candidate for the +vice-presidency has a majority, the Senate makes its choice from the two +names highest on the list; a quorum for the purpose consists of two +thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole +number is necessary to a choice. Since this amendment was made there has +been one instance of an election of the president by the House of +Representatives,--that of John Quincy Adams in 1825; and there has been +one instance of an election of the vice-president by the Senate,--that +of Richard Mentor Johnson in 1837. + +[Sidenote: The electoral commission (1877).] +One serious difficulty was not yet foreseen and provided for--that of +deciding between two conflicting returns sent in by two hostile sets of +electors in the same state, each list being certified by one of two +rival governors claiming authority in the same state. Such a case +occurred in 1877, when Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were the +scene of struggles between rival governments. Ballots for Tilden and +ballots for Hayes were sent in at the same time from these states, and +in the absence of any recognized means of determining which ballots to +count, the two parties in Congress submitted the result to arbitration. +An "electoral commission" was created for the occasion, composed of five +senators, five representatives, and five judges of the supreme court; +and this body decided what votes were to be counted. It was a clumsy +expedient, but infinitely preferable to civil war. The question of +conflicting returns has at length been set at rest by the act of 1887, +which provides that no electoral votes can be rejected in counting +except by the concurrent action of the two houses of Congress. + +[Sidenote: Presidential succession.] +The devolution of the presidential office in case of the president's +death has also been made the subject of legislative change and +amendment. The office of vice-president was created chiefly for the +purpose of meeting such an emergency. Upon the accession of the +vice-president to the presidency, the Senate would proceed to elect its +own president _pro tempore_. An act of 1791 provided that in case of the +death, resignation or disability of both president and vice-president, +the succession should devolve first upon the president _pro tempore_ of +the Senate and then upon the speaker of the House of Representatives, +until the disability should be removed or a new election be held. But +supposing a newly elected president to die and be succeeded by the +vice-president before the assembling of the newly elected Congress; then +there would be no president _pro tempore_ of the Senate and no speaker +of the House of Representatives, and thus the death of one person might +cause the presidency to lapse. Moreover the presiding officers of the +two houses of Congress might be members of the party defeated in the +last presidential election; indeed, this is often the case. Sound policy +and fair dealing require that a victorious party shall not be turned out +because of the death of the president and vice-president. Accordingly an +act of 1886 provided that in such an event the succession should devolve +upon the members of the cabinet in the following order: secretary of +state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of war, attorney-general, +postmaster-general, secretary of the navy, secretary of the interior. +This would seem to be ample provision against a lapse. + +[Sidenote: Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled.] +To return to the electoral college: it was devised as a safeguard +against popular excitement. It was supposed that the electors in their +December meeting would calmly discuss the merits of the ablest men in +the country and make an intelligent selection for the presidency. The +electors were to use their own judgment, and it was not necessary +that all the electors chosen in one state should vote for the same +candidate. The people on election day were not supposed to be voting +for a president but for presidential electors. This theory was never +realized. The two elections of Washington, in 1788 and 1792, were +unanimous. In the second contested election, that of 1800, the +electors simply registered the result of the popular vote, and it has +been so ever since. Immediately after the popular election, a whole +month before the meeting of the electoral college, we know who is to +be the next president. There is no law to prevent an elector from +voting for a different pair of candidates from those at the head of +the party ticket, but the custom has become as binding as a statute. +The elector is chosen to vote for specified candidates, and he must do +so. + +[Sidenote: Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now +usually on a general ticket.] +On the other hand, it was not until long after 1800 that all the +electoral votes of the same state were necessarily given to the same +pair of candidates. It was customary in many states to choose the +electors by districts. A state entitled to ten electors would choose +eight of them in its eight congressional districts, and there were +various ways of choosing the other two. In some of the districts one +party would have a majority, in others the other, and so the electoral +vote of the state would be divided between two pairs of candidates. +After 1830 it became customary to choose the electors upon a general +ticket, and thus the electoral vote became solid in each state.[13] + +[Footnote 13: In 1860 the vote of New Jersey was divided between Lincoln +and Douglas, but that was because the names of three of +the seven Douglas electors were upon two different tickets, and +thus got a majority of votes while the other four fell short. In +1892 the state of Michigan chose its electors by districts.] + +[Sidenote: Minority presidents.] +[Sidenote: Advantages of the electoral system.] +This system, of course, increases the chances of electing presidents who +have received a minority of the popular vote. A candidate may carry one +state by an immense majority and thus gain 6 or 8 electoral votes; he +may come within a few hundred of carrying another state and thus lose 36 +electoral votes. Or a small third party may divert some thousands of +votes from the principal candidate without affecting the electoral vote +of the state. Since Washington's second term we have had twenty-three +contested elections,[14] and in nine of these the elected president has +failed to receive a majority of the popular vote; Adams in 1824 (elected +by the House of Representatives), Polk in 1844, Taylor in 1848, Buchanan +in 1856, Lincoln in 1860, Hayes in 1876, Garfield in 1880, Cleveland in +1884, Harrison in 1888. This has suggested more or less vague +speculation as to the advisableness of changing the method of electing +the president. It has been suggested that it would be well to abolish +the electoral college, and resort to a direct popular vote, without +reference to state lines. Such a method would be open to one serious +objection. In a closely contested election on the present method the +result may remain doubtful for three or four days, while a narrow +majority of a few hundred votes in some great state is being ascertained +by careful counting. It was so in 1884. This period of doubt is sure to +be a period of intense and dangerous excitement. In an election without +reference to states, the result would more often be doubtful, and it +would be sometimes necessary to count every vote in every little +out-of-the-way corner of the country before the question could be +settled. The occasions for dispute would be multiplied a hundred fold, +with most demoralizing effect. Our present method is doubtless clumsy, +but the solidity of the electoral colleges is a safeguard, and as all +parties understand the system it is in the long run as fair for one as +for another. + + +[Footnote 14: All have been contested, except Monroe's re-election in +1820, when there was no opposing candidate.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus +(1800-24).] +The Constitution says nothing about the method of nominating candidates +for the presidency, neither has it been made the subject of legislation. +It has been determined by convenience. It was not necessary to nominate +Washington, and the candidacies of Adams and Jefferson were also matters +of general understanding. In 1800 the Republican and Federalist members +of Congress respectively held secret meetings or caucuses, chiefly for +the purpose of agreeing upon candidates for the vice-presidency and +making some plans for the canvass. It became customary to nominate +candidates in such congressional caucuses, but there was much hostile +comment upon the system as undemocratic. Sometimes the "favourite son" +of a state was nominated by the legislature, but as the means of travel +improved, the nominating convention came to be preferred. In 1824 there +were four candidates for the presidency,--Adams, Jackson, Clay, and +Crawford. Adams was nominated by the legislatures of most of the New +England states; Clay by the legislature of Kentucky, followed by the +legislatures of Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Louisiana; Crawford by the +legislature of Virginia; and Jackson by a mass convention of the people +of Blount County in Tennessee, followed by local conventions in many +other states. The congressional caucus met and nominated Crawford, but +this endorsement did not help him,[15] and this method was no longer +tried. In 1832 for the first time the candidates were all nominated in +national conventions. + +[Footnote 15: Stanwood, _History of Presidential Elections_, pp. +80-83.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination conventions.] +[Sidenote: The "primary."] +These conventions, as fully developed, are representative bodies +chosen for the specific purpose of nominating candidates and making +those declarations of principle and policy known as "platforms." Each +state is allowed twice as many delegates as it has electoral votes. +The delegates are chosen by local conventions in their several +states, viz., two for each congressional district by the party +convention of that district, and four for the whole state (called +delegates-at-large) by the state convention. As each convention is +composed of delegates from primaries, it is the composition of the +primaries which determines that of the local conventions, and it is +the composition of the local conventions which determines that of the +national.[16] The "primary" is the smallest nominating convention. It +stands in somewhat the same relation to the national convention as the +relation of a township or ward to the whole United States. A primary +is a little caucus of all the voters of one party who live within the +bounds of the township or ward. It differs in composition from the +town-meeting in that all its members belong to one party. It has two +duties: one is to nominate candidates for the local offices of the +township or ward; the other is to choose delegates to the county or +district convention. The primary, as its name indicates, is a primary +and not a representative assembly. The party voters in a township or +ward are usually not too numerous to meet together, and all ought to +attend such meetings, though in practice too many people stay away. By +the representative system, through various grades of convention, the +wishes and character of these countless little primaries are at +length expressed in the wishes and character of the national party +convention, and candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency are +nominated. + +[Footnote 16: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. ii. p. 145; see +also p. 52.] + + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for the presidency.] +The qualifications for the two offices are of course the same. +Foreign-born citizens are not eligible, though this restriction did +not include such as were citizens of the United States at the time +when the Constitution was adopted. The candidate must have reached the +age of thirty-five, and must have been fourteen years a resident of +the United States. + + +[Sidenote: The term of office] +The president's term of office is four years. The Constitution says +nothing about his re-election, and there is no written law to prevent +his being re-elected a dozen times. But Washington, after serving two +terms, refused to accept the office a third time. Jefferson in 1808 +was "earnestly besought by many and influential bodies of citizens to +become a candidate for a third term;" [17] and had he consented there +is scarcely a doubt that he would have been elected. His refusal +established a custom which has never been infringed, though there were +persons in 1876 and again in 1880 who wished to secure a third term +for Grant. + +[Footnote 17: Morse's _Jefferson_, p. 318.] + +[Sidenote: Powers and duties of the President] +The president is commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces +of the United States, and of the militia of the several states when +actually engaged in the service of the United States; and he has the +royal prerogative of granting reprieves and pardons for offences +against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.[18] + +[Footnote 18: See above, p. 221.] + + +He can make treaties with foreign powers, but they must be confirmed +by a two thirds vote of the Senate. He appoints ministers to foreign +countries, consuls, and the greater federal officers, such as the +heads of executive departments and judges of the Supreme Court, and +all these appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate. He +also appoints a vast number of inferior officers, such as postmasters +and revenue collectors, without the participation of the Senate. When +vacancies occur during the recess of the Senate, he may fill them by +granting commissions to expire at the end of the next session. He +commissions all federal officers. He receives foreign ministers. He +may summon either or both houses of Congress to an extra session, and +if the two houses disagree with regard to the time of adjournment, he +may adjourn them to such time as he thinks best, but of course not +beyond the day fixed for the beginning of the next regular session. + +[Sidenote: The President's message.] +The president must from time to time make a report to Congress on the +state of affairs in the country and suggest such a line of policy or +such special measures as may seem good to him. This report has taken +the form of an annual written message. Washington and Adams began +their administrations by addressing Congress in a speech, to which +Congress replied; but it suited the opposite party to discover in this +an imitation of the British practice of opening Parliament with +a speech from the sovereign. It was accordingly stigmatized as +"monarchical," and Jefferson (though without formally alleging any +such reason) set the example, which has been followed ever since, +of addressing Congress in a written message.[19] Besides this annual +message, the president may at any time send in a special message +relating to matters which in his opinion require immediate attention. + +[Footnote 19: Jefferson, moreover, was a powerful writer and a poor +speaker.] + +The effectiveness of a president's message depends of course on the +character of the president and the general features of the political +situation. That separation between the executive and legislative +departments, which is one of the most distinctive features of civil +government in the United States, tends to prevent the development of +leadership. An English prime minister's policy, so long as he remains +in office, must be that of the House of Commons; power and responsibility +are concentrated. An able president may virtually direct the policy of +his party in Congress, but he often has a majority against him in one +house and sometimes in both at once. Thus in dividing power we divide +and weaken responsibility. To this point I have already alluded as +illustrated in our state governments.[20] + +[Footnote 20: The English method, however, would probably not work +well in this country, and might prove to be a source of great and +complicated dangers. See above, p. 169.] + +[Sidenote: Executive departments] +[Sidenote: The cabinet] +The Constitution made no specific provisions for the creation of +executive departments, but left the matter to Congress. At the +beginning of Washington's administration three secretaryships were +created,--those of state, treasury, and war; and an attorney-general +was appointed. Afterward the department of the navy was separated +from that of war, the postmaster-general was made a member of the +administration, and as lately as 1849 the department of the interior +was organized. The heads of these departments are the president's +advisers, but they have as a body no recognized legal existence or +authority. They hold their meetings in a room at the president's +executive mansion, the White House, but no record is kept of their +proceedings and the president is not bound to heed their advice. This +body has always been called the "Cabinet," after the English usage. It +is like the English cabinet in being composed of heads of executive +departments and in being, as a body, unknown to the law; in other +respects the difference is very great. The English cabinet is the +executive committee of the House of Commons, and exercises a guiding +and directing influence upon legislation. The position of the president is +not at all like that of the prime minister; it is more like that of +the English sovereign, though the latter has not nearly so much power +as the president; and the American cabinet in some respects resembles +the English privy council, though it cannot make ordinances. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of state.] +The secretary of state ranks first among our cabinet officers. He is +often called our prime minister or "premier," but there could not be +a more absurd use of language. In order to make an American personage +corresponding to the English prime minister we must first go to the +House of Representatives, take its committee of ways and means and +its committee on appropriations, and unite them into one committee of +finance; then we must take the chairman of this committee, give him +the power of dissolving the House and ordering a new election, and +make him master of all the executive departments, while at the +same time we strip from the president all real control over the +administration. This exalted finance-chairman would be much like the +First Lord of the Treasury, commonly called the prime minister. This +illustration shows how wide the divergence has become between our +system and that of Great Britain. + +Our secretary of state is our minister of foreign affairs, and is the +only officer who is authorized to communicate with other governments in +the name of the president. He is at the head of the diplomatic and +consular service, issuing the instructions to our ministers abroad, and +he takes a leading part in the negotiation of treaties. To these +ministerial duties he adds some that are more characteristic of his +title of secretary. He keeps the national archives, and superintends the +publication of laws, treaties, and proclamations; and he is the keeper +of the great seal of the United States. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic and consular service.] +Our foreign relations are cared for in foreign countries by two distinct +classes of officials: ministers and consuls. The former represent the +United States government in a diplomatic capacity; the latter have +nothing to do with diplomacy or politics, but look after our commercial +interests in foreign countries. Consuls exercise a protective care over +seamen, and perform various duties for Americans abroad. They can take +testimony and administer estates. In some non-Christian countries, such +as China, Japan, and Turkey, they have jurisdiction over criminal cases +in which Americans are concerned. Formerly our ministers abroad were of +only three grades: (1) "envoys extraordinary and ministers +plenipotentiary;" (2) "ministers resident;" (3) _chargés d'affaires_. +The first two are accredited by the president to the head of government +of the countries to which they are sent; the third are accredited by the +secretary of state to the minister of foreign affairs in the countries +to which they are sent. We still retain these grades, which correspond +to the lower grades of the diplomatic service in European countries. +Until lately we had no highest grade answering to that of "ambassador," +perhaps because when our diplomatic service was organized the United +States did not yet rank among first-rate powers, and could not expect to +receive ambassadors. Great powers, like France and Germany, send +ambassadors to each other, and envoys to inferior powers, like Denmark +or Greece or Guatemala. When we send envoys to the great powers, we rank +ourselves along with inferior powers; and diplomatic etiquette as a rule +obliges the great powers to send to us the same grade of minister that +we send to them. There were found to be some practical inconveniences +about this, so that in 1892 the highest grade was adopted and our +ministers to Great Britain and France were made ambassadors. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of the treasury.] +The cabinet officer second in rank and in some respects first in +importance is the secretary of the treasury. He conducts the financial +business of the government, superintends the collection of revenue, +and gives warrants for the payment of moneys from the treasury. He +also superintends the coinage, the national banks, the custom-houses, +the coast-survey and lighthouse system, the marine hospitals, and +life-saving service.[21] He sends reports to Congress, and suggests +such measures as seem good to him. Since the Civil War his most +weighty business has been the management of the national debt. He +is aided by two assistant secretaries, six auditors, a register, a +comptroller, a solicitor, a director of the mint, commissioner of +internal revenue, chiefs of the bureau of statistics and bureau of +engraving and printing, etc. The business of the treasury department +is enormous, and no part of our government has been more faithfully +administered. Since 1789 the treasury has disbursed more than seven +billions of dollars without one serious defalcation. No man directly +interested in trade or commerce can be appointed secretary of the +treasury, and the department has almost always been managed by "men of +small incomes bred either to politics or the legal profession." [22] + +[Footnote 21: Many of these details concerning the executive +departments are admirably summarized, and with more fullness +than comports with the design of the present work, in Thorpe's +_Government of the People of the United States_, pp. 183-193.] + +[Footnote 22: Schouler, _Hist. of the U.S._, vol. i. p. 95.] + + +[Sidenote: War and navy.] +The war and navy departments need no special description here. The +former is divided into ten and the latter into eight bureaus. +The naval department, among many duties, has charge of the naval +observatory at Washington and publishes the nautical almanac. + +[Sidenote: Interior.] +The department of the interior conducts a vast and various business, +as is shown by the designations of its eight bureaus, which deal with +public lands, Indian affairs, pensions, patents, education (chiefly in +the way of gathering statistics and reporting upon school affairs), +agriculture, public documents, and the census. In 1889 the bureau of +agriculture was organized as a separate department. The weather bureau +forms a branch of the department of agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Postmaster-general and attorney-general.] +The departments of the postmaster-general and attorney-general need +no special description. The latter was organized in 1870 into the +department of justice. The attorney-general is the president's legal +adviser, and represents the United States in all law-suits to which +the United States is a party. He is aided by a solicitor-general and +other subordinate offices. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Speak (1) of the president's share in legislation; (2) of his +relation to the executive department, and (3) of the origin +of his title. + +2. The electoral college:-- + + a. The method of electing the president a perplexing question. + b. The constitution of the electoral college, with illustrations. + c. Qualifications for serving as an elector. + d. The method of choosing electors. + e. The time of choosing electors. + f. When and where the electors vote. + g. The number and disposition of the certificates of their + h. The declaration of the result. + +3. What was the method of voting in the electoral college before +1804? Illustrate the working of this method in 1796 and 1800. + +4. The amendment of 1804:-- + + a. The ballots of the electors. + b. The duty of the House if no candidate for the presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + c. The duty of the Senate if no candidate for the vice-presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + d. Illustrations of the working of this amendment in 1825 + and 1837. + +5. The electoral commission of 1877:-- + + a. A difficulty not foreseen. + b. Conflicting returns in 1877. + c. The plan of arbitration adopted. + +6. The presidential succession:-- + + a. The office of vice-president. + b. The act of 1791. + c. The possibility of a lapse of the presidency. + d. The possibility of an unfair political overthrow. + e. The act of 1886. + +7. Compare the original purpose of the electoral college with +the fulfillment of that purpose. + +8. Explain the transition from a divided electoral vote in a state +to a solid electoral vote. + +9. Show how a minority of the people may elect a president. +Who have been elected by minorities? + +10. What is the advantage of the electoral system over a direct +popular vote? + +11. Methods of nominating candidates for the presidency and +vice-presidency before 1832:-- + + a. The absence of constitutional and legislative requirements. + + b. Presidents not nominated. + c. Nominations by congressional caucuses. + d. Nominations by state legislatures. + e. Nominations by local conventions. + +12. Nominations by national conventions in 1832 and since:-- + + a. The nature of a national convention. + b. The platform. + c. The number of delegates from a state, and their election. + d. The relation of the "primaries" to district, state, and + national conventions. + e. The nature of the primary. + f. Its two duties. + g. The duty of the voter to attend the primaries. + +13. The presidency:-- + a. Qualifications for the office. + b. The term of office. + +14. Powers and duties of the president:-- + a. As a commander-in-chief. + b. In respect to reprieves and pardons. + c. In respect to treaties with foreign powers. + d. In respect to the appointment of federal officers. + e. In respect to summoning and adjourning Congress. + f. In respect to reporting the state of affairs in the country + to Congress. + +15. The president's message:-- + a. The course of Washington and Adams. + b. The example of Jefferson. + c. The effectiveness of the message. + d. Power and responsibility in the English system. + +e. Power and + responsibility in the American system. + +16. Executive departments:-- + a. The departments under Washington. + b. Later additions to the departments. + c. The "Cabinet." + d. The resemblance between the English cabinet and our own. + e. The difference between the English cabinet and our own. + +17. The secretary of state:-- + a. Is he a prime minister? + b. What would be necessary to make an American personage + correspond to an English prime minister? + c. What are the ministerial duties of the secretary of state? + d. What other duties has he more characteristic of his title? + +18. Our diplomatic and consular service:-- + a. The distinction between ministers and consuls. + b. Three grades of ministers. + c. The persons to whom the three grades are accredited. + d. The grade of ambassador. + +19. The secretary of the treasury:-- + a. His rank and importance. + b. His various duties. + c. His chief assistants. + d. The administration of the treasury department since 1789. + +20. The duties of the remaining cabinet officers:-- + a. Of the secretary of war. + b. Of the secretary of the navy. + c. Of the secretary of the interior. + d. Of the postmaster-general. + e. Of the attorney-general. + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +We have left our Federal Convention sitting a good while at +Philadelphia, while we have thus undertaken to give a coherent account +of our national executive organization, which has in great part grown +up since 1789 with the growth of the nation. Observe how wisely the +Constitution confines itself to a clear sketch of fundamentals, and +leaves as much as possible to be developed by circumstances. In this +feature lies partly the flexible strength, the adaptableness, of our +Federal Constitution. That strength lies partly also in the excellent +partition of powers between the federal government and the several +states. + +[Sidenote: Difference between confederation and federal union.] +We have already remarked upon the vastness of the functions retained +by the states. At the same time the powers granted to Congress have +proved sufficient to bind the states together into a union that is +more than a mere confederation. From 1776 to 1789 the United States +_were_ a confederation; after 1789 it was a federal nation. The +passage from plural to singular was accomplished, although it took +some people a good while to realize the fact. The German language +has a neat way of distinguishing between a loose confederation and a +federal union. It calls the former a _Staatenbund_ and the latter +a _Bundesstaat_. So in English, if we liked, we might call the +confederation a _Band-of-States_ and the federal union a _Banded-State_. +There are two points especially in our Constitution which transformed +our country from a Band-of-States into a Banded-State. + +[Sidenote: Powers granted to Congress.] +The first was the creation of a federal House of Representatives, thus +securing for Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, +imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common +welfare of the United States. Other powers are naturally attached to +this,--such as the power to borrow money on the credit of the United +States; to regulate foreign and domestic commerce; to coin money +and fix the standard of weights and measures; to provide for +the punishment of counterfeiters; to establish post-offices and +post-roads; to issue copyrights and patents; to define and punish +felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of +nations; to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and +make rules concerning captures on land and water; to raise and +support an army and navy, and to make rules for the regulation of +the land and naval forces; to provide for calling out the militia +to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, and to command this +militia while actually employed in the service of the United States. +The several states, however, train their own militia and appoint +the officers. Congress may also establish a uniform rule of +naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies. It +also exercises exclusive control over the District of Columbia,[23] +as the seat of the national government, and over forts, magazines, +arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings, which it erects +within the several states upon land purchased for such purposes with +the consent of the state legislature. + + +[Footnote 23: Ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia.] + +[Sidenote: The "Elastic Clause."] +Congress is also empowered "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 office thereof." This may be +called the Elastic Clause of the Constitution; it has undergone a +good deal of stretching for one purpose and another, and, as we shall +presently see, it was a profound disagreement in the interpretation of +this clause that after 1789 divided the American people into two great +political parties. + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to the states.] +[Sidenote: Paper currency.] +The national authority of Congress is further sharply defined by the +express denial of sundry powers to the several states. These we have +already enumerated.[24] There was an especial reason for prohibiting +the states from issuing bills of credit, or making anything but gold +and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. During the years 1785 +and 1786 a paper money craze ran through the country; most of the +states issued paper notes, and passed laws obliging their citizens to +receive them in payment of debts. Now a paper dollar is not money, it +is only the government's promise to pay a dollar. As long as you can +send it to the treasury and get a gold dollar in exchange, it is worth +a dollar. It is this exchangeableness that makes it worth a dollar. +When government makes the paper dollar note a "legal tender." i.e., +when it refuses to give you the gold dollar and makes you take its +note instead, the note soon ceases to be worth a dollar. You would +rather have the gold than the note, for the mere fact that government +refuses to give the gold shows that it is in financial difficulties. +So the note's value is sure to fall, and if the government is in +serious difficulty, it falls very far, and as it falls it takes more +of it to buy things. Prices go up. There was a time (1864) during our +Civil War when a paper dollar was worth only forty cents and a barrel +of flour cost $23. But that was nothing to the year 1780, when the +paper dollar issued by the Continental Congress was worth only a mill, +and flour was sold in Boston for $1,575 a barrel! When the different +states tried to make paper money, it made confusion worse confounded, +for the states refused to take each other's money, and this helped to +lower its value. In some states the value of the paper dollar fell in +less than a year to twelve or fifteen cents. At such times there is +always great demoralization and suffering, especially among the poorer +people; and with all the experience of the past to teach us, it may +now be held to be little less than a criminal act for a government, +under any circumstances, to make its paper notes a legal tender. The +excuse for the Continental Congress was that it was not completely a +government and seemed to have no alternative, but there is no doubt +that the paper currency damaged the country much more than the arms of +the enemy by land or sea. The feeling was so strong about it in the +Federal Convention that the prohibition came near being extended to +the national government, but the question was unfortunately left +undecided.[25] + +[Footnote 24: See above, p.175] + +[Footnote 25: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +168-186, 273-276.] + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to Congress.] +[Sidenote: Bills of attainder.] +Some express prohibitions were laid upon the national government. Duties +may be laid upon imports but not upon exports; this wise restriction was +a special concession to South. Carolina, which feared the effect of an +export duty upon rice and indigo. Duties and excises must be uniform +throughout the country, and no commercial preference can be shown to one +state over another; absolute free trade is the rule between the states. +A census must be taken every ten years in order to adjust the +representation, and no direct tax can be imposed except according to the +census. No money can be drawn from the treasury except "in consequence +of appropriations made by law," and accounts must be regularly kept and +published. The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ cannot be +suspended except "when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety may require it;" and "no bill of attainder, or _ex post facto_ +law," can be passed. A bill of attainder is a special legislative act by +which a person may be condemned to death, or to outlawry and banishment, +without the opportunity of defending himself which he would have in a +court of law. "No evidence is necessarily adduced to support it," [26] and +in former times, especially in the reign of Henry VIII., it was a +formidable engine for perpetrating judicial murders. Bills of attainder +long ago ceased to be employed in England, and the process was abolished +by statute in 1870. + +[Footnote 26: Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, +p. 385.] + +[Sidenote: Intercitizenship.] +No title of nobility can be granted by the United States, and no federal +officer can accept a present, office, or title from a foreign state +without the consent of Congress. "No religious test shall ever be +required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the +United States." Full faith and credit must be given in each state to the +public acts and records, and to the judicial proceedings of every other +state; and it is left for Congress to determine the manner in which such +acts and proceedings shall be proved or certified. The citizens of each +state are "entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the +several states." There is mutual extradition of criminals, and, as a +concession to the southern states it was provided that fugitive slaves +should be surrendered to their masters. The United States guarantees to +every state a republican form of government, it protects each state +against invasion; and on application from the legislature of a state, or +from the executive when the legislature cannot be convened, it lends a +hand in suppressing insurrection. + +[Sidenote: Mode of making amendments.] +Amendments to the Constitution may at any time be proposed in +pursuance of a two thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or by a +convention called at the request of the legislatures of two thirds of +the states. The amendments are not in force until ratified by three-fourths +of the states, either through their legislatures or through +special conventions, according to the preference of Congress. This +makes it difficult to change the Constitution, as it ought to be; but +it leaves it possible to introduce changes that are very obviously +desirable. The Articles of Confederation could not be amended except +by a unanimous vote of the states; and this made their amendment +almost impossible. + +After assuming all debts contracted and engagements made by the United +States before its adoption, the Constitution goes on to declare itself +the supreme law of the land. By it, and by the laws and treaties made +under it, the judges in every state are bound, in spite of anything +contrary in the constitution or laws of any state. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. In what two features of the Constitution does its strength +largely lie? + +2. Distinguish between the United States as a confederation and the +United States as a federal union. How does the German language bring out +the distinction? + +3. What was the first important factor in transforming our +country from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +4. The powers granted to Congress:-- + a. Over taxes, money, and commerce. + b. Over postal affairs, and the rights of inventors and authors. + c. Over certain crimes. + d. Over war and military matters. + e. Over naturalization and bankruptcy. + f. Over the District of Columbia and other places. + g. The "elastic clause" and its interpretation. + +5. The powers denied to the states:-- + a. An enumeration of these powers. + b. The prohibition of bills of credit, in particular. + c. The paper money craze of 1785 and 1786. + d. Paper money as a "legal tender." + e. The depreciation of paper money during the Civil War. + f. The depreciation of the Continental currency in 1780. + g. The demoralization caused by the states making paper money. + h. The lesson of experience. + +6. Prohibitions upon the national government:-- + a. The imposition of duties and taxes. + b. The payment of money. + c. The writ of _habeas corpus_. + d. _Ex post facto_ laws. + e. Bills of attainder. + f. Titles and presents. + +7. Duties of the states to one another:-- + a. In respect to public acts and records, and judicial proceedings. + b. In respect to the privileges of citizens. + c. In respect to fugitives from justice. + +8. What is the duty of the United States to every state in +respect (1) to form of government, (2) invasion, and (3) +insurrection? + +9. Amendments to the Constitution:-- + a. Two methods of proposing amendments. + b. Two methods of ratifying amendments, + c. The difficulty of making amendments. + d. Amendment of the Articles of Confederation. + +10. What is meant by the Constitution's declaring itself the +supreme law of the land? + + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary_. + +[Sidenote: Need for a federal judiciary.] +The creation of a federal judiciary was the second principal feature in +the Constitution, which transformed our country from a loose +confederation into a federal nation, from a _Band-of-States_ into a +_Banded-State_. We have seen that the American people were already +somewhat familiar with the method of testing the constitutionality of a +law by getting the matter brought before the courts.[27] In the case of +a conflict between state law and federal law, the only practicable +peaceful solution is that which is reached through a judicial decision. +The federal authority also needs the machinery of courts in order to +enforce its own decrees. + +[Footnote 27: See above p. 194.] + +[Sidenote: Federal courts and judges.] +[Sidenote: District attorneys and marshals.] +The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, and +district courts.[28] At present the supreme court consists of a chief +justice and eight associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the +city of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of October. Each of +these nine judges is also presiding judge of a circuit court. The area +of the United States, not including the territories, is divided into +nine circuits, and in each circuit the presiding judge is assisted +by special circuit judges. The circuits are divided into districts, +fifty-six in all, and in each of these there is a special district +judge. The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a +state is one district, but populous states with much business are +divided into two or even three districts. "The circuit courts sit +in the several districts of each circuit successively, and the law +requires that each justice of the supreme court shall sit in each +district of his circuit at least once every two years." [29] District +judges are not confined to their own districts; they may upon occasion +exchange districts as ministers exchange pulpits. A district judge +may, if need be, act as a circuit judge, as a major may command a +regiment. All federal judges are appointed by the president, with the +consent of the Senate, to serve during good behaviour. Each district +has its _district attorney_, whose business is to prosecute +offenders against the federal laws and to conduct civil cases in +which the national government is either plaintiff or defendant. Each +district has also its marshal, who has the same functions under the +federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The procedure of +the federal court usually follows that of the courts of the state in +which it is sitting. + +[Footnote 28: See the second note on p.278.] + +[Footnote 29: See Wilson, _The State_, p. 554. I have closely +followed, though, with much abridgment, the excellent description of +our federal judiciary, pp. 555-561.] + +[Sidenote: The federal jurisdiction.] +The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases: (1) those +which come before it "_because of the nature of the questions +involved_: for instance, admiralty and maritime cases, navigable +waters being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal +authorities, and cases arising out of the Constitution, laws, or +treaties of the United States or out of conflicting grants made by +different states"; (2) those which come before it "_because of the +nature of the parties to the suit_," such as cases affecting the +ministers of foreign powers or suits between citizens of different +states. + +The division of jurisdiction between the upper and lower federal +courts is determined chiefly by the size and importance of the cases. +In cases where a state or a foreign minister is a party the supreme +court has original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate +jurisdiction, and "any case which involves the interpretation of the +Constitution can be taken to the supreme court, however small the sum +in dispute." If a law of any state or of the United States is decided +by the supreme court to be in violation of the Constitution, it +instantly becomes void and of no effect. In this supreme exercise +of jurisdiction, our highest federal tribunal is unlike any other +tribunal known to history. The supreme court is the most original of +all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, and for its +exalted character and priceless services it is an institution of which +Americans may well be proud. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the second important factor in transforming our country +from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +2. Why was a federal judiciary deemed necessary? + +3. The organization of the federal judiciary:-- + a. The supreme court and its sessions. + b. The circuit courts. + c. The district courts. + d. Exchanges of service. + e. Appointment of judges. + f. The United States district attorney. + g. The United States marshal. + +4. The jurisdiction of the federal courts:-- + a. Cases because of the nature of the questions involved. + b. Cases because of the nature of the parties to the suit. + c. The division of jurisdiction between the upper and the lower + courts. + d. Wherein the supreme court is the most original of American + institutions. + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +[Sidenote: The Northwest Territory.] +[Sidenote: The Ordinance of 1787.] +The Constitution provided for the admission of new states to the +Union, but it does not allow a state to be formed within another +state. A state cannot "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." Shortly before the +making of the Constitution, the United States had been endowed for the +first time with a public domain. The territory northwest of the Ohio +River had been claimed, on the strength of old grants and charters, by +Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia. In 1777 Maryland +refused to sign the Articles of Confederation until these states +should agree to cede their claims to the United States, and thus in +1784 the federal government came into possession of a magnificent +territory, out of which five great states--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, +Michigan, and Wisconsin--have since been made. While the Federal +Convention was sitting at Philadelphia, the Continental Congress at +New York was doing almost its last and one of its greatest pieces +of work in framing the Ordinance of 1787 for the organization and +government of this newly acquired territory. The ordinance created a +territorial government with governor and two-chambered legislature, +courts, magistrates, and militia. Complete civil and religious liberty +was guaranteed, negro slavery was prohibited, and provision was made +for free schools.[30] + +[Footnote 30: The manner in which provision should be made for these +schools had been pointed out two years before in the land-ordinance of +1785, as heretofore explained. See above, p. 86.] + +[Sidenote: Other territories and their government.] +In 1803 the enormous territory known as Louisiana, comprising +everything (except Texas) between the Mississippi River and the crest +of the Rocky Mountains, was purchased from France. A claim upon the +Oregon territory was soon afterward made by discovery and exploration, +and finally settled in 1846 by treaty with Great Britain. In 1848 by +conquest and in 1853 by purchase the remaining Pacific lands were +acquired from Mexico. All of this vast region has been at some time +under territorial government. As for Texas, on the other hand, it +has never been a territory. Texas revolted from Mexico in 1836 and +remained an independent state until 1845, when it was admitted to +the Union. Territorial government has generally passed through three +stages: first, there are governors and judges appointed by the +president; then as population increases, there is added a legislature +chosen by the people and empowered to make laws subject to +confirmation by Congress; finally, entire legislative independence is +granted. The territory is then ripe for admission to the Union as a +state. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the constitutional provision for admitting new states? + +2. What states claimed the territory northwest of the Ohio river? On +what did they base their claims? + +3. Why was this territory ceded to the general government? + +4. What states have since been made out of this territory? + +5. What was the Ordinance of 1787? + +6. What were the principal provisions of this ordinance? + +7. Give an account of the Louisiana purchase? + +8. Give an account of the acquisition of the Oregon territory. + +9. Give an account of the acquisition of the remaining Pacific lands. + +10. How came Texas to belong to the United States? + +11. How much of the public domain has been at some time under +territorial government? + +12. Through what three stages has territorial government usually +passed? + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments._ + +[Sidenote: Concessions to the South.] +Thus the work of the Ordinance of 1787 was in a certain sense +supplementary to the work of framing the Constitution. When the latter +instrument was completed, it was provided that "the ratifications +of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the +establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the +same." The Constitution was then laid before the Continental Congress, +which submitted it to the states. In one state after another, +conventions were held, and at length the Constitution was ratified. +There was much opposition to it, because it seemed to create a strange +and untried form of government which might develop into a +tyranny. There was a fear that the federal power might crush out +self-government in the states. This dread was felt in all parts of the +country. Besides this, there was some sectional opposition between +North and South, and in Virginia there was a party in favour of a +separate southern confederacy. But South Carolina and Georgia were won +over by the concessions in the Constitution to slavery, and especially +a provision that the importation of slaves from Africa should not +be prohibited until 1808. By winning South Carolina and Georgia the +formation of a "solid South" was prevented. + +[Sidenote: Bill of Rights proposed.] +The first states to adopt the Constitution were Delaware, +Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, with slight +opposition, except in Pennsylvania. Next came Massachusetts, where the +convention was very large, the discussion very long, and the action +in one sense critical. One chief source of dissatisfaction was the +absence of a sufficiently explicit Bill of Rights, and to meet this +difficulty, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, but proposed +amendments, and this course was followed by other states. Maryland and +South Carolina came next, and New Hampshire made the ninth. Virginia +and New York then ratified by very narrow majorities and after +prolonged discussion. North Carolina did not come in until 1789, and +Rhode Island not until 1790. + +[Sidenote: The first ten amendments.] + +In September, 1789, the first ten amendments were proposed by +Congress, and in December, 1791, they were declared in force. Their +provisions are similar to those of the English Bill of Rights, enacted +in 1689,[31] but are much more full and explicit. They provide for +freedom of speech and of the press, the free exercise of religion, the +right of the people to assemble and petition Congress for a redress +of grievances, their right to bear arms, and to be secure against +unreasonable searches and seizures. The quartering of soldiers is +guarded, general search-warrants are prohibited, jury trial is +guaranteed, and the taking of private property for public use without +due compensation, as well as excessive fines and bail and the +infliction of "cruel and unusual punishment" are forbidden. Congress +is prohibited from establishing any form of religion. + +[Footnote 31: See above, p. 190. This is further elucidated in +Appendixes B and D.] + +Finally, it is declared that "the enumeration of certain rights shall +not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," +and that "the powers not granted to the United States by the +Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the +states respectively, or to the people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What provision did the Constitution make for its own ratification? + +2. What was the general method of ratification in the states? + +3. On what general grounds did the opposition to the Constitution seem +to be based? + +4. By what feature in the Constitution was the support of South +Carolina and Georgia assured? Why was this support deemed peculiarly +desirable? + +5. What five states ratified the Constitution with little or no +opposition? + +6. What was the objection of Massachusetts and some other states to +the Constitution? What course, therefore, did they adopt? + +7. What three states after Massachusetts by their ratification made +the adoption of the Constitution secure? + +8. What four states subsequently gave in their support? + +9. Give an account of the adoption of the first ten amendments. + +10. For what do these amendments provide? + +11. What powers are reserved to the states? + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics._ + +[Sidenote: Federal taxation.] +A chief source of the opposition to the new federal government was the +dread of federal taxation. People who found it hard to pay their town, +county, and state taxes felt that it would be ruinous to have to pay +still another kind of tax. In the mere fact of federal taxation, +therefore, they were inclined to see tyranny. With people in such a +mood it was necessary to proceed cautiously in devising measures of +federal taxation. + +[Sidenote: Excise.] +This was well understood by our first secretary of the treasury, +Alexander Hamilton, and in the course of his administration of the +treasury he was once roughly reminded of it. The two methods of federal +taxation adopted at his suggestion were duties on imports and excise on +a few domestic products, such as whiskey and tobacco. The excise, being +a tax which people could see and feel, was very unpopular, and in 1794 +the opposition to it in western Pennsylvania grew into the famous +"Whiskey Insurrection," against which President Washington thought it +prudent to send an army of 16,000 men. This formidable display of +federal power suppressed the insurrection without bloodshed. + +[Sidenote: Tariff.] +Nowhere was there any such violent opposition to Hamilton's scheme of +custom-house duties on imported goods. People had always been familiar +with such duties. In the colonial times they had been levied by the +British government without calling forth resistance until Charles +Townshend made them the vehicle of a dangerous attack upon American +self-government.[32] After the Declaration of Independence, custom-house +duties were levied by the state governments and the proceeds were paid +into the treasuries of the several states. Before 1789, much trouble had +arisen from oppressive tariff-laws enacted by some of the states against +others. By taking away from the states the power of taxing imports, the +new Constitution removed this source of irritation. It became possible +to lighten the burden of custom-house duties, while by turning the full +stream of them into the federal treasury an abundant national revenue +was secured at once. Thus this part of Hamilton's policy met with +general approval. The tariff has always been our favourite device for +obtaining a national revenue. During our Civil War, indeed, the +national, government resorted extensively to direct taxation, chiefly in +the form of revenue stamps, though it also put a tax upon +billiard-tables, pianos, gold watches, and all sorts of things. But +after the return of peace these unusual taxes were one after another +discontinued, and since then our national revenue has been raised, as in +Hamilton's time, from duties on imports and excise on a few domestic +products, chiefly tobacco and distilled liquors. + +[Footnote 32: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-83; and my +_History of the United States, for Schools_, pp. 192-203.] + +[Sidenote: Origin of American political parties.] +Hamilton's measures as secretary of the treasury embodied an entire +system of public policy, and the opposition to them resulted in the +formation of the two political parties into which, under one name or +another, the American people have at most times been divided. Hamilton's +opponents, led by Jefferson, objected to his principal measures that +they assumed powers in the national government which were not granted to +it by the Constitution. Hamilton then fell back upon the Elastic +Clause[33] of the Constitution, and maintained that such powers were +_implied_ in it. Jefferson held that this doctrine of "implied powers" +stretched the Elastic Clause too far. He held that the Elastic Clause +ought to be construed strictly and narrowly; Hamilton held that +it ought to be construed loosely and liberally. Hence the names +"strict-constructionist" and "loose-constructionist," which mark perhaps +the most profound and abiding antagonism in the history of American +politics. + +[Footnote [33]: Article I, section viii, clause 18; see above, p. 245.] + +Practically all will admit that the Elastic Clause, if construed +strictly, ought not to be construed _too_ narrowly; and, if construed +liberally, ought not to be construed _too_ loosely. Neither party has +been consistent in applying its principles, but in the main we can call +Hamilton the founder of the Federalist party, which has had for its +successors the National Republicans of 1828, the Whigs of 1833 to 1852, +and the Republicans of 1854 to the present time; while we can call +Jefferson the founder of the party which called itself Republican from +about 1792 to about 1828, and since then has been known as the +Democratic party. This is rather a rough description in view of the real +complication of the historical facts, but it is an approximation to the +truth. + +[Sidenote: Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank.] +It is not my purpose here to give a sketch of the history of American +parties. Such a sketch, if given in due relative proportion, would +double the size of this little book, of which the main purpose is to +treat of civil government in the United States with reference to its +_origins_. But it may here be said in general that the practical +questions which have divided the two great parties have been concerned +with the powers of the national government as to (1) the _Tariff_; (2) +the making of roads, improving rivers and harbours, etc., under the +general head of _Internal Improvements_; and (3) the establishment of a +_National Bank_, with the national government as partner holding shares +in it and taking a leading part in the direction of its affairs. On the +question of such a national bank the Democratic party achieved a +complete and decisive victory under President Tyler. On the question of +internal improvements the opposite party still holds the ground, but +most of its details have been settled by the great development of the +powers of private enterprise during the past sixty years, and it is not +at present a "burning question." The question of the tariff, however, +remains to-day as a "burning question," but it is no longer argued on +grounds of constitutional law, but on grounds of political economy. +Hamilton's construction of the Elastic Clause has to this extent +prevailed, and mainly for the reason that a liberal construction of that +clause was needed in order to give the national government enough power +to restrict the spread of slavery and suppress the great rebellion of +which slavery was the exciting cause. + +[Sidenote: Civil service reform.] +Another political question, more important, if possible, than that of +the Tariff, is to-day the question of the reform of the Civil Service; +but it is not avowedly made a party question. Twenty years ago both +parties laughed at it; now both try to treat it with a show of respect +and to render unto it lip-homage; and the control of the immediate +political future probably lies with the party which treats it most +seriously. It is a question that was not distinctly foreseen in the days +of Hamilton and Jefferson, when the Constitution was made and adopted; +otherwise, one is inclined to believe, the framers of the Constitution +would have had something to say about it. The question as to the Civil +Service arises from the fact that the president has the power of +appointing a vast number of petty officials, chiefly postmasters and +officials concerned with the collection of the federal revenue. Such +officials have properly nothing to do with politics; they are simply the +agents or clerks or servants of the national government in conducting +its business; and if the business of the national government is to be +managed on such ordinary principles of prudence as prevail in the +management of private business, such servants ought to be selected for +personal merit and retained for life or during good behaviour. It did +not occur to our earlier presidents to regard the management of the +public business in any other light than this. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the "spoils system."] +But as early as the beginning of the present century a vicious system +was growing up in New York and Pennsylvania. In those states the +appointive offices came to be used as bribes or as rewards for partisan +services. By securing votes for a successful candidate, a man with +little in his pocket and nothing in particular to do could obtain some +office with a comfortable salary. It would be given him as a reward, and +some other man, perhaps more competent than himself, would have to be +turned out in order to make room for him. A more effective method of +driving good citizens "out of politics" could hardly be devised. It +called to the front a large class of men of coarse moral fibre who +greatly preferred the excitement of speculating in politics to earning +an honest living by some ordinary humdrum business. The civil service of +these states was seriously damaged in quality, politics degenerated into +a wild scramble for offices, salaries were paid to men who did little or +no public service in return, and thus the line which separates taxation +from robbery was often crossed. + +[Sidenote: "Rotation in Office."] +[Sidenote: The "spoils system" made national] +About the same time there grew up an idea that there is something +especially democratic, and therefore meritorious, about "rotation in +office." Government offices were regarded as plums at which every one +ought to be allowed a chance to take a bite. The way was prepared in +1820 by W.H. Crawford, of Georgia, who succeeded in getting the law +enacted that limits the tenure of office for postmasters, revenue +collectors, and other servants of the federal government to four years. +The importance of this measure was not understood, and it excited very +little discussion at the time. The next presidential election which +resulted in a change of party was that of Jackson in 1828, and then the +methods of New York and Pennsylvania were applied on a national scale. +Jackson cherished the absurd belief that the administration of his +predecessor Adams had been corrupt, and he turned men out of office with +a keen zest. During the forty years between Washington's first +inauguration and Jackson's the total number of removals from office was +74, and out of this number 5 were defaulters. During the first year of +Jackson's administration the number of changes made in the civil +service was about 2,000. [34] Such was the abrupt inauguration upon a +national scale of the so-called "spoils system." The phrase originated +with W. L. Marcy, of New York, who in a speech in the senate in 1831 +declared that "to the victors belong the spoils." The man who said this +of course did not realize that he was making one of the most shameful +remarks recorded in history. There was, however, much aptness in his +phrase, inasmuch as it was a confession that the business of American +politics was about to be conducted on principles fit only for the +warfare of barbarians. + +[Footnote 34: Sumner's _Jackson_, p. 147.] + +In the canvass of 1840 the Whigs promised to reform the civil service, +and the promise brought them many Democratic votes; but after they had +won the election, they followed Jackson's example. The Democrats +followed in the same way in 1845, and from that time down to 1885 it was +customary at each change of party to make a "clean sweep" of the +offices. Soon after the Civil War the evils of the system began to +attract serious attention on the part of thoughtful people. The "spoils +system" has helped to sustain all manner of abominations, from grasping +monopolies and civic jobbery down to political rum-shops. The virus runs +through everything, and the natural tendency of the evil is to grow with +the growth of the country. + +[Sidenote: The Civil Service Act of 1883.] +In 1883 Congress passed the Civil Service Act, allowing the president to +select a board of examiners on whose recommendation appointments are +made. Candidates for office are subjected to an easy competitive +examination. The system has worked well in other countries, and under +Presidents Arthur and Cleveland it was applied to a considerable part of +the civil service. It has also been adopted in some states and cities. +The opponents of reform object to the examination that it is not always +intimately connected with the work of the office,[35] but, even if this +were so, the merit of the system lies in its removal of the offices from +the category of things known as "patronage." It relieves the president +of much needless work and wearisome importunity. The president and the +heads of departments appoint (in many cases, through subordinates) about +115,000 officials. It is therefore impossible to know much about their +character or competency. It becomes necessary to act by advice, and the +advice of an examining board is sure to be much better than the advice +of political schemers intent upon getting a salaried office for their +needy friends. The examination system has made a fair beginning and will +doubtless be gradually improved and made more stringent. Something too +has been done toward stopping two old abuses attendant upon political +canvasses,--(1) forcing government clerks, under penalty of losing their +places, to contribute part of their salaries for election purposes; (2) +allowing government clerks to neglect their work in order to take an +active part in the canvass. Before the reform of the civil service can +be completed, however, it will be necessary to repeal Crawford's act of +1820 and make the tenure of postmasters and revenue collectors as secure +as that of the chief justice of the United States. + +[Footnote 35: The objection that the examination questions are +irrelevant to the work of the office is often made the occasion of gross +exaggeration. I have given, in Appendix I, an average sample of the +examination papers used in the customs service. It is taken from +Comstock's _Civil Service in the United States_, New York, Holt & Co., +1885, an excellent manual with very full particulars.] + +[Sidenote: The Australian ballot-system.] +Another political reform which promises excellent results is the +adoption by many states of some form of the Australian ballot-system, +for the purpose of checking intimidation and bribery at elections. The +ballots are printed by the state, and contain the names of all the +candidates of all the parties. Against the name of each candidate the +party to which he belongs is designated, and against each name there is +a small vacant space to be filled with a cross. At the polling-place the +ballots are kept in an inclosure behind a railing, and no ballot can be +brought outside under penalty of fine or imprisonment[36]. One ballot is +nailed against the wall outside the railing, so that it may be read at +leisure. The space behind the railing is divided into separate booths +quite screened from each other. Each booth is provided with a pencil and +a convenient shelf on which to write. The voter goes behind the railing, +takes the ballot which is handed him, carries it into one of the booths, +and marks a cross against the names of the candidates for whom he votes. +He then puts his ballot into the box, and his name is checked off on the +register of voters of the precinct. This system is very simple, it +enables a vote to be given in absolute secrecy, and it keeps "heelers" +away from the polls. It is favourable to independence in voting,[37] and +it is unfavourable to bribery, because unless the briber can follow his +man to the polls and see how he votes, he cannot be sure that his bribe +is effective. To make the precautions against bribery complete it will +doubtless be necessary to add to the secret ballot the English system of +accounting for election expenses. All the funds used in an election must +pass through the hands of a small local committee, vouchers must be +received for every penny that is expended, and after the election an +itemized account must be made out and its accuracy attested under oath +before a notary public. This system of accounting has put an end to +bribery in England.[38] + +[Footnote 36: This is a brief description of the system lately adopted +in Massachusetts. The penalty here mentioned is a fine not exceeding a +thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such +fine and such imprisonment.] + +[Footnote 37: It is especially favourable to independence in voting, if +the lists of the candidates are placed in a single column, without +reference to party (each name of course, having the proper party +designation, "Rep.," "Dem.," "Prohib.," etc., attached to it). In such +case it must necessarily take the voter some little time to find and +mark each name for which he wishes to vote. If, however, the names of +the candidates are arranged according to their party, all the +Republicans in one list, all the Democrats in another, etc., this +arrangement is much less favourable to independence in voting and much +less efficient as a check upon bribery; because the man who votes a +straight party ticket will make all his marks in a very short time, +while the "scratcher," or independent voter, will consume much more time +in selecting his names. Thus people interested in seeing whether a man +is voting the straight party ticket or not can form an opinion from the +length of time he spends in the booth. It is, therefore, important that +the names of all candidates should be printed in a single column.] + +[Footnote 38: An important step in this direction has been taken in the +New York Corrupt Practices Act of April, 1890. See Appendix J.] + +Complaints of bribery and corruption have attracted especial attention +in the United States during the past few years, and it is highly +creditable to the good sense of the people that measures of prevention +have been so promptly adopted by so many states. With an independent and +uncorrupted ballot, and the civil service taken "out of politics," all +other reforms will become far more easily accomplished. These ends will +presently be attained. Popular government makes many mistakes, and +sometimes it is slow in finding them out; but when once it has +discovered them it has a way of correcting them. It is the best kind of +government in the world, the most wisely conservative, the most steadily +progressive, and the most likely to endure. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was a chief source of opposition to the new federal government? + +2. What necessity for caution existed in devising methods to raise money? + +3. Hamilton's scheme of excise:-- + a. The things on which excise was laid. + b. The unpopularity of the scheme. + c. The "Whiskey Insurrection." + d. Its suppression by Washington. + +4. Hamilton's tariff scheme:-- + a. The class of things on which duties were placed. + b. Popular acquiescence in the plan. + c. Effect of diverting the stream of custom-house revenue from its old + destination in the several state treasuries to its new destination in + the federal treasury. + d. Direct taxation during the Civil War. + e. Methods pursued since the Civil War. + +5. The origin of American political parties:-- + a. Jefferson's objection to Hamilton's policy. + b. Hamilton's defence of his policy. + c. Jefferson's view of the Elastic Clause. + d. Hamilton's view of the Elastic Clause. + e. Two names suggestive of an abiding antagonism in American politics. + f. A view of the Elastic Clause that commends itself to all. + g. The party of Hamilton and its successors. + h. The party of Jefferson and its successor. + +6. Great practical questions that have divided parties:-- + a. The Tariff. + b. Internal Improvements. + c. A National Bank. + d. The present attitude towards these three questions. + e. The shifting of ground in arguing the tariff question. + f. The reason for this change of base. + +7. Civil Service reform:-- + + a. The attitude of parties a few years ago. + b. The present attitude of the same parties. + c. A question not foreseen. + d. The number of officers appointed. + e. The non-political nature of their duties. + f. The principles that should prevail in their selection and + service. + +8. The "spoils system":-- + a. Early appointive officers in New York and Pennsylvania, + b. The driving of good citizens out of politics. + c. The character of the men called to the front. + d. The effect on civil service and on politics. + +9. Rotation in office:-- + a. A new idea about government offices. + b. Crawford's law of 1820. + c. Failure to grasp its significance. + d. Jackson's course in 1829. + e. Removals from office down to Jackson's time. + f. Removals during the first year of Jackson's administration. + g. Origin of the phrase, "spoils system." + h. Promises and practice down to 1885. + i. The evils conspicuous since the Civil War. + +10. The Civil Service Act of 1883. + a. A board of examiners. + b. Competitive examination of candidates. + c. The spread of the principles of the reform. + d. The merit of the system. + e. Two old abuses stopped. + f. Further measures needed. + +11. The Australian ballot system:-- + a. The object of this system. + b. The printing of the ballots. + c. What a ballot contains. + d. Ballots at the polling-places. + e. The booths. + f. The manner of voting. + g. The advantages of the system. + h. An additional precaution against bribery. + +12. What is the attitude of the people towards bribery and corruption? + +13. What reforms must be accomplished before others can make +much headway? + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How much money is needed by the United States government for the +expenses of a year? How much is needed for the army, the navy, the +interest on the public debt, pensions, rivers and harbours, ordinary +civil expenses, etc.? (Answer for any recent year.) + +2. From what sources does the revenue come? Tell how much revenue each +of the several sources has yielded in any recent year. + +3. What is the origin of the word _tariff_? + +4. What is meant by _protection_? What is meant by _free +trade_? What is meant by a _tariff for revenue only_? What is +meant by _reciprocity_? Give illustrations. + +5. What are some of the reasons assigned for protection? + +6. What are some of the reasons assigned for free trade? + +7. Which policy prevails among the states themselves? + +8. Which policy prevails between the United States and other nations? + +9. Mention all the kinds of United States money in circulation. Bring +into the class a national bank bill, a gold certificate, a silver +certificate, any piece that is used as money, and inquire wherein its +value lies, what it can or cannot be used for, what the United States +will or will not give in exchange for it, and whether it is worth its +face in gold or not. + +10. Is it right to buy silver at seventy-five cents and then put +it into circulation stamped a dollar, the Government receiving the +profit? Can you get a gold dollar for a silver one? + +11. Is a promise to pay a dollar a real dollar? May it be as good as a +dollar? If so, under what conditions? + +12. If gold were as common as gravel, what characteristics of it +universally recognized would remain unchanged? What would become of +its purchasing power, if it cost little or no labour to obtain it? Why +is it accepted as a standard of value? + +13. During the Civil War gold was said to fluctuate in value, because +it took two dollars of paper money, sometimes more, sometimes less, +to buy one dollar in gold. Where was the real changing? What was the +cause of it? + +14. What men are at the head of the national government at the present +time? (Think of the executive department and its primary divisions, +the legislative department, and the judicial.) + +15. What salaries are paid these officers? Compare American salaries +with European salaries for corresponding high positions. + +16. Should a president serve a second term? What is the advantage of +such service? What is the objection to it? Is a single term of six +years desirable? + +17. Ought the president to be elected directly by the people? + +18. Name in order the persons entitled to succeed to the presidency in +case of vacancy. + +19. Who is your representative in Congress? + +20. Who are your senators in Congress? + +21. What is the pay of members of Congress? Who determines the +compensation? What is there to prevent lavish or improper pay? + + +22. There is said to be "log-rolling" in legislation at times. What is +the nature of this practice? Is it right? + +23. Is the senator or the representative of higher dignity? Why? + +24. Why should members of Congress be exempted from arrest in certain +cases? + +25. Find authority in the Constitution for various things that +Congress has done, such as the following:-- + a. It has established a military academy at West Point. + b. It has given public lands to Pacific railroads. + c. It has authorized uniforms for letter carriers. + d. It has ordered surveys of the coast. + e. It has established the Yellowstone National Park. + f. It has voted millions of dollars for pensions. + g. It refused during the Civil War to pay its promises with silver or + gold. + h. It bought Alaska of Russia. + i. It has adopted exclusive measures towards the Chinese. + +26. Reverse the preceding exercise. That is, cite clauses of the +Constitution, and tell what particular things Congress has done because +of such authority. For example, what specific things have been done +under the following powers of Congress?-- + a. To collect taxes. + b. To regulate commerce with foreign nations. + c. To coin money. + d. To establish post-roads. + e. To provide for the common defence. + f. To provide for the general welfare. + +27. Compare the strength of the national government to-day with its +strength in the past. + +28. Who are citizens according to the Constitution? Is a woman a +citizen? Is a child a citizen? Are Indians citizens? Are foreigners +residing in this country citizens? Are children born abroad of +American parents citizens? Can one person be a citizen of two nations +at the same time, or of two states, or of two towns? Explain. + +29. To what laws is an American vessel on the ocean subject? + +30. Show how the interests and needs of the various sections of +the country present wide differences. Compare mining sections with +agricultural, and both with manufacturing; Pacific states with +Atlantic; Northern states with Southern. What need of mutual +consideration exists? + +31. Name all the political divisions from the smallest to the greatest +in which you live. A Cambridge (Mass.) boy might, for example, say, "I +live in the third precinct of the first ward, in the first Middlesex +representative district, the third Middlesex senatorial district, the +third councillor district, and the fifth congressional district. +My city is Cambridge; my county, Middlesex, etc." Name the various +persons who represent you in these several districts. + +32. May state and local officers exercise authority on United States +government territory, as, for example, within the limits of an arsenal +or a custom-house? May national government officers exercise authority +in states and towns? + +33. What is a _sovereign_ state? Is New York a sovereign state? +the United States? the Dominion of Canada? Great Britain? Explain. + +34. When sovereign nations disagree, how can a settlement be +effected? What is the best way to settle such a disagreement? +Illustrate from history the methods of negotiation, of arbitration, +and of war. + +35. When two states of the Federal Union disagree, what solution of +the difficulty is possible? + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +THE FEDERAL UNION.--For the origin of our federal constitution, see +Bancroft's _History of the United States_, final edition, vol. +vi., N.Y., 1886; Curtis's _History of the Constitution_, 2 vols., +N.Y., 1861, new edition, vol. i., 1889; and my _Critical Period of +American History_, Boston, 1888, with copious references in the +bibliographical note at the end. Once more we may refer advantageously +to _J.H.U. Studies_, II., v.-vi., H.C. Adams, _Taxation in +the United States_, 1789-1816; VIII, i.-ii., A.W. Small, _The +Beginnings of American Nationality_. See also Jameson's _Essays +in the Constitutional History of the United States in the Formative +Period_, 1775-1789, Boston, 1889, a very valuable book. + +On the progress toward union during the colonial period, see especially +Frothingham's _Rise of the Republic of the United States_, Boston, 1872; +also Scott's _Development of Constitutional Liberty in the English +Colonies of America_, N.Y., 1882. + +By far the ablest and most thorough book on the government of the +United States that has ever been published is Bryce's _American +Commonwealth_, 2 vols., London and N.Y., 1888. No American +citizen's education is properly completed until he has read the whole +of it carefully. In connection therewith, the work of Tocqueville, +_Democracy in America_, 2 vols., 6th ed., Boston, 1876, is +interesting. The Scotchman describes and discusses the American +commonwealth of to-day, the Frenchman that of sixty years ago. There +is an instructive difference in the methods of the two writers, +Tocqueville being inclined to draw deductions from ingenious +generalizations and to explain as natural results of democracy sundry +American characteristics that require a different explanation. His +great work is admirably reviewed and criticised by Bryce, in the +_J.H.U. Studies_, V., ix., _The Predictions of Hamilton and De +Tocqueville_. + +The following manuals may be recommended: Thorpe, _The_ +_Government of the People of the United States_, Phila., 1889; +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_, +N.Y. and Chicago, 1875 (written with special reference to +Massachusetts); Northam's _Manual of Civil Government_, Syracuse, +1887 (written with special reference to New York); Ford's _American +Citizen's Manual_, N.Y., 1887; Rupert's _Guide to the Study of +the History and the Constitution of the United States_, Boston, +1888; Andrews's _Manual of the Constitution of the United +States_, Cincinnati, 1874; Miss Dawes, _How we are Governed_, +Boston, 1888; Macy, _Our Government: How it Grew, What it Does, and +How it Does it_, Boston, 1887. The last is especially good, and +mingles narrative with exposition in an unusually interesting way. +Nordhoff's _Politics for Young Americans_, N.Y., 1887, is a book +that ought to be read by all young Americans for its robust and sound +political philosophy. It is suitable for boys and girls from twelve to +fifteen years old. C.F. Dole's _The Citizen and the Neighbour_, +Boston, 1887, is a suggestive and stimulating little book. For a +comparative survey of governmental institutions, ancient and modern, +see Woodrow Wilson's _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, Boston, 1889. An enormous mass of matter is +compressed into this volume, and, although it inevitably suffers +somewhat from extreme condensation, it is so treated as to be both +readable and instructive. The chapter on _The State and Federal +Governments of the United States_ has been published separately, +and makes a convenient little volume of 131 pages. Teachers should +find much help in MacAlister's _Syllabus of a Course of Elementary +Instruction in United States History and Civil Government_, Phila., +1887. + +The following books of the "English Citizen Series," published by +Macmillan & Co., may often be profitably consulted: M.D. Chalmers, +_Local Government_; H.D. Traill, _Central Government_; F.W. Maitland, +_Justice and Police_; Spencer Walpole, _The Electorate and the +Legislature_; A.J. Wilson, _The National Budget_; T.H. Farrer, _The +State in its Relations to Trade_; W.S. Jevons, _The State in its +Relations to Labour_. The works on the English Constitution by Stubbs, +Gneist, Taswell-Langmead, Freeman, and Bagehot are indispensable to a +thorough understanding of civil government in the United States: Stubbs, +_Constitutional History of England_, 3 vols., London, 1875-78; Gneist, +_History of the English Constitution_, 2d ed., 2 vols., London, 1889; +Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, 3d ed., Boston, +1886; Freeman, _The Growth of the English Constitution_, London, 1872; +Bagehot, _The English Constitution_, revised ed., Boston, 1873. An +admirable book in this connection is Hannis Taylor's (of Alabama) +_Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, Boston, 1889. In +connection with Bagehot's _English Constitution_ the student may +profitably read Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_, Boston, +1885, and A.L. Lowell's _Essays in Government_, Boston, 1890. See also +Sir H. Maine, _Popular Government_, London, 1886; Sir G.C. Lewis on _The +Use and Abuse of Certain Political Terms_, London, 1832; _Methods of +Observation and Reasoning in Politics_, 2 vols., London, 1852; and +_Dialogue on the Best Form of Government_, London, 1863. + +Among the most valuable books ever written on the proper sphere +and duties of civil government are Herbert Spencer's _Social +Statics_, London, 1851; _The Study of Sociology_, 9th ed., +London, 1880; _The Man_ versus _The State_, London, 1884; +they are all reprinted by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The views +expressed in _Social Statics_ with regard to the tenure of land +are regarded as unsound by many who are otherwise in entire sympathy +with Mr. Spencer's views, and they are ably criticised in Bonham's +_Industrial Liberty_, N.Y., 1888. A book of great merit, which +ought to be reprinted as it is now not easy to obtain, is Toulmin +Smith's _Local Self-Government and Centralization_, London, 1851. +Its point of view is sufficiently indicated by the following admirable +pair of maxims (p. 12):-- + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT _is that system of Government under which the +greatest number of minds, knowing the most, and having the fullest +opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in hand, and +having the greatest interest in its well-working, have the management +of it, or control over it._ + +CENTRALIZATION _is that system of government under which the +smallest number of minds, and those knowing the least, and having the +fewest opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in +hand, and having the smallest interest in its well-working, have the +management of it, or control over it._ + +An immense amount of wretched misgovernment would be avoided if all +legislators and all voters would engrave these wholesome definitions +upon their minds. In connection with the books just mentioned much +detailed and valuable information may be found in the collections of +essays edited by J.W. Probyn, _Local Government and Taxation_ [in +various countries], London, 1875; _Local Government and Taxation +in the United_ _Kingdom_, London, 1882. See also R.T. Ely's +_Taxation in American States and Cities_, N.Y., 1889. + +The most elaborate work on our political history is that of Hermann +von Holst, _Constitutional and Political History of the United +States_, translated from the German by J.J. Lalor, vols. i.-vi. +(1787-1859), Chicago, 1877-89. In spite of a somewhat too pronounced +partisan bias, its value is great. See also Schouler's _History +of the United States under the Constitution_, vols. i.-iv. +(1783-1847), new ed., N.Y., 1890. The most useful handbook, alike +for teachers and for pupils, is Alexander Johnston's _History of +American Politics_, 2d ed., N.Y., 1882. _The United States_, +N.Y., 1889, by the same author, is also excellent. Every school +should possess a copy of Lalor's _Cyclopaedia of Political Science, +Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States_, +3 vols., Chicago, 1882-84. The numerous articles in it relating to +American history are chiefly by Alexander Johnston, whose mastery of +his subject was simply unrivalled. His death in 1889, at the early age +of forty, must be regarded as a national calamity. For a manual of +constitutional law, Cooley's _General Principles of Constitutional +Law in the United States of America_, Boston, 1880, is to be +recommended. The reader may fitly supplement his general study of +civil government by the little book of E.P. Dole, _Talks about +Law: a Popular Statement of What our Law is and How it is to be +Administered_, Boston, 1887. + +In connection with the political history, Stanwood's _History of +Presidential Elections_, 2d ed., Boston, 1888, will be found +useful. See also Lawton's _American Caucus System_, N.Y., 1885. +On the general subject of civil service reform, see Eaton's _Civil +Service in Great Britain: a History of Abuses and Reforms, and their +Bearing upon American Politics_, N.Y., 1880. Comstock's _Civil +Service in the United States_, N.Y., 1885, is a catalogue of +offices, with full account of civil service rules, examinations, +specimens of examination papers, etc.; also some of the state rules, +as in New York, Massachusetts, etc. + + * * * * * + +I would here call attention to some publications by the Directors +of the Old South Studies in History and Politics,--first, _The +Constitution of the United States, with Historical and Bibliographical +Notes and Outlines, for Study_, prepared by E.D. Mead (sold by +D.C. Heath and Co., Boston, for 25 cents); secondly, the _Old +South Leaflets_, furnished to schools and the trade by the same +publishers, at 5 cents a copy or $3.00 a hundred. These leaflets are +for the most part reprints of important original papers, furnished +with valuable historical and bibliographical notes. The eighteen +issued up to this time (July, 1890) are as follows: 1. The +Constitution of the United States; 2. The Articles of Confederation; +3. The Declaration of Independence; 4. Washington's Farewell Address; +5. Magna Charta; 6. Vane's "Healing Question;" 7. Charter of +Massachusetts Bay, 1629; 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; +9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; 10. Washington's Inaugurals; +11. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation; 12. The +Federalist, Nos. 1 and 2; 13. The Ordinance of 1787; 14. The +Constitution of Ohio; 15. Washington's "Legacy"; 16. Washington's +Letter to Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, on the Opening of +Communication with the West; 17. Verrazano's Voyage, 1524; 18. Federal +Constitution of the Swiss Confederation. + +Howard Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American History_, +N.Y., 1886, contains the following: First Virginia Charter, 1606; +Second Virginia Charter, 1609; Third Virginia Charter, 1612; Mayflower +Compact, 1620; Massachusetts Charter, 1629; Maryland Charter, 1632; +Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; New England Confederation, +1643; Connecticut Charter, 1662; Rhode Island Charter, 1663; +Pennsylvania Charter, 1681; Perm's Plan of Union, 1697; Georgia +Charter, 1732; Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; Declaration of Rights, +1765; Declaration of Rights, 1774; Non-Importation Agreement, 1774; +Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776; Declaration of Independence, 1776; +Articles of Confederation, 1777; Treaty of Peace, 1783; Northwest +Ordinance, 1787; Constitution of the United States, 1787; Alien and +Sedition Laws, 1798; Virginia Resolutions, 1798; Kentucky Resolutions, +1798; Kentucky Resolutions, 1799; Nullification Ordinance, 1832; +Ordinance of Secession, 1860; South Carolina Declaration of +Independence, 1860; Emancipation Proclamation, 1863. + +See also Poore's _Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial +Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States_, 2 vols., +Washington, 1877. + +The series of essays entitled _The Federalist_, written by +Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, in 1787-88, while the ratification of the +Constitution was in question, will always remain indispensable as an +introduction to the thorough study of the principles upon which our +federal government is based. The most recent edition is by +H.C. Lodge, N.Y., 1888. For the systematic and elaborate study of the +Constitution, see Foster's _References to the Constitution of the +United States_, a little pamphlet of 50 pages published by the +"Society for Political Education," 330 Pearl St., New York, 1890, +price 25 cents. The student who should pursue to the end the line of +research marked out in this pamphlet ought thereby to become quite an +authority on the subject. + +For very pleasant and profitable reading, in connection with the +formation and interpretation of the Constitution, and the political +history of our country from 1763 to 1850, we have the "American +Statesmen Series," edited by J.T. Morse, and published by Houghton, +Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1882-90: _Benjamin Franklin_, by J.T. +Morse; _Patrick Henry_, by M.C. Tyler; _Samuel Adams_, by +J.K. Hosmer; _George Washington_, by H.C. Lodge, 2 vols.; +_John Adams and Thomas Jefferson_, by J.T. Morse; _Alexander +Hamilton_, by H.C. Lodge; _Gouverneur Morris_, by T. Roosevelt; +_James Madison_, by S.H. Gay; _James Monroe_ by D.C. Gilman; +_Albert Gallatin_, by J.A. Stevens; _John Randolph_, by H. +Adams; _John Jay_, by G. Pellew; _John Marshall_, by A.B. +Magruder; _John Quincy Adams_, by J.T. Morse; _John C. Calhoun_, +by H. von Holst; _Andrew Jackson_, by W.G. Sumner; _Martin Van +Buren_, by E.M. Shepard; _Henry Clay_, by C. Schurz, 2 vols.; +_Daniel Webster_, by H.C. Lodge; _Thomas H, Benton_, by T. Roosevelt. + + +In connection with the questions on page 269 relating to tariff, +currency, etc., references to some works on political economy are +needed. The arguments in favour of protectionism are set forth in +Bowen's _American Political Economy_, last ed., N.Y., 1870; +the arguments in favour of free trade are set forth in Perry's +_Political Economy_, 19th ed., N.Y., 1887; and for an able and +impartial historical survey, Taussig's _Tariff History of the United +States_, N.Y., 1888, may be recommended. For a lucid view of +currency, see Jevons's _Money and the Mechanism of Exchange_, +N.Y., 1875. + +A useful work on the Australian method of voting is Wigmore's _The +Australian Ballot System_, 2d ed., Boston, 1890. + +In connection with some of the questions on page 271, the student may +profitably consult Woolsey's _International Law_, 5th ed., N.Y., +1879. NOTE TO PAGE 226. + +By the act of February 3, 1887, the second Monday in January is fixed +for the meeting of the electoral colleges in all the states. The +provisions relating to the first Wednesday in January are repealed. +The interval between the second Monday in January and the second +Wednesday in February remains available for the settlement of disputed +questions. + +NOTE TO PAGE 250. + +In order to relieve the supreme court of the United States, which +had come to be overburdened with business, a new court, with limited +appellate jurisdiction, called the _circuit court of appeals_, +was organized in 1892. It consists primarily of nine _appeal +judges_, one for each of the nine circuits. For any given circuit +the supreme court justice of the circuit, the appeal judge of the +circuit, and the circuit judge constitute the court of appeal. + + + +APPENDIX A. + + +THE 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 defence, 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 pretence 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 egress 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 misdemeanour 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 imprisonment 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 State 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 vessel 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 defence 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 defence of such State; but every State +shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, +sufficiently armed and accoutered, 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 +defence, 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 defence, 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 whatever; of establishing rules for deciding, in +all cases, what captures on land and 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 cannot 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 favour, 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 cannot 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 treaties 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 hills, +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, ion 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 he 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 afterwards 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 one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in +the third year of the independence of America. + + * * * * * + +APPENDIX B. + +THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +PREAMBLE.[1] + +We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect +union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for +the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the +blessings of liberty to ourselves and oar posterity, do ordain and +establish this Constitution for the United States of America. + +ARTICLE I. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Compare this Preamble with Confed. Art. I. and III.] + +[Footnote 2: Compare Art. I. Sections i.-vii. with Confed. Art. V.] + +_Section I. Congress in General._ + +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 II. House of Representatives._ + +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 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. 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. + +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 III. Senate._ + +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. + +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. + +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 he 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 honour, 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 IV. Both Houses._ + +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 V. The Houses Separately._ + +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 behaviour, and with the concurrence of two +thirds, expel a member. 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its +proceedings, and from 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 VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members._ + +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 VII. Mode of Passing Laws._ + +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 VIII. Powers granted to Congress.[3]_ + +[Footnote 3: Compare Sections viii. and ix. with Confed. Art. IX.; +clause 1 of Section viii with Confed. Art. VIII; and clause 12 of +Section viii. with Confed. Art. VII.] + +The Congress shall have, power: + +1. 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, 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; + +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.[4] + +[Footnote 4: This is the Elastic Clause in the interpretation of which +arose the original and fundamental division of political parties. +See above, pp. 245, 259.] + + +_Section IX. Powers denied to the United States._ + +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. + +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 X. Powers denied to the States._[5] + +[Footnote 5: Compare Section X with Confed. Art. VI] + +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. + +2. No State shall, without the consent of 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. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Compare Art. II. with Confed. Art. X.] + +_Section I. President and Vice-President_. + +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. + +3. 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 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. [7] + + +[Footnote 7: This clause of the Constitution has been amended. See +Amendments, Art. XII.] + +4. 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. + +5. 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. + +6. 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. + +7. 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 may have been elected, and he shall not +receive within that period any other emolument from the United States +or any of them. + + +8. 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 II. Powers of the President._ + +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 III. Duties of the President._ + +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 IV. Impeachment._ + +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. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.[8] + +[Footnote 8: Compare Art. III. with the first three paragraphs of +Confed. Art. IX.] + +_Section I. United States Courts._ + +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 behaviour, and +shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation +which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. + + +_Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts._ + +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 he 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; 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.[9] + +[Footnote 9: This clause has been amended. See Amendments, Art. XI.] + +2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and +consuls, and those in which a State shall be a 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 III. Treason._ + +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. THE STATES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Compare Art. IV. with Confed. Art. IV.] + + +_Section I. State Records._ + +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 II. Privileges of Citizens, etc._ + +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 labour 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 labour, but +shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or +labour may be due.[11] + + + +[Footnote 11: This clause has been cancelled by Amendment XIII., which +abolishes slavery.] + + +_Section III. New States and Territories._[12] + +[Footnote 12: Compare section iii. with Confed. Art. XI.] + + + +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 IV. Guarantee to the States._ + +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. POWER OF AMENDMENT.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Compare Art. V. with Confed. Art. XIII.] + +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 amendments 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. PUBLIC DEBT, SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION, OATH OF +OFFICE, RELIGIOUS TEST. + +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.[14] + +[Footnote 14: Compare clause I with Confed. Art. XII.] + +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.[15] + +[Footnote 15: Compare clauses 2 and 3 with Confed. Art. XIII. and +addendum, "And whereas," etc.] + +ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. + +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,[16] 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. + +[Footnote 16: Rhode Island sent no delegates to the Federal +Convention.] + + George Washington, President, and Deputy from VIRGINIA. + NEW HAMPSHIRE--John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. + MASSACHUSETTS--Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. + CONNECTICUT--William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. + NEW YORK--Alexander Hamilton. + NEW JERSEY--William Livingston, David Brearly, William + Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. + PENNSYLVANIA--Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert + Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, + James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. + DELAWARE--George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, + Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. + MARYLAND--James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, + Daniel Carroll. + VIRGINIA--John Blair, James Madison, Jr. + NORTH CAROLINA--William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, + Hugh Williamson. + SOUTH CAROLINA--John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, + Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. + GEORGIA--William Few, Abraham Baldwin. + Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. + + * * * * * + +AMENDMENTS.[17] + +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. + + +[Footnote 17: Amendments I. to X. were proposed by Congress, Sept. 25, +1789, and declared in force Dec. 15, 1791.] + +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 offence 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 favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his +defence. + +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 reexamined 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.[18] + +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.[19] + +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. + +ARTICLE XII.[20] + +1. 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. + + +[Footnote 18: Compare Amendment X. with Confed. Art. II.] + +[Footnote 19: Proposed by Congress March 5, 1794, and declared in force +Jan, 8, 1798.] + +[Footnote 20: Proposed by Congress Dec. 12, 1803, and declared in force +Sept. 25, 1804.] + +2. 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. + +3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of +President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United +States. + +ARTICLE XIII.[21] + +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. + +2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate +legislation. + +ARTICLE XIV.[22] + +1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and + +[Footnote 21: Proposed by Congress Feb. 1, 1865, and declared in force +Dec. 18, 1865.] + +[Footnote 22: Proposed by Congress June 16, 1866, and declared in force +July 28, 1868.] 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. + +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. + +S. 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. + +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. + +5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate +legislation, the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV. [23] + +[Footnote 23: Proposed by Congress Feb. 26, 1869, and declared in force +March 30, 1870.] + +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, colour, or previous condition of servitude. + +2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by +appropriate legislation. + + * * * * * + +FRANKLIN'S SPEECH ON THE LAST DAY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION [24] + +[Footnote 24: From Madison's _Journal_, in Eliot's _Debates_, +vol. v. p. 554.] + +MONDAY, _September_ 17. _In Convention_--The engrossed +Constitution being read, Doctor Franklin rose with a speech in his +hand, which he had reduced to writing for his own convenience, and +which Mr. Wilson read in the words following: + +MR. PRESIDENT: I confess that there are several parts of this +Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I +shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have experienced +many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller +consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects which I +once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the +older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay +more respect to the judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as +most sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and +that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele, a +Protestant, in a dedication tells the Pope that the only difference +between our churches, in their opinions of the certainty of their +doctrines, is, 'the Church of Rome is infallible, and the Church of +England is never in the wrong.' But though many private persons think +almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, +few express it so naturally as a certain French lady who, in a dispute +with her sister, said, 'I don't know how it happens, sister, but I meet +with nobody but myself that is always in the right--_il n'y a que moi +qui a toujours raison.' In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this +Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a +General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government +but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and +believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a +course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done +before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic +government, being incapable of any other. I doubt, too, whether any +other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better +Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the +advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men +all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their +local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a +perfect production be expected? It, therefore, astonishes me, sir, to +find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does: and I +think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to +hear that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of +Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet +hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I +consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and +because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had +of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a +syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born and here they +shall die. If every one of us, in returning to our constituents, were to +report the objections he has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans +in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and +thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting +naturally in our favour among foreign nations as well as among +ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and +efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing happiness to the +people, depends on opinion--on the general opinion of the goodness of +the government as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. +I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and +for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in +recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by +the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future +thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it well administered. On +the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the +Convention who may still have objections to it would, with me, on this +occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest +our unanimity, put his name to this instrument. + +He then moved that the Constitution be signed by the members, and +offered the following as a convenient form, viz.: "Done in Convention +by the unanimous consent of _the States_ present the seventeenth +of September, etc. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed +our names." This ambiguous form had been drawn up by Mr. Gouverneur +Morris, in order to gain the dissenting members, and put into the +hands of Doctor Franklin, that it might have the better chance of +success. [Considerable discussion followed, Randolph and Gerry stating +their reasons for refusing to sign the Constitution. Mr. Hamilton +expressed his anxiety that every member should sign. A few characters +of consequence, he said, by opposing or even refusing to sign the +Constitution, might do infinite mischief by kindling the latent sparks +that lurk under an enthusiasm in favour of the Convention which may +soon subside. No man's ideas were more remote from the plan than his +own were known to be; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy +and convulsion on one side, and the chance of good to be expected from +the plan on the other? This discussion concluded, the Convention voted +that its journal and other papers should be retained by the President, +subject to the order of Congress.] The members then proceeded to sign +the Constitution as finally amended. The Constitution being signed by +all the members except Mr. Randolph, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Gerry, who +declined giving it the sanction of their names, the Convention +dissolved itself by an adjournment sine die. + +Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Franklin, looking towards +the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to +be painted, observed to a few members near him that painters had found +it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. +I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and +the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that +behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising +or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it +is a rising, and not a setting, sun. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + + +MAGNA CHARTA.[25] + +[Footnote 25: I have, by permission, reproduced the _Old South +Leaflet_, with its notes, etc., in full.] + +OR THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN, GRANTED JUNE 15, A.D. 1215. + +JOHN, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Date of +Normandy, Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his Archbishops, Bishops, +Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Governors, +Officers, and to all Bailiffs, and his faithful subjects, greeting. +Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of +our soul, and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the +honour of God and the advancement of Holy Church, and amendment of +our Realm, by advice of our venerable Fathers, Stephen, Archbishop +of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Cardinal of the Holy Roman +Church: Henry, Archbishop of Dublin; William, of London; Peter, of +Winchester; Jocelin of Bath and Glastonbury; Hugh, of Lincoln; Walter, +of Worcester; William, of Coventry: Benedict, of Rochester--Bishops: +of Master Pandulph, Sub-Deacon and Familiar of our Lord the Pope; +Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights-Templars in England; and of the +noble Persons, William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke; William, Earl of +Salisbury; William, Earl of Warren; William, Earl of Arundel; Alan de +Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin FitzGerald, Peter FitzHerbert, +and Hubert de Burgh, Seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew +FitzHerbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip of Albiney, Robert +de Roppell, John Mareschal, John FitzHugh, and others, our liegemen, +have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present +Charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever:-- + +1. That the Church of England shall be free, and have her whole rights, +and her liberties inviolable; and we will have them so observed, that it +may appear thence that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned chief +and indispensable to the English Church, and which we granted and +confirmed by our Charter, and obtained the confirmation of the same from +our Lord the Pope Innocent III., before the discord between us and our +barons, was granted of mere free will; which Charter we shall observe, +and we do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs for ever. + +2. We also have granted to all the freemen of our kingdom, for us and +for our heirs for ever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and +holden by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever: If +any of our earls, or barons, or others, who hold of us in chief by +military service, shall die, and at the time of his death his heir +shall be of full age, and owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance +by the ancient relief--that is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl, +for a whole earldom, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +baron, for a whole barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +knight, for a whole knight's fee, by a hundred shillings at most; and +whoever oweth less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of +fees. + +3. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, and shall be in +ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without +relief and without fine. + +4. The keeper of the land of such an heir being under age, shall +take of the land of the heir none but reasonable issues, reasonable +customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction and +waste of his men and his goods; and if we commit the custody of any +such lands to the sheriff, or any other who is answerable to us for +the issues of the land, and he shall make destruction and waste of the +lands which he hath in custody, we will take of him amends, and the +land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, +who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we shall +assign them; and if we sell or give to any one the custody of any such +lands, and he therein make destruction or waste, he shall lose the +same custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men +of that fee, who shall in like manner answer to us as aforesaid. + +5. But the keeper, so long as he shall have the custody of the land, +shall keep up the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and other +things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and +shall deliver to the heir, when he comes of full age, his whole land, +stocked with ploughs and carriages, according as the time of wainage +shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably bear. + +6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that before +matrimony shall be contracted, those who are near in blood to the heir +shall have notice. 7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall +forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage and inheritance; +nor shall she give anything for her dower, or her marriage, or her +inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his death; +and she may remain in the mansion house of her husband forty days +after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned. + +8. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, so long as she has a +mind to live without a husband; but yet she shall give security that +she will not marry without our assent, if she hold of us; or without +the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she hold of another. + +9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any +debt so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to pay the +debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long +as the principal debtor has sufficient to pay the debt; and if the +principal debtor shall fail in the payment of the debt, not having +wherewithal to pay it, then the sureties shall answer the debt; and +if they will they shall have the lands and rents of the debtor, until +they shall be satisfied for the debt which they paid for him, unless +the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof against the +said sureties. + +10. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and +die before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for +that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may +hold; and if the debt falls into our hands, we will only take the +chattel mentioned in the deed. + +11. And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall +have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the deceased left +children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them, +according to the tenement of the deceased; and out of the residue the +debt shall be paid, saving, however, the service due to the lords, and +in like manner shall it be done touching debts due to others than the +Jews. + +12. _No scutage or aid[26] shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless +by the general council of our kingdom_; except for ransoming our +person, making our eldest son a knight, and once for marrying our +eldest daughter; and for these there shall be paid no more than a +reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the +City of London. + +[Footnote 26: In the time of the feudal system _scutage_ was a +direct tax in commutation for military service; _aids_ were +direct taxes paid by the tenant to his lord for ransoming his person +if taken captive, and for helping defray the expenses of knighting his +eldest son and marrying his eldest daughter.] + +13. And the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties and +free customs, as well by land as by water: furthermore, we will and +grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and ports, shall +have all their liberties and free customs. + +14. _And for holding the general council of the kingdom concerning +the assessment of aids, except in the three cases aforesaid, and +for the assessing of scutages, we shall cause to be summoned the +archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons of the realm, +singly by our letters. And furthermore, we shall cause to be summoned +generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of us +in chief, for a certain day, that is to say, forty days before their +meeting at least, and to a certain place; and in all letters of such +summons we will declare the cause of such summons. And summons being +thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according +to the advice of such as shall be present, although all that were +summoned come not._ + +15. We will not for the future grant to any one that he may take aid +of his own free tenants, unless to ransom his body, and to make his +eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and for +this there shall be only paid a reasonable aid. + +16. No man shall be distrained to perform more service for a knight's +fee, or other free tenement, than is due from thence. + +17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be holden in +some place certain. + +18. Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin,[27] and of Mort +d'ancestor,[28] and of Darrein Presentment,[29] shall not be taken but +in their proper counties, and after this manner: We, or if we should +be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, will send two justiciaries +through every county four times a year, who, with four knights of each +county, chosen by the county, shall hold the said assizes[30] in the +county, on the day, and at the place appointed. + +[Footnote 27: Dispossession.] + +[Footnote 28: Death of the ancestor; that is, in cases of disputed +succession to land.] + +[Footnote 29: Last presentation to a benefice.] + +[Footnote 30: The word Assize here means an assembly of knights or +other substantial persons, held at a certain time and place where +they sit with the Justice. 'Assisa' or 'Assize' is also taken +for the court, place, or time at which the writs of Assize are +taken.--_Thompson's Notes._] + +19. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day appointed +for holding the assizes in each county, so many of the knights and +freeholders as have been at the assizes aforesaid shall stay to decide +them as is necessary, according as there is more or less business. + +20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but only +according to the degree of the offence; and for a great crime +according to the heinousness of it, saving to him his contenement;[31] +and after the same manner a merchant, saving to him his merchandise. +And a villein shall be amerced after the same manner, saving to him +his wainage, if he falls under our mercy; and none of the aforesaid +amerciaments shall be assessed but by the oath of honest men in the +neighbourhood. + +[Footnote 31: "That by which a person subsists and which is essential +to his rank in life."] + +21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their peers, and +after the degree of the offence. + +22. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced for his lay tenement, +but according to the proportion of the others aforesaid, and not +according to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice. + +23. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be distrained to make bridges +or embankments, unless that anciently and of right they are bound to +do it. + +24. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold +"Pleas of the Crown." [32] + +[Footnote 32: These are suits conducted in the name of the Crown +against criminal offenders.] + +25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trethings, shall stand at +the old rents, without any increase, except in our demesne manors. + +26. If any one holding of us a lay fee die, and the sheriff, or our +bailiffs, show our letters patent of summons for debt which the dead +man did owe to us, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or our bailiff +to attach and register the chattels of the dead, found upon his lay +fee, to the amount of the debt, by the view of lawful men, so as +nothing be removed until our whole clear debt be paid; and the rest +shall be left to the executors to fulfil the testament of the dead; +and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall +go to the use of the dead, saving to his wife and children their +reasonable shares.[33] + +[Footnote 33: A person's goods were divided into three parts, of which +one went to his wife, another to his heirs, and a third he was at +liberty to dispose of. If he had no child, his widow had half; and if he +had children, but no wife, half was divided amongst them. These several +sums were called "reasonable shares." Through the testamentary +jurisdiction they gradually acquired, the clergy often contrived to get +into their own hands all the residue of the estate without paying the +debts of the estate.] + +27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be +distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and friends, by view +of the Church, saving to every one his debts which the deceased owed +to him. + +28. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels +of any man unless he presently give him money for it, or hath respite +of payment by the goodwill of the seller. + +29. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for +castle-guard, if he himself will do it in his person, or by another +able man, in case he cannot do it through any reasonable cause. And if +we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be free from such +guard for the time he shall be in the army by our command. + +30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses +or carts of any freeman for carriage, without the assent of the said +freeman. + +31. Neither shall we nor our bailiffs take any man's timber for our +castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the +timber. + +32. We will retain the lands of those convicted of felony only one +year and a day, and then they shall be delivered to the lord of the +fee.[34] + +[Footnote 34: All forfeiture for felony has been abolished by the 33 +and 34 Vic., c. 23. It seems to have originated in the destruction +of the felon's property being part of the sentence, and this "waste" +being commuted for temporary possession by the Crown.] + + +33. All kydells[35] (wears) for the time to come shall be put down in +the rivers of Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except +upon the sea-coast. + +[Footnote 35: The purport of this was to prevent inclosures of common +property, or committing a "Purpresture." These wears are now called +"kettles" or "kettle-nets" in Kent and Cornwall.] + +34. The writ which is called _præcipe_, for the future, shall not be +made out to any one, of any tenement, whereby a freeman may lose his +court. + +35. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through our +whole realm; and one measure of corn, that is to say, the London +quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth, and russets, and haberjeets, +that is to say, two ells within the lists; and it shall be of weights +as it is of measures. + +36. _Nothing from henceforth shall be given or taken for a writ of +inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be granted freely, and not +denied._[36] + +[Footnote 36: This important writ, or "writ concerning hatred and +malice," may have been the prototype of the writ of _habeas +corpus_, and was granted for a similar purpose.] + +37. If any do hold of us by fee-farm, or by socage, or by burgage, and +he hold also lands of any other by knight's service, we will not have +the custody of the heir or land, which is holden of another man's fee +by reason of that fee-farm, socage,[37] or burgage; neither will we +have the custody of the fee-farm, or socage, or burgage, unless +knight's service was due to us out of the same fee-farm. We will not +have the custody of an heir, nor of any land which he holds of another +by knight's service, by reason of any petty serjeanty[38] by which he +holds of us, by the service of paying a knife, an arrow, or the like. + +[Footnote 37: "Socage" signifies lands held by tenure of performing +certain inferior offices in husbandry, probably from the old French +word _soc_, a plough-share.] + +[Footnote 38: The tenure of giving the king some small weapon of war in +acknowledgment of lands held.] + +38. No bailiff from henceforth shall pat any man to his law[39] upon +his own bare saying, without credible witnesses to prove it. + +[Footnote 39: Equivalent to putting him to his oath. This alludes to +the Wager of Law, by which a defendant and his eleven supporters or +"compurgators" could swear to his non-liability, and this amounted to +a verdict in his favour.] + +39. _No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised, or +outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed, nor will we pass upon +him, nor will we send upon him, unless by the lawful judgment of his +peers, or by the law of the land._ + +40. _We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either +justice or right._ + +41. All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct, to go out of, +and to come into England, and to stay there and to pass as well by +land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed +customs, without any unjust tolls; except in time of war, or when they +are of any nation at war with us. And if there be found any such in +our land, in the beginning of the war, they shall be attached, without +damage to their bodies or goods, until it be known unto us, or our +chief justiciary, how our merchants be treated in the nation at war +with us; and if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our +dominions. + +42. It shall be lawful, for the time to come, for any one to go out +of our kingdom, and return safely and securely by land or by water, +saving his allegiance to us; unless in time of war, by some short +space, for the common benefit of the realm, except prisoners and +outlaws, according to the law of the land, and people in war with us, +and merchants who shall be treated as is above mentioned.[40] + +[Footnote 40: The Crown has still technically the power of confining +subjects within the kingdom by the writ "ne exeat regno," though the +use of the writ is rarely resorted to.] + +43. If any man hold of any escheat,[41] as of the honour of +Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats +which be in our hands, and are baronies, and die, his heir shall give +no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would to +the baron, if it were in the baron's hand; and we will hold it after +the same manner as the baron held it. + +[Footnote 41: The word _escheat_ is derived from the French +_escheoir_, to return or happen, and signifies the return of +an estate to a lord, either on failure of tenant's issue or on his +committing felony. The abolition of feudal tenures by the Act of +Charles II. (12 Charles II. c. 24) rendered obsolete this part and +many other parts of the Charter.] + +44. Those men who dwell without the forest from henceforth shall not +come before our justiciaries of the forest, upon common, summons, but +such as are impleaded, or are sureties for any that are attached for +something concerning the forest.[42] + +[Footnote 42: The laws for regulating the royal forests, and +administering justice in respect of offences committed in their +precincts, formed a large part of the law.] + +45. We will not make any justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, +but of such as know the law of the realm and mean duly to observe it. + +46. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by charter +from the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall have the +keeping of them, when vacant, as they ought to have. + +47. All forests that have been made forests in our time shall +forthwith be disforested; and the same shall be done with the +water-banks that have been fenced in by us in our time. + +48. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, foresters, and +warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their keepers, +shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, by twelve sworn +knights of the same county, chosen by creditable persons of the same +county; and within forty days after the said inquest be utterly +abolished, so as never to be restored: so as we are first acquainted +therewith, or our justiciary, if we should not be in England. + +49. We will immediately give up all hostages and charters delivered +unto us by our English subjects, as securities for their keeping the +peace, and yielding us faithful service. + +50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks the relations of +Gerard de Atheyes, so that for the future they shall have no bailiwick +in England; we will also remove Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and +Gyon, from the Chancery; Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martyn, and his +brothers; Philip Mark, and his brothers, and his nephew, Geoffrey, and +their whole retinue. + +51. As soon as peace is restored, we will send out of the kingdom all +foreign knights, cross-bowmen, and stipendiaries, who are come with +horses and arms to the molestation of our people. + +52. If any one has been dispossessed or deprived by us, without the +lawful judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liberties, or +right, we will forthwith restore them to him; and if any dispute arise +upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five-and-twenty +barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace. And for +all those things of which any person has, without the lawful judgment +of his peers, been dispossessed or deprived, either by our father King +Henry, or our brother King Richard, and which we have in our hands, or +are possessed by others, and we are bound to warrant and make good, +we shall have a respite till the term usually allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which there is a plea depending, or +whereof an inquest hath been made, by our order before we undertook +the crusade; but as soon as we return from our expedition, or if +perchance we tarry at home and do not make our expedition, we will +immediately cause full justice to be administered therein. + +53. The same respite we shall have, and in the same manner, about +administering justice, disafforesting or letting continue the forests, +which Henry our father, and our brother Richard, have afforested; and +the same concerning the wardship of the lands which are in another's +fee, but the wardship of which we have hitherto had, by reason of a +fee held of us by knight's service; and for the abbeys founded in any +other fee than our own, in which the lord of the fee says he has a +right; and when we return from our expedition, or if we tarry at home, +and do not make our expedition, we will immediately do full justice to +all the complainants in this behalf. + +54. No man shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal[43] of a woman, +for the death of any other than her husband. + +[Footnote 43: An _Appeal_ here means an "accusation." The appeal +here mentioned was a suit for a penalty in which the plaintiff was a +relation who had suffered through a murder or manslaughter. One of the +incidents of this "Appeal of Death" was the Trial by Battle. These +Appeals and Trial by Battle were not abolished before the passing of +the Act 59 Geo. III., c. 46.] + +55. All unjust and illegal fines made by us, and all amerciaments +imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall +be entirely given up, or else be left to the decision of the +five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned for the preservation of +the peace, or of the major part of them, together with the aforesaid +Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others +whom he shall think fit to invite; and if he cannot be present, the +business shall notwithstanding go on without him; but so that if one +or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons be plaintiffs in +the same cause, they shall be set aside as to what concerns this +particular affair, and others be chosen in their room, out of the said +five-and-twenty, and sworn by the rest to decide the matter. + +56. If we have disseised or dispossessed the Welsh of any lands, +liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers, +either in England or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to +them; and if any dispute arise upon this head, the matter shall be +determined in the Marches by the judgment of their peers; for tenements +in England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales +according to the law of Wales, for tenements of the Marches according to +the law of the Marches: the same shall the Welsh do to us and our +subjects. + + +57. As for all those things of which a Welshman hath, without the lawful +judgment of his peers, been disseised or deprived of by King Henry our +father, or our brother King Richard, and which we either have in our +hands or others are possessed of, and we are obliged to warrant it, we +shall have a respite till the time generally allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which a suit is depending, or whereof an +inquest has been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade: but +when we return, or if we stay at home without performing our expedition, +we will immediately do them full justice, according to the laws of the +Welsh and of the parts before mentioned. + +58. We will without delay dismiss the son of Llewellin, and all the + +Welsh hostages, and release them from the engagements they have +entered into with us for the preservation of the peace. + +59. We will treat with Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the +restoring his sisters and hostages, and his right and liberties, in +the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest of our barons +of England; unless by the charters which we have from his father, +William, late King of Scots, it ought to be otherwise; and this shall +be left to the determination of his peers in our court. + +60. All the aforesaid customs and liberties, which we have granted to +be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to us, all people of +our kingdom, as well clergy as laity, shall observe, as far as they +are concerned, towards their dependents. + +61. And whereas, for the honour of God and the amendment of our +kingdom, and for the better quieting the discord that has arisen +between us and our barons, we have granted all these things aforesaid; +willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our +subjects the underwritten security, namely that the barons may choose +five-and-twenty barons of the kingdom, whom they think convenient; who +shall take care, with all their might, to hold and observe, and cause +to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by +this our present Charter confirmed in this manner; that is to say, +that if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, +shall in any circumstance have failed in the performance of them +towards any person, or shall have broken through any of these articles +of peace and security, and the offence be notified to four barons +chosen out of the five-and-twenty before mentioned, the said four +barons shall repair to us, or our justiciary, if we are out of the +realm, and, laying open the grievance, shall petition to have it +redressed without delay: and if it be not redressed by us, or if we +should chance to be out of the realm, if it should not be redressed by +our justiciary within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been +notified to us, or to our justiciary (if we should be out of the +realm), the four barons aforesaid shall lay the cause before the rest +of the five-and-twenty barons; and the said five-and-twenty barons, +together with the community of the whole kingdom, shall distrain and +distress us in all the ways in which they shall be able, by seizing +our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner they can, +till the grievance is redressed, according to their pleasure; saving +harmless our own person, and the persons of our Queen and children; +and when it is redressed, they shall behave to us as before. And any +person whatsoever in the kingdom may swear that he will obey the +orders of the five-and-twenty barons aforesaid in the execution of the +premises, and will distress us, jointly with them, to the utmost of +his power; and we give public and free liberty to any one that shall +please to swear to this, and never will hinder any person from taking +the same oath. + +62. As for all those of our subjects who will not, of their own +accord, swear to join the five-and-twenty barons in distraining and +distressing us, we will issue orders to make them take the same oath +as aforesaid. And if any one of the five-and-twenty barons dies, or +goes out of the kingdom, or is hindered any other way from +carrying the things aforesaid into execution, the rest of the said +five-and-twenty barons may choose another in his room, at their +discretion, who shall be sworn in like manner as the rest. In all +things that are committed to the execution of these five-and-twenty +barons, if, when they are all assembled together, they should happen +to disagree about any matter, and some of them, when summoned, will +not or cannot come, whatever is agreed upon, or enjoined, by the major +part of those that are present shall be reputed as firm and valid as +if all the five-and-twenty had given their consent; and the aforesaid +five-and-twenty shall swear that all the premises they shall +faithfully observe, and cause with all their power to be observed. And +we will procure nothing from any one, by ourselves nor by another, +whereby any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or +lessened; and if any such thing shall have been obtained, let it be +null and void; neither will we ever make use of it either by ourselves +or any other. And all the ill-will, indignations, and rancours that +have arisen between us and our subjects, of the clergy and laity, from +the first breaking out of the dissensions between us, we do fully +remit and forgive: moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said +dissensions, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the +restoration of peace and tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to +all, both clergy and laity, and as far as in us lies do fully forgive. +We have, moreover, caused to be made for them the letters patent +testimonial of Stephen, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Lord +Archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of Master +Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid. + +63. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin, that the Church of England be +free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid +liberties, rights, and concessions, truly and peaceably, freely and +quietly, fully and wholly to themselves and their heirs, of us and our +heirs, in all things and places, forever, as is aforesaid. It is also +sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all the +things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith, and without evil +subtilty. Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above +named, and many others, in the meadow called Runingmede, between +Windsor and Staines, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year of our +reign. + + * * * * * + +The translation here given is that published in Sheldon Amos's work +on _The English Constitution_. The translation given by Sir E. +Creasy was chiefly followed in this, but it was collated with another +accurate translation by Mr. Richard Thompson, accompanying his +_Historical Essay on Magna Charta_, published in 1829, and also +with the Latin text. "The explanation of the whole Charter," observes +Mr. Amos, must be sought chiefly in detailed accounts of the Feudal +system in England, as explained in such works as those of Stubbs, +Hallam, and Blackstone. The scattered notes here introduced have +only for their purpose to elucidate the most unusual and perplexing +expressions. The Charter printed in the Statute Book is that issued +in the ninth year of Henry III., which is also the one specially +confirmed by the Charter of Edward I. The Charter of Henry III. +differs in some (generally) insignificant points from that of John. +The most important difference is the omission in the later Charter of +the 14th and 15th Articles of John's Charter, by which the King is +restricted from levying aids beyond the three ordinary ones, without +the assent of the 'Common Council of the Kingdom.' and provision is +made for summoning it. This passage is restored by Edward I. Magna +Charter has been solemnly confirmed upwards of thirty times. See the +chapter on the Great Charter, in Green's _History of the English +People_. See also Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_. "The whole of the constitutional history of England," +says Stubbs, "is a commentary on this Charter, the illustration of +which must be looked for in the documents that precede and follow." + + * * * * * + +"CONFIRMATIO CHARTARUM" OF EDWARD I. + +1297. + +I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and +Duke Guyan, to all those that these present letters shall hear or see, +greeting. Know ye that we, to the honour of God and of holy Church, +and to the profit of our realm, have granted for us and our heirs, +that the Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which +were made by common assent of all the realm in the time of King Henry +our father, shall be kept in every point without breach. And we will +that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal as well to our +justices of the forest as to others, and to all sheriffs of shires, +and to all our other officers, and to all our cities throughout the +realm, together with our writs in the which it shall be contained that +they cause the foresaid Charters to be published, and to declare to +the people that we have confirmed them in all points; and that our +justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other ministers, which under us have +the laws of our land to guide, shall allow the said Charters pleaded +before them in judgment in all their points; that is to wit, the Great +Charter as the common law, and the Charter of the Forest according to +the assize of the Forest, for the wealth of our realm. + +II. And we will that if any judgment be given from henceforth, +contrary to the points of the Charters aforesaid, by the justices or +by any other our ministers that hold plea before them against the +points of the Charters, it shall be undone and holden for naught. + +III. And we will that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal +to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there to remain, and shall +be read before the people two times by the year. IV. And that all +archbishops and bishops shall pronounce the sentence of great +excommunication against all those that by word, deed, or counsel do +contrary to the foresaid Charters, or that in any point break or undo +them. And that the said curses be twice a year denounced and published +by the prelates aforesaid. And if the prelates or any of them be +remiss in the denunciation of the said sentences, the Archbishops of +Canterbury and York for the time being, as is fitting, shall compel +and distrain them to make that denunciation in form aforesaid. + +V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear that the +aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime towards our wars +and other business, of their own grant and goodwill, howsoever they +were made, might turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, because +they might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise the +prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers; we have granted +for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks, nor +prises into a custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore, or +that may be found by roll or in any other manner. + +VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well to +archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, +as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that +for no business from henceforth will we take such manner of aids, +tasks, nor prises but by the common consent of the realm, and for the +common profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and +accustomed. + +VII. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realm +find themselves sore grieved with the matelote of wools, that is to +wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have made +petition to us to release the same; we, at their requests, have +clearly released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we +shall not take such thing nor any other without their common assent +and goodwill; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, +and leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness +of which things we have caused these our letters to be made patents. +Witness Edward our son, at London, the 10th day of October, the +five-and-twentieth of our reign. + +And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same terms, word +for word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's Great Seal, that is +to say, at Ghent, the 5th day of November, in the 52th year of the +reign of our aforesaid Lord the King, and sent into England. + + * * * * * + +The words of this important document, from Professor Stubbs's +translation, are given as the best explanation of the constitutional +position and importance of the Charters of John and Henry III. See +historical notice in Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_, p. 477. This is far the most important of the numerous +ratifications of the Great Charter. Hallam calls it "that famous +statute, inadequately denominated the Confirmation of the Charters, +because it added another pillar to our constitution, not less important +than the Great Charter itself." It solemnly confirmed the two Charters, +the Charter of the Forest (issued by Henry II. in 1217--see text in +Stubbs, p. 338) being then considered as of equal importance with Magna +Charta itself, establishing them in all points as the law of the land; +but it did more. "Hitherto the king's prerogative of levying money by +name of _tallage_ or _prise_, from his towns and tenants in +demesne, had passed unquestioned. Some impositions, that especially on +the export of wool, affected all the king's subjects. It was now the +moment to enfranchise the people and give that security to private +property which Magna Charta had given to personal liberty." Edward's +statute binds the king never to take any of these "aids, tasks, and +prises" in future, save by the common assent of the realm. Hence, as +Bowen remarks, the Confirmation of the Charters, or an abstract of it +under the form of a supposed statute _de tallagio non concedendo_ +(see Stubbs, p. 487), was more frequently cited than any other enactment +by the parliamentary leaders who resisted the encroachments of Charles I. +The original of the _Confirmatio Chartarum_, which is in Norman French, +is still in existence, though considerably shriveled by the fire which +damaged so many of the Cottonian manuscripts in 1731. + + +THE GRANT OF THE GREAT CHARTER. + +An island in the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been chosen as +the place of conference: the King encamped on one bank, while the +barons--covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of Runnymede, +on the other. Their delegates met in the island between them, but the +negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional +submission. The Great Charter was discussed, agreed to, and signed in a +single day. One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured +by age and fire, but with the royal seal still hanging from the brown, +shrivelled parchment. It is impossible to gaze without reverence on the +earliest monument of English freedom which we can see with our own eyes +and touch with our own hands, the great Charter to which from age to age +patriots have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in itself +the Charter was no novelty, nor did it claim to establish any new +constitutional principles. The Charter of Henry the First formed the +basis of the whole, and the additions to it are for the most part formal +recognitions of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by +Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the older charters were +now exchanged for precise and elaborate provisions. The bonds of +unwritten custom which the older grants did little more than recognize +had proved too weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now threw +them aside for the restraints of written law. It is in this way that the +Great Charter marks the transition from the age of traditional rights, +preserved in the nation's memory and officially declared by the Primate, +to the age of written legislation, of Parliaments and Statutes, which +was soon to come. The Church had shown its power of self-defence in the +struggle over the interdict, and the clause which recognized its rights +alone retained the older and general form. But all vagueness ceases when +the Charter passes on to deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, +their right to justice, to _security of person and property, to good +government_. 'No freeman,' ran the memorable article that lies at the +base of our whole judicial system, 'shall be seized or imprisoned, or +dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin; we will not go +against any man nor send against him, save by legal judgment of his +peers or by the law of the land.' 'To no man will we sell,' runs +another, 'or deny, or delay, right or justice.' The great reforms of the +past reigns were now formally recognized; judges of assize were to hold +their circuits four times in the year, and the Court of Common Pleas was +no longer to follow the King in his wanderings over the realm, but to +sit in a fixed place. But the denial of justice under John was a small +danger compared with the lawless exactions both of himself and his +predecessor. Richard had increased the amount of the scutage which Henry +II. had introduced, and applied it to raise funds for his ransom. He had +restored the Danegeld, or land tax, so often abolished, under the new +name of 'carucage,' had seized the wool of the Cistercians and the plate +of the churches, and rated movables as well as land. John had again +raised the rate of scutage, and imposed aids, fines, and ransoms at his +pleasure without counsel of the baronage. The Great Charter met this +abuse by the provision on which our constitutional system rests. With +the exception of the three customary feudal aids which still remained to +the crown, 'no scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm save by the +Common Council of the realm;' and to this Great Council it was provided +that prelates and the greater barons should be summoned by special writ, +and all tenants in chief through the sheriffs and bailiffs, at least +forty days before. But it was less easy to provide means for the control +of a King whom no man could trust, and a council of twenty-four barons +was chosen from the general body of their order to enforce on John the +observance of the Charter, with the right of declaring war on the King +should its provisions be infringed. Finally, the Charter was published +throughout the whole country, and sworn to at every hundred-mote and +town-mote by order from the King.--_Green's Short History of the English +People_, p. 123. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX D. + + + + +A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. + +AN ACT FOR DECLARING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECT, AND +SETTLING THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN. 1689. + +Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the estates of +the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February, in +the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [o.s.],[44] +present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and +style of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being present +in their proper persons, a certain Declaration in writing, made by the +said Lords and Commons, in the words following, viz.: + +[Footnote 44: In New Style Feb. 23, 1689.] + +Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of divers evil +counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavour +to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion, and the laws and +liberties of this kingdom: + +1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and +suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent of +Parliament. + +2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly +petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power. + +3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the Great +Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of Commissioners for +Ecclesiastical Causes. + +4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of +prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was +granted by Parliament. + +5. By raising and keeping a +standing army within this kingdom in time of peace, without consent of +Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law. + +6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to be +disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both armed and employed +contrary to law. + +7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in +Parliament. + +8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes +cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary and +illegal causes. + +9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified +persons have been returned, and served on juries in trials, and +particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not +freeholders. + +10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in +criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty +of the subjects. + +11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and cruel +punishments inflicted. + +12. And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures +before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the +same were to be levied. + +All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and +statutes, and freedom of this realm. + +And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated the +government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the Prince +of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious +instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) +did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and divers +principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the +Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and other letters to +the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque ports, +for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to +be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the +two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year one thousand six hundred +eighty and eight,[45] in order to such an establishment, as that their +religion, laws, and liberties might not again be in danger of being +subverted; upon which letters elections have been accordingly made. + +[Footnote 45: In New Style Feb. 1, 1689.] + +And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, +pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now +assembled in a full and free representation of this nation, taking +into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the +ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case +have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient +rights and liberties, declare: + + +1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of +laws by regal authority, without consent of Parliament, is illegal. + +2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution +of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of +late, is illegal. + +3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners +for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of +like nature, are illegal and pernicious. + +4. _That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence +and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time or in +other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal._[46] + +5. _That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, +and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are +illegal._[47] + +6. _That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom +in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against +law._[48] + +7. _That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their +defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law._[49] + +8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. + +9. _That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in +Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or +place out of Parliament._[50] + +10. _That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive +fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted._[51] + +11. _That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and +jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be +freeholders._[52] + +[Footnote 46: Compare this clause 4 with clauses 12 and 14 of Magna +Charta, and with Art. I. Section vii. clause 1 of the Constitution of +the United States.] + +[Footnote 47: Compare clause 5 with Amendment I.] + +[Footnote 48: Compare clause 6 with Amendment III.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare clause 7 with Amendment II.] + +[Footnote 50: Compare clause 9 with Constitution, Art. I. Section vi. +clause 1.] + +[Footnote 51: Compare clause 10 with Amendment VIII.] + +[Footnote 52: Compare clause 11 with Amendments VI. and VII.] + +12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of +particular persons before conviction are illegal and void. + +13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, +strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament ought to be held +frequently. + +And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the +premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that no +declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of +the people in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn +hereafter into consequence or example. + +To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by +the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the +only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. + +Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the +Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, +and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, +which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their +religion, rights, and liberties: + +II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of +Orange, be, and be declared, King and Queen of England, France, and +Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and +royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said Prince +and Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them; +and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and +executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince +and Princess, during their joint lives; and after their deceases, the +said crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to +the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of such +issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and +for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of +Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the +said Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly. + +The act goes on to declare that, their Majesties having accepted the +crown upon these terms, the rights and liberties asserted and claimed +in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights +and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, +allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every +the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and +observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all +officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and +their successors according to the same in all times to come. + +The act then declares that William and Mary are and of right ought +to be King and Queen of England, etc.; and it goes on to regulate the +succession after their deaths. + + +The passing of the Bill of Rights in 1689 restored to the monarchy +the character which it had lost under the Tudors and the Stuarts. The +right of the people through its representatives to depose the King, +to change the order of succession, and to set on the throne whom they +would, was now established. All claim of divine right, or hereditary +right independent of the law, was formally put an end to by the +election of William and Mary. Since their day no English sovereign has +been able to advance any claim to the crown save a claim which rested +on a particular clause in a particular Act of Parliament. William, +Mary, and Anne were sovereigns simply by virtue of the Bill of Rights. +George the First and his successors have been sovereigns solely by +virtue of the Act of Settlement. An English monarch is now as much the +creature of an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his +realm.--_Green's Short History_, p. 673. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX E. + + + +THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. + +1638(9). + +_The first written constitution that created a government._ + +Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise disposition +of his diuyne pruidence so to Order and dispose of things that we the +Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harteford and Wethersfield are +now cohabiting and dwelling in and vppon the River of Conectecotte and +the Lands thereunto adioyneing; And well knowing where a people are +gathered togather the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace +and vnion of such a people there should be an orderly and decent +Gouerment established according to God, to order and dispose of the +affayres of the people at all seasons as occation shall require; doe +therefore assotiate and conioyne our selues to be as one Publike State +or Comonwelth; and doe, for our selues and our Successors and such as +shall be adioyned to vs att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination +and Confederation togather, to mayntayne and p'rsearue the liberty and +purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus w'ch we now p'rfesse, as also +the disciplyne of the Churches, w'ch according to the truth of the +said gospell is now practised amongst vs; As also in o'r Ciuell +Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, +Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, as +followeth:-- + +1. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that there shall be yerely two +generall Assemblies or Courts, the one the second thursday in Aprill, +the other the second thursday in September, following; the first shall +be called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yerely Chosen from +tyme to tyme soe many Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be +found requisitte: Whereof one to be chosen Gouernour for the yeare +ensueing and vntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate to be +chosen for more than one yeare; p'ruided allwayes there be sixe chosen +besids the Gouernour; w'ch being chosen and sworne according to an Oath +recorded for that purpose shall haue power to administer iustice +according to the Lawes here established, and for want thereof according +to the rule of the word of God; w'ch choise shall be made by all that +are admitted freemen and haue taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe +cohabitte w'thin this Jurisdiction, (hauing beene admitted Inhabitants +by the maior p'rt of the Towne wherein they liue,) or the mayor p'rte of +such as shall be then p'rsent. + +2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of the +aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner: euery p'rson p'rsent +and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the p'rsons deputed to +receaue them) one single pap'r w'th the name of him written in +yet whom he desires to haue Gouernour, and he that hath the greatest +number of papers shall be Gouernor for that yeare. And the rest of +the Magestrats or publike Officers to be chosen in this manner: The +Secretary for the tyme being shall first read the names of all that +are to be put to choise and then shall seuerally nominate them +distinctly, and euery one that would hane the p'rson nominated to be +chosen shall bring in one single paper written vppon, and he that +would not haue him chosen shall bring in a blanke: and euery one that +hath more written papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that +yeare; w'ch papers shall be receaued and told by one or more that +shall be then chosen by the court and sworne to be faythfull therein; +but in case there should not be sixe chosen as aforesaid, besids the +Gouernor, out of those w'ch are nominated, then he or they w'ch haue +the most written pap'rs shall be a Magestrate or Magestrats for the +ensueing yeare, to make vp the foresaid number. + +3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary shall not +nominate any p'rson, nor shall any p'rson be chosen newly into the +Magestracy w'ch was not p'rpownded in some Generall Courte before, to +be nominated the next Election; and to that end yt shall be lawfull +for ech of the Townes aforesaid by their deputyes to nominate any two +whom they conceaue fitte to be put to election; and the Courte may +ad so many more as they iudge requisitt. + +4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe p'rson be chosen + +Gouernor aboue once in two yeares, and that the Gouernor be always +a member of some approved congregation, and formerly of the +Magestracy w'th this Jurisdiction; and all the Magestrats Freemen of +this Comonwelth: and that no Magestrate or other publike officer shall +execute any p'rte of his or their Office before they are seuerally +sworne, w'ch shall be done in the face of the Courte if they be +p'rsent, and in case of absence by some deputed for that purpose. + +5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the aforesaid Conrte +of Election the seu'rall Townes shall send their deputyes, and when +the Elections are ended they may p'rceed in any publike searuice as at +other Courts. Also the other Generall Courte in September shall be for +makeing of lawes, and any other publike occation, w'ch conserns the +good of the Comonwelth. + +6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Gou'rnor shall, +ether by himselfe or by the secretary, send out sumons to the +Constables of eu'r Towne for the cauleing of these two standing +Courts, on month at lest before their seu'rall tymes: And also if the +Gou'rnor and the gretest p'rte of the Magestrats see cause vppon any +spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, they may giue order to +the secretary soe to doe w'thin fowerteene dayes warneing; and +if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a shorter notice, giueing +sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els +be questioned for the same; And if the Gou'rnor and Mayor p'rte of +Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the two Generall +standing Courts or ether of them, as also at other tymes when the +occations of the Comonwelth require, the Freemen thereof, or the Mayor +p'rte of them, shall petition to them soe to doe: if then yt be ether +denyed or neglected the said Freemen or the Mayor p'rte of them shall +haue power to giue order to the Constables of the seuerall Townes to +doe the same, and so may meete togather, and ehuse to themselues a +Moderator, and may p'rceed to do any Acte of power, w'ch any other +Generall Courte may. + +7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are warrants +giuen out for any of the said Generall Courts, the Constable or +Constables of ech Towne shall forthw'th give notice distinctly to the +inhabitants of the same, in some Publike Assembly or by goeing or +sending from howse to howse, that at a place and tyme by him or +them lymited and sett, they meet and assemble the: selues togather +to elect and chuse certen deputyes to be att the Generall Courte then +following to agitate the afayres of the comonwelth; w'ch said Deputyes +shall be chosen by all that are admitted Inhabitants in the seu'rall +Townes and haue taken the oath of fidellity; p'ruided that non be +chosen a Deputy for any Generall Courte w'ch is not a Freeman of this +Comonwelth. + +The foresaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following: euery +p'rson that is p'rsent and quallified as before exp'rssed, shall bring +the names of such, written in seu'rrall papers, as they desire to haue +chosen for that Imployment. and these 3 or 4, more or lesse, being the +number agreed on to be chosen for that tyme, that haue greatest +number of papers written for the: shall be deputyes for that +Courte; whose names shall be endorsed on the backe side of the warrant +and returned into the Courte, w'th the Constable or Constables hand +vnto the same. + +8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, Hartford and +Wethersfield shall haue power, ech Towne, to send fower of their freemen +as deputyes to euery Generall Courte; and whatsoeuer other Townes shall +be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many +deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, a resonable p'rportion to the +number of Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be attended +therein; w'ch deputyes shall have the power of the whole Towne to giue +their voats and alowance to all such lawes and orders as may be for the +publike good, and unto w'ch the said Townes are to be bownd. + +9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen shall haue +power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of meeting togather +before any Generall Courte to aduise and consult of all such things as +may concerne the good of the publike, as also to examine their owne +Elections, whether according to the order, and if they or the gretest +p'rte of them find any election to be illegall they may seclud such for +p'rsent from their meeting, and returne the same and their resons to the +Courte; and if yt proue true, the Courte may fyne the p'rty or p'rtyes +so intruding and the Towne, if they see cause, and giue out a warrant to +goe to a newe election in a legall way, either in p'rte or in whole. +Also the said deputyes shall haue power to fyne any that shall be +disorderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due tyme or place +according to appoyntment; and they may returne the said fynes into the +Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the tresurer to take notice of +yt, and to estreete or levy the same as he doth other fynes. + +10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that euery Generall Courte, +except such as through neglecte of the Gou'rnor and the greatest p'rte +of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe call, shall consist of the +Gouernor, or some one chosen to moderate the Court, and 4 other +Magestrats at lest, w'th the mayor p'rte of the deputyes of the geuerall +Townes legally chosen; and in case the Freemen or mayor p'rte of them, +through neglect or refusall of the Gouernor and mayor p'rte of the +magestrats, shall call a Courte, y't shall consist of the mayor p'rte of +Freemen that are p'rsent or their deputyes, w'th a Moderator chosen by +the: In w'ch said Generall Courts shall consist the supreme power of the +Comonwelth, and they only shall haue power to make laws or repeale the:, +to graunt leuyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose of lands vndisposed of, +to seuerall Townes or p'rsons, and also shall haue power to call ether +Courte or Magestrate or any other p'rson whatsoeuer into question for +any misdemeanour, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise +according to the nature of the offence; and also may deale in any other +matter that concerns the good of this comonwelth, excepte election of +Magestrats, w'ch shall be done by the whole boddy of Freemen. + +In w'ch Courte the Gouernour or Moderator shall haue power to order the +Courte to giue liberty of spech, and silence vnceasonable and disorderly +speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in case the vote be equall +to haue the casting voice. But non of these Courts shall be adiorned or +dissolued w'thout the consent of the maior p'rte of the Court. + +11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any Generall Courte +vppon the occations of the Comonwelth haue agreed vppon any sume or +somes of mony to be leuyed vppon the seuerall Townes w'thin this +Jurisdiction, that a Comittee be chosen to sett out and appoynt w't +shall be the p'rportion of euery Towne to pay of the said letiy, +p'rvided the Comittees be made up of an equall number out of each Towne. + +14'th January, 1638, the 11 Orders abouesaid are voted. + +THE OATH OF THE GOU'RNOR, FOR THE [P'RSENT]. + +I ---- being now chosen to be Gou'rnor wthin this Jurisdiction, for +the yeare ensueing, and vntil a new be chosen, doe sweare by the +greate and dreadfull name of the everliueing God, to p'rmote the +publicke good and peace of the same, according to the best of my +skill; as also will mayntayne all lawfull priuiledges of this +Comonwealth; as also that all wholesome lawes that are or shall be +made by lawfull authority here established, be duly executed; and will +further the execution of Justice according to the rule of Gods word; +so helpe me God, in the name of the Lo: Jesus Christ. + + +THE OATH OF A MAGESTRATE, FOR THE P'RSENT. + +I, ---- being chosen a Magestrate w'thin this Jurisdiction for the +yeare ensueing, doe sweare by the great and dreadfull name of the +euerliueing God, to p'rmote the publike good and peace of the same, +according to the best of my skill, and that I will mayntayne all the +lawfull priuiledges thereof according to my vnderstanding, as also +assist in the execution of all such wholsome lawes as are made or +shall be made by lawfull authority heare established, and will further +the execution of Justice for the tyme aforesaid according to the +righteous rule of Gods word; so helpe me God, etc. + +[Until 1752, the legal year in England began March 25 (Lady Day), not +January 1. All the days between January 1 and March 25 of the year +which we now call 1639 were therefore then a part of the year 1638; so +that the date of the Constitution is given by its own terms as 1638, +instead of 1639.] + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +THE STATES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ORIGIN. + + +1. The thirteen original states. + + +2. States formed directly from other states. + Vermont from territory disputed between New York and + New Hampshire, Kentucky from Virginia, Maine + from Massachusetts, West Virginia from Virginia. + + +3. States from the Northwest Territory (see p. 253). + Ohio, Michigan, + Indiana, Wisconsin, + Illinois, Minnesota, in part. + +4. States from other territory ceded by states. + Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, + Alabama, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, + Mississippi, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia. + +5. States from the Louisiana purchase (see p. 253). + Louisiana, North Dakota, + Arkansas, South Dakota, + Missouri, Montana, + Kansas, Minnesota, in part, + Nebraska, Wyoming, in part, + Iowa, Colorado, in part. + +6. States from Mexican cessions. + California, Wyoming, in part, + Nevada, Colorado, in part. + +7. States from territory defined by treaty with Great Britain +(see p. 254). + Oregon, Washington, Idaho. + +8. States from other sources. + Florida, from a Spanish cession, + Texas, by annexation (see p. 254). + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. + +(_Ratio of representation based on census of_ 1890--173,901.) + + Popula- Popula- Rep + tion to Area in tion, in Elect. +Dates. No. Names. sq.m. sq. m. 1890. Cong vote + 1892. 1892. +Ratified the Constitution. +1787, Dec. 7 1 Delaware 82.1 2,050 168,493 1 3 + Dec. 12 2 Pennsylvania 111.2 45,215 5,258,014 30 32 + Dec. 18 3 New Jersey 179.7 7,815 1,444,933 8 10 +1788, Jan. 2 4 Georgia 30.8 59,475 1,837,353 11 13 + Jan. 9 5 Connecticut 149.5 4,990 746,258 4 6 + Feb. 6 6 Massachusetts 269.2 8,315 2,238,943 13 15 + April 28 7 Maryland 85.3 12,210 1,042,390 6 8 + May 23 8 South Carolina 37.6 30,570 1,151,149 7 9 + June 21 9 New Hampshire 40.4 9,305 376,530 2 4 + June 25 10 Virginia 39. 42,450 1,655,980 10 12 + July 26 11 New York 121.9 49,170 5,997,853 34 35 +1789, Nov. 21 12 North Carolina 30.9 52,250 1,617,947 9 11 +1790, May 29 13 Rhode Island 276.4 1,250 345,506 2 4 + +Admitted to the Union. +1791, March 4 14 Vermont 34.6 9,565 332,422 2 4 +1792, June 1 15 Kentucky 46. 40,400 1,858,635 11 13 +1796, June 1 16 Tennessee 42. 42,050 1,767,518 10 12 +1803, Feb. 19 17 Ohio 89.4 41,060 3,672,316 21 23 +1812, April 30 18 Louisiana 22.9 48,720 1,118,587 6 8 +1816, Dec. 11 19 Indiana 60.3 36,350 2,192,404 13 15 +1817, Dec. 10 20 Mississippi 42.7 46,810 1,289,600 7 9 +1818, Dec. 3 21 Illinois 67.5 56,650 3,826,351 22 24 +1819, Dec. 14 22 Alabama 28.9 52,250 1,513,017 9 11 +1820, March 15 23 Maine 20. 33,040 661,086 4 6 +1821, Aug. 10 24 Missouri 38.5 69,415 2,679,184 15 17 +1836, June 15 25 Arkansas 20.9 53,850 1,128,179 6 8 +1837, Jan. 25 26 Michigan 35.5 58,915 2,093,889 12 14 +1845, March 3 27 Florida 6.6 58,680 391,422 2 4 +1815, Dec. 29 28 Texas 8.4 265,780 2,235,523 13 15 +1846, Dec. 28 29 Iowa 34.1 56,025 1,911,896 11 13 +1848, May 29 30 Wisconsin 30. 56,040 1,686,880 10 12 +1850, Sept. 9 31 California 7.6 158,360 1,208,130 7 9 +1858, May 11 32 Minnesota 15.6 83,365 1,301,826 7 9 +1859, Feb. 14 33 Oregon 3.2 96,030 313,767 2 4 +1861, Jan. 29 34 Kansas 17.3 82,080 1,427,096 8 10 +1863, June 19 35 West Virginia 30.7 24,780 762,794 4 6 +1864, Oct. 31 36 Nevada 0.4 110,700 45,761 1 3 +1867, March 1 37 Nebraska 13.6 77,510 1,058,910 6 8 +1876, Aug. 1 38 Colorado 3.9 103,925 412,198 2 4 +1889, Nov. 2 { 39 North Dakota } 2.5 70,795 182,719 1 3 + { 40 South Dakota } 4.2 77,650 328,808 2 4 +1889, Nov. 8 41 Montana 0.9 146,080 132,159 1 3 +1889, Nov. 11 42 Washington 5. 69,180 349,390 2 4 +1890, July 3 43 Idaho 0.9 84,800 84,385 1 3 +1890, July 10 44 Wyoming 0.6 97,890 60,705 1 3 + +Organised. +1850, Sept. 9 Utah 2.4 84,970 207,905 +1850, Sept. 9 New Mexico 1.2 122,580 153,593 +1863, Feb. 24 Arizona 0.5 113,020 59,620 +1868, July 27 Alaska 577,390 no census +1834, June 30 Indian Territory 31,400 no census +1889, April 22 Oklahoma 1.5 39,030 61,834 +1791, Mar 3 Dist. of C. 3,291.1 70 230,392 + +1892, total House of Representatives 356 + Senate 88 = electoral votes, +444. + +APPENDIX H. + +POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1890, + +_Showing Percentages of Urban Population._ + +Date. | Pop. of U.S. | No. of | Pop. of Cities. | % of + | | Cities | |of Urban Pop. +------------------------------------------------------------------- +1790 | 3,929,214 | 6 | 131,472 | 3.33 +1800 | 5,308,483 | 6 | 210,873 | 3.9 +1810 | 7,239,881 | 11 | 356,920 | 4.9 +1820 | 9,633,822 | 13 | 474,135 | 4.9 +1830 | 12,866,020 | 26 | 864,509 | 6.7 +1840 | 17,069,453 | 44 | 1,453,994 | 8.5 +1850 | 23,191,876 | 85 | 2,897,586 | 12.5 +1860 | 31,443,321 | 141 | 5,072,256 | 16.1 +1870 | 38,558,371 | 226 | 8,071,875 | 20.9 +1880 | 50,155,783 | 286 | 11,318,597 | 22.5 +1890 | 62,622,250 | 443 | 18,235,670 | 29.1 +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +APPENDIX I. + +AN EXAMINATION PAPER FOR CUSTOMS CLERKS. + +Applicant's No.. + +APPLICANT'S DECLARATION. + +DIRECTIONS.--1. The number above is _your examination number_. +Write it at the top of every sheet given you in this examination. + +2. Fill promptly all the blanks in this sheet. Any omission may +lead to the rejection of your papers. + +3. Write all answers and exercises in ink. + +4. Write your name on no other sheet but this. + +Place this sheet in the envelope. Write your number on the envelope +and seal the same. + +DECLARATION. + +I declare upon my honour as follows: + +1. My true and full name is (if female, please say whether +Mrs. or Miss) + +2. Since my application was made I have been living at (give +all the places) + +3. My post-office address in full is + +4. If examined within twelve months for the civil service--for +any post-office, custom-house, or Department at Washington--state +the time, place, and result. + +5. If you have ever been in the civil service, state where and +in what position, and when you left it and the reasons therefor. + +6. Are you now under enlistment in the army or navy? + +7. If you have been in the military or naval service of the +United States, state which, and whether you were honourably +discharged, when, and for what cause. + +8. Since my application no change has occurred in my health +or physical capacity except the following: + +9. I was born at ----, on the ---- day of ----, 188. + +10. My present business or employment is + +11. I swore to my application for this examination as near as +I can remember at (town or city of) ----, on the ---- day +of ----, 188. + +All the above statements are true, to the best of my knowledge +and belief. + +(_Signature in usual form_.)------------ + +Dated at the city of ----, State of ----, this ---- day +of ----, 188_. + +FIRST SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ One of the examiners will distinctly read (at a +rate reasonable for copying) fifteen lines from the Civil-Service Law +or Rules, and each applicant will copy the same below from the reading +as it proceeds. + +_Question 2._ Write below at length the names of fifteen States +and fifteen cities of the Union. + +_Question 3. Copy the following precisely_: + +"And in my opinion, sir, this principle of claiming monopoly of office +by the right of conquest, unless the public shall effectually rebuke +and restrain it, will effectually change the character of our +Government. It elevates party above country; it forgets the common +weal in the pursuit of personal emolument; it tends to form, it does +form, we see that it has formed, a political combination, united by +no common principles or opinions among its members, either upon the +powers of the Government or the true policy of the country, but held +together simply as an association, under the charm of a popular +head, seeking to maintain possession of the Government by a vigorous +exercise of its patronage, and for this purpose agitating and alarming +and distressing social life by the exercise of a tyrannical party +proscription. Sir, if this course of things cannot be checked, good +men will grow tired of the exercise of political privileges. They will +see that such elections are but a mere selfish contest for office, +and they will abandon the Government to the scramble of the bold, the +daring, and the desperate."--_Daniel Webster on Civil Service, in +1832_. + +_Question 4._ Correct any errors in spelling which you find in +the following sentences, writing your letters so plainly that no one +of them can be mistaken: + +Unquestionebly every federil offeser should be able to spell corectly +the familier words of his own languege. + +Lose her hankercheif and elivate her head immediatly or she will +spedily loose her life by strangelation. + + +SECOND SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ Multiply 2341705 by 23870 and divide the product by +6789. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 2._ Divide two hundred and five thousand two hundred +and five, and two hundred and five ten-thousandths, by one hundred +thousand one hundred, and one hundredth. + +_Question 3._ Multiply 10-2/3 by 7-1/8 and divide the product by +9-1/2, reducing the same to the simplest form. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 4._ The annual cost of the public schools of a city +is $36,848. What school-tax must be assessed, the cost of collecting +being 2 per cent., and 6 per cent of the assessed tax being +uncollectible? + + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 5._ Add 7-3/4, 3/5 of 6-2/9, 8-11/12, 6-1/2 divided by +8-1/8, and reduce to lowest terms. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 6._ The Government sold 3000 old muskets at 22-1/2 per +cent, of their cost. The purchaser becoming insolvent paid only 13 per +cent. of the price he agreed to pay; that is, he paid $900. What did +each musket cost the Government? + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 7._ What will it cost to carpet a room 36 feet wide by +72 feet long with 3/4 width carpet at $2.12 per yard, including cost +of carpet-lining at 11 cents a square yard and 12 cents a yard for +making and laying the carpet? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 8. A owned 7/8 of a ship and sold 4/5 of his share to +B, who sold 5/9 of what he bought to C, who sold 6/7 of what he bought +to D. What part of the whole vessel did D buy? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 9. A man bought a cargo of wool and sold seven +thousand and forty-five ten-thousandths of it. How much had he left? + +_Give operation in full in decimal fractions_. + +_Question_ 10. A merchant imported from Bremen 32 pieces of linen +of 32 yards each, on which he paid for the duties, at 24 per cent, +$122.38, and other charges to the amount of $40.96. What was the +invoice value per yard, and the cost per yard after duties and charges +were paid? + +_Give operation, in full_. + + +THIRD SUBJECT. + + +_Question_ 1. On a mortgage for $3,125, dated July 5, 1880 +(interest at 3-1/2 per cent), a payment of $840 was made April 23, +1881. What amount was due January 17, 1882? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 2. The Government sold an old vessel for $160,000, +payable two fifths in eight months and the residue in seventeen months +from the sale. What was the present cash value of the vessel, the +current rate of interest on money being five per cent? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 3. Write a promissory note to be given by J. Brown +to J. Smith, for 60 days, without grace, for $500, at 5 per cent +interest, and state what amount will be due at maturity of the note. + +_Question_ 4. James X. Young, a contractor, had the following +dealings with the Treasury Department: He furnished January 4, 1882, +14 tables at $16 each; June 6, 1882, 180 desks at $18.50 each; +December 7, 1882, 150 chairs at $2 each, and July 18, 1883, 14 +book-cases at $90 each. He was paid cash as follows: January 31, 1882, +$224; June 30, $1,800; December 18, $300; and July 31, 1883, he was +allowed on settlement $75 for cartage and charged $25 for breakages. +State his account and show balance due. + + +FOURTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. State the meaning of tense and of mood, and explain +the difference between them in the English language or grammar. + +_Question_ 2. Correct any errors you find in the following +sentences: + +The boy done it, and he is as restless here as he will be if he was +with you. + +He had did it and spoke of doing it before we come here. + +_Question_ 3. Write a letter to Senator Jackson answering in full +his letter of September 7 to the Secretary of the Treasury in which +he asks: "How must my nephew proceed to obtain a clerkship in the +Treasury Department, under the Civil-Service Law, and what are the +requisite qualifications of a good clerk?" + + +FIFTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. Write without abbreviation the names of fifteen +seaports of the Union. + +_Question_ 2. Name four of the principal tributaries of the +Mississippi River. + +_Question_ 3. Bound the State in which you live. + +_Question_ 4. Which States are peninsular, and upon what waters +are they situated? + +_Question_ 5. Name six of the principal railroads in the United +States. + +_Question_ 6. Name seven of the leading agricultural products of +the United States, and state in what section of the country each is +most extensively cultivated. + + + + + +APPENDIX J. + + +THE NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT OF 1890. + +CHAP. 94.--AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE FIVE OF THE PENAL CODE RELATING TO +CRIMES AGAINST THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. + +Approved by the Governor April 4, 1890. Passed, three fifths being +present. + +_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and +Assembly, do enact as follows:_ + + +SECTION 1. Title five of the Penal Code, entitled "Of crimes against +the elective franchise," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: + +Section 41. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To pay, lend, or contribute, or offer or promise to pay, lend, or +contribute any money or other valuable consideration, to or for any +voter, or to or for any other person, to induce such voter to vote or +refrain from voting at any election, or to induce any voter to vote +or refrain from voting at such election for any particular person or +persons, or to induce such voter to come to the polls or remain away +from the polls at such election, or on account of such voter having +voted or refrained from voting or having voted or refrained from +voting for any particular person, or having come to the poll or +remained away from the polls at such election. + +2. To give, offer, or promise any office, place, or employment, or +to promise to procure or endeavour to procure any office, place, or +employment to or for any voter, or to or for any other person, in +order to induce such voter to vote or refrain from voting at any +election, or to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting at +such election for any particular person or persons. + +3. To make any gift, loan, promise, offer, procurement, or agreement, +as aforesaid, to, for, or with any person in order to induce such +person to procure or endeavour to procure the election of any person, +or the vote of any voter at any election. + +4. To procure or engage, promise or endeavour to procure, in +consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or +agreement, the election of any person or the vote of any voter at such +election. + +5. To advance or pay or cause to be paid any money or other valuable +thing to or for the use of any other person with the intent that the +same, or any part thereof, shall be used in bribery at any election, +or to knowingly pay, or cause to be paid, any money or other valuable +thing to any person in discharge or repayment of any money, wholly or +in part, expended in bribery at any election. + +Section 41_a_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To receive, agree, or contract for, before or during an election, +any money, gift, loan, or other valuable consideration, office, place, +or employment for himself or any other person, for voting or agreeing +to vote, or for coming or agreeing to come to the polls, or for +remaining, away or agreeing to remain away from the polls, or for +refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting, or for voting or +agreeing to vote or refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting for +any particular person or persons at any election. + +2. To receive any money or other valuable thing during or after an +election on account of himself or any other person having voted or +refrained from voting at such election, or on account of himself +or any other person having voted or refrained from voting for any +particular person at such election, or on account of himself or any +other person having come to the polls or remained away from the polls +at such election, or on account of having induced any other person to +vote or refrain from voting or to vote or refrain from voting for any +particular person or persons at such election. + +41_b_. It shall be unlawful for any candidate for public office, +before or during an election, to make any bet or wager with a voter, +or take a share or interest in or in any manner become a party to any +such bet or wager, or provide or agree to provide any money to be used +by another in making such bet or wager, upon any event or contingency +whatever. Nor shall it be lawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, to make a bet or wager with a voter, depending upon +the result of any election, with the intent thereby to procure the +challenge of such voter, or to prevent him from voting at such +election. + +Section 41_c_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or any other person in his behalf, to make use +of, or threaten to make use of, any force, violence, or restraint, or +to inflict or threaten the infliction by himself, or through any other +person, of any injury, damage, harm, or loss, or in any manner to +practice intimidation upon or against any person, in order to induce +or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting at any election, +or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or +persons at any election, or on account of such person having voted or +refrained from voting at any election. And it shall be unlawful for +any person by abduction, duress, or any forcible or fraudulent device +or contrivance whatever to impede, prevent, or otherwise interfere +with, the free exercise of the elective franchise by any voter; or to +compel, induce, or prevail upon any voter either to give or refrain +from giving his vote at any election, or to give or refrain from +giving his vote for any particular person at any election. It shall +not be lawful for any employer in paying his employees the salary or +wages due them to inclose their pay in "pay envelopes" upon which +there is written or printed any political mottoes, devices, or +arguments containing threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such +employees. Nor shall it be lawful for any employer, within ninety days +of general election to put up or otherwise exhibit in his factory, +work-shop, or other establishment or place where his employees may be +working, any hand-bill or placard containing any threat, notice, or +information that in case any particular ticket or candidate shall be +elected, work in his place or establishment will cease, in whole or in +part, or his establishment be closed up, or the wages of his workmen +be reduced, or other threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of his +employees. This section shall apply to corporations, as well as to +individuals, and any person or corporation violating the provisions +of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and any +corporation violating this section shall forfeit its charter. + +Section 41_d_. Every candidate who is voted for at any public +election held within this state shall, within ten days after such +election, file as hereinafter provided an itemized statement, showing +in detail all the moneys contributed or expended by him, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person, in aid of his +election. Such statement shall give the names of the various persons +who received such moneys, the specific nature of each item, and the +purpose for which it was expended or contributed. There shall be +attached to such statement an affidavit subscribed and sworn to by +such candidate, setting forth in substance that the statement thus +made is in all respects true, and that the same is a full and detailed +statement of all moneys so contributed or expended by him, directly +or indirectly, by himself or through any other person in aid of his +election. Candidates for offices to be filled by the electors of the +entire state, or any division or district thereof greater than a +county, shall file their statements in the office of the secretary of +state. The candidates for town, village, and city offices, excepting +the city of New York, shall file their statements in the office of the +town, village, or city clerk respectively, and in cities wherein there +is no city clerk, with the clerk of the common council wherein the +election occurs. Candidates for all other offices, including all +offices in the city and county of New York, shall file their +statements in the office of the clerk of the county wherein the +election occurs. + +Section 41_e_. A person offending against any provision of +sections forty-one and forty-one-a of this act is a competent witness +against another person so offending, and may be compelled to attend +and testify upon any trial, hearing, proceeding, or investigation in +the same manner as any other person. But the testimony so given shall +not be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, +against the person so testifying. A person so testifying shall not +thereafter be liable to indictment, prosecution, or punishment for the +offense with reference to which his testimony was given and may plead +or prove the giving of testimony accordingly, in bar of such an +indictment or prosecution. + + +Section 41_f_. Whosoever shall violate any provision of this title, upon +conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail +for not less than three months nor more than one year. The offenses +described in section[53] forty-one and forty-one-a of this act are hereby +declared to be infamous crimes. When a person is convicted of any +offense mentioned in section forty-one of this act he shall in addition +to the punishment above prescribed, forfeit any office to which he may +have been elected at the election with reference to which such offense +was committed; and when a person is convicted of any offense mentioned +in section forty-one-a of this act he shall in addition to the +punishment above prescribed be excluded from the right of suffrage for a +period of five years after such conviction, and it shall be the duty of +the county clerk of the county in which any such conviction shall be +had, to transmit a certified copy of the record of conviction to the +clerk of each county of the state, within ten days thereafter, which +said certified copy shall be duly filed by the said county clerks in +their respective offices. Any candidate for office who refuses or +neglects to file a statement as prescribed in section forty-one-d of +this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, punishable as above +provided and shall also forfeit his office. + +[Footnote 53: So in the original.] + +Section 41_g_. Other crimes against the elective franchise are +defined, and the punishment thereof prescribed by special statutes. + + +Section 2. Section forty-one of the Penal Code, as it existed prior to +the passage of this act, is hereby repealed. + + + +Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately. APPENDIX K. + + +FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ADOPTED IN MASSACHUSETTS, + 1889. + + OFFICIAL BALLOT + + FOR + + PRECINCT, WARD, + + OF (CITY OR TOWN), + + NOVEMBER__, 18__. + + [Fac-Simile of Signature of Secretary.] + _Secretary of the Commonwealth_. + +SAMPLE BALLOT, + +With explanations and illustration. + +Prepared by the Ballot Act League with the approval of the Secretary +of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Some representative districts elect one, some two, and a few three +representatives to the General Court. Worcester County elects four +commissioners of insolvency instead of three as in other counties. + +No county commissioners or special commissioners will be voted for in +the cities of Boston and Chelsea or the county of Nantucket. + + * * * * * + +Forms for nominating candidates can be had at the department of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Carefully observe the official specimen ballots to be posted and +published just before election day. + + +To vote for a Person, mark a Cross X + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +OLIVER AMES, of Easton Republican. +WILLIAM H EARLE, of Worcester Prohibition. +WILLIAM E. RUSSELL, of Cambridge Democratic. + +LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +JOHN BASCOM, of Williamstown Prohibition. +JOHN Q.A. BRACKETT, of Arlington Republican. +JOHN W. CORCORAN, of Clinton Democratic. + +SECRETARY Vote for ONE. +WILLIAM S. OSGOOD, of Boston Democratic. +HENRY R. PEIRCE, of Abington Republican. +HENRY C. SMITH, of Williamsburg Prohibition. + +TREASURER Vote for ONE. +JOHN M. FISHER, of Attleborough Prohibition. +GEORGE A. MARDEN, of Lowell Republican. +HENRY O. THACHER, of Yarmouth Democratic. + +AUDITOR Vote for ONE. +CHARLES R. LADD, of Springfield Republican. +EDMUND A. STOWE, of Hudson Prohibition. +WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, of Worcester Democratic. + +ATTORNEY-GENERAL Vote for ONE. +ALLEN COFFIN, of Nantucket Prohibition. +SAMUEL O. LAMB, of Greenfield Democratic. +ANDREW J. WATERMAN, of Pittsfield Republican. + +COUNCILLOR, Third District Vote for ONE. +ROBERT O. FULLER, of Cambridge Republican. +WILLIAM E. PLUMMER, of Newton Democratic. +SYLVANUS C. SMALL, of Winchester Prohibition. + +SENATOR, Third Middlesex District Vote for ONE. +FREEMAN HUNT, of Cambridge Democratic. +CHESTER W. KINGSLEY, of Cambridge /Republican. + \Prohibition. + +DISTRICT ATTORNEY, Northern District Vote for ONE. +CHARLES S. LINCOLN, of Somerville Democratic. +JOHN M. READ, of Lowell Prohibition. +WILLIAM B. STEVENS, of Stoneham Republican. + + + +------------------------------------------------------------- +in the Square at the right of the name. +------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------- +REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT + +First Middlesex District. Vote for TWO. + +WILLIAM H. MARBLE, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +ISAAC McLEAN, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +GEORGE A. PERKINS, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +JOHN READ, of Cambridge Republican. __ +CHESTER V. SANGER, of Cambridge Republican. __ +WILLIAM A. START, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SHERIFF Vote for ONE. + +HENRY G. CUSHING, of Lowell Republican. __ +HENRY G. HARKINS, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +WILLIAM H. SHERMAN, of Ayer Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- +COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY Vote for THREE. + +JOHN W. ALLARD, of Framingham Democratic. __ +GEORGE J. BURNS, of Ayer Republican. __ +WILLIAM P. CUTTER, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE, of Lowell Republican. __ +JAMES HICKS, of Cambridge. Prohibition. __ +JOHN C. KENNEDY, of Newton Republican. __ +RICHARD J. McKELLEGET, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +EDWARD D. McVEY, of Lowell Democratic. __ +ELMER A. STEVENS, of Somerville Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +COUNTY COMMISSIONER Vote for ONE. + +WILLIAM S. FROST, of Marlborough Republican. __ +JOSEPH W. BARBER, of Sherborn Prohibition. __ +JAMES SKINNER, of Woburn Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS Vote for TWO. + +HENRY BRADLEE, of Medford Democratic. __ +LYMAN DYKE, of Stoneham Republican. __ +JOHN J. DONOVAN, of Lowell Democratic. __ +WILLIAM E. KNIGHT, of Shirley Prohibition. __ +ORSON E. MALLORY, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +EDWIN E. THOMPSON, of Woburn Republican. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +[Illustration: SKETCH OF POLLING PLACE.] + +SUGGESTIONS TO VOTERS. + +Give your name and residence to the ballot clerk, who, on finding your +name on the check list, will admit you within the rail and hand you a +ballot. + +Go alone to one of the voting shelves and there unfold your ballot. + +Mark a cross X in the square at the right of the name of each person +for whom you wish to vote. No other method of marking, such as erasing +names, will answer. + + +Thus, if you wished to vote for John Bowles for Governor, you would +mark your ballot in this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. X +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. + +If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, +write, or insert by a sticker, the name in the blank line at the end +of the list of candidates for the office, and mark a cross X in the +square at the right of it. Thus, if you wished to vote for George T. +Morton, of Chelsea, for Governor, you would prepare your ballot in +this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. +_George T. Morton, of Chelsea_ X + +Notice, that for some offices you may vote for "two" or "three" +candidates, as stated in the ballot at the right of the name of the +office to be voted for, e.g.: "COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY. Vote for +THREE." + +If you spoil a ballot, return it to the ballot clerk, who will give +you another. You cannot have more than two extra ballots, or three in +all. You cannot remain within the rail more than ten minutes, and in +case all the shelves are in use and other voters waiting, you are +allowed only five minutes at the voting shelf. + +Before leaving the voting shelf, fold your ballot in the same way as +it was folded when you received it, and keep it so folded until you +place it in the ballot box. + +Do not show any one how you have marked your ballot. + +Go to the ballot box and give your name and residence to the officer +in charge. + +Put your folded ballot in the box with the certificate of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth uppermost and in sight. + +You are not allowed to carry away a ballot, whether spoiled or not. + +A voter who declares to the presiding official (under oath, if +required) that he was a voter before May 1, 1857, and cannot read, or +that he is blind or physically unable to mark his ballot, can receive +the assistance of one or two of the election officers in the marking +of his ballot. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civil Government in the United States +Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE U.S. *** + +***** This file should be named 11276-8.txt or 11276-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/2/7/11276/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Keren Vergon, Bradley Norton and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11276-8.zip b/old/11276-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..205f40a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11276-8.zip diff --git a/old/11276.txt b/old/11276.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77b75fc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11276.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14426 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Civil Government in the United States +Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins, by John Fiske + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Civil Government in the United States Considered with + Some Reference to Its Origins + +Author: John Fiske + +Release Date: February 25, 2004 [EBook #11276] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE U.S. *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Keren Vergon, Bradley Norton and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT +IN THE UNITED STATES +CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS + +BY + +JOHN FISKE + + [Greek: Aissomai pai Zaevos Heleutheroiu, + Imeran eurnsthene amphipolei, Soteira Tucha + tiv gar en ponto kubernontai thoai + naes, en cherso te laipsaeroi polemoi + kagorai boulaphoroi.] + + PINDAR, _Olymp_. xii. + + Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! + Sail on, O Union, strong and great!... + Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee,--are all with thee! + + LONGFELLOW. + + + +1890 + +BY JOHN FISKE. + + +_Dedication_ + +This little book is dedicated, with the author's best wishes and +sincere regard, to the many hundreds of young friends whom he has +found it so pleasant to meet in years past, and also to those whom he +looks forward to meeting in years to come, in studies and readings +upon the rich and fruitful history of our beloved country. + +PREFACE. + +Some time ago, my friends, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., requested +me to write a small book on Civil Government in the United States, +which might be useful as a text-book, and at the same time serviceable +and suggestive to the general reader interested in American history. +In preparing the book certain points have been kept especially in +view, and deserve some mention here. + +It seemed desirable to adopt a historical method of exposition, not +simply describing our political institutions in their present shape, +but pointing out their origin, indicating some of the processes +through which they have acquired that present shape, and thus keeping +before the student's mind the fact that government is perpetually +undergoing modifications in adapting itself to new conditions. +Inasmuch as such gradual changes in government do not make themselves, +but are made by men--and made either for better or for worse--it is +obvious that the history of political institutions has serious lessons +to teach us. The student should as soon as possible come to understand +that every institution is the outgrowth of experiences. One probably +gets but little benefit from abstract definitions and axioms +concerning the rights of men and the nature of civil society, such as +we often find at the beginning of books on government. Metaphysical +generalizations are well enough in their place, but to start with such +things--as the French philosophers of the eighteenth century were fond +of doing--is to get the cart before the horse. It is better to have +our story first, and thus find out what government in its concrete +reality has been, and is. Then we may finish up with the metaphysics, +or do as I have done--leave it for somebody else. + +I was advised to avoid the extremely systematic, intrusively +symmetrical, style of exposition, which is sometimes deemed +indispensable in a book of this sort. It was thought that students +would be more likely to become interested in the subject if it were +treated in the same informal manner into which one naturally falls in +giving lectures to young people. I have endeavoured to bear this in +mind without sacrificing that lucidity in the arrangement of topics +which is always the supreme consideration. For many years I have been +in the habit of lecturing on history to college students in different +parts of the United States, to young ladies in private schools, and +occasionally to the pupils in high and normal schools, and in writing +this little book I have imagined an audience of these earnest and +intelligent young friends gathered before me. + +I was especially advised--by my friend, Mr. James MacAlister, +superintendent of schools in Philadelphia, for whose judgment I have +the highest respect--to make it a _little_ book, less than three +hundred pages in length, if possible. Teachers and pupils do not have +time enough to deal properly with large treatises. Brevity, therefore, +is golden. A concise manual is the desideratum, touching lightly upon +the various points, bringing out their relationships distinctly, and +referring to more elaborate treatises, monographs, and documents, for +the use of those who wish to pursue the study at greater length. + +Within limits thus restricted, it will probably seem strange to +some that so much space is given to the treatment of local +institutions,--comprising the governments of town, county, and city. +It may be observed, by the way, that some persons apparently conceive +of the state also as a "local institution." In a recent review of +Professor Howard's admirable "Local Constitutional History of the +United States," we read, the first volume, which is all that is yet +published, treats of the development of the township, hundred, and +shire; the second volume, we suppose, being designed to treat of +the State Constitutions. The reviewer forgets that there is such a +subject as the "development of the city and local magistracies" (which +is to be the subject of that second volume), and lets us see that in +his apprehension the American state is an institution of the same +order as the town and county. We can thus readily assent when we +are told that many youth have grown to manhood with so little +appreciation of the political importance of the state as to believe +it nothing more than a geographical division.[1] In its historic +genesis, the American state is not an institution of the same order +as the town and county, nor has it as yet become depressed or +"mediatized" to that degree. The state, while it does not possess such +attributes of sovereignty as were by our Federal Constitution granted +to the United States, does, nevertheless, possess many very important +and essential characteristics of a sovereign body, as is here +pointed out on pages 172-177. The study of our state governments is +inextricably wrapped up with the study of our national government, +in such wise that both are parts of one subject, which cannot be +understood unless both parts are studied. Whether in the course of our +country's future development we shall ever arrive at a stage in which +this is not the case, must be left for future events to determine. +But, if we ever do arrive at such a stage, "American institutions" +will present a very different aspect from those with which we are now +familiar, and which we have always been accustomed (even, perhaps, +without always understanding them) to admire. + +[Footnote 1: Young's _Government Class Book_, p. iv.] + +The study of local government properly includes town, county, and +city. To this part of the subject I have devoted about half of my +limited space, quite unheedful of the warning which I find in the +preface of a certain popular text-book, that "to learn the duties of +town, city, and county officers, has nothing whatever to do with the +grand and noble subject of Civil Government," and that "to attempt +class drill on petty town and county offices, would be simply +burlesque of the whole subject." But, suppose one were to say, with +an air of ineffable scorn, that petty experiments on terrestrial +gravitation and radiant heat, such as can be made with commonplace +pendulums and tea-kettles, have nothing whatever to do with the grand +and noble subject of Physical Astronomy! Science would not have got +very far on that plan, I fancy. The truth is, that science, while it +is perpetually dealing with questions of magnitude, and knows very +well what is large and what is small, knows nothing whatever of any +such distinction as that between things that are "grand" and things +that are "petty." When we try to study things in a scientific spirit, +to learn their modes of genesis and their present aspects, in order +that we may foresee their tendencies, and make our volitions count +for something in modifying them, there is nothing which we may safely +disregard as trivial. This is true of whatever we can study; it is +eminently true of the history of institutions. Government is not a +royal mystery, to be shut off, like old Deiokes,[2] by a sevenfold +wall from the ordinary business of life. Questions of civil government +are practical business questions, the principles of which are as often +and as forcibly illustrated in a city council or a county board of +supervisors, as in the House of Representatives at Washington. It is +partly because too many of our citizens fail to realize that local +government is a worthy study, that we find it making so much trouble +for us. The "bummers" and "boodlers" do not find the subject beneath +their notice; the Master who inspires them is wide awake and--for a +creature that divides the hoof--extremely intelligent. + +[Footnote 2: Herodotus, i. 98.] + +It is, moreover, the mental training gained through contact with +local government that enables the people of a community to conduct +successfully, through their representatives, the government of the +state and the nation. And so it makes a great deal of difference +whether the government of a town or county is of one sort or another. +If the average character of our local governments for the past quarter +of a century had been _quite_ as high as that of the Boston +town-meeting or the Virginia boards of county magistrates, in the days +of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, who can doubt that many an airy +demagogue, who, through session after session, has played his pranks +at the national capital, would long ago have been abruptly recalled to +his native heath, a sadder if not a wiser man? We cannot expect the +nature of the aggregate to be much better than the average natures +of its units. One may hear people gravely discussing the difference +between Frenchmen and Englishmen in political efficiency, and +resorting to assumed ethnological causes to explain it, when, very +likely, to save their lives they could not describe the difference +between a French commune and an English parish. To comprehend the +interesting contrasts between Gambetta in the Chamber of Deputies, and +Gladstone in the House of Commons, one should begin with a historical +inquiry into the causes, operating through forty generations, which +have frittered away self-government in the rural districts and small +towns of France, until there is very little left. If things in America +ever come to such a pass that the city council of Cambridge must ask +Congress each year how much money it can be allowed to spend for +municipal purposes, while the mayor of Cambridge holds his office +subject to removal by the President of the United States, we may +safely predict further extensive changes in the character of the +American people and their government. It was not for nothing that our +profoundest political thinker, Thomas Jefferson, attached so much +importance to the study of the township. + +In determining the order of exposition, I have placed local government +first, beginning with the township as the simplest unit. It is well to +try to understand what is near and simple, before dealing with what is +remote and complex. In teaching geography with maps, it is wise to get +the pupil interested in the streets of his own town, the country roads +running out of it, and the neighbouring hills and streams, before +burdening his attention with the topographical details of Borrioboola +Gha. To study grand generalizations about government, before attending +to such of its features as come most directly before us, is to run the +risk of achieving a result like that attained by the New Hampshire +school-boy, who had studied geology in a text-book, but was not aware +that he had ever set eyes upon an igneous rock. + +After the township, naturally comes the county. The city, as is here +shown, is not simply a larger town, but is much more complex in +organization. Historically, many cities have been, or still are, +equivalent to counties; and the development of the county must be +studied before we can understand that of the city. It has been briefly +indicated how these forms of local government grew up in England, and +how they have become variously modified in adapting themselves to +different social conditions in different parts of the United States. + +Next in order come the general governments, those which possess and +exert, in one way or another, attributes of sovereignty. First, the +various colonial governments have been considered, and some features +of their metamorphosis into our modern state governments have been +described. In the course of this study, our attention is called to +the most original and striking feature of the development of civil +government upon American soil,--the written constitution, with the +accompanying power of the courts in certain cases to annul the acts +of the legislature. This is not only the most original feature of our +government, but it is in some respects the most important. Without the +Supreme Court, it is not likely that the Federal Union could have been +held together, since Congress has now and then passed an act which the +people in some of the states have regarded as unconstitutional and +tyrannical; and in the absence of a judicial method of settling such +questions, the only available remedy would have been nullification. I +have devoted a brief chapter to the origin and development of written +constitutions, and the connection of our colonial charters therewith. + +Lastly, we come to the completed structure, the Federal Union; and by +this time we have examined so many points in the general theory +of American government, that our Federal Constitution can be more +concisely described, and (I believe) more quickly understood, than if +we had made it the subject of the first chapter instead of the last. +In conclusion, there have been added a few brief hints and suggestions +with reference to our political history. These remarks have been +intentionally limited. It is no part of the purpose of this book +to give an account of the doings of political parties under the +Constitution. But its study may fitly be supplemented by that of +Professor Alexander Johnston's "History of American Politics." + +This arrangement not only proceeds from the simpler forms of +government to the more complex, but it follows the historical order of +development. From time immemorial, and down into the lowest strata +of savagery that have come within our ken, there have been clans and +tribes; and, as is here shown, a township was originally a stationary +clan, and a county was originally a stationary tribe. There were +townships and counties (or equivalent forms of organization) before +there were cities. In like manner there were townships, counties, and +cities long before there was anything in the world that could properly +be called a state. I have remarked below upon the way in which English +shires coalesced into little states, and in course of time the English +nation was formed by the union of such little states, which lost their +statehood (_i.e._, their functions of sovereignty, though not +their self-government within certain limits) in the process. Finally, +in America, we see an enormous nationality formed by the federation +of states which partially retain their statehood; and some of these +states are themselves of national dimensions, as, for example, New +York, which is nearly equal in area, quite equal in population, and +far superior in wealth, to Shakespeare's England. + +In studying the local institutions of our different states, I have been +greatly helped by the "Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and +Politics," of which the eighth annual series is now in course of +publication. In the course of the pages below I have frequent occasion +to acknowledge my indebtedness to these learned and sometimes profoundly +suggestive monographs; but I cannot leave the subject without a special +word of gratitude to my friend, Dr. Herbert Adams, the editor of the +series, for the noble work which he is doing in promoting the study of +American history. It had always seemed to me that the mere existence of +printed questions in text-books proves that the publishers must have +rather a poor opinion of the average intelligence of teachers; and it +also seemed as if the practical effect of such questions must often be +to make the exercise of recitation more mechanical for both teachers and +pupils, and to encourage the besetting sin of "learning by heart." +Nevertheless, there are usually two sides to a case; and, in deference +to the prevailing custom, for which, no doubt, there is much to be said, +full sets of questions have been appended to each chapter and section. +It seemed desirable that such questions should be prepared by some one +especially familiar with the use of school-books; and for these I have +to thank Mr. F.A. Hill, Head Master of the Cambridge English High +School. I confess that Mr. Hill's questions have considerably modified +my opinion as to the merits of such apparatus. They seem to add very +materially to the usefulness of the book. + +It will be observed that there are two sets of these questions, +entirely distinct in character and purpose. The first set--"Questions +on the Text"--is appended to each _section_, so as to be as near +the text as possible. These questions furnish an excellent topical +analysis of the text.[3] In a certain sense they ask "what the book +says," but the teacher is advised emphatically to discourage any such +thing as committing the text to memory. The tendency to rote-learning +is very strong. I had to contend with it in teaching history to +seniors at Harvard twenty years ago, but much has since been done +to check it through the development of the modern German seminary +methods. (For an explanation of these methods, see Dr. Herbert +Adams on "Seminary Libraries and University Extension," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., xi.) With younger students the tendency is of course +stronger. It is only through much exercise that the mind learns how +to let itself--as Matthew Arnold used to say--"play freely about the +facts." + +[Footnote 3: "This," says Mr. Hill, "will please those who prefer the +topical method, while it does not forbid the easy transformation +of topics to questions, which others may demand." In the table of +contents I have made a pretty full topical analysis of the book, which +may prove useful for comparison with Mr. Hill's.] + +In order to supply the pupil with some wholesome exercise of this +sort, Mr. Hill has added, at the end of each _chapter_, a set of +"Suggestive Questions and Directions." Here he has thoroughly divined +the purpose of the book and done much to further it. + +Problems or cases are suggested for the student to consider, and +questions are asked which cannot be disposed of by a direct appeal to +the text. Sometimes the questions go quite outside of the text, and +relate to topics concerning which it provides no information whatever. +This has been done with a purpose. The pupil should learn how to go +outside of the book and gather from scattered sources information +concerning questions that the book suggests. In other words, he should +begin to learn _how to make researches_, for that is coming to be +one of the useful arts, not merely for scholars, but for men and +women in many sorts of avocations. It is always useful, as well as +ennobling, to be able to trace knowledge to its sources. Work of this +sort involves more or less conference and discussion among classmates, +and calls for active aid from the teacher; and if the teacher does not +at first feel at home in these methods, practice will nevertheless +bring familiarity, and will prove most wholesome training. For the aid +of teachers and pupils, as well as of the general reader who wishes to +pursue the subject, I have added a bibliographical note at the end of +each chapter, immediately after Mr. Hill's "Suggestive Questions and +Directions." + +This particular purpose in my book must be carefully borne in mind. +It explains the omission of many details which some text-books on the +same subject would be sure to include. To make a manual complete and +self-sufficing is precisely what I have not intended. The book is +designed to be suggestive and stimulating, to leave the reader with +scant information on some points, to make him (as Mr. Samuel Weller +says) "vish there wos more," and to show him how to go on by himself. +I am well aware that, in making an experiment in this somewhat new +direction, nothing is easier than to fall into errors of judgment. I +can hardly suppose that this book is free from such errors; but if in +spite thereof it shall turn out to be in any way helpful in bringing +the knowledge and use of the German seminary method into our higher +schools, I shall be more than satisfied. + +Just here, let me say to young people in all parts of our country:--If +you have not already done so, it would be well worth while for you +to organize a debating society in your town or village, for the +discussion of such historical and practical questions relating to the +government of the United States as are suggested in the course of this +book. Once started, there need be no end of interesting and profitable +subjects for discussion. As a further guide to the books you need +in studying such subjects, use Mr. W.E. Foster's "References to the +Constitution of the United States," the invaluable pamphlet mentioned +below on page 277. If you cannot afford to buy the books, get the +public library of your town or village to buy them; or, perhaps, +organize a small special library for your society or club. Librarians +will naturally feel interested in such a matter, and will often +be able to help with advice. A few hours every week spent in such +wholesome studies cannot fail to do much toward the political +education of the local community, and thus toward the general +improvement of the American people. For the amelioration of things +will doubtless continue to be effected in the future, as it has been +effected in the past, not by ambitious schemes of sudden and universal +reform (which the sagacious man always suspects, just as he +suspects all schemes for returning a fabulously large interest upon +investments), but by the gradual and cumulative efforts of innumerable +individuals, each doing something to help or instruct those to whom +his influence extends. He who makes two clear ideas grow where there +was only one hazy one before, is the true benefactor of his species. + +In conclusion, I must express my sincere thanks to Mr. Thomas Emerson, +superintendent of schools in Newton, for the very kind interest he has +shown in my work, in discussing its plan with me at the outset, in +reading the completed manuscript, and in offering valuable criticisms. + +CAMBRIDGE, _August_ 5, 1890. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + +"Too much taxes". + +What is taxation? + +Taxation and eminent domain. + +What is government? + +The "ship of state". + +"The government". + +Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which imposes +taxes. + +Difference between taxation and robbery. + +Sometimes taxation is robbery. + +The study of history is full of practical lessons, and helpful to +those who would be good citizens. + +Perpetual vigilance is the price of liberty. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +The most ancient and simple form of government. + +New England settled by church congregations. + +Policy of the early Massachusetts government as to land grants. + +Smallness of the farms + +Township and village + +Social position of the settlers + +The town-meeting + +Selectmen; town-clerk + +Town-treasurer; constables; assessors of taxes and overseers of the +poor + +Act of 1647 establishing public schools + +School committees + +Field-drivers and pound-keepers; fence-viewers; other town officers + +Calling the town-meeting + +Town, county, and state taxes + +Poll-tax + +Taxes on real-estate; taxes on personal property + +When and where taxes are assessed + +Tax-lists + +Cheating the government + +The rate of taxation + +Undervaluation; the burden of taxation + +The "magic-fund" delusion + +Educational value of the town-meeting + +By-laws + + +Power and responsibility + +There is nothing especially American, democratic, or meritorious about +"rotation in office" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +Town-meetings in ancient Greece and Rome + +Clans; the _mark_ and the _tun_ + +The Old-English township, the manor, and the parish + +The vestry-meeting + +Parish and vestry clerks; beadles, waywardens, haywards, +common-drivers, churchwardens, etc. + +Transition from the English parish to the New England township + +Building of states out of smaller political units + +Representation; shire-motes; Earl Simon's Parliament + +The township as the "unit of representation" in the shire-mote and in +the General Court + +Contrast with the Russian village-community which is not represented +in the general government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings_. + +Why do we have counties? + +Clans and tribes + +The English nation, like the American, grew out of the union of small +states + +Ealdorman and sheriff; shire-mote and county court + +The coroner, or "crown officer" + +Justices of the peace; the Quarter Sessions; the lord lieutenant + +Decline of the English county; beginnings of counties in Massachusetts + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Modern County in Massachusetts_. + +County commissioners, etc.; shire-towns and court-houses + +Justices of the peace, and trial justices + +The sheriff + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County_. + +Virginia sparsely settled; extensive land grants to individuals + +Navigable rivers; absence of towns; slavery + +Social position of the settlers + +Virginia parishes; the vestry was a close corporation + +Powers of the vestry + +The county was the unit of representation + +The county court was virtually a close corporation + +The county-seat, or Court House + +Powers of the court; the sheriff + +The county-lieutenant + +Contrast between old Virginia and old New England, in respect of local +government + +Jefferson's opinion of township government + +"Court-day" in old Virginia + +Virginia has been prolific in great leaders + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems._ + +Parishes in South Carolina + +The back country; the "regulators" + +The district system + +The modern South Carolina county + +The counties are too large + +Tendency of the school district to develop into something like a +township + +Local institutions in colonial Maryland; the hundred + +Clans; brotherhoods, or phratries; and tribes + +Origin of the hundred; the hundred court; the high constable + +Decay of the hundred; hundred-meeting in Maryland + +The hundred in Delaware; the levy court, or representative county +assembly + +The old Pennsylvania county + +Town-meetings in New Tort + +The county board of supervisors + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +Westward movement of population along parallels of latitude + +Method of surveying the public lands + +Origin of townships in the West + +Formation of counties in the West + +Some effects of this system + +The reservation of a section for public schools + +In this reservation there were the germs of township government + +But at first the county system prevailed + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West._ + +The town-meeting in Michigan + +Conflict between township and county systems in Illinois + +Effects of the Ordinance of 1787 + +Intense vitality of the township system + +County option and township option in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, +and Dakota + +Grades of township government in the West + +An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the United +States + +Effect of the self-governing school district in the South, in preparing +the way for the self-governing township + +Woman-suffrage in the school district + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government._ + +Summary of the foregoing results; township government is direct, +county government is indirect + +Representative government is necessitated in a county by the extent of +territory, and in a city by the multitude of people + +Josiah Quincy's account of the Boston town-meeting in 1830 + +Distinctions between towns and cities in America and in England + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities._ + +Origin of the _chesters_ and _casters_ in Roman camps + +Coalescence of towns into fortified boroughs + +The borough as a hundred; it acquires a court + +The borough as a county; it acquires a sheriff + +Government of London under Henry I + +The guilds; the town guild, and Guild Hall + +Government of London as perfected in the thirteenth century; mayor, +aldermen, and common council + +The city of London, and the metropolitan district + +English cities were for a long time the bulwarks of liberty + +Simon de Montfort and the cities + +Oligarchical abuses in English cities, beginning with the Tudor period + +The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 + +Government of the city of New York before the Revolution + +Changes after the Revolution + +City government in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century + +The very tradition of good government was lacking in these cities + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The Government of Cities in the United States_. + +Several features of our municipal governments + +In many cases they do not seem to work well + +Rapid growth of American cities + +Some consequences of this rapid growth + +Wastefulness resulting from want of foresight + +Growth in complexity of government in cities + +Illustrated by list of municipal officers in Boston. + +How city government comes to be a mystery to the citizens, in some +respects harder to understand than state and national government + +Dread of the "one-man power" has in many cases led to scattering and +weakening of responsibility + +Committees inefficient for executive purposes; the "Circumlocution +Office" + +Alarming increase of city debts, and various attempts to remedy the +evil + +Experience of New York with state interference in municipal affairs; +unsatisfactory results + +The Tweed Ring in New York + +The present is a period of experiments + +The new government of Brooklyn + +Necessity of separating municipal from national politics + +Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted; evils wrought by +ignorant voters + +Evils wrought by wealthy speculators; testimony of the Pennsylvania +Municipal Commission + +Dangers of a restricted suffrage + +Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national politics + +The "spoils system" must be destroyed, root and branch; ballot reform +also indispensable + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments_. + +Claims of Spain to the possession of North America + +Claims of France and England + +The London and Plymouth Companies + +Their common charter + +Dissolution of the two companies + +States formed in the three zones + +Formation of representative governments; House of Burgesses in +Virginia + +Company of Massachusetts Bay + +Transfer of the charter from England to Massachusetts + +The General Court; assistants and deputies + +Virtual independence of Massachusetts, and quarrels with the Crown + +New charter of Massachusetts in 1692; its liberties curtailed + +Republican governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island + +Counties palatine in England; proprietary charter of Maryland + +Proprietary charter of Pennsylvania + +Quarrels between Penns and Calverts; Mason and Dixon's line + +Other proprietary governments + +They generally became unpopular + +At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of colonial +government: 1. Republican; 2. Proprietary; 3. Royal + +(After 1692 the government of Massachusetts might be described as +Semi-royal) + +In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which alone +could impose taxes + +The governor's council was a kind of upper house + +The colonial government was much like the English system in miniature + +The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament + +Except in the regulation of maritime commerce + +In England there grew up the theory of the imperial supremacy of +parliament + +And the conflict between the British and American theories was +precipitated by becoming involved in the political schemes of George +III. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments + +Committees of correspondence; provincial congresses + +Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents" + +Origin of the senates + +Likenesses and differences between British and American systems + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 3. _The State Governments_. + +Later modifications + +Universal suffrage + +Separation between legislative and executive departments; its +advantages and disadvantages as compared with the European plan + +In our system the independence of the executive is of vital importance + +The state executive + +The governor's functions: 1. Adviser of legislature; 2. Commander of +state militia; 3. Royal prerogative of pardon; 4. Veto power + +Importance of the veto power as a safeguard against corruption In +building the state, the local self-government was left unimpaired + +Instructive contrast with France + +Some causes of French political incapacity + +Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the American Union + +Illustration from recent English history + +Independence of the state courts + +Constitution of the state courts + +Elective and appointive judges + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + +In the American state there is a power above the legislature + +Germs of the idea of a written constitution + +Development of the idea of contract in Roman law; mediaeval charters + +The "Great Charter" (1215) + +The Bill of Rights (1689) + +Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane (1666) + +The Mayflower compact (1620) + +The "Fundamental Orders" of Connecticut (1639) + +Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the modern state +constitution + +Abnormal development of some recent state constitutions, encroaching +upon the legislature + +The process of amending constitutions + +The Swiss "Referendum" + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union_. + +Circumstances favourable to the union of the colonies. The New England +Confederacy (1643-84). Albany Congress (1754); Stamp Act Congress +(1765); Committees of Correspondence (1772-75). The Continental Congress +(1774-89). The several states were never at any time sovereign states. +The Articles of Confederation. Nature and powers of the Continental +Congress. It could not impose taxes, and therefore was not fully endowed +with sovereignty. Decline of the Continental Congress. Weakness of the +sentiment of union; anarchical tendencies. The Federal Convention +(1787). + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress_. + +The House of Representatives. The three fifths compromise. The +Connecticut compromise. The Senate. Electoral districts; the +"Gerrymander". The election at large. Time of assembling. Privileges of +members. The Speaker. Impeachment in England; in the United States. The +president's veto power. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive_. + +The title of "President". The electoral college. The twelfth +amendment. The electoral commission (1877). Provisions against a lapse +of the presidency. + +Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled + +Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now always on a +general ticket + +"Minority presidents" + +Advantages of the electoral system + +Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus (1800-24) + +Nominating conventions; the "primary"; the district convention; the +national convention + +Qualifications for the presidency; the term of office + +Powers and duties of the president + +The president's message + +Executive departments; the cabinet + +The secretary of state + +Diplomatic and consular service + +The secretary of the treasury + +The other departments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +Difference between confederation and federal union + +Powers granted to Congress + +The "Elastic Clause" + +Powers denied to the states + +Evils of an inconvertible paper currency + +Powers denied to Congress + +Bills of attainder + +Intercitizenship; mode of mating amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary._ + +Need for a federal judiciary + +Federal courts and judges + +District attorneys and marshals + +The federal jurisdiction + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +The Northwest Territory and the Ordinance of 1787 + +Other territories and their government + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments_. + +Provisions for ratification + +Concessions to slavery + +Demand for a bill of rights + + +The first ten amendments + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics_. + +Federal taxation + +Hamilton's policy; excise; tariff + +Origin of American political parties; strict and loose construction of +the Elastic Clause + + +Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank. + +Civil Service reform + +Origin of the "spoils system" in the state polities of New Tort and +Pennsylvania + +"Rotation in office;" the Crawford Act + +How the "spoils system" was made national + +The Civil Service Act of 1883 + +The Australian ballot + +The English system of accounting for election expenses + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + + +APPENDIX. + +A. The Articles of Confederation + +B. The Constitution of the United States + +C. Magna Charta + +D. Part of the Bill of Rights, 1689 + +E. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut + +F. The States classified according to origin + +G. Table of states and territories + +H. Population of the United States 1790-1880, with percentages of +urban population + +I. An Examination Paper for Customs Clerks + +J. The New York Corrupt Practices Act of 1890 + +K. Specimen of an Australian ballot + +INDEX + + + + +CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFERENCE +TO ITS ORIGINS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. + + +In that strangely beautiful story, "The Cloister and the Hearth," in +which Charles Reade has drawn such a vivid picture of human life at the +close of the Middle Ages, there is a good description of the siege of a +revolted town by the army of the Duke of Burgundy. Arrows whiz, +catapults hurl their ponderous stones, wooden towers are built, secret +mines are exploded. The sturdy citizens, led by a tall knight who seems +to bear a charmed life, baffle every device of the besiegers. At length +the citizens capture the brother of the duke's general, and the +besiegers capture the tall knight, who turns out to be no knight after +all, but just a plebeian hosier. The duke's general is on the point of +ordering the tradesman who has made so much trouble to be shot, but the +latter still remains master of the situation; for, as he dryly observes, +if any harm comes to him, the enraged citizens will hang the general's +brother. Some parley ensues, in which the shrewd hosier promises for the +townsfolk to set free their prisoner and pay a round sum of money if the +besieging army will depart and leave them in peace. The offer is +accepted, and so the matter is amicably settled. As the worthy citizen +is about to take his leave, the general ventures a word of inquiry as to +the cause of the town's revolt. "What, then, is your grievance, my good +friend?" Our hosier knight, though deft with needle and keen with lance, +has a stammering tongue. He answers: "Tuta--tuta--tuta--tuta--too much +taxes!" + +[Sidenote: "Too much taxes."] +"Too much taxes:" those three little words furnish us with a clue +wherewith to understand and explain a great deal of history. A great +many sieges of towns, so horrid to have endured though so picturesque +to read about, hundreds of weary marches and deadly battles, thousands +of romantic plots that have led their inventors to the scaffold, have +owed their origin to questions of taxation. The issue between the +ducal commander and the warlike tradesman has been tried over and +over again in every country and in every age, and not always has the +oppressor been so speedily thwarted and got rid of. The questions as +to how much the taxes shall be, and who is to decide how much they +shall be, are always and in every stage of society questions of most +fundamental importance. And ever since men began to make history, a +very large part of what they have done, in the way of making history, +has been the attempt to settle these questions, whether by discussion +or by blows, whether in council chambers or on the battlefield. The +French Revolution of 1789, the most terrible political convulsion of +modern times, was caused chiefly by "too much taxes," and by the fact +that the people who paid the taxes were not the people who decided +what the taxes were to be. Our own Revolution, which made the United +States a nation independent of Great Britain, was brought on by the +disputed question as to who was to decide what taxes American citizens +must pay. + +[Sidenote: What is taxation?] +What, then, are taxes? The question is one which is apt to come up, +sooner or later, to puzzle children. They find no difficulty in +understanding the butcher's bill for so many pounds of meat, or the +tailor's bill for so many suits of clothes, where the value received +is something that can be seen and handled. But the tax bill, though +it comes as inevitably as the autumnal frosts, bears no such obvious +relation to the incidents of domestic life; it is not quite so clear +what the money goes for; and hence it is apt to be paid by the head +of the household with more or less grumbling, while for the younger +members of the family it requires some explanation. + +It only needs to be pointed out, however, that in every town some +things are done for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town, +things which concern one person just as much as another. Thus roads +are made and kept in repair, school-houses are built and salaries paid +to school-teachers, there are constables who take criminals to jail, +there are engines for putting out fires, there are public libraries, +town cemeteries, and poor-houses. Money raised for these purposes, +which are supposed to concern all the inhabitants, is supposed to be +paid by all the inhabitants, each one furnishing his share; and the +share which each one pays is his town tax. + +[Sidenote: Taxation and eminent domain.] +From this illustration it would appear that taxes are private property +taken for public purposes; and in making this statement we come +very near the truth. Taxes are portions of private property which a +government takes for its public purposes. Before going farther, let +us pause to observe that there is one other way, besides taxation, in +which government sometimes takes private property for public purposes. +Roads and streets are of great importance to the general public; and +the government of the town or city in which you live may see fit, in +opening a new street, to run it across your garden, or to make you +move your house or shop out of the way for it. In so doing, the +government either takes away or damages some of your property. It +exercises rights over your property without asking your permission. +This power of government over private property is called "the right of +eminent domain." It means that a man's private interests must not be +allowed to obstruct the interests of the whole community in which +he lives. But in two ways the exercise of eminent domain is unlike +taxation. In the first place, it is only occasional, and affects only +certain persons here or there, whereas taxation goes on perpetually +and affects all persons who own property. In the second place, when +the government takes away a piece of your land to make a road, it pays +you money in return for it; perhaps not quite so much as you believe +the piece of land was worth in the market; the average human nature is +doubtless such that men seldom give fair measure for measure unless +they feel compelled to, and it is not easy to put a government under +compulsion. Still it gives you something; it does not ask you to part +with your property for nothing. Now in the case of taxation, the +government takes your money and seems to make no return to you +individually; but it is supposed to return to you the value of it in +the shape of well-paved streets, good schools, efficient protection +against criminals, and so forth. + +[Sidenote: What is government?] +In giving this brief preliminary definition of taxes and taxation, we +have already begun to speak of "the government" of the town or city +in which you live. We shall presently have to speak of other +"governments,"--as the government of your state and the government of +the United States; and we shall now and then have occasion to allude +to the governments of other countries in which the people are free, +as, for example, England; and of some countries in which the people +are not free, as, for example, Russia. It is desirable, therefore, +that we should here at the start make sure what we mean by +"government," in order that we may have a clear idea of what we are +talking about. + +[Sidenote: The "ship of state."] +Our verb "to govern" is an Old French word, one of the great host of +French words which became a part of the English language between the +eleventh and fourteenth centuries, when so much French was spoken in +England. The French word was _gouverner_, and its oldest form was +the Latin _gubernare_, a word which the Romans borrowed from +the Greek, and meant originally "to steer the ship." Hence it very +naturally came to mean "to guide," "to direct," "to command." The +comparison between governing and steering was a happy one. To govern +is not to command as a master commands a slave, but it is to issue +orders and give directions for the common good; for the interests of +the man at the helm are the same as those of the people in the ship. +All must float or sink together. Hence we sometimes speak of the "ship +of state," and we often call the state a "commonwealth," or something +in the weal or welfare of which all the people are alike interested. + +Government, then, is the directing or managing of such affairs as +concern all the people alike,--as, for example, the punishment of +criminals, the enforcement of contracts, the defence against foreign +enemies, the maintenance of roads and bridges, and so on. To the +directing or managing of such affairs all the people are expected to +contribute, each according to his ability, in the shape of taxes. +Government is something which is supported by the people and kept +alive by taxation. There is no other way of keeping it alive. + +[Sidenote: "The government."] +The business of carrying on government--of steering the ship of +state--either requires some special training, or absorbs all the +time and attention of those who carry it on; and accordingly, in all +countries, certain persons or groups of persons are selected or in +some way set apart, for longer or shorter periods of time, to perform +the work of government. Such persons may be a king with his council, +as in the England of the twelfth century; or a parliament led by a +responsible ministry, as in the England of to-day; or a president +and two houses of congress, as in the United States; or a board of +selectmen, as in a New England town. When we speak of "a government" +or "the government," we often mean the group of persons thus set +apart for carrying on the work of government. Thus, by "the Gladstone +government" we mean Mr. Gladstone, with his colleagues in the cabinet +and his Liberal majority in the House of Commons; and by "the Lincoln +government," properly speaking, was meant President Lincoln, with the +Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. + +[Sidenote: Whatever else it may be, "the government" is the power which +taxes] +"The government" has always many things to do, and there are many +different lights in which we might regard it. But for the present +there is one thing which we need especially to keep in mind. "The +government" is the power which can rightfully take away a part of your +property, in the shape of taxes, to be used for public purposes. A +government is not worthy of the name, and cannot long be kept in +existence, unless it can raise money by taxation, and use force, if +necessary, in collecting its taxes. The only general government of the +United States during the Revolutionary War, and for six years after +its close, was the Continental Congress, which had no authority to +raise money by taxation. In order to feed and clothe the army and pay +its officers and soldiers, it was obliged to _ask_ for money from +the several states, and hardly ever got as much as was needed. It was +obliged to borrow millions of dollars from France and Holland, and to +issue promissory notes which soon became worthless. After the war was +over it became clear that this so-called government could neither +preserve order nor pay its debts, and accordingly it ceased to be +respected either at home or abroad, and it became necessary for the +American people to adopt a new form of government. Between the old +Continental Congress and the government under which we have lived +since 1789, the differences were many; but by far the most essential +difference was that the new government could raise money by taxation, +and was thus enabled properly to carry on the work of governing. + +If we are in any doubt as to what is really the government of some +particular country, we cannot do better than observe what person or +persons in that country are clothed with authority to tax the people. +Mere names, as customarily applied to governments, are apt to be +deceptive. Thus in the middle of the eighteenth century France and +England were both called "kingdoms;" but so far as kingly power was +concerned, Louis XV. was a very different sort of a king from George +II. The French king could impose taxes on his people, and it might +therefore be truly said that the government of France was in the king. +Indeed, it was Louis XV's immediate predecessor who made the famous +remark, "The state is myself." But the English king could not impose +taxes; the only power in England that could do that was the House of +Commons, and accordingly it is correct to say that in England, at the +time of which we are speaking, the government was (as it still is) in +the House of Commons. + +[Sidenote: Difference between taxation and robbery.] +I say, then, the most essential feature of a government--or at any +rate the feature with which it is most important for us to become +familiar at the start--is its power of taxation. The government is +that which taxes. If individuals take away some of your property for +purposes of their own, it is robbery; you lose your money and get +nothing in return. But if the government takes away some of your +property in the shape of taxes, it is supposed to render to you an +equivalent in the shape of good government, something without which +our lives and property would not be safe. Herein seems to lie the +difference between taxation and robbery. When the highwayman points +his pistol at me and I hand him my purse and watch, I am robbed. But +when I pay the tax-collector, who can seize my watch or sell my house +over my head if I refuse, I am simply paying what is fairly due from +me toward supporting the government. + +[Sidenote: Sometimes taxation _is_ robbery.] +In what we have been saying it has thus far been assumed that the +government is in the hands of upright and competent men and is +properly administered. It is now time to observe that robbery may be +committed by governments as well as by individuals. If the business of +governing is placed in the hands of men who have an imperfect sense of +their duty toward the public, if such men raise money by taxation and +then spend it on their own pleasures, or to increase their political +influence, or for other illegitimate purposes, it is really robbery, +just as much as if these men were to stand with pistols by the +roadside and empty the wallets of people passing by. They make a +dishonest use of their high position as members of government, and +extort money for which they make no return in the shape of services +to the public. History is full of such lamentable instances of +misgovernment, and one of the most important uses of the study of +history is to teach us how they have occurred, in order that we may +learn how to avoid them, as far as possible, in the future. + +[Sidenote: The study of history.] +When we begin in childhood the study of history we are attracted +chiefly by anecdotes of heroes and their battles, kings and their +courts, how the Spartans fought at Thermopylae, how Alfred let the +cakes burn, how Henry VIII. beheaded his wives, how Louis XIV. used to +live at Versailles. It is quite right that we should be interested in +such personal details, the more so the better; for history has been +made by individual men and women, and until we have understood the +character of a great many of those who have gone before us, and how +they thought and felt in their time, we have hardly made a fair +beginning in the study of history. The greatest historians, such as +Freeman and Mommsen, show as lively an interest in persons as in +principles; and I would not give much for the historical theories of a +man who should declare himself indifferent to little personal details. + +[Sidenote: It is full of practical lessons;] +Some people, however, never outgrow the child's notion of history +as merely a mass of pretty anecdotes or stupid annals, without any +practical bearing upon our own every-day life. There could not be a +greater mistake. Very little has happened in the past which has not +some immediate practical lessons for us; and when we study history +in order to profit by the experience of our ancestors, to find out +wherein they succeeded and wherein they failed, in order that we may +emulate their success and avoid their errors, then history becomes the +noblest and most valuable of studies. It then becomes, moreover, an +arduous pursuit, at once oppressive and fascinating from its endless +wealth of material, and abounding in problems which the most diligent +student can never hope completely to solve. + +[Sidenote: and helpful to those who would be good citizens.] +[Sidenote: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.] +Few people have the leisure to undertake a systematic and thorough +study of history, but every one ought to find time to learn the +principal features of the governments under which we live, and to get +some inkling of the way in which these governments have come into +existence and of the causes which have made them what they are. Some +such knowledge is necessary to the proper discharge of the duties of +citizenship. Political questions, great and small, are perpetually +arising, to be discussed in the newspapers and voted on at the polls; +and it is the duty of every man and woman, young or old, to try to +understand them. That is a duty which we owe, each and all of us, to +ourselves and to our fellow-countrymen. For if such questions are +not settled in accordance with knowledge, they will be settled in +accordance with ignorance; and that is a kind of settlement likely +to be fraught with results disastrous to everybody. It cannot be too +often repeated that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. +People sometimes argue as if they supposed that because our national +government is called a republic and not a monarchy, and because we +have free schools and universal suffrage, therefore our liberties are +forever secure. Our government is, indeed, in most respects, a marvel +of political skill; and in ordinary times it runs so smoothly that now +and then, absorbed as most of us are in domestic cares, we are apt to +forget that it will not run of itself. To insure that the government +of the nation or the state, of the city or the township, shall +be properly administered, requires from every citizen the utmost +watchfulness and intelligence of which he is capable. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +_To the teacher_. Encourage full answers. Do not permit anything +like committing the text to memory. In the long run the pupil who +relies upon his own language, however inferior it may be to that of +the text, is better off. Naturally, with thoughtful study, the pupil's +language will feel the influence of that of the text, and so improve. +The important thing in any answer is the fundamental thought. This +idea once grasped, the expression of it may receive some attention. +The expression will often be broken and faulty, partly because of +the immaturity of the pupil, and partly because of the newness and +difficulty of the theme. Do not let the endeavour to secure excellent +expression check a certain freedom and spontaneity that should be +encouraged in the pupil. When the teacher desires to place special +stress on excellent presentation, it is wise to assign topics +beforehand, so that each pupil may know definitely what is expected of +him, and prepare himself accordingly. + +1. Tell the story that introduces the chapter. + +2. What lesson is it designed to teach? + +3. What caused the French Revolution? + +4. What caused the American Revolution? + +5. Compare the tax bill with that of the butcher or tailor. + +6. What are taxes raised for in a town? For whose benefit? + +7. Define taxes. + +8. Define the right of eminent domain. + +9. Distinguish between taxes and the right of eminent domain. + +10. What is the origin of the word "govern"? + +11. Define government. + +12. By whom is it supported, how is it kept alive, and by whom is it +carried on? + +13. Give illustrations of governments. + +14. What one power must government have to be worthy of the name? + +15. What was the principal weakness of the government during the +American Revolution? + + +16. Compare this government with that of the United States since 1789. + +17. If it is doubtful what the real government of a country is, how +may the doubt be settled? + +18. Illustrate by reference to France and England in the eighteenth +century. + + +19. What is the difference between taxation and robbery? + +20. Under what conditions may taxation become robbery? + +21. To what are we easily attracted in our first study of history? + +22. What ought to be learned from history? + +23. What sort of knowledge is helpful in discharging the duties of +citizenship? + +24. Show how "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +_To the teacher_. The object of this series of questions and +suggestions is to stimulate reading, investigating, and thinking. It +is not expected, indeed it is hardly possible, that each pupil shall +respond to them all. A single question may cost prolonged study. +Assign the numbers, therefore, to individuals to report upon at a +subsequent recitation,--one or more to each pupil, according to the +difficulty of the numbers. Reserve some for class consideration or +discussion. Now and then let the teacher answer a question himself, +partly to furnish the pupils with good examples of answers, and partly +to insure attention to matters that might otherwise escape notice. + +1. Are there people who receive no benefit from their payment of +taxes? + +2. Are the benefits received by people in proportion to the amounts +paid by them? + +3. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the French +Revolution. + +4. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the American +Revolution. + +5. Give illustrations of the exercise of the right of eminent domain +in your own town or county or state. + +6. Do railroad corporations exercise such a right? How do they succeed +in getting land for their tracks? + +7. In case of disagreement, how is a fair price determined for +property taken by eminent domain? + +8. What persons are prominent to-day in the government of your own +town or city? Of your own county? Of your own state? Of the United +States? + +9. Who constitute the government of the school to which you belong? +Does this question admit of more than one answer? Has the government +of your school any power to tax the people to support the school? + +10. What is the difference between a state and the government of a +state? + +11. Which is the more powerful branch of the English Parliament? Why? + +12. Is it a misuse of the funds of a city to provide entertainments +for the people July 4? To expend money in entertaining distinguished +guests? To provide flowers, carriages, cigars, wines, etc., for such +guests? + +13. What is meant by subordinating public office to private ends? Cite +instances from history. + +14. What histories have you read? What one of them, if any, would you +call a "child's history," or a "drum and trumpet" history? What one of +them, if any, has impressed any lessons upon you? + +15. Mention some principles that history has taught you. + +16. Mention a few offices, and tell the sort of intelligence that is +needed by the persons who hold them. What results might follow if such +intelligence were lacking? + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +It is designed in the bibliographical notes to indicate some +authorities to which reference may be made for greater detail than is +possible in an elementary work like the present. It is believed +that the notes will prove a help to teacher and pupil in special +investigations, and to the reader who may wish to make selections from +excellent sources for purposes of self-culture. It is hardly necessary +to add that it is sometimes worth much to the student to know where +valuable information may be obtained, even when it is not practicable +to make immediate use of it. + +Certain books should always be at the teacher's desk during the +instruction in civil government, and as easily accessible as the large +dictionary; as, for instance, the following: The General Statutes of the +state, the manual or blue-book of the state legislature, and, if the +school is in a city, the city charter and ordinances. It is also +desirable to add to this list the statutes of the United States and a +manual of Congress or of the general government. Manuals may be obtained +through representatives in the state legislature and in Congress. They +will answer nearly every purpose if they are not of the latest issue. +The _Statesman's Year Book_, published by Macmillan & Co., New York, +every year, is exceedingly valuable for reference. Certain almanacs, +particularly the comprehensive ones issued by the New York _Tribune_ and +the New York _World_, are rich in state and national statistics, and so +inexpensive as to be within everybody's means. + +TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT.--As to the causes of the American revolution, +see my _War of Independence_, Boston, 1889; and as to the weakness of +the government of the United States before 1789, see my _Critical Period +of American History_, Boston, 1888. As to the causes of the French +revolution, see Paul Lacombe, _The Growth of a People_, N.Y., 1883, and +the third volume of Kitchin's _History of France_, London, 1887; also +Morse Stephens, _The French Revolution_, vol. i., N.Y., 1887; Taine, +_The Ancient Regime_,--N.Y., 1876, and _The Revolution_, 2 vols., N.Y., +1880. The student may read with pleasure and profit Dickens's _Tale of +Two Cities_. For the student familiar with French, an excellent book is +Albert Babeau, _Le Village sous l'ancien Regime_, Paris, 1879; see also +Tocqueville, _L'ancien Regime et la Revolution_, 7th ed., Paris, 1866. +There is a good sketch of the causes of the French revolution in the +fifth volume of Leeky's _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, +N.Y., 1887; see also Buckle's _History of Civilization_, chaps, +xii.-xiv. There is no better commentary on my first chapter than the +lurid history of France in the eighteenth century. The strong contrast +to English and American history shows us most instructively what we have +thus far escaped. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TOWNSHIP. + + +Section 1. _The New England Township_. + +Of the various kinds of government to be found in the United States, +we may begin by considering that of the New England township. As +we shall presently see, it is in principle of all known forms of +government the oldest as well as the simplest. Let us observe how the +New England township grew up. + +[Sidenote: New England was settled by church congregations.] +When people from England first came to dwell in the wilderness of +Massachusetts Bay, they settled in groups upon small irregular-shaped +patches of land, which soon came to be known as townships. There were +several reasons why they settled thus in small groups, instead of +scattering about over the country and carving out broad estates for +themselves. In the first place, their principal reason for coming to +New England was their dissatisfaction with the way in which church +affairs were managed in the old country. They wished to bring about a +reform in the church, in such wise that the members of a congregation +should have more voice than formerly in the church-government, and +that the minister of each congregation should be more independent than +formerly of the bishop and of the civil government. They also wished +to abolish sundry rites and customs of the church of which they had +come to disapprove. Finding the resistance to their reforms quite +formidable in England, and having some reason to fear that they might +be themselves crushed in the struggle, they crossed the ocean in order +to carry out their ideas in a new and remote country where they might +be comparatively secure from interference. Hence it was quite natural +that they should come in congregations, led by their favourite +ministers,--such men, for example, as Higginson and Cotton, Hooker and +Davenport. When such men, famous in England for their bold preaching +and imperiled thereby, decided to move to America, a considerable +number of their parishioners would decide to accompany them, and +similarly minded members of neighbouring churches would leave their +own pastor and join in the migration. Such a group of people, arriving +on the coast of Massachusetts, would naturally select some convenient +locality, where they might build their houses near together and all go +to the same church. + +[Sidenote: Land grants.] +This migration, therefore, was a movement, not of individuals or of +separate families, but of church-congregations, and it continued to be +so as the settlers made their way inland and westward. The first +river towns of Connecticut were founded by congregations coming from +Dorchester, Cambridge, and Watertown. This kind of settlement was +favoured by the government of Massachusetts, which made grants of +land, not to individuals but to companies of people who wished to live +together and attend the same church. + +In the second place, the soil of New England was not favourable to the +cultivation of great quantities of staple articles, such as rice +or tobacco, so that there was nothing to tempt people to undertake +extensive plantations. + +[Sidenote: Small farms.] +Most of the people lived on small farms, each family raising but +little more than enough food for its own support; and the small size +of the farms made it possible to have a good many in a compact +neighbourhood. It appeared also that towns could be more easily +defended against the Indians than scattered plantations; and this +doubtless helped to keep people together, although if there had been +any strong inducement for solitary pioneers to plunge into the great +woods, as in later years so often happened at the West, it is not +likely that any dread of the savages would have hindered them. + +[Sidenote: Township and village.] +[Sidenote: Social positions of settlers.] +Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in townships. A +township would consist of about as many farms as could be disposed +within convenient distance from the meeting-house, where all the +inhabitants, young and old, gathered every Sunday, coming on horseback +or afoot. The meeting-house was thus centrally situated, and near +it was the town pasture or "common," with the school-house and the +block-house, or rude fortress for defence against the Indians. For the +latter building some commanding position was apt to be selected, and +hence we so often find the old village streets of New England running +along elevated ridges or climbing over beetling hilltops. Around the +meeting-house and common the dwellings gradually clustered into a +village, and after a while the tavern, store, and town-house made +their appearance. + +Among the people who thus tilled the farms and built up the villages of +New England, the differences in what we should call social position, +though noticeable, were not extreme. While in England some had been +esquires or country magistrates, or "lords of the manor,"--a phrase +which does not mean a member of the peerage, but a landed proprietor +with dependent tenants[1]; some had been yeomen, or persons holding +farms by some free kind of tenure; some had been artisans or tradesmen +in cities. All had for many generations been more or less accustomed to +self-government and to public meetings for discussing local affairs. +That self-government, especially as far as church matters were +concerned, they were stoutly bent upon maintaining and extending. +Indeed, that was what they had crossed the ocean for. Under these +circumstances they developed a kind of government which we may describe +in the present tense, for its methods are pretty much the same to-day +that they were two centuries ago. + +[Footnote 1: Compare the Scottish "laird."] + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting.] +In a New England township the people directly govern themselves; the +government is the people, or, to speak with entire precision, it is +all the male inhabitants of one-and-twenty years of age and upwards. +The people tax themselves. Once each year, usually in March but +sometimes as early as February or as late as April, a "town-meeting" +is held, at which all the grown men of the township are expected to be +present and to vote, while any one may introduce motions or take part +in the discussion. In early times there was a fine for non-attendance, +but at is no longer the case; it is supposed that a due regard to his +own interests will induce every man to come. + +The town-meeting is held in the town-house, but at first it used to be +held in the church, which was thus a "meeting-house" for civil as well +as ecclesiastical purposes. At the town-meeting measures relating +to the administration of town affairs are discussed and adopted or +rejected; appropriations are made for the public expenses of the +town, or in other words the amount of the town taxes for the year is +determined; and town officers are elected for the year. Let us first +enumerate these officers. + +[Sidenote: Selectmen.] +The principal executive magistrates of the town are the selectmen. +They are three, five, seven, or nine in number, according to the size +of the town and the amount of public business to be transacted. The +odd number insures a majority decision in case of any difference of +opinion among them. They have the general management of the public +business. They issue warrants for the holding of town-meetings, and +they can call such a meeting at any time during the year when there +seems to be need for it, but the warrant must always specify the +subjects which are to be discussed and acted on at the meeting. The +selectmen also lay out highways, grant licenses, and impanel jurors; +they may act as health officers and issue orders regarding sewerage, +the abatement of nuisances, or the isolation of contagious diseases; +in many cases they act as assessors of taxes, and as overseers of the +poor. They are the proper persons to listen to complaints if anything +goes wrong in the town. In county matters and state matters they speak +for the town, and if it is a party to a law-suit they represent it in +court; for the New England town is a legal corporation, and as such +can hold property, and sue and be sued. In a certain sense the +selectmen may be said to be "the government" of the town during the +intervals between the town-meetings. + +[Sidenote: Town-clerk.] +An officer no less important than the selectmen is the town-clerk. He +keeps the record of all votes passed in the town-meetings. He also +records the names of candidates and the number of votes for each in +the election of state and county officers. He records the births, +marriages, and deaths in the township, and issues certificates to +persons who declare an intention of marriage. He likewise keeps on +record accurate descriptions of the position and bounds of public +roads; and, in short, has general charge of all matters of +town-record. + +[Sidenote: Town-treasurer.] +Every town has also its treasurer, who receives and takes care of the +money coming in from the taxpayers, or whatever money belongs to the +town. Out of this money he pays the public expenses. He must keep a +strict account of his receipts and payments, and make a report of them +each year. + +[Sidenote: Constables.] +Every town has one or more constables, who serve warrants from the +selectmen and writs from the law courts. They pursue criminals and +take them to jail. They summon jurors. In many towns they serve as +collectors of taxes, but in many other towns a special officer is +chosen for that purpose. When a person, fails to pay his taxes, +after a specified time the collector has authority to seize upon his +property and sell it at auction, paying the tax and costs out of the +proceeds of the sale, and handing over the balance to the owner. In +some cases, where no property can be found and there is reason to +believe that the delinquent is not acting in good faith, he can be +arrested and kept in prison until the tax and costs are paid, or until +he is released by the proper legal methods. + +[Sidenote: Assessors of taxes and overseers of the poor.] +Where the duties of the selectmen are likely to be too numerous, the +town may choose three or more assessors of taxes to prepare the tax +lists; and three or more overseers of the poor, to regulate the +management of the village almshouse and confer with other towns +upon such questions as often arise concerning the settlement and +maintenance of homeless paupers. + +[Sidenote: Public schools.] +Every town has its school committee. In 1647 the legislature of +Massachusetts enacted a law with the following preamble: "It being +one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the +knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an +unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of +tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the original +might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of deceivers; to the +end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, +in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavours;" it was +therefore ordered that every township containing fifty families or +householders should forthwith set up a school in which children might +be taught to read and write, and that every township containing one +hundred families or householders should set up a school in which +boys might be fitted for entering Harvard College. Even before this +statute, several towns, as for instance Roxbury and Dedham, had begun +to appropriate money for free schools; and these were the beginnings +of a system of public education which has come to be adopted +throughout the United States. + +[Sidenote: School committees.] +The school committee exercises powers of such a character as to make +it a body of great importance. The term of service of the members is +three years, one third being chosen annually. The number of members +must therefore be some multiple of three. The slow change in the +membership of the board insures that a large proportion of the members +shall always be familiar with the duties of the place. The school +committee must visit all the public schools at least once a month, and +make a report to the town every year. It is for them to decide what +text-books are to be used. They examine candidates for the position +of teacher and issue certificates to those whom they select. The +certificate is issued in duplicate, and one copy is handed to the +selectmen as a warrant that the teacher is entitled to receive a +salary. Teachers are appointed for a term of one year, but where their +work is satisfactory the appointments are usually renewed year after +year. A recent act in Massachusetts _permits_ the appointment of +teachers to serve during good behaviour, but few boards have as yet +availed themselves of this law. If the amount of work to be done seems +to require it, the committee appoints a superintendent of schools. He +is a sort of lieutenant of the school committee, and under its general +direction carries on the detailed work of supervision. + +Other town officers are the surveyors of highways, who are responsible +for keeping the roads and bridges in repair; field-drivers and +pound-keepers; fence-viewers; surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood, +and sealers of weights and measures. + +[Sidenote: Field-drivers and pound keepers.] +The field-driver takes stray animals to the pound, and then notifies +their owner; or if he does not know who is the owner he posts a +description of the animals in some such place as the village store +or tavern, or has it published in the nearest country newspaper. +Meanwhile the strays are duly fed by the pound-keeper, who does not +let them out of his custody until all expenses have been paid. + +[Sidenote: Fence-viewers.] +If the owners of contiguous farms, gardens, or fields get into a +dispute about their partition fences or walls, they may apply to +one of the fence-viewers, of whom each town has at least two. The +fence-viewer decides the matter, and charges a small fee for his +services. Where it is necessary he may order suitable walls or fences +to be built. + +[Sidenote: Other officers.] +The surveyors of lumber measure and mark lumber offered for sale. +The measurers of wood do the same for firewood. The sealers test the +correctness of weights and measures used in trade, and tradesmen +are not allowed to use weights and measures that have not been thus +officially examined and sealed. Measurers and sealers may be appointed +by the selectmen. + +Such are the officers always to be found in the Massachusetts town, +except where the duties of some of them are discharged by the +selectmen. Of these officers, the selectmen, town-clerk, treasurer, +constable, school committee, and assessors must be elected by ballot +at the annual town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: Calling the town-meeting.] +When this meeting is to be called the selectmen issue a warrant for +the purpose, specifying the time and place of meeting and the nature +of the business to be transacted. The constable posts copies of the +warrant in divers conspicuous places not less than a week before the +time appointed. Then, after making a note upon the warrant that he has +duly served it, he hands it over to the town-clerk. On the appointed +day, when the people have assembled, the town-clerk calls the meeting +to order and reads the warrant. The meeting then proceeds to choose by +ballot its presiding officer, or "moderator," and business goes on +in accordance with parliamentary customs pretty generally recognized +among all people who speak English. + +[Sidenote: Town, country, and state taxes.] +At this meeting the amount of money to be raised by taxation for town +purposes is determined. But, as we shall see, every inhabitant of a +town lives not only under a town government, but also under a county +government and a state government, and all these governments have to +be supported by taxation. In Massachusetts the state and the county +make use of the machinery of the town government in order to assess +and collect their taxes. The total amounts to be raised are equitably +divided among the several towns and cities, so that each town pays its +proportionate share. Each year, therefore, the town assessors know +that a certain amount of money must be raised from the taxpayers of +their town,--partly for the town, partly for the county, partly for +the state,--and for the general convenience they usually assess it +upon the taxpayers all at once. The amounts raised for the state and +county are usually very much smaller than the amount raised for +the town. As these amounts are all raised in the town and by town +officers, we shall find it convenient to sum up in this place what we +have to say about the way in which taxes are raised. Bear in mind that +we are still considering the New England system, and our illustration +is taken from the practice in Massachusetts. But the general +principles of taxation are so similar in the different states that, +although we may now and then have to point to differences of detail, +we shall not need to go over the whole subject again. We have now to +observe how and upon whom the taxes are assessed. + +[Sidenote: Poll-tax.] +They are assessed partly upon persons, but chiefly upon property, and +property is divisible into real estate and personal estate. The tax +assessed upon persons is called the poll-tax, and cannot exceed the +sum of two dollars upon every male citizen over twenty years old. In +cases of extreme poverty the assessors may remit the poll-tax. + +[Sidenote: Real-estate taxes.] +As to real estate, there are in every town some lands and buildings +which, for reasons of public policy, are exempted from paying taxes; +as, for example, churches, graveyards, and tombs; many charitable +institutions, including universities and colleges; and public +buildings which belong to the state or to the United States. All lands +and buildings, except such as are exempt by law, must pay taxes. + +[Sidenote: Taxes on personal property.] +Personal property includes pretty much everything that one can own +except lands and buildings,--pretty much everything that can be moved +or carried about from one place to another. It thus includes ready +money, stocks and bonds, ships and wagons, furniture, pictures, and +books. It also includes the amount of debts due to a person in excess +of the amount that he owes; also the income from his employment, +whether in the shape of profits from business or a fixed salary. + +Some personal property is exempted from taxation; as, for example, +household furniture to the amount of $1,000 in value, and income +from employment to the extent of $2,000. The obvious intent of this +exemption is to prevent taxation from bearing too hard upon persons +of small means; and for a similar reason the tools of farmers and +mechanics are exempted.[2] + +[Footnote 2: United States bonds are also especially exempted from +taxation.] + +[Sidenote: When and where taxes are assessed.] +The date at which property is annually reckoned for assessment is in +Massachusetts the first day of May. The poll-tax is assessed upon each +person in the town or city where he has his legal habitation on that +day; and as a general rule the taxes upon his personal property are +assessed to him in the same place. But taxes upon lands or buildings +are assessed in the city or town where they are situated, and to the +person, wherever he lives, who is the owner of them on the first day +of May. Thus a man who lives in the Berkshire mountains, say for +example in the town of Lanesborough, will pay his poll-tax to that +town. For his personal property, whether it he bonds of a railroad in +Colorado, or shares in a bank in New York, or costly pictures in his +house at Lanesborough, he will likewise pay taxes to Lanesborough. So +for the house in which he lives, and the land upon which it stands, he +pays taxes to that same town. But if he owns at the same time a house +in Boston, he pays taxes for it to Boston, and if he owns a block of +shops in Chicago he pays taxes for the same to Chicago. It is very apt +to be the case that the rate of taxation is higher in large cities +than in villages; and accordingly it often happens that wealthy +inhabitants of cities, who own houses in some country town, move into +them before the first of May, and otherwise comport themselves as +legal residents of the country town, in order that their personal +property may be assessed there rather than in the city. + + +[Sidenote: Tax lists.] +About the first of May the assessors call upon the inhabitants of +their town to render a true statement as to their property. The most +approved form is for the assessors to send by mail to each taxable +inhabitant a printed list of questions, with blank spaces which he is +to fill with written answers. The questions relate to every kind +of property, and when the person addressed returns the list to the +assessors he must make oath that to the best of his knowledge and +belief his answers are true. He thus becomes liable to the penalties +for perjury if he can be proved to have sworn falsely. A reasonable +time--usually six or eight weeks--is allowed for the list to be +returned to the assessors. If any one fails to return his list by the +specified time, the assessors must make their own estimate of the +probable amount of his property. If their estimate is too high, he may +petition the assessors to have the error corrected, but in many cases +it may prove troublesome to effect this. + +[Sidenote: Cheating the government.] +Observe here an important difference between the imposition of taxes +upon real estate and upon personal property. Houses and lands cannot +run away or be tucked out of sight. Their value, too, is something +of which the assessors can very likely judge as well as the owner. +Deception is therefore extremely difficult, and taxation for real +estate is pretty fairly distributed among the different owners. With +regard to personal estate it is very different. It is comparatively +easy to conceal one's ownership of some kinds of personal property, or +to understate one's income. Hence the temptation to lessen the burden +of the tax bill by making false statements is considerable, and +doubtless a good deal of deception is practised. There are many people +who are too honest to cheat individuals, but still consider it a +venial sin to cheat the government. + +[Sidenote: The rate of taxation.] +After the assessors have obtained all their returns they can calculate +the total value of the taxable property in the town; and knowing the +amount of the tax to be raised, it is easy to calculate the rate at +which the tax is to be assessed. In most parts of the United States a +rate of one and a half per cent, or $15 tax on each $1,000 worth of +property, would be regarded as moderate; three per cent would be +regarded as excessively high. At the lower of these rates a man worth +$50,000 would pay $750 for his yearly taxes. The annual income of +$50,000, invested on good security, is hardly more than $2,500. +Obviously $750 is a large sum to subtract from such an income. + +[Sidenote: Undervaluation.] +[Sidenote: The burden of taxation.] +In point of fact, however, the tax is seldom quite as heavy as +this. It is not easy to tell exactly how much a man is worth, and +accordingly assessors, not wishing to be too disagreeable in the +discharge of their duties, have naturally fallen into a way of giving +the lower valuation the benefit of the doubt, until in many places a +custom has grown up of regularly undervaluing property for purposes of +taxation. Very much as liquid measures have gradually shrunk until +it takes five quart bottles to hold a gallon, so there has been a +shrinkage of valuations until it has become common to tax a man for +only three fourths or perhaps two thirds of what his property is +worth in the market. This makes the rate higher, to be sure, but +the individual taxpayer nevertheless seems to feel relieved by it. +Allowing for this undervaluation, we may say that a man worth $50,000 +commonly pays not less than $500 for his yearly taxes, or about one +fifth of the annual income of the property. We thus begin to see what +a heavy burden taxes are, and how essential to good government it is +that citizens should know what their money goes for, and should be +able to exert some effective control over the public expenditures. +Where the rate of taxation in a town rises to a very high point, such +as two and a half or three per cent, the prosperity of the town is apt +to be seriously crippled. Traders and manufacturers move away to other +towns, or those who would otherwise come to the town in question stay +away, because they cannot afford to use up all their profits in paying +taxes. If such a state of things is long kept up, the spirit of +enterprise is weakened, the place shows signs of untidiness and want +of thrift, and neighbouring towns, once perhaps far behind it in +growth, by and by shoot ahead of it and take away its business. + +[Sidenote: The "magic fund" delusion.] +Within its proper sphere, government by town-meeting is the form of +government most effectively under watch and control. Everything is +done in the full daylight of publicity. The specific objects for which +public money is to be appropriated are discussed in the presence of +everybody, and any one who disapproves of any of these objects, or of +the way in which it is proposed to obtain it, has an opportunity to +declare his opinions. Under this form of government people are not +so liable to bewildering delusions as under other forms. I refer +especially to the delusion that "the Government" is a sort of +mysterious power, possessed of a magic inexhaustible fund of wealth, +and able to do all manner of things for the benefit of "the People." +Some such notion as this, more often implied than expressed, is very +common, and it is inexpressibly dear to demagogues. It is the prolific +root from which springs that luxuriant crop of humbug upon which +political tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn. In point of +fact no such government, armed with a magic fund of its own, has ever +existed upon the earth. No government has ever yet used any money +for public purposes which it did not first take from its own +people,--unless when it may have plundered it from some other people +in victorious warfare. + +The inhabitant of a New England town is perpetually reminded that "the +Government" is "the People." Although he may think loosely about +the government of his state or the still more remote government at +Washington, he is kept pretty close to the facts where local affairs +are concerned, and in this there is a political training of no small +value. + +[Sidenote: Educational value of the town-meeting.] +In the kind of discussion which it provokes, in the necessity of facing +argument with argument and of keeping one's temper under control, the +town-meeting is the best political training school in existence. Its +educational value is far higher than that of the newspaper, which, in +spite of its many merits as a diffuser of information, is very apt to do +its best to bemuddle and sophisticate plain facts. The period when +town-meetings ware most important from the wide scope of their +transactions was the period of earnest and sometimes stormy discussion +that ushered in our Revolutionary war. Country towns were then of more +importance relatively than now; one country town--Boston--was at the +same time a great political centre; and its meetings were presided over +and addressed by men of commanding ability, among whom Samuel Adams, +"the man of the town-meeting," was foremost[3]. In those days +great principles of government were discussed with a wealth of knowledge +and stated with masterly skill in town-meeting. + +[Footnote 3: The phrase is Professor Hosmer's: see his _Samuel Adams, the +Man of the Town Meeting_, in "Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies," vol. II. no. +iv.; also his _Samuel Adams_, in "American Statesmen" series; Boston, +1885.] + +[Sidenote: By-laws.] +The town-meeting is to a very limited extent a legislative body; it can +make sundry regulations for the management of its local affairs. Such +regulations are known by a very ancient name, "by-laws." _By_ is an Old +Norse word meaning "town," and it appears in the names of such towns as +_Derby_ and _Whitby_ in the part of England overrun by the Danes in the +ninth and tenth centuries. By-laws are town laws[4]. + +[Footnote 4: In modern usage the roles and regulations of clubs, learned +societies, and other associations, are also called by-laws.] + +[Sidenote: Power and responsibility.] +In the selectmen and various special officers the town has an +executive department; and here let us observe that, while these +officials are kept strictly accountable to the people, they are +entrusted with very considerable authority. Things are not so arranged +that an officer can plead that he has failed in his duty from lack of +power. There is ample power, joined with complete responsibility. This +is especially to be noticed in the case of the selectmen. They must +often be called upon to exercise a wide discretion in what they do, +yet this excites no serious popular distrust or jealousy. The annual +election affords an easy means of dropping an unsatisfactory officer. +But in practice nothing has been more common than for the same persons +to be reelected as selectmen or constables or town-clerks for year +after year, as long as they are able or willing to serve. The notion +that there is anything peculiarly American or democratic in what +is known as "rotation in office" is therefore not sustained by the +practice of the New England town, which is the most complete democracy +in the world. It is the most perfect exhibition of what President +Lincoln called "government of the people by the people and for the +people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What reason exists for beginning the study of government with that of +the New England township? + +2. Give the origin of the township in New England according to the +following analysis:-- + + a. Settlement in groups. + b. The chief reason for coming to New England. + c. The leaders of the groups. + d. The favouring action of the Massachusetts government. + e. Small farms. + f. Defence against the Indians. + g. The limits of a township. + h. The village within the township. + +3. What was the social standing of the first settlers? + +4. What training had they received in self-government? + +5. Who do the governing in a New England township? + +6. Give an account of the town-meeting in accordance with the following +analysis:-- + + a. The name of the meeting. + b. The time for holding it. + c. The place for holding it. + d. The persons who take part in it. + e. The sort of business done in it. + +7. Give an account of the selectmen:-- + + a. Their number. + b. The reason for an odd number. + c. Their duties. + +8. When public schools were established by Massachusetts in 1647, what +reasons were assigned for the law? + + +9. What classes or grades of schools were then established? + +10. What are the duties of the Massachusetts school committee? + +11. What is the term of service of teachers in that state? + +12. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. Field-drivers. + b. Pound-keepers. + c. Fence-viewers. + d. Surveyors of lumber. + e. Measurers of wood. + f. Sealers of weights and measures. + +13. What are the duties of the following officers?-- + + a. The town-clerk. + b. The treasurer. + c. Constables. + d. Assessors. + e. Overseers of the poor. + +14. Describe a warrant for a town-meeting. + +15. For what other purposes than those of the town are taxes raised? + +16. Explain the following:-- + + a. The poll-tax. + b. The tax on personal property, + c. The tax on real estate. + +17. What kinds of real estate are exempted from taxation, and why? + +18. What kinds of personal property are exempted, and why? + +19. Where must the several kinds of taxes be assessed and paid? +Illustrate. + +20. If a person changes his residence from one town in the state to +another before May 1, what consequences about taxes might follow? + +21. How do the assessors ascertain the property for which one should be +taxed? + +22. What difficulties beset the taxation of personal property? + +23. Mention a common practice in assigning values to property. +What is the effect on the tax-rate? Illustrate. + +24. How do high taxes operate as a burden? + +25. Describe a delusion from which people who directly govern +themselves are practically free. + +26. What is the educational value of the town-meeting? + +27. What are by-laws? Explain the phrase. + +28. What of the power and responsibility of selectmen? + + +Section 2. _Origin of the Township_. + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in Greece and Rome.] +It was said above that government by town-meeting is in principle the +oldest form of government known in the world. The student of ancient +history is familiar with the _comitia_ of the Romans and the +_ecclesia_ of the Greeks. These were popular assemblies, held in +those soft climates in the open air, usually in the market-place,--the +Roman _forum_, the Greek _agora_. The government carried on +in them was a more or less qualified democracy. In the palmy days of +Athens it was a pure democracy. The assemblies which in the Athenian +market-place declared war against Syracuse, or condemned Socrates to +death, were quite like New England town-meetings, except that they +exercised greater powers because there was no state government above +them. + +[Sidenote: Clans.] +The principle of the town-meeting, however, is older than Athens or +Rome. Long before streets were built or fields fenced in, men wandered +about the earth hunting for food in family parties, somewhat as lions +do in South Africa. Such family groups were what we call _clans_, +and so far as is known they were the earliest form in which civil +society appeared on the earth. Among all wandering or partially +settled tribes the clan is to be found, and there are ample +opportunities for studying it among our Indians in North America. The +clan usually has a chief or head-man, useful mainly as a leader in +wartime; its civil government, crude and disorderly enough, is in +principle a pure democracy. + +[Sidenote: The _mark_ and the _tun_.] +When our ancestors first became acquainted with American Indians, the +most advanced tribes lived partly by hunting and fishing, but partly +also by raising Indian corn and pumpkins. They had begun to live in +wigwams grouped together in small villages and surrounded by strong rows +of palisades for defence. Now what these red men were doing our own +fair-haired ancestors in northern and central Europe had been doing some +twenty centuries earlier. The Scandinavians and Germans, when first +known in history, had made considerable progress in exchanging a +wandering for a settled mode of life. When the clan, instead of moving +from place to place, fixed upon some spot for a permanent residence, a +village grew up there, surrounded by a belt of waste land, or somewhat +later by a stockaded wall. The belt of land was called a _mark_, and the +wall was called a _tun_.[5] Afterwards the enclosed space came to be +known sometimes as the _mark_, sometimes as the _tun_ or _town_. In +England the latter name prevailed. The inhabitants of a mark or town +were a stationary clan. It was customary to call them by the clan name, +as for example "the Beorings" or "the Crossings;" then the town would be +called _Barrington_, "town of the Beorings," or _Cressingham_, +"home of the Cressings." Town names of this sort, with which the map of +England is thickly studded, point us back to a time when the town was +supposed to be the stationary home of a clan. + +[Footnote 1: Pronounced "toon."] + +[Sidenote: The Old English township.] +[Sidenote: The manor.] +The Old English town had its _tungemot_, or town-meeting, in +which "by-laws" were made and other important business transacted. +The principal officers were the "reeve" or head-man, the "beadle" or +messenger, and the "tithing-man" or petty constable. These officers +seem at first to have been elected by the people, but after a while, +as great lordships grew up, usurping jurisdiction over the land, the +lord's steward and bailiff came to supersede the reeve and beadle. +After the Norman Conquest the townships, thus brought under the sway +of great lords, came to be generally known by the French name of +manors or "dwelling places." Much might be said about this change, but +here it is enough for us to bear in mind that a manor was essentially +a township in which the chief executive officers were directly +responsible to the lord rather than to the people. It would be +wrong, however, to suppose that the manors entirely lost their +self-government. Even the ancient town-meeting survived in them, in a +fragmentary way, in several interesting assemblies, of which the most +interesting were the _court leet_, for the election of certain +officers and the trial of petty offences, and the _court baron_, +which was much like a town-meeting. + +[Sidenote: The parish.] +Still more of the old self-government would doubtless have survived +in the institutions of the manor if it had not been provided for in +another way. The _parish_ was older than the manor. After the +English had been converted to Christianity local churches were +gradually set up all over the country, and districts called parishes +were assigned for the ministrations of the priests. Now a parish +generally coincided in area with a township, or sometimes with a group +of two or three townships. In the old heathen times each town seems to +have had its sacred place or shrine consecrated to some local deity, +and it was a favourite policy with the Roman missionary priests to +purify the old shrine and turn it into a church. In this way the +township at the same time naturally became the parish. + +[Sidenote: Township, manor, and parish.] +[Sidenote: The vestry-meeting.] +As we find it in later times, both before and since the founding of +English colonies in North America, the township in England is likely +to be both a manor and a parish. For some purposes it is the one, for +some purposes it is the other. The townsfolk may be regarded as a +group of tenants of the lord's manor, or as a group of parishioners of +the local church. In the latter aspect the parish retained much of the +self-government of the ancient town. The business with which the lord +was entitled to meddle was strictly limited, and all other business +was transacted in the "vestry-meeting," which was practically the old +town-meeting under a new name. In the course of the thirteenth century +we find that the parish had acquired the right of taxing itself for +church purposes. Money needed for the church was supplied in the +form of "church-rates" voted by the ratepayers themselves in the +vestry-meeting, so called because it was originally held in a room of +the church in which vestments were kept. + +[Sidenote: Parish officers.] +The officers of the parish were the constable, the parish and vestry +clerks,[6] the beadle,[7] the "waywardens" or surveyors of highways, +the "haywards" or fence-viewers, the "common drivers," the collectors +of taxes, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century overseers of +the poor were added. There were also churchwardens, usually two for +each, parish. Their duties were primarily to take care of the church +property, assess the rates, and call the vestry-meetings. They also +acted as overseers of the poor, and thus in several ways remind one of +the selectmen of New England. The parish officers were all elected by +the ratepayers assembled in vestry-meeting, except the common driver +and hayward, who were elected by the same ratepayers assembled in +court leet. Besides electing parish officers and granting the rates, +the vestry-meeting could enact by-laws; and all ratepayers had an +equal voice in its deliberations. + +[Footnote 6: Of these two officers the vestry clerk is the counterpart +of the New England town-clerk.] + +[Footnote 7: Originally a messenger or crier, the beadle came to +assume some of the functions of the tithing-man or petty constable, +such as keeping order in church, punishing petty offenders, waiting on +the clergyman, etc. In New England towns there were formerly officers +called tithing-men, who kept order in church, arrested tipplers, +loafers, and Sabbath-breakers, etc.] + + +[Sidenote: The transition from England to New England.] +During the last two centuries the constitution of the English parish +has undergone some modifications which need not here concern us. The +Puritans who settled in New England had grown up under such parish +government as is here described, and they were used to hearing the +parish called, on some occasions and for some purposes, a township. If +we remember now that the earliest New England towns were founded +by church congregations, led by their pastors, we can see how town +government in New England originated. It was simply the English +parish government brought into a new country and adapted to the new +situation. Part of this new situation consisted in the fact that the +lords of the manor were left behind. There was no longer any occasion +to distinguish between the township as a manor and the township as a +parish; and so, as the three names had all lived on together, side by +side, in England, it was now the oldest and most generally descriptive +name, "township," that survived, and has come into use throughout a +great part of the United States. The townsfolk went on making by-laws, +voting supplies of public money, and electing their magistrates in +America, after the fashion with which they had for ages been familiar +in England. Some of their offices and customs were of hoary antiquity. +If age gives respectability, the office of constable may vie with that +of king; and if the annual town-meeting is usually held in the month +of March, it is because in days of old, long before Magna Charta was +thought of, the rules and regulations for the village husbandry were +discussed and adopted in time for the spring planting. + +[Sidenote: Building up states.] +To complete our sketch of the origin of the New England town, one +point should here be briefly mentioned in anticipation of what will +have to be said hereafter; but it is a point of so much importance +that we need not mind a little repetition in stating it. + + +[Sidenote: Representation.] +We have seen what a great part taxation plays in the business of +government, and we shall presently have to treat of county, state, and +federal governments, all of them wider in their sphere than the town +government. In the course of history, as nations have gradually been +built up, these wider governments have been apt to absorb or supplant +and crush the narrower governments, such as the parish or township; +and this process has too often been destructive to political freedom. +Such a result is, of course, disastrous to everybody; and if it were +unavoidable, it would be better that great national governments need +never be formed. But it is not unavoidable. There is one way of +escaping it, and that is to give the little government of the town +some real share in making up the great government of the state. That +is not an easy thing to do, as is shown by the fact that most peoples +have failed in the attempt. The people who speak the English language +have been the most successful, and the device by which they have +overcome the difficulty is REPRESENTATION. The town sends to the wider +government a delegation of persons who can _represent_ the town +and its people. They can speak for the town, and have a voice in the +framing of laws and imposition of taxes by the wider government. + +[Sidenote: Shire-motes.] +[Sidenote: Earl Simon's Parliament.] +In English townships there has been from time immemorial a system of +representation. Long before Alfred's time there were "shire-motes," or +what were afterwards called county meetings, and to these each town +sent its reeve and "four discreet men" as _representatives_. Thus +to a certain extent the wishes of the townsfolk could be brought to +bear upon county affairs. By and by this method was applied on a much +wider scale. It was applied to the whole kingdom, so that the people +of all its towns and parishes succeeded in securing a representation +of their interests in an elective national council or House of +Commons. This great work was accomplished in the thirteenth century by +Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and was completed by Edward +I. Simon's parliament, the first in which the Commons were fully +represented, was assembled in 1265; and the date of Edward's +parliament, which has been called the Model Parliament, was 1295. +These dates have as much interest for Americans as for Englishmen, +because they mark the first definite establishment of that grand +system of representative government which we are still carrying on +at our various state capitals and at Washington. For its humble +beginnings we have to look back to the "reeve and four" sent by the +ancient townships to the county meetings. + +[Sidenote: Township as unit of representation.] +The English township or parish was thus at an early period the "unit +of representation" in the government of the county. It was also a +district for the assessment and collection of the national taxes; in +each parish the assessment was made by a board of assessors chosen by +popular vote. These essential points reappear in the early history of +New England. The township was not only a self-governing body, but +it was the "unit of representation" in the colonial legislature, +or "General Court;" and the assessment of taxes, whether for town +purposes or for state purposes, was made by assessors elected by the +townsfolk. In its beginnings and fundamentals our political liberty +did not originate upon American soil, but was brought hither by +our forefathers the first settlers. They brought their political +institutions with them as naturally as they brought their language and +their social customs. + +[Sidenote: The Russian village community; not represented in the +national government.] +Observe now that the township is to be regarded in two lights. It must +be considered not only in itself, but as part of a greater whole. +We began by describing it as a self-governing body, but in order to +complete our sketch we were obliged to speak of it as a body which +has a share in the government of the state and the nation. The latter +aspect is as important as the former. If the people of a town had only +the power of managing their local affairs, without the power of taking +part in the management of national affairs, their political freedom +would be far from complete. In Russia, for example, the larger part of +the vast population is resident in village communities which have to a +considerable extent the power of managing their local affairs. Such +a village community is called a _mir_, and like the English +township it is lineally descended from the stationary clan. The people +of the Russian _mir_ hold meetings in which they elect sundry +local officers, distribute the burden of local taxation, make +regulations concerning local husbandry and police, and transact other +business which need not here concern us. But they have no share in the +national government, and are obliged to obey laws which they have +no voice in making, and pay taxes assessed upon them without their +consent; and accordingly we say with truth that the Russian people do +not possess political freedom. One reason for this has doubtless +been that in times past the Russian territory was the great frontier +battle-ground between civilized Europe and the wild hordes of western +Asia, and the people who lived for ages on that turbulent frontier +were subjected to altogether too much conquest. They have tasted too +little of civil government and too much of military government,--a +pennyworth of wholesome bread to an intolerable deal of sack. The +early English, in their snug little corner of the world, belted by +salt sea, were able to develop their civil government with less +destructive interference. They made a sound and healthful beginning +when they made the township the "unit of representation" for the +county. Then the township, besides managing its own affairs, began to +take part in the management of wider affairs. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Obtain the following documents:-- + + a. A town warrant. + b. A town report. + c. A tax bill, a permit, a certificate, or any town paper that + has or may have an official signature. + d. A report of the school committee. + +If you live in a city, send to the clerk of a neighbouring town for a +warrant, inclosing a stamp for the reply. City documents will answer +most of the purposes of this exercise. + +Make any of the foregoing documents the basis of a report. + +2. Give an account of the following:-- + + a. The various kinds of taxes raised in your town, the amount of each + kind, the valuation, the rate, the proposed use of the money, etc. + b. The work of any department of the town government for a year, as, for + example, that of the overseers of the poor. + c. Any pressing need of your town, public sentiment towards it, the + probable cost of satisfying it, the obstacles in the way of meeting + it, etc. + +3. A good way to arouse interest in the subject of town government is to +organize the class as a town-meeting, and let it discuss live local +questions in accordance with articles in a warrant. For helpful details +attend a town-meeting, read the record of some meeting, consult some +person familiar with town proceedings, or study the General Statutes. + +To insure a discussion, it may be necessary at the outset for the +teacher to assign to the several pupils single points to be expanded and +presented in order. + +There is an advantage in the teacher's serving as moderator. He may, as +teacher, pause to give such directions and explanations as may be +helpful to young citizens. + +The pupils should be held up to the more obvious requirements of +parliamentary law, and shown how to use its rules to accomplish various +purposes. + +4. Has the state a right to direct the education of its youth? If the +state has such a right, are there any limits to the exercise of it? Does +the right to direct the education of its youth carry with it the right +to abolish private schools? + +5. Is it wise to assist private educational institutions with public +funds? + +6. Ought teachers, if approved, to be appointed for one year only, or +during good behaviour? + +7. What classes of officers in a town should serve during good +behaviour? What classes may be frequently changed without injury to the +public? + +8. Compare the school committee in your own state (if it is not +Massachusetts) with that in Massachusetts. + +9. Illustrate from personal knowledge the difference between +real estate and personal property. + +10. A loans B $1000. May A be taxed for the $1000? Why? May B be taxed +for the $1000? Why? Is it right to tax both for $1000? Suppose B with +the money buys goods of C. Is it right to tax the three for $1000 each? + +11. A taxpayer worth $100,000 in personal property makes no return to +the assessors. In their ignorance the assessors tax him for $50,000 +only, and the tax is paid without question. Does the taxpayer act +honourably? + +12. What difficulties beset the work of the assessors? + +13. Would anything be gained by exempting personal property from +taxation? If so, what? Would anything be lost? If so, what? + +14. Does any one absolutely escape taxation? + +15. Does the poll-tax payer pay, in any sense, more than his poll-tax? + +16. Are there any taxes that people pay without seeming to know it? If +so, what? (See below, chap. viii. section 8.). + +17. Have we clans to-day among ourselves? (Think of family reunions, +people of the same name in a community, descendants of early settlers, +etc.). What important differences exist between these modern so-called +clans and the ancient ones? + +18. What is a "clannish" spirit? Is it a good spirit or a bad +one? Is it ever the same as patriotism? + +19. Look up the meaning of _ham_, _wick_, and _stead_. Think of towns +whose names contain these words; also of towns whose names contain the +word _tun_ or _ton_ or _town_. + +20. Give an account of the tithing-man in early New England. + +21. In what sense is the word "parish" commonly used in the United +States? Is the parish the same as the church? Has it any limits of +territory? + +22. In Massachusetts, clergymen were formerly paid out of the taxes of +the township. How did this come about? In this practice was there a +union or a separation of church and state? + +23. Ministers are not now supported by taxation in the United States. +What important change in the parish idea does this fact indicate? Is it +a change for the better? + +24. Are women who do not vote represented in town government? + +25. Are boys and girls represented in town government? + +26. Is there anybody in a town who is not represented in its government? + +27. How are citizens of a town represented in state government? + +28. How are citizens of a town represented in the national government? + +29. Imagine a situation in which the ballot of a single voter in +a town might affect the action of the national government. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. There is a good account in +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_. N. +T. & Chicago, 1875. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. Here the _Johns Hopkins University +Studies in Historical and Political Science_, edited by Dr. Herbert +Adams, are of great value. Note especially series I, no. i, E. A. +Freeman, _Introduction to American Institutional History_; I., ii. iv. +viii. ix.-x. H. B. Adams, _The Germanic Origin of New England Towns, +Saxon Tithing-Men in America, Norman Constables in America, Village +Communities of Cape Ann and Salem_; II., x. Edward Channing, _Town and +County Government in the English Colonies of North America_; IV., +xi.-xii. Melville Egleston, _The Land System of the New England +Colonies_; VII., vii.-ix. C. M. Andrews, _The River Towns of +Connecticut_. + +See also Howard's _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. "Township, Hundred, and Shire," Baltimore, 1889, a +work of extraordinary merit. + +The great book on local self-government in England is Toulmin Smith's +_The Parish_, 2d ed., London, 1859. For the ancient history of the +township, see Gomme's _Primitive Folk-Moots_, London, 1880; Gomme's +_Village Community_, London, 1890; Seebohm's _English Village +Community_, London, 1883; Nasse's _Agricultural Community of the Middle +Ages_, London, 1872; Laveleye's _Primitive Property_, London, 1878; +Phear's _Aryan Village in India and Ceylon_, London, 1880; Hearn (of the +University of Melbourne, Australia), _The Aryan Household_, London & +Melbourne, 1879; and the following works of Sir Henry Maine: _Ancient +Law_, London, 1861; _Village Communities in the East and West_, London, +1871; _Early History of Institutions_, London, 1875; _Early Law and +Custom_, London, 1883. All of Maine's works are republished in New York. +See also my _American Political Ideas_, N. Y., 1885. + +Gomme's _Literature of Local Institutions_, London, 1886, +contains an extensive bibliography of the subject, with valuable +critical notes and comments. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _The County in its Beginnings._ + +It is now time for us to treat of the county, and we may as well begin +by considering its origin. In treating of the township we began by +sketching it in its fullest development, as seen in New England. With. +the county we shall find it helpful to pursue a different method and +start at the beginning. + +If we look at the maps of the states which make up our Union, we see +that they are all divided into counties (except that in Louisiana the +corresponding divisions are named parishes). The map of England shows +that country as similarly divided into counties. + +[Sidenote: Why do we have counties?] +If we ask why this is so, some people will tell us that it is +convenient, for purposes of administration, to have a state, or a +kingdom, divided into areas that are larger than single towns. There +is much truth in this. It is convenient. If it were not so, counties +would not have survived, so as to make a part of our modern maps. +Nevertheless, this is not the historic reason why we have the +particular kind of subdivisions known as counties. We have them +because our fathers and grandfathers had them; and thus, if we would +find out the true reason, we may as well go back to the ancient times +when our forefathers were establishing themselves in England. + +[Sidenote: Clans and tribes.] +We have seen how the clan of our barbarous ancestors, when it became +stationary, was established as the town or township. But in those early +times _clans_ were generally united more or less closely into _tribes_. +Among all primitive or barbarous races of men, so far as we can make +out, society is organized in tribes, and each tribe is made up of a +number of clans or family groups. Now when our English forefathers +conquered Britain they settled there as clans and also as tribes. The +clans became townships, and the tribes became shires or counties; that +is to say, the names were applied first to the people and afterwards to +the land they occupied. A few of the oldest county names in England +still show this plainly. _Essex_, _Middlesex_, and _Sussex_ were +originally "East Saxons," "Middle Saxons," and "South Saxons;" and on +the eastern coast two tribes of Angles were distinguished as "North +folk" and "South folk," or _Norfolk_ and _Suffolk_. When you look on the +map and see the town of _Icklinghiam_ in the county of _Suffolk_, it +means that this place was once known as the "home" of the "Icklings" or +"children of Ickel," a clan which formed part of the tribe of "South +folk." + +[Sidenote: The English nation, like the American, grew out of the +union of small states.] +In those days there was no such thing as a Kingdom of England; there +were only these groups of tribes living side by side. Each tribe had its +leader, whose title was _ealdorman_ or "elder man." [1] After a while, as +some tribes increased in size and power, their ealdormen took the title +of kings. The little kingdoms coincided sometimes with a single shire, +sometimes with two or more shires. Thus there was a kingdom of Kent, and +the North and South Folk were combined in a kingdom of East Anglia. In +course of time numbers of shires combined into larger kingdoms, such as +Northumbria, Mercia, and the West Saxons; and finally the king of the +West Saxons became king of all England, and the several _shires_ became +subordinate parts or "shares" of the kingdom. In England, therefore, the +shires are older than the nation. The shires were not made by dividing +the nation, but the nation was made by uniting the shires. The English +nation, like the American, grew out of the union of little states that +had once been independent of one another, but had many interests in +common. For not less than three hundred years after all England had been +united under one king, these shires retained their self-government +almost as completely as the several states of the American Union.[2] A +few words about their government will not be wasted, for they will help +to throw light upon some things that still form a part of our political +and social life. + +[Footnote 1: The pronunciation, was probably something like yawl-dor-man.] + + +[Footnote 2: Chalmers, _Local Government_, p. 90.] + +[Sidenote: Shire-mote, ealdorman, and sheriff.] +The shire was governed by the _shire-mote_ (i.e. "meeting"), +which was a representative body. Lords of lands, including abbots and +priors, attended it, as well as the reeve and four selected men +from each township. There were thus the germs of both the kind of +representation that is seen in the House of Lords and the much more +perfect kind that is seen in the House of Commons. After a while, +as cities and boroughs grew in importance, they sent representative +burghers to the shire-mote. There were two presiding officers; one was +the _ealdorman_, who was now appointed by the king; the other was +the _shire-reeve_ (i.e. "sheriff"), who was still elected by the +people and generally held office for life. + + + +[Sidenote: The county court.] +This shire-mote was both a legislative body and a court of justice. It +not only made laws for the shire, but it tried civil and criminal +causes. After the Norman Conquest some changes occurred. The shire now +began to be called by the French name "county," because of its analogy +to the small pieces of territory on the Continent that were governed by +"counts." [3] The shire-mote became known as the county court, but cases +coming before it were tried by the king's _justices in eyre_, or circuit +judges, who went about from county to county to preside over the +judicial work. The office of ealdorman became extinct. The sheriff was +no longer elected by the people for life, but appointed by the king for +the term of one year. This kept him strictly responsible to the king. It +was the sheriff's duty to see that the county's share of the national +taxes was duly collected and paid over to the national treasury. The +sheriff also summoned juries and enforced the judgments of the courts, +and if he met with resistance in so doing he was authorized to call out +a force of men, known as the _posse comitatus_ (i.e. power of the +county), and overcome all opposition. Another county officer was the +_coroner_, or crowner_,[4] so called because originally (in Alfred's +time) he was appointed by the king, and was especially the crown officer +in the county. Since the time of Edward I., however, coroners have been +elected by the people. Originally coroners held small courts of inquiry +upon cases of wreckage, destructive fires, or sudden death, but in +course of time their jurisdiction became confined to the last-named +class of cases. If a death occurred under circumstances in any way +mysterious or likely to awaken suspicion, it was the business of the +coroner, assisted by not less than twelve _jurors_ (i. e, "sworn men"), +to hold an _inquest_ for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death. +The coroner could compel the attendance of witnesses and order a medical +examination of the body, and if there were sufficient evidence to charge +any person with murder or manslaughter, the coroner could have such +person arrested and committed for trial. + +[Footnote 3: Originally _comites_, or "companions" of the king.] +[Footnote 4: This form of the word, sometimes supposed to be a vulgarism, +is as correct as the other. See Skeat, _Etym_. Dict., s.v.] + + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +[Sidenote: The Quarter sessions.] +[Sidenote: The lord-lieutenant.] +Another important county officer was the _justice of the peace_. +Originally six were appointed by the crown in each county, but in +later times any number might be appointed. The office was created by a +series of statutes in the reign of Edward III., in order to put a stop +to the brigandage which still flourished in England; it was a common +practice for robbers to seize persons and hold them for ransom.[5] By +the last of these statutes, in 1362, the justices of the peace in each +county were to hold a court four times in the year. The powers of this +court, which came to be known as the Quarter Sessions, were from time +to time increased by act of parliament, until it quite supplanted the +old county court. In modern times the Quarter Sessions has become +an administrative body quite as much as a court. The justices, who +receive no salary, hold office for life, or during good behaviour. +They appoint the chief constable of the county, who appoints the +police. They also take part in the supervision of highways and +bridges, asylums and prisons. Since the reign of Henry VIII., the +English county has had an officer known as the lord-lieutenant, who +was once leader of the county militia, but whose functions to-day are +those of keeper of the records and principal justice of the peace. + +[Footnote 5: Longman's _Life and Times of Edward III._, vol. i. +p. 301.] + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of Massachusetts counties.] +During the past five hundred years the English county has gradually +sunk from a self-governing community into an administrative district; +and in recent times its boundaries have been so crossed and +crisscrossed with those of other administrative areas, such as those +of school-boards, sanitary boards, etc., that very little of the old +county is left in recognizable shape. Most of this change has been +effected since the Tudor period. The first English settlers in America +were familiar with the county as a district for the administration of +justice, and they brought with them coroners, sheriffs, and quarter +sessions. In 1635 the General Court of Massachusetts appointed four +towns--Boston, Cambridge, Salem, and Ipswich--as places where courts +should be held quarterly. In 1643 the colony, which then included +as much of New Hampshire as was settled, was divided into four +"shires,"--Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk, the latter lying +then to the northward and including the New Hampshire towns. The +militia was then organized, perhaps without consciousness of the +analogy, after a very old English fashion; the militia of each town +formed a company, and the companies of the shire formed a regiment. +The county was organized from the beginning as a judicial district, +with its court-house, jail, and sheriff. After 1697 the court, held by +the justices of the peace, was called the Court of General Sessions. +It could try criminal causes not involving the penalty of death or +banishment, and civil causes in which the value at stake was less than +forty shillings. It also had control over highways going from town to +town; and it apportioned the county taxes among the several towns. + +The justices and sheriff were appointed by the governor, as in England +by the king. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why do we have counties in the United States? Contrast the popular +reason with the historic. + +2. What relation did the tribe hold to the clan among our ancestors? + +3. In time what did the clans and the tribes severally become? + +4. Show how old county names in England throw light on the + county development. + +5. Trace the growth of the English nation in accordance with + the following outline:-- + a. Each tribe and its leader, + b. A powerful tribe and its leader. + c. The relation of a little kingdom to the shire. + d. The final union under one king. + e. The relative ages of the shire and the nation. + +6. Give an account (1) of the shire-mote, (2) of the two kinds + of representation in it, (3) of its presiding officers, and + (4) of its two kinds of duties. + +7. Let the pupil make written analyses or outlines of the following + topics, to be used by him in presenting the topics + orally, or to be passed in to the teacher:-- + a. What changes took place in the government of the shire + after the Norman Conquest? + b. Trace the development of the coroner's office. + c. Give an account of the justices of the peace and the courts + held by them. + d. Show what applications the English settlers in Massachusetts made of + their knowledge of the English county. + + + + +Section 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts. + +The modern county system of Massachusetts may now be very briefly +described. The county, like the town, is a corporation; it can hold +property and sue or be sued. It builds the court-house and jail, and +keeps them in repair. The town in which these buildings are placed is +called, as in England, the shire town. + +[Sidenote: County commissioners.] +In each county there are three commissioners, elected by the people. +Their term of service is three years, and one goes out each year. +These commissioners represent the county in law-suits, as the +selectmen represent the town. They "apportion the county taxes among +the towns;" "lay out, alter, and discontinue highways within the +county;" "have charge of houses of correction;" and erect and keep in +repair the county buildings.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Martin's _Civil Government_, p. 197.] + +[Sidenote: County treasurer.] +The revenues of the county are derived partly from taxation and partly +from the payment of fines and costs in the courts. These revenues are +received and disbursed by the county treasurer, who is elected by the +people for a term of three years. + +[Sidenote: Courts.] +The Superior Court of the state holds at least two sessions annually +in each county, and tries civil and criminal causes. There is also +in each county a probate court with jurisdiction over all matters +relating to wills, administration of estates, and appointment of +guardians; it also acts as a court of insolvency. The custody of wills +and documents relating to the business of this court is in the hands +of an officer known as the register of probate, who is elected by the +people for a term of five years. + +[Sidenote: Shire town and court-house.] +To preserve the records of all land-titles and transfers of land +within the county, all deeds and mortgages are registered in an +office in the shire town, usually within or attached to the court The +register of deeds is an officer elected by the people for a term of +three years. In counties where there is much business there may be +more than one. + +[Sidenote: Justices of the peace.] +Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor for a term of seven +years, and the appointment may be renewed. Their functions have been +greatly curtailed, and now amount to little more than administering +oaths, and in some cases issuing warrants and taking bail. They may join +persons in marriage, and, when specially commissioned as "trial +justices," have criminal jurisdiction over sundry petty offences. + + +[Sidenote: The Sheriff.] +The sheriff is elected by the people for a term of three years. He may +appoint deputies, for whom he is responsible, to assist him in his +work. He must attend all county courts, and the meetings of the county +commissioners whenever required. He must inflict, either personally +or by deputy, the sentence of the court, whether it be fine, +imprisonment, or death. He is responsible for the preservation of the +peace within the county, and to this end must pursue criminals and may +arrest disorderly persons. If he meets with resistance he may call out +the _posse comitatus_; if the resistance grows into insurrection +he may apply to the governor and obtain the aid of the state militia; +if the insurrection proves too formidable to be thus dealt with, the +governor may in his behalf apply to the president of the United States +for aid from the regular army. In this way the force that may be +drawn upon, if necessary, for the suppression of disorder in a single +locality, is practically unlimited and irresistible. + +We have now obtained a clear outline view of the township and county in +themselves and in their relation to one another, with an occasional +glimpse of their relation to the state; in so far, at least, as such a +view can be gained from a reference to the history of England and of +Massachusetts. We must next trace the development of local government in +other parts of the United States; and in doing so we can advance at +somewhat quicker pace, not because our subject becomes in any wise less +important or less interesting, but because we have already marked out +the ground and said things of general application which will not need to +be said over again. + + + QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + + Give an account of the modern county in Massachusetts under + the following heads:-- + + 1. The county a corporation. + 2. The county commissioners and their duties. + 3. The county treasurer and his duties. + 4. The courts held in a county. + 5. The shire town and the court-house. + 6. The register of deeds and his duties. + 7. Justices of the peace and trial justices. + 8. The sheriff and his duties. + 9. The force at the sheriff's disposal to suppress disorder. + + + + +Section 3. _The Old Virginia County._ + +By common consent of historians, the two most distinctive and most +characteristic lines of development which English forms of government +have followed, in propagating themselves throughout the United States, +are the two lines that have led through New England on the one hand +and through Virginia on the other. We have seen what shape local +government assumed in New England; let us now observe what shape it +assumed in the Old Dominion. + +[Sidenote: Virginia sparsely settled.] +The first point to be noticed in the early settlement of Virginia is +that people did not live so near together as in New England. This was +because tobacco, cultivated on large estates, was a source of wealth. +Tobacco drew settlers to Virginia as in later days gold drew settlers +to California and sparsely Australia. They came not in organized +groups or congregations, but as a multitude of individuals. Land +was granted to individuals, and sometimes these grants were of +enormous extent. John Bolling, who died in 1757, left an estate of +40,000 acres, and this is not mentioned as an extraordinary amount of +land for one man to own.[7] From an early period it was customary +to keep these great estates together by entailing them, and this +continued until entails were abolished in 1776 through the influence +of Thomas Jefferson. + +[Footnote 7: Edward Channing, "Town and County Government," in +_Johns Hopkins University Studies_, vol. ii. p. 467.] + +[Sidenote: Absence of towns.] +A glance at the map of Virginia shows to what a remarkable degree it +is intersected by navigable rivers. This fact made it possible for +plantations, even at a long distance from the coast, to have each its +own private wharf, where a ship from England could unload its cargo of +tools, cloth, or furniture, and receive a cargo of tobacco in return. +As the planters were thus supplied with most of the necessaries of +life, there was no occasion for the kind of trade that builds up +towns. Even in comparatively recent times the development of town life +in Virginia has been very slow. In 1880, out of 246 cities and towns +in the United States with a population exceeding 10,000, there were +only six in Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Slavery] +The cultivation of tobacco upon large estates caused a great demand for +cheap labour, and this was supplied partly by bringing negro slaves from +Africa, partly by bringing criminals from English jails. The latter were +sold into slavery for a limited term of years, and were known as +"indentured white servants." So great was the demand for labour that it +became customary to kidnap poor friendless wretches on the streets of +seaport towns in England and ship them off to Virginia to be sold into +servitude. At first these white servants were more numerous than the +negroes, but before the end of the seventeenth century the blacks had +come to be much the more numerous. + +[Sidenote: Social position of settlers.] +In this rural community the owners of plantations came from the same +classes of society as the settlers of New England; they were for the +most part country squires and yeomen. But while in New England there +was no lower class or society sharply marked off from the upper, on +the other hand in Virginia there was an insurmountable distinction +between the owners of plantations and the so-called "mean whites" or +"white trash." This class was originally formed of men and women +who had been indentured white servants, and was increased by such +shiftless people as now and then found their way to the colony, but +could not win estates or obtain social recognition. With such a +sharp division between classes, an aristocratic type of society was +developed in Virginia as naturally as a democratic type was developed +in New England. + +[Sidenote: Virginia parishes.] +[Sidenote: The vestry of a close corporation.] +In Virginia there were no town-meetings. The distances between +plantations cooperated with the distinction between classes to prevent +the growth of such an institution. The English parish, with its +churchwardens and vestry and clerk, was reproduced in Virginia under +the same name, but with some noteworthy peculiarities. If the whole +body of ratepayers had assembled in vestry meeting, to enact by-laws +and assess taxes, the course of development would have been like that +of the New England town-meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which +exercised the chief authority in the parish, was composed of twelve +chosen men. This was not government by a primary assembly, it was +representative government. At first the twelve vestrymen were elected +by the people of the parish, and thus resembled the selectmen of +New England; but after a while "they obtained the power of filling +vacancies in their own number," so that they became what is called a +"close corporation," and the people had nothing to do with choosing +them. Strictly speaking, that was not representative government; it +was a step on the road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic +government. + +[Sidenote: Powers of the vestry.] +It was the vestry, thus constituted, that apportioned the parish +taxes, appointed the churchwardens, presented the minister for +induction into office, and acted as overseers of the poor. The +minister presided in all vestry meetings. His salary was paid in +tobacco, and in 1696 it was fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of tobacco +yearly. In many parishes the churchwardens were the collectors of the +parish taxes. The other officers, such as the sexton and the parish +clerk, were appointed either by the minister or by the vestry. + +With the local government thus administered, we see that the larger +part of the people had little directly to do. Nevertheless in these +small neighbourhoods government was in full sight of the people. Its +proceedings went on in broad daylight and were sustained by public +sentiment. As Jefferson said, "The vestrymen are usually the most +discreet farmers, so distributed through the parish that every part of +it may be under the immediate eye of some one of them. They are well +acquainted with the details and economy of private life, and they +find sufficient inducements to execute their charge well, in their +philanthropy, in the approbation of their neighbours, and the +distinction which that gives them." [8] + +[Footnote 8: See Howard, _Local Constitutional History of the United +States_, vol. i. p. 122.] + +[Sidenote: The county was the unit of representation.] +The difference, however, between the New England township and the +Virginia parish, in respect of self-government, was striking enough. +We have now to note a further difference. In New England, as we have +seen, the township was the unit of representation in the colonial +legislature; but in Virginia the parish was not the unit of +representation. The county was that unit. In the colonial legislature +of Virginia the representatives sat not for parishes, but for +counties. The difference is very significant. As the political life of +New England was in a manner built up out of the political life of +the towns, so the political life of Virginia was built up out of the +political life of the counties. This was partly because the vast +plantations were not grouped about a compact village nucleus like the +small farms at the North, and partly because there was not in Virginia +that Puritan theory of the church according to which each congregation +is a self-governing democracy. The conditions which made the New +England town-meeting were absent. The only alternative was some kind +of representative government, and for this the county was a small +enough area. The county in Virginia was much smaller than in +Massachusetts or Connecticut. In a few instances the county consisted +of only a single parish; in some cases it was divided into two +parishes, but oftener into three or more. + +[Sidenote: The county court was virtually a close corporation.] +In Virginia, as in England and in New England, the county was an area +for the administration of justice. There were usually in each county +eight justices of the peace, and their court was the counterpart of +the Quarter Sessions in England. They were appointed by the governor, +but it was customary for them to nominate candidates for the governor +to appoint, so that practically the court filled its own vacancies and +was a close corporation, like the parish vestry. Such an arrangement +tended to keep the general supervision and control of things in the +hands of a few families. + +This county court usually met as often as once a month in some +convenient spot answering to the shire town of England or New England. +More often than not the place originally consisted of the court-house +and very little else, and was named accordingly from the name of the +county, as Hanover Court House or Fairfax Court House; and the small +shire towns that have grown up in such spots often retain these names +to the present day. Such names occur commonly in Virginia, West +Virginia, and South Carolina, very rarely in Kentucky, North Carolina, +Alabama, Ohio, and nowhere else in the United States.[9] Their number +has diminished from the tendency to omit the phrase "Court House," +leaving the name of the county for that of the shire town, as for +example in Culpeper, Va. In New England the process of naming has been +just the reverse; as in Hartford County, Conn., or Worcester County, +Mass., which have taken their names from the shire towns. In this, +as in so many cases, whole chapters of history are wrapped up in +geographical names.[10] + +[Footnote 9: In Mitchell's Atlas, 1883, the number of cases is in Va. +38, W. Va. 13, S. C. 16, N. C. 2, Ala. 1, Ky. 1, Ohio, 1.] + +[Footnote 10: A few of the oldest Virginia counties, organized as +such in 1634, had arisen from the spreading and thinning of single +settlements originally intended to be cities and named accordingly. +Hence the curious names (at first sight unintelligible) of "James City +County," and "Charles City County."] + +[Sidenote: Powers of the court] +The county court in Virginia had jurisdiction in criminal actions not +involving peril of life or limb, and in civil suits where the sum at +stake exceeded twenty-five shillings. Smaller suits could be tried +by a single justice. The court also had charge of the probate and +administration of wills. The court appointed its own clerk, who kept +the county records. It superintended the construction and repair of +bridges and highways, and for this purpose divided the county into +"precincts," and appointed annually for each precinct a highway +surveyor. The court also seems to have appointed constables, one for +each precinct. The justices could themselves act as coroners, but +annually two or more coroners for each parish were appointed by the +governor. As we have seen that the parish taxes--so much for salaries +of minister and clerk, so much for care of church buildings, so much +for relief of the poor, etc.--were computed and assessed by the +vestry; so the county taxes, for care of court-house and jail, roads +and bridges, coroner's fees, and allowances to the representatives +sent to the colonial legislature, were computed and assessed by the +county court. The general taxes for the colony were estimated by a +committee of the legislature, as well as the county's share of the +colony tax. + +[Sidenote: The sheriff.] +The taxes for the county, and sometimes the taxes for the parish also, +were collected by the sheriff. They were usually paid, not in money, +but in tobacco; and the sheriff was the custodian of this tobacco, +responsible for its proper disposal. The sheriff was thus not only +the officer for executing the judgments of the court, but he was also +county treasurer and collector, and thus exercised powers almost as +great as those of the sheriff in England in the twelfth century. He +also presided over elections for representatives to the legislature. +It is interesting to observe how this very important officer was +chosen. "Each year the court presented the names of three of its +members to the governor, who appointed one, generally the senior +justice, to be the sheriff of the county for the ensuing year." [11] +Here again we see this close corporation, the county court, keeping +the control of things within its own hands. + +[Footnote 11: Edward Channing, _op. cit_. p. 478.] + +[Sidenote: The county lieutenant] +One other important county officer needs to be mentioned. We have seen +that in early New England each town had its train-band or company of +militia, and that the companies in each county united to form the +county regiment. In Virginia it was just the other way. Each county +raised a certain number of troops, and because it was not convenient +for the men to go many miles from home in assembling for purposes of +drill, the county was subdivided into military districts, each with +its company, according to rules laid down by the governor. The +military command in each county was vested in the county lieutenant, +an officer answering in many respects to the lord lieutenant of +the English shire at that period. Usually he was a member of the +governor's council, and as such exercised sundry judicial functions. +He bore the honorary title of "colonel," and was to some extent +regarded as the governor's deputy; but in later times his duties were +confined entirely to military matters.[12] + +[Footnote 12: For an excellent account of local government in Virginia +before the Revolution, see Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of the U.S._, +vol. i. pp. 388-407; also Edward Ingle in _Johns Hopkins Univ. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii.] + +If now we sum up the contrasts between local government in Virginia +and that in New England, we observe:-- + +1. That in New England the management of local affairs was mostly in the +hands of town officers, the county being superadded for certain +purposes, chiefly judicial; while in Virginia the management was chiefly +in the hands of county officers, though certain functions, chiefly +ecclesiastical, were reserved to the parish. + +2. That in New England the local magistrates were almost always, with +the exception of justices, chosen by the people; while in Virginia, +though some of them were nominally appointed by the governor, yet in +practice they generally contrived to appoint themselves--in other +words the local boards practically filled their own vacancies and were +self-perpetuating. + +[Sidenote: Jefferson's opinion of township government.] +These differences are striking and profound. There can be no doubt +that, as Thomas Jefferson clearly saw, in the long run the interests +of political liberty are much safer under the New England system +than under the Virginia system. Jefferson said, "Those wards, +called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their +governments, and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever +devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government, +and for its preservation[13]....As Cato, then, concluded every speech +with the words _Carthago delenda est_, so do I every opinion with +the injunction: Divide the counties into wards!" [14] + +[Footnote 13: Jefferson's _Works_, vii. 13.] + +[Footnote 14: _Id_., vi. 544] + +[Sidenote: "Court Day."] +We must, however, avoid the mistake of making too much of this contrast. +As already hinted, in those rural societies where people generally knew +one another, its effects were not so far-reaching as they would be in +the more complicated society of to-day. Even though Virginia had not the +town-meeting, it had its familiar court-day, which was a holiday for +all the country-side, especially in the fall and spring. From all +directions came in the people on horseback, in wagons, and afoot. On the +court-house green assembled, in indiscriminate confusion, people of all +classes,--the hunter from the backwoods, the owner of a few acres, the +grand proprietor, and the grinning, heedless negro. Old debts were +settled, and new ones made; there were auctions, transfers of property, +and, if election times were near, stump-speaking.[15] + +[Sidenote: Virginia prolific in great leaders.] +For seventy years or more before the Declaration of Independence the +matters of general public concern, about which stump speeches were made +on Virginia court-days, were very similar to those that were discussed +in Massachusetts town-meetings when representatives were to be chosen +for the legislature. Such questions generally related to some real or +alleged encroachment upon popular liberties by the royal governor, who, +being appointed and sent from beyond sea, was apt to have ideas and +purposes of his own that conflicted with those of the people. This +perpetual antagonism to the governor, who represented British imperial +interference with American local self-government, was an excellent +schooling in political liberty, alike for Virginia and for +Massachusetts. When the stress of the Revolution came, these two leading +colonies cordially supported each other, and their political +characteristics were reflected in the kind of achievements for which +each was especially distinguished. The Virginia system, concentrating +the administration of local affairs in the hands of a few county +families, was eminently favourable for developing skilful and vigorous +leadership. And while in the history of Massachusetts during the +Revolution we are chiefly impressed with the wonderful degree in which +the mass of the people exhibited the kind of political training that +nothing in the world except the habit of parliamentary discussion can +impart; on the other hand, Virginia at that time gave us--in Washington, +Jefferson, Henry, Madison, and Marshall, to mention no others--such a +group of consummate leaders as the world has seldom seen equalled. + +[Footnote 15: Ingle, _loc. cit._] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Why was Virginia more sparsely settled than Massachusetts? + +2. Why was it that towns were built up more slowly in Virginia than in +Massachusetts? + +3. How was the great demand for labour in Virginia met? + +4. What distinction of classes naturally arose? + +5. Contrast the type of society thus developed in Virginia with that + developed in New England. + +6. Compare the Virginia parish in its earlier government with the + English parish from which it was naturally copied. + +7. Show how the vestry became a close corporation. + +8. Who were usually chosen as vestrymen, and what were their powers? + +9. Compare Virginia's unit of representation in the colonial +legislature with that of Massachusetts, and give the reason for the +difference. + +10. Describe the county court, showing in particular how it became a +close corporation. + +11. Bring out some of the history wrapped up in the names of county +seats. + +12. What were the chief powers of the county court? + +13. Describe the assessment of the various taxes. + +14. What were the sheriff's duties? + +15. Describe the organization and command of the militia in each +county. + +16. Sum up the differences between local government in Virginia and +that in New England (1) as to the management of local affairs and (2) +as to the choice of local officers. + +17. What did Jefferson think of the principle of township government? + +18. What was the equivalent in Virginia of the New England +town-meeting? + +19. What was the value of this frequent assembling? + +20. What schooling in political liberty before the Revolution did +Virginia and Massachusetts alike have? + + +21. What was an impressive feature of the New England system? + +22. What was an impressive feature of the Virginia system? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How many counties are there in your state? + +2. Name and place them if the number is small. + +3. In what county do you live? + +4. Give its dimensions. Are they satisfactory? Why? + +5. Give its boundaries. + +6. Is there anything interesting in the meaning or origin of its name? + +7. How many towns and cities does it contain? + +8. What is the county seat? Is it conveniently situated? Reasons for +thinking so? + +9. If convenient, visit any county building, note the uses to which it +is put, and report such facts as may be thus found out. + +10. Obtain a deed, no matter how old, and answer these questions about +it:-- + + a. Is it recorded? If so, where? + b. Would it be easy for you to find + the record? + c. Why should such a record be kept? + d. What officer + has charge of such records? + e. What sort of work must he and his + assistants do? + f. The place of such records is called what? + g. What sort of facilities for the public should such a place have? What + safety precautions should be observed there? + h. Why should the county + keep such records rather than the city or the town? + i. Is there a record of the deed by which the preceding owner came into + possession of the property? + j. What sort of title did the first owner have? Is + there any record of it? Was the first owner Indian or European? + +(The teacher might obtain a deed and base a class exercise upon it. It +is easy with a deed for a text to lead pupils to see the common-sense +basis of an important county institution, and thereafter to give very +sensible views as to what it should be, even if it is not fully known +what it is.) + +11. Is there a local court for your town or city? 12. How do its cases +compare in magnitude with those tried at the county seat? + +13. If a man steals and is prosecuted, who becomes the plaintiff? + +14. If a man owes and is sued for debt, who becomes the plaintiff? + +15. What is a criminal action? + +16. What is a civil action? + +17. What is the result to the defendant in the former case, if he is +convicted? + + +18. What is the result to the defendant in the latter case, if the +decision is against him? + +19. Is lying a crime or a sin? May it ever become a crime? + +20. Are courts of any service to the vast numbers who are never +brought before them? Why? + + +21. May good citizens always keep out of the courts if they choose? Is +it their duty always to keep out of them? + +22. Is there any aversion among people that you know to being brought +before the courts? Why? + +23. What is the purpose of a jail? Is this purpose realized in fact? + +24. Should a disturbance of a serious nature break out in your town, +whose immediate duty would it be to quell it? Suppose this duty should +prove too difficult to perform, then what? + +25. What is the attitude of good citizenship towards officers who are +trying to enforce the laws? What is the attitude of good citizenship +if the laws are not satisfactory or if the officers are indiscreet in +enforcing them? + +26. Suppose a man of property dies and leaves a will, what troubles +are possible about the disposal of his property? Suppose he leaves no +will, what troubles are possible? Whose duty is it to exercise control +over such matters and hold people up to legal and honourable conduct +in them? + +27. What is an executor? What is an administrator? + +28. If parents die, whose duty is it to care for their children? If +property is left to such children, are they free to use it as they +please? What has the county to do with such cases? + +29. How much does your town or city contribute towards county +expenses? How does this amount compare with that raised by other towns +in the county? + +30. Give the organization of your county government. + +31. Would it be better for the towns to do themselves the work now +done for them by the county? + + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. This subject is treated in +connection with the township in several of the books above mentioned. +See especially Howard, _Local Const. Hist._ + +Section 2. THE MODERN COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS. There is a good account +in Martin's _Text Book_ above mentioned. + +Section 3. THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. The best account is in _J.H.U. +Studies_, III., ii.-iii. Edward Ingle, _Virginia Local Institutions._ + + +In dealing with the questions on page 69, both teachers and pupils +will find Dole's _Talks about Law_ (Boston, 1887) extremely +valuable and helpful. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. + + +Section 1. _Various Local Systems_. + +We have now completed our outline sketch of town and county government +as illustrated in New England on the one hand and in Virginia on the +other. There are some important points in the early history of local +government in other portions of the original thirteen states, to +which we must next call attention; and then we shall be prepared to +understand the manner in which our great western country has been +organized under civil government. We must first say something about +South Carolina and Maryland. + +[Sidenote: Parishes in South Carolina.] +South Carolina was settled from half a century to a century later +than Massachusetts and Virginia, and by two distinct streams of +immigration. The lowlands near the coast were settled by Englishmen +and by French Huguenots, but the form of government was purely +English. There were parishes, as in Virginia, but popular election +played a greater part in them. The vestrymen were elected yearly by +all the taxpayers of the parish. The minister was also elected by his +people, and after 1719 each parish sent its representatives to the +colonial legislature, though in a few instances two parishes were +joined together for the purpose of choosing representatives. The +system was thus more democratic than in Virginia; and in this +connection it is worth while to observe that parochial libraries and +free schools were established as early as 1712, much earlier than in +Virginia. + +[Sidenote: The back country] +During the first half of the eighteenth century a very different stream +of immigration, coming mostly along the slope of the Alleghanies from +Virginia and Pennsylvania, and consisting in great part of Germans, +Scotch Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish, peopled the upland western regions +of South Carolina. For some time this territory had scarcely any civil +organization. It was a kind of "wild West." There were as yet no +counties in the colony. There was just one sheriff for the whole colony, +who "held his office by patent from the crown." [1] A court sat in +Charleston, but the arm of justice was hardly long enough to reach +offenders in the mountains. "To punish a horse-thief or prosecute a +debtor one was sometimes compelled to travel a distance of several +hundred miles, and be subjected to all the dangers and delays incident +to a wild country." When people cannot get justice in what in civilized +countries is the regular way, they will get it in some irregular way. So +these mountaineers began to form themselves into bands known as +"regulators," quite like the "vigilance committees" formed for the same +purposes in California a hundred years later. For thieves and murderers +the "regulators" provided a speedy trial, and the nearest tree served as +a gallows. + +[Footnote 1: B. J. Ramage, in _Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies_, I., xii.] + +[Sidenote: The district system.] +In order to put a stop to this lynch law, the legislature in 1768 +divided the back country into districts, each with its sheriff and +court-house, and the judges were sent on circuit through these +districts. The upland region with its districts was thus very +differently organized from the lowland region with its parishes, and the +effect was for a while almost like dividing South Carolina into two +states. At first the districts were not allowed to choose their own +sheriffs, but in course of time they acquired this privilege. It was +difficult to apportion the representation in the state legislature so as +to balance evenly the districts in the west against the parishes in the +east, and accordingly there was much dissatisfaction, especially in the +west which did not get its fair share. In 1786 the capital was moved +from Charleston to Columbia as a concession to the back country, and in +1808 a kind of compromise was effected, in such wise that the uplands +secured a permanent majority in the house of representatives, while the +lowlands retained control of the senate. The two sections had each its +separate state treasurer, and this kind of double government lasted +until the Civil War. + +[Sidenote: The modern South Carolina county.] +At the close of the war "the parishes were abolished and the district +system was extended to the low country." But soon afterward, by the +new constitution of 1868, the districts were abolished and the state +was divided into 34 counties, each of which sends one senator to the +state senate, while they send representatives in proportion to +their population. In each county the people elect three county +commissioners, a school commissioner, a sheriff, a judge of probate, +a clerk, and a coroner. In one respect the South Carolina county is +quite peculiar: it has no organization for judicial purposes. "The +counties, like their institutional predecessor the district, are +grouped into judicial circuits, and a judge is elected by the +legislature for each circuit. Trial justices are appointed by the +governor for a term of two years." + +[Sidenote: The counties are too large.] +This system, like the simple county system everywhere, is a +representative system; the people take no direct part in the +management of affairs. In one respect it seems obviously to need +amendment. In states where county government has grown up naturally, +after the Virginia fashion, the county is apt to be much smaller than +in states where it is simply a district embracing several township +governments. Thus the average size of a county in Massachusetts is 557 +square miles, and in Connecticut 594 square miles; but in Virginia +it is only 383 and in Kentucky 307 square miles. In South Carolina, +however, where the county did not grow up of itself, but has been +enacted, so to speak, by a kind of afterthought, it has been made too +large altogether. The average area of the county in South Carolina is +about 1,000 square miles. Charleston County, more than 40 miles in +length and not less than 35 in average width, is larger than the +state of Rhode Island. Such an area is much too extensive for +local self-government. Its different portions are too far apart to +understand each other's local wants, or to act efficiently toward +supplying them; and roads, bridges, and free schools suffer +accordingly. An unsuccessful attempt has been made to reduce the size +of the counties. But what seems perhaps more likely to happen is the +practical division of the counties into school districts, and the +gradual development of these school districts into something like +self-governing townships. To this very interesting point we shall +again have occasion to refer. + + +[Sidenote: The _hundred_ in Maryland.] +[Sidenote: Clans, brotherhoods, and tribes] +We come now to Maryland. The early history of local institutions in +this state is a fascinating subject of study. None of the American +colonies had a more distinctive character of its own, or reproduced +old English usages in a more curious fashion. There was much in +colonial Maryland, with its lords of the manor, its bailiffs and +seneschals, its courts baron and courts leet, to remind one of the +England of the thirteenth century. But of these ancient institutions, +long since extinct, there is but one that needs to be mentioned in the +present connection. In Maryland the earliest form of civil community +was called, not a parish or township, but a _hundred_. This +curious designation is often met with in English history, and the +institution which it describes, though now almost everywhere extinct, +was once almost universal among men. It will be remembered that the +oldest form of civil society, which is still to be found among some +barbarous races, was that in which families were organized into clans +and clans into tribes; and we saw that among our forefathers in +England the dwelling-place of the clan became the township, and the +home of the tribe became the shire or county. Now, in nearly all +primitive societies that have been studied, we find a group that is +larger than the clan but smaller than the tribe,--or, in other words, +intermediate between clan and tribe. Scholars usually call this group +by its Greek name, _phratry_ or "brotherhood", for it was known +long ago that in ancient Greece clans were grouped into brotherhoods +and brotherhoods into tribes. Among uncivilized people all over the +world we find this kind of grouping. For example, a tribe of North +American Indians is regularly made up of phratries, and the phratries +are made up of clans; and, strange as it might at first seem, a good +many half-understood features of early Greek and Roman society have +had much light thrown upon them from the study of the usages of +Cherokees and Mohawks. + +Wherever men have been placed, the problem of forming civil society +has been in its main outlines the same; and in its earlier stages it +has been approached in pretty much the same way by all. + +[Sidenote: The hundred court.] +The ancient Romans had the brotherhood, and called it a _curia_. +The Roman people were organized in clans, curies, and tribes. But for +military purposes the curia was called a _century_, because +it furnished a quota of one hundred men to the army. The word +_century_ originally meant a company of a hundred men, and it was +only by a figure of speech that it afterward came to mean a period +of a hundred years. Now among all Germanic peoples, including the +English, the brotherhood seems to have been called the hundred. +Our English forefathers seem to have been organized, like other +barbarians, in clans, brotherhoods, and tribes; and the brotherhood +was in some way connected with the furnishing a hundred warriors to +the host. In the tenth century we find England covered with small +districts known as hundreds. Several townships together made a +hundred, and several hundreds together made a shire. The hundred +was chiefly notable as the smallest area for the administration of +justice. The hundred court was a representative body, composed of the +lords of lands or their stewards, with the reeve and four selected men +and the parish priest from each township. There was a chief magistrate +for the hundred, known originally as the hundredman, but after the +Norman conquest as the high constable. + +[Sidenote: Decay of the hundred.] +[Sidenote: Hundred meetings in Maryland] +By the thirteenth century the importance of the hundred had much +diminished. The need for any such body, intermediate between township +and county, ceased to be felt, and the functions of the hundred were +gradually absorbed by the county. Almost everywhere in England, by the +reign of Elizabeth, the hundred had fallen into decay. It is curious +that its name and some of its peculiarities should have been brought +to America, and should in one state have remained to the present day. +Some of the early settlements in Virginia were called hundreds, but +they were practically nothing more than parishes, and the name soon +became obsolete, except upon the map, where we still see, for example, +Bermuda Hundred. But in Maryland the hundred flourished and became the +political unit, like the township in New England. The hundred was the +militia district, and the district for the assessment of taxes. In the +earliest times it was also the representative district; delegates +to the colonial legislature sat for hundreds. But in 1654 this was +changed, and representatives were elected by counties. The officers +of the Maryland hundred were the high constable, the commander of +militia, the tobacco-viewer, the overseer of roads, and the assessor +of taxes. The last-mentioned officer was elected by the people, the +others were all appointed by the governor. The hundred had also its +assembly of all the people, which was in many respects like the New +England town-meeting. These hundred-meetings enacted by-laws, levied +taxes, appointed committees, and often exhibited a vigorous political +life. But after the Revolution they fell into disuse, and in 1824 the +hundred became extinct in Maryland; its organization was swallowed up +in that of the county. + +[Sidenote: The hundred in Delaware] +[Sidenote: The levy court, or representative county assembly.] +In Delaware, however, the hundred remains to this day. There it +is simply an imperfectly developed township, but its relations with +the county, as they have stood with but little change since 1743, +are very interesting. Each hundred used to choose its own assessor +of taxes, and every year in the month of November the assessors from +all the hundreds used to meet in the county court-house, along with +three or more justices of the peace and eight grand jurors, and assess +the taxes for the ensuing year. A month later they assembled again, +to hear complaints from persons who considered themselves overtaxed; +and having disposed of this business, they proceeded to appoint +collectors, one for each hundred. This county assembly was known as +the "court of levy and appeal," or more briefly as the levy court. +It appointed the county treasurer, the road commissioners, and the +overseers of the poor. Since 1793 the levy court has been composed +of special commissioners chosen by popular vote, but its essential +character has not been altered. As a thoroughly representative body, +it reminds one of the county courts of the Plantagenet period. + +[Sidenote: The old Pennsylvania county.] +We next come to the great middle colonies, Pennsylvania and New York. +The most noteworthy feature of local government in Pennsylvania was +the general election of county officers by popular vote. The county +was the unit of representation in the colonial legislature, and on +election days the people of the county elected at the same time their +sheriffs, coroners, assessors, and county commissioners. In this +respect Pennsylvania furnished a model which has been followed by most +of the states since the Revolution, as regards the county governments. +It is also to be noted that before the Revolution, as Pennsylvania +increased in population, the townships began to participate in the +work of government, each township choosing its overseers of the poor, +highway surveyors, and inspectors of elections.[3] + +[Footnote 3: Town-meetings were not quite unknown in Pennsylvania; +see W. P. Holcomb, "Pennsylvania Boroughs," _J. H. U. Studies_, +IV., iv.] + +[Sidenote: Town-meetings in New York.] +[Sidenote: The county board of supervisors.] +New York had from the very beginning the rudiments of an excellent +system of local self-government. The Dutch villages had their +assemblies, which under the English rule were developed into +town-meetings, though with less ample powers than those of New +England. The governing body of the New York town consisted of the +constable and eight overseers, who answered in most respects to the +selectmen of New England. Four of the overseers were elected each year +in town-meeting, and one of the retiring overseers was at the same +time elected constable. In course of time the elective offices came +to include assessors and collectors, town clerk, highway surveyors, +fence-viewers, pound-masters, and overseers of the poor. At first +the town-meetings seem to have been held only for the election of +officers, but they acquired to a limited extent the power of levying +taxes and enacting by-laws. In 1703 a law was passed requiring each +town to elect yearly an officer to be known as the "supervisor," whose +duty was "to compute, ascertain, examine, oversee, and allow the +contingent, publick, and necessary charges" of the county.[4] For +this purpose the supervisors met once a year at the county town. The +principle was the same as that of the levy court in Delaware. This +board of supervisors was a strictly representative government, and +formed a strong contrast to the close corporation by which county +affairs were administered in Virginia. The New York system is +of especial interest, because it has powerfully influenced the +development of local institutions throughout the Northwest. + +[Footnote 4: Howard, _Local Const. Hist_., i. 111.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the early local government of eastern South Carolina. + +2. Describe the early local government of western South Carolina. + +3. Explain the difference. + +4. What effort was made in 1768 to put a stop to lynch law? + +5. What difficulties arose from the attempted adjustment of +1768? + +6. What compromises were made between the two sections +down to the time of the Civil War? + +7. What changes have been made in local government since the +Civil War? + +8. Mention a peculiarity of the South Carolina county. + +9. Compare its size with that of counties in other states. + +10. What disadvantage is due to this great size? + +11. What was the earliest form of civil community in Maryland, +and from what source did it come? + +12. Trace the development of the hundred in accordance with +the following outline:-- + + a. Intermediate groups between clans and tribes. + b. Illustrations from Greece and the North American Indians. + c. The Roman century and the German hundred. + +13. Describe the English hundred in the tenth century. + +14. Describe the hundred court. + +15. Describe the Maryland hundred and its decay. + +16. What is the relation of the Delaware hundred to the county? + +17. Describe the Delaware levy court. + +18. What were the prominent features of the Pennsylvania +county? + +19. Compare the town-meetings of New York with those of New +England. + +20. What was the government of the New York county? + +21. How did this government compare with that of the Virginia county? + + +Section 2. _Settlement of the Public Domain._ + +[Sidenote: Westward movement of population.] +The westward movement of population in the United States has for the +most part followed the parallels of latitude. Thus Virginians and +North Carolinians, crossing the Alleghanies, settled Kentucky and +Tennessee; thus people from New England filled up the central and +northern parts of New York, and passed on into Michigan and Wisconsin; +thus Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois received many settlers from New York +and Pennsylvania. In the early times when Kentucky was settled, the +pioneer would select a piece of land wherever he liked, and after +having a rude survey made, and the limits marked by "blazing" the +trees with a hatchet, the survey would be put on record in the state +land-office. So little care was taken that half a dozen patents would +sometimes be given for the same tract. Pieces of land, of all shapes +and sizes, lay between the patents.... Such a system naturally begat +no end of litigation, and there remain in Kentucky curious vestiges of +it to this day. [5] + +[Footnote 5: Hinsdale, _Old Northwest_, p. 261.] + +[Sidenote: Method of surveying the public lands.] +[Sidenote: Origins of Western townships.] +In order to avoid such confusion in the settlement of the territory +north of the Ohio river, Congress passed the land-ordinance of 1785, +which was based chiefly upon the suggestions of Thomas Jefferson, and +laid the foundation of our simple and excellent system for surveying +national lands. According to this system as gradually perfected, the +government surveyors first mark out a north and south line which is +called the _principal meridian_. Twenty-four such meridians have been +established. The first was the dividing line between Ohio and Indiana; +the last one runs through Oregon a little to the west of Portland. On +each side of the principal meridian there are marked off subordinate +meridians called _range [6] Then a true parallel of latitude is drawn, +crossing these meridians at right angles. It is called the _base line_, +or standard parallel. Eleven such base lines, for example, run across +the great state of Oregon. Finally, on each side of the base line are +drawn subordinate parallels called _township lines_, six miles apart, +and numbered north and south from their base line. By these range lines +and township lines the whole land is thus divided into townships just +six miles square, and the townships are all numbered. Take, for example, +the township of Deerfield in Michigan. That is the fourth township north +of the base line, and it is in the fifth range east of the first +principal meridian. It would be called township number 4 north range 5 +east, and was so called before it was settled and received a name. +Evidently one must go 24 miles from the principal meridian, or 18 miles +from the base line, in order to enter this township. It is all as simple +as the numbering of streets in Philadelphia.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The following is a diagram of the first principal meridian, +and of the base line running across southern Michigan. A B is the +principal meridian; C D is the base line. The figures on the base line +mark the range lines; the figures on the principal meridian mark the +township lines. E is township 4 north in range 5 east; F is township 5 +south in range 4 west; G is township 3 north in range 3 west. +[Illustration] As the intervals between meridians diminish as we go +northward, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a correction line, the +nature of which will be seen from the following diagram:-- +[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF CORRECTION LINE.]] + +[Footnote 7: In Philadelphia the streets for the most part cross each +other at right angles and at equal distances, so that the city is laid +out like a checkerboard. The parallel streets running in one direction +have names, often taken from trees. Market Street is the central +street from which the others are reckoned in both directions according +to the couplet + + "Market, Arch, Race, and Vine, + Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine," etc. + +The cross streets are not named but numbered, as First, Second, etc. +The houses on one side of the street have odd numbers and on the other +side even numbers, as is the general custom in the United States. With +each new block a new century of numbers begins, although there are +seldom more than forty real numbers in a block. For example, the +corner house on Market Street, just above Fifteenth, is 1501 Market +Street. At somewhere about 1535 or 1539 you come to Sixteenth Street; +then there is a break in the numbering, and the next corner house is +1601. So in going along a numbered street, say Fifteenth, from Market, +the first number will be 1; after passing Arch, 101; after passing +Race, 201, etc. With this system a very slight familiarity with the +city enables one to find his way to any house, and to estimate the +length of time needful for reaching it. St. Louis and some other large +cities have adopted the Philadelphia plan, the convenience of which +is as great as its monotony. In Washington the streets running in +one direction are lettered A, B, C, etc., and the cross streets are +numbered; and upon the checkerboard plan is superposed another plan in +which broad avenues radiate in various directions from the Capitol, +and a few other centres. These avenues cut through the square system +of streets in all directions, so that instead of the dull checkerboard +monotony there is an almost endless variety of magnificent vistas.] + +[Sidenote: and of Western counties.] +If now we look at Livingston County, in which, this township of Deerfield +is situated, we observe that the county is made up of sixteen townships, +in four rows of four; and the next county, Washtenaw, is made up of +twenty townships, in five rows of four. Maps of our Western states +are thus apt to have somewhat of a checkerboard aspect, not unlike +the wonderful country which Alice visited after she had gone through +the looking-glass. Square townships are apt to make square or +rectangular counties, and the state, too, is likely to acquire a more +symmetrical shape. + + +Nothing could be more unlike the jagged, irregular shape of counties +in Virginia or townships in Massachusetts, which grew up just as it +happened. The contrast is similar to that between Chicago, with its +straight streets crossing at right angles, and Boston, or London, with +their labyrinths of crooked lanes. For picturesqueness the advantage +is entirely with the irregular city, but for practical convenience it +is quite the other way. So with our western lands the simplicity and +regularity of the system have made it a marvel of convenience for the +settlers, and doubtless have had much to do with the rapidity with +which civil governments have been built up in the West. "This fact," +says a recent writer, "will be appreciated by those who know from +experience the ease and certainty with which the pioneer on the +great plains of Kansas, Nebraska, or Dakota is enabled to select his +homestead or 'locate his claim' unaided by the expensive skill of the +surveyor." [8] + +[Footnote 8: Howard, _Local Const. Hist. of U. S._, vol. i. p. +139.] + +[Sidenote: Some effects of the system.] +There was more in it than this, however. There was a germ of +organization planted in these western townships, which must be noted +as of great importance. Each township, being six miles in length and +six miles in breadth, was divided into thirty-six numbered sections, +each containing just one square mile, or 640 acres. Each section, +moreover, was divided into 16 tracts of 40 acres each, and sales to +settlers were and are generally made by tracts at the rate of a dollar +and a quarter per acre. For fifty dollars a man may buy forty acres of +unsettled land, provided he will actually go and settle upon it, and +this has proved to be a very effective inducement for enterprising +young men to "go West." Many a tract thus bought for fifty dollars has +turned out to be a soil upon which princely fortunes have grown. A +tract of forty acres represents to-day in Chicago or Minneapolis an +amount of wealth difficult for the imagination to grasp. + +[Sidenote: The reservation for public schools.] +[Sidenote: In this reservation there were the germs of township +government.] +But in each of these townships there was at least one section which +was set apart for a special purpose. This was usually the sixteenth +section, nearly in the centre of the township; and sometimes the +thirty-sixth section, in the southeast corner, was also reserved. +These reservations were for the support of public schools. Whatever +money was earned, by selling the land or otherwise, in these sections, +was to be devoted to school purposes. This was a most remarkable +provision. No other nation has ever made a gift for schools on so +magnificent a scale. We have good reason for taking pride in such a +liberal provision. But we ought not to forget that all national +gifts really involve taxation, and this is no exception to the rule, +although in this case it is not a taking of money, but a keeping of it +back. The national government says to the local government, whatever +revenues may come from that section of 640 acres, be they great or +small, be it a spot in a rural grazing district, or a spot in some +crowded city, are not to go into the pockets of individual men and +women, but are to be reserved for public purposes. This is a case of +disguised taxation, and may serve to remind us of what was said some +time ago, that a government _cannot_ give anything without in one +way or another depriving individuals of its equivalent. No man can sit +on a camp-stool and by any amount of tugging at that camp-stool lift +himself over a fence. Whatever is given comes from somewhere, +and whatever is given by governments comes from the people. This +reservation of one square mile in every township for purposes of +education has already most profoundly influenced the development of +local government in our western states, and in the near future its +effects are likely to become still deeper and wider. To mark out a +township on the map may mean very little, but when once you create in +that township some institution that needs to be cared for, you have +made a long stride toward inaugurating township government. When +a state, as for instance Illinois, grows up after the method just +described, what can be more natural than for it to make the township a +body corporate for school purposes, and to authorize its inhabitants +to elect school officers and tax themselves, so far as may be +necessary, for the support of the schools? But the school-house, +in the centre of the township, is soon found to be useful for many +purposes. It is convenient to go there to vote for state officers or +for congressmen and president, and so the school township becomes an +election district. Having once established such a centre, it is almost +inevitable that it should sooner or later be made to serve sundry +other purposes, and become an area for the election of constables, +justices of the peace, highway surveyors, and overseers of the poor. +In this way a vigorous township government tends to grow up about the +school-house as a nucleus, somewhat as in early New England it grew up +about the church. + +[Sidenote: At first the county system prevailed.] +This tendency may be observed in almost all the western states and +territories, even to the Pacific coast. When the western country was +first settled, representative county government prevailed almost +everywhere. This was partly because the earliest settlers of the West +came in much greater numbers from the middle and southern states than +from New England. It was also partly because, so long as the country +was thinly settled, the number of people in a township was very small, +and it was not easy to have a government smaller than that of the +county. It was something, however, that the little squares on the +map, by grouping which the counties were made, were already called +townships. There is much in a name. It was still more important that +these townships were only six miles square; for that made it sure +that, in due course of time, when population should have become dense +enough, they would be convenient areas for establishing township +government. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What feature is conspicuous in the westward movement of population +in the United States? + +2. What looseness characterized early surveys in Kentucky? + +3. What led to the passage of the land ordinance of 1785? + +4. Give the leading features of the government survey of western +lands:--_a_. The principal meridians. + b. The range lines, + c. The base lines. + d. The township lines. + +5. Illustrate the application of the system in the case of a town. + +6. Contrast in shape western townships and counties with corresponding +divisions in Massachusetts and Virginia. + +7. Contrast them in convenience and in picturesqueness. + +8. What had the convenience of the government system to do with the +settlement of the West? + +9. What were the divisions of the township, and what disposition was +made of them? + +10. What important reservations were made in the townships? + +11. Show how these reservations involved a kind of taxation. + +12. What profound influence has the reservation for schools exerted +upon local government? + +13. Why did the county system prevail at first? + + +Section 3. _The Representative Township-County System in the +West_. + +[Sidenote: The town-meeting in Michigan.] The first western state to +adopt the town-meeting was Michigan, where the great majority of the +settlers had come from New England, or from central New York, which +was a kind of westward extension of New England.[9] Counties were +established in Michigan Territory in 1805, and townships were first +incorporated in 1825. This was twelve years before Michigan became a +state. At first the powers of the town-meeting were narrowly +limited. It elected the town and county officers, but its power of +appropriating money seems to have been restricted to the purpose +of extirpating noxious animals and weeds. In 1827, however, it was +authorized to raise money for the support of schools, and since then +its powers have steadily increased, until now they approach those of +the town-meeting in Massachusetts. + +[Footnote 9: "Of the 496 members of the Michigan Pioneer Association +in 1881, 407 are from these sections" [New England and New York]. +Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v] + +[Sidenote: Settlement of Illinois.] +The history of Illinois presents an extremely interesting example of +rivalry and conflict between the town system of New England and the +county system of the South. Observe that this great state is so long +that, while the parallel of latitude starting from its northern +boundary runs through Marblehead in Massachusetts, the parallel +through its southernmost point, at Cairo, runs a little south of +Petersburg in Virginia. In 1818, when Illinois framed its state +government and was admitted to the Union, its population was chiefly +in the southern half, and composed for the most part of pioneers from +Virginia and Virginia's daughter-state Kentucky. These men brought +with them the old Virginia county system, but with the very great +difference that the county officers were not appointed by the +governor, or allowed to be a self-perpetuating board, but were elected +by the people of the county. This was a true advance in the democratic +direction, but an essential defect of the southern system remained in +the absence of any kind of local meeting for the discussion of public +affairs and the enactment of local laws. + +[Sidenote: Effects of the Ordinance of 1787.] +By the famous Ordinance of 1787, to which we shall again have occasion +to refer, negro slavery had been forever prohibited to the north of +the Ohio river, so that, in spite of the wishes of her early settlers, +Illinois was obliged to enter the Union as a free state. But in 1820 +Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and this turned the stream of +southern migration aside from Illinois to Missouri. These emigrants, +to whom slaveholding was a mark of social distinction, preferred to +go where they could own slaves. About the same time settlers from New +England and New York, moving along the southern border of Michigan +and the northern borders of Ohio and Indiana, began pouring into +the northern part of Illinois. These new-comers did not find the +representative county system adequate for their needs, and they +demanded township government. A memorable political struggle ensued +between the northern and southern halves of the state, ending in 1848 +with the adoption of a new constitution. It was provided that the +legislature should enact a general law for the political organization +of townships, under which any county might act whenever a majority of +its voters should so determine.[10] This was introducing the principle +of local option, and in accordance therewith township governments with +town-meetings were at once introduced in the northern counties of the +state, while the southern counties kept on in the old way. Now comes +the most interesting part of the story. The two systems being thus +brought into immediate contact in the same state, with free choice +between them left to the people, the northern system has slowly but +steadily supplanted the southern system, until at the present day only +one fifth part of the counties in Illinois remain without township +government. + +[Footnote 10: Shaw, _Local Government if Illinois_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., iii.] + +[Sidenote: Intense vitality of the township system.] +This example shows the intense vitality of the township system. It is +the kind of government that people are sure to prefer when they +have tried it under favourable conditions. In the West the hostile +conditions against which it has to contend are either the recent +existence of negro slavery and the ingrained prejudice in favour of +the Virginia method, as in Missouri; or simply the sparseness of +population, as in Nebraska. Time will evidently remove the latter +obstacle, and probably the former also. It is very significant that in +Missouri, which began so lately as 1879 to erect township governments +under a local option law similar to that of Illinois, the process +has already extended over about one sixth part of the state; and in +Nebraska, where the same process began in 1883, it has covered nearly +one third of the organized counties of the state. + +[Sidenote: County option and township option.] +The principle of local option as to government has been carried still +farther in Minnesota and Dakota. The method just described may be +called county option; the question is decided by a majority vote of +the people of the county. But in Minnesota in 1878 it was enacted that +as soon as any one of the little square townships in that state should +contain as many as twenty-five legal voters, it might petition the +board of county commissioners and obtain a township organization, even +though, the adjacent townships in the same county should remain under +county government only. Five years later the same provision was +adopted by Dakota, and under it township government is steadily +spreading. + +[Sidenote: Grades of township government.] +Two distinct grades of township government are to be observed in the +states west of the Alleghanies; the one has the town-meeting for +deliberative purposes, the other has not. In Ohio and Indiana, which +derived their local institutions largely from Pennsylvania, there is +no such town-meeting, the administrative offices are more or less +concentrated in a board of trustees, and the town is quite subordinate +to the county. The principal features of this system have been +reproduced in Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. + +The other system, was that which we have seen beginning in +Michigan, under the influence of New York and New England. Here the +town-meeting, with legislative powers, is always present. The most +noticeable feature of the Michigan system is the relation between +township and county, which was taken from New York. The county board +is composed of the supervisors of the several townships, and thus +represents the townships. It is the same in Illinois. It is held +by some writers that this is the most perfect form of local +government,[11] but on the other hand the objection is made that county +boards thus constituted are too large.[12] We have seen that in the +states in question there are not less than 16, and sometimes more than +20, townships in each county. In a board of 16 or 20 members it is +hard to fasten responsibility upon anybody in particular; and thus +it becomes possible to have "combinations," and to indulge in that +exchange of favours known as "log-rolling," which is one of the +besetting sins of all large representative bodies. Responsibility +is more concentrated in the smaller county boards of Massachusetts, +Wisconsin, and Minnesota. + +[Footnote 11: Howard, _Local Const. Hist._, passim.] + +[Footnote 12: Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan_, J. H. U. +Studies, I., v.] + +[Sidenote: An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the +United States.] +It is one signal merit of the peaceful and untrammelled way in which +American institutions have grown up, the widest possible scope being +allowed to individual and local preferences, that different states +adopt different methods of attaining the great end at which all are +aiming in common,--good government. One part of our vast country can +profit by the experience of other parts, and if any system or method +thus comes to prevail everywhere in the long run, it is likely to +be by reason of its intrinsic excellence. Our country affords an +admirable field for the study of the general principles which lie at +the foundations of universal history. Governments, large and small, +are growing up all about us, and in such wise that we can watch +the processes of growth, and learn lessons which, after making due +allowances for difference of circumstance, are very helpful in the +study of other times and countries. + +The general tendency toward the spread of township government in the +more recently settled parts of the United States is unmistakable, and +I have already remarked upon the influence of the public school system +in aiding this tendency. The school district, as a preparation for +the self-governing township, is already exerting its influence in +Colorado, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and +Washington. + +[Sidenote: Township government is germinating in the South.] +Something similar is going on in the southern states, as already +hinted in the case of South Carolina. Local taxation for school +purposes has also been established in Kentucky and Tennessee, in both +Virginias, and elsewhere. There has thus begun a most natural and +wholesome movement, which might easily be checked, with disastrous +results, by the injudicious appropriation of national revenue for +the aid of southern schools. It is to be hoped that throughout the +southern, states, as formerly in Michigan, the self-governing school +district may prepare the way for the self-governing township, with its +deliberative town-meeting. Such a growth must needs be slow, inasmuch +as it requires long political training on the part of the negroes and +the lower classes of white people; but it is along such a line of +development that such political training can best be acquired; and in +no other way is complete harmony between the two races so likely to be +secured. + +[Sidenote: woman suffrage.] +Dr. Edward Bemis, who in a profoundly interesting essay[13] has called +attention to this function of the school district as a stage in the +evolution of the township, remarks also upon the fact that "it is in +the local government of the school district that woman suffrage is +being tried." In several states women may vote for school committees, +or may be elected to school committees, or to sundry administrative +school offices. At present (1894) there are not less than twenty-one +states in which women have school suffrage. In Colorado and Wyoming +women have full suffrage, voting at municipal, state, and +national elections. In Kansas they have municipal suffrage, and a +constitutional amendment granting them full suffrage is now awaiting +ratification. In England, it may be observed, unmarried women and +widows who pay taxes vote not only on school matters, but generally in +the local elections of vestries, boroughs, and poor-law unions. In +the new Parish Councils Bill this municipal suffrage is extended +to married women. In the Isle of Man women vote for members of +Parliament. In Australia they have long had municipal suffrage, and in +1893 they were endowed with full rights of suffrage in New Zealand. + +[Footnote 13: Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest, J.H.U. +Studies, I., v.] + +The historical reason why the suffrage has so generally been +restricted to men is perhaps to be sought in the conditions under +which voting originated. In primeval times voting was probably adopted +as a substitute for fighting. The smaller and presumably weaker party +yielded to the larger without an actual trial of physical strength; +heads were counted instead of being broken. Accordingly it was only +the warriors who became voters. The restriction of political activity +to men has also probably been emphasized by the fact that all the +higher civilizations have passed through a well-defined patriarchal +stage of society in which each household was represented by its +oldest warrior. From present indications it would seem that under the +conditions of modern industrial society the arrangements that have so +long subsisted are likely to be very essentially altered. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Describe the origin and development of the town-meeting in +Michigan. + +2. Describe the settling of southern Illinois. + +3. Describe the settling of northern Illinois. + +4. What difference in thought and feeling existed between these +sections? + +5. What systems of local government came into rivalry in Illinois, and +why? + +6. What compromise between them was put into the state constitution? + +7. Which system, the town or the county, has shown the greater +vitality, and why? + +8. What obstacles has the town system to work against? + +9. Show how the principle of local option in government has been +applied in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Dakota. + +10. What two grades of town government exist west of the Alleghanies? + +11. What objection exists to large county boards of government? + +12. Why is our country an excellent field for the study of the +principles of government? + +13. What unmistakable tendency in the ease of township government is +noticeable? + +14. Speak of township government in the South. + +15. What part have women in the affairs of the school district in many +states? + +16. What is the historical reason why suffrage has been restricted to +men? + + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +It may need to be repeated (see page 12) that it is not expected +that each pupil shall answer all the miscellaneous questions put, or +respond to all the suggestions made in this book. Indeed, the teacher +may be pardoned if now and then he finds it difficult himself to +answer a question,--particularly if it is framed to provoke thought +rather than lead to a conclusion, or if it is better fitted for some +other community or part of the country than that in which he lives. +Let him therefore divide the questions among his pupils, or assign to +them selected questions. In cases that call for special knowledge, +let the topics go to pupils who may have exceptional facilities for +information at home. + +The important point is not so much the settlement of all the questions +proposed as it is the encouragement of the inquiring and thinking spirit +on the part of the pupil. + +1. What impression do you get from this chapter about the hold of town +government upon popular favour? + +2. What do you regard as the best features of town government? + +3. Is there any tendency anywhere to divide towns into smaller towns? If +it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +4. Is there any tendency anywhere to unite towns into larger towns or +into cities? If it exists, illustrate and explain it. + +5. In every town-meeting there are leaders,--usually men of character, +ability, and means. Do you understand that these men practically have +their own way in town affairs,--that the voters as a whole do but little +more than fall in with the wishes and plans of their leaders? Or is +there considerable independence in thought and action on the side of the +voters? + +6. Can a town do what it pleases, or is it limited in its action? If +limited, by whom or by what is it restricted, and where are the +restrictions recorded? (Consult the Statutes.) + +7. Why should the majority rule in town-meeting? Suggest, if possible, a +better way. + +8. Is it, on the whole, wise that the vote of the poor man shall count +as much as that of the rich, the vote of the ignorant as much as that of +the intelligent, the vote of the unprincipled as much as that of the +high-toned? + +9. Have the poor, the ignorant, or the unprincipled any interests to be +regarded in government? + +10. Is the single vote a man casts the full measure of his influence and +power in the town-meeting? + +11. What are the objections to a suffrage restricted by property and +intellectual qualifications? To a suffrage unrestricted by such +qualifications? + +12. Do women vote in your town? If so, give some account of their voting +and of the success or popularity of the plan. + +13. Is lynch law ever justifiable? + + +14. Ought those who resort to lynch law to be punished? If so, for what? + +15. Compare the condition or government of a community where lynch law +is resorted to with the condition or government of a community where it +is unknown. + + +16. May the citizen who is not an officer of the law interfere (1) to +stop the fighting of boys in the public streets, (2) to capture a thief +who is plying his trade, (3) to defend a person who is brutally +assaulted? Is there anything like lynch law i.e. such interference? Where +does the citizen's duty begin and end In such cases? + +17. How came the United States to own the public domain or any part of +it? (Consult my _Critical Period of Amer. Hist_., pp. 187-207.) + +18. How does this domain get into the possession of individuals? + +19. Is it right for the United States to give any part of it away? If +right, under what conditions is it right? If wrong, under what +conditions is It wrong? + +20. What is the "homestead act" of the United States, and what is its +object? + +21. Can perfect squares of the same size be laid out with the range and +township lines of the public surveys? Are all the sections of a township +of the same size? Explain. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Section 1. VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS.--_J.H.V. Studies_, I., vi., +Edward Ingle, _Parish Institutions of Maryland_; I., vii., John +Johnson, _Old Maryland Manors_; I., xii., B.J. Ramage, _Local +Government and Free Schools in South Carolina_; III., v.-vii., L. + +W. Wilhelm, _Local Institutions of Maryland_; IV., i., Irving +Elting, _Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River_. + +Section 2. SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.--_J. H. U. Studies_, +III., i. H. B. Adams, _Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to +the United States_; IV., vii.-ix., Shoshuke Sato, _History of the +Land Question in the United States_. + +Section 3. THE REPRESENTATIVE TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM.--_J H. U. +Studies_, I., iii., Albert Shaw, _Local Government in Illinois_; I., v., +Edward Bemis, _Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest_; II., +vii., Jesse Macy, _Institutional Beginnings in a Western State (Iowa)_. +For farther illustration of one set of institutions supervening upon +another, see also V., v.-vi., J. G. Bourinot, _Local Government in +Canada_; VIII., in., D. E. Spencer, _Local Government in Wisconsin_. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE CITY. + + +Section 1. _Direct and Indirect Government_. + +[Sidenote: Summary of foregoing results.] +In the foregoing survey of local institutions and their growth, we +have had occasion to compare and sometimes to contrast two different +methods of government as exemplified on the one hand in the township +and on the other hand in the county. In the former we have direct +government by a primary assembly,[1] the town-meeting; in the latter +we have indirect government by a representative board. If the county +board, as in colonial Virginia, perpetuates itself, or is appointed +otherwise than by popular vote, it is not strictly a representative +board, in the modern sense of the phrase; the government is a kind of +oligarchy. If, as in colonial Pennsylvania, and in the United States +generally to-day, the county board consists of officers elected by +the people, the county government is a representative democracy. The +township government, on the other hand, as exemplified in New England +and in the northwestern states which have adopted it, is a pure +democracy. The latter, as we have observed, has one signal advantage +over all other kinds of government, in so far as it tends to make +every man feel that the business of government is part of his own +business, and that where he has a stake in the management of public +affairs he has also a voice. When people have got into the habit of +leaving local affairs to be managed by representative boards, their +active interest in local affairs is liable to be somewhat weakened, as +all energies in this world are weakened, from want of exercise. When +some fit subject of complaint is brought up, the individual is too apt +to feel that it is none of his business to furnish a remedy, let the +proper officers look after it. He can vote at elections, which is a +power; he can perhaps make a stir in the newspapers, which is also a +power; but personal participation in town-meeting is likewise a +power, the necessary loss of which, as we pass to wider spheres of +government, is unquestionably to be regretted. + +[Footnote 1: A primary assembly is one in which the members attend of +their own right, without having been elected to it; a representative +assembly is composed of elected delegates.] + +[Sidenote: Direct government impossible in a county.] +Nevertheless the loss is inevitable. A primary assembly of all the +inhabitants of a county, for purposes of local government, is out +of the question. There must be representative government, for this +purpose the county system, an inheritance from the ancient English +shire, has furnished the needful machinery. Our county government is +near enough to the people to be kept in general from gross abuses of +power. There are many points which can be much better decided in +small representative bodies than in large miscellaneous meetings. The +responsibility of our local boards has been fairly well preserved. The +county system has had no mean share in keeping alive the spirit of +local independence and self-government among our people. As regards +efficiency of administration, it has achieved commendable success, +except in the matter of rural highways; and if our roads are worse +than those of any other civilized country, that is due not so much +to imperfect administrative methods as to other causes,--such as the +sparseness of population, the fierce extremes of sunshine and frost, +and the fact that since this huge country began to be reclaimed from +the wilderness, the average voter, who has not travelled in Europe, +knows no more about good roads than he knows about the temples of +Paestum or the pictures of Tintoretto, and therefore does not realize +what demands he may reasonably make. + +This last consideration applies in some degree, no doubt, to the +ill-paved and filthy streets which are the first things to arrest +one's attention in most of our great cities. It is time for us now to +consider briefly our general system of city government, in its origin +and in some of its most important features. + +[Sidenote: The Boston town-meeting in 1820.] +Representative government in counties is necessitated by the extent of +territory covered; in cities it is necessitated by the multitude +of people. When the town comes to have a very large population, it +becomes physically impossible to have town-meetings. No way could be +devised by which all the taxpayers of the city of New York could be +assembled for discussion. In 1820 the population of Boston was about +40,000, of whom rather more than 7,000 were voters qualified to attend +the town-meetings. Consequently when a town-meeting was held on any +exciting subject in Faneuil Hall, those only who obtained places near +the moderator could even hear the discussion. A few busy or interested +individuals easily obtained the management of the most important +affairs in an assembly in which the greater number could have neither +voice nor hearing. When the subject was not generally exciting, +town-meetings were usually composed of the selectmen, the town +officers, and thirty or forty inhabitants. Those who thus came were +for the most part drawn to it from some official duty or private +interest, which, when performed or attained, they generally troubled +themselves but little, or not at all, about the other business of the +meeting.[2] + +[Footnote 2: Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, p. 28.] + +Under these circumstances it was found necessary in 1822 to drop +the town-meeting altogether and devise a new form of government for +Boston. After various plans had been suggested and discussed, it was +decided that the new government should be vested in a Mayor; a select +council of eight persons to be called the Board of Aldermen; and a +Common Council of forty-eight persons, four from each of twelve wards +into which the city was to be divided. All these officials were to be +elected by the people. At the same time the official name "Town of +Boston" was changed to "City of Boston." + +[Sidenote: Distinctions between towns and cities.] +There is more or less of history involved in these offices and +designations, to which we may devote a few words of explanation. In +New England local usage there is an ambiguity in the word "town." +As an official designation it means the inhabitants of a township +considered as a community or corporate body. In common parlance it +often means the patch of land constituting the township on the map, as +when we say that Squire Brown's elm is "the biggest tree in town." But +it still oftener means a collection of streets, houses, and families +too large to be called a village, but without the municipal government +that characterizes a city. Sometimes it is used _par excellence_ +for a city, as when an inhabitant of Cambridge, itself a large +suburban city, speaks of going to Boston as going "into town." But +such cases are of course mere survivals from the time when the suburb +was a village. In American usage generally the town is something +between village and city, a kind of inferior or incomplete city. The +image which it calls up in the mind is of something urban and not +rural. This agrees substantially with the usage in European history, +where "town" ordinarily means a walled town or city as contrasted with +a village. In England the word is used either in this general sense, +or more specifically as signifying an inferior city, as in America. +But the thing which the town lacks, as compared with the complete +city, is very different in America from what it is in England. In +America it is municipal government--with mayor, aldermen, and common +council--which must be added to the town in order to make it a city. +In England the town may (and usually does) have this municipal +government; but it is not distinguished by the Latin name "city" +unless it has a cathedral and a bishop. Or in other words the English +city is, or has been, the capital of a diocese. Other towns in England +are distinguished as "boroughs," an old Teutonic word which was +originally applied to towns as _fortified_ places.[3] The voting +inhabitants of an English city are called "citizens;" those of +a borough are called "burgesses." Thus the official corporate +designation of Cambridge is "the mayor, aldermen, and _burgesses_ +of Cambridge;" but Oxford is the seat of a bishopric, and its +corporate designation is "the mayor, aldermen, and _citizens_ of +Oxford." + +[Footnote 3: The word appears in many town names, such as +_Edinburgh, Scarborough, Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds_; and +on the Continent, as _Hamburg, Cherbourg, Burgos_, etc. In +Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, the name +"borough" is applied to a certain class of municipalities with some of +the powers of cities.] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the essential difference between township government +and county government? + +2. What is the distinct advantage of the former? + +3. Why is direct government impossible in the county? + +4. Speak of the degree of efficiency in county government. + +5. Why is direct government impossible in a city? + +6. What difficulties in direct government were experienced in +Boston in 1820 and many years preceding? + +7. What remedy for these difficulties was adopted? + +8. Show how the word "town" is used to indicate + + a. The land of a township. + b. A somewhat large collection of streets, houses, and families. + c. And even, in some instances, a city. + +9. What is the town commonly understood to be in American +usage? + +10. What is the difference in the United States between a town +and a city? + +11. What is the difference in England between a town and a +city? + +12. Distinguish between citizens and burgesses in England. + + +Section 2. _Origin of English Boroughs and Cities_. + +[Sidenote: "Chesters."] +[Sidenote: Coalescence of towns to fortified boroughs.] +What, then, was the origin of the English borough or city? In the days +when Roman legions occupied for a long time certain military stations in +Britain, their camps were apt to become centres of trade and thus to +grow into cities. Such places were generally known as _casters_ or +_chesters_, from the Latin _castra_, "camp," and there are many of them +on the map of England to-day. But these were exceptional cases. As a +rule the origin of the borough was as purely English as its name. We +have seen that the town was originally the dwelling-place of a +stationary clan, surrounded by palisades or by a dense quickset hedge. +Now where such small enclosed places were thinly scattered about they +developed simply into villages. But where, through the development of +trade or any other cause, a good many of them grew up close together +within a narrow compass, they gradually coalesced into a kind of +compound town; and with the greater population and greater wealth, there +was naturally more elaborate and permanent fortification than that of +the palisaded village. There were massive walls and frowning turrets, +and the place came to be called a fortress or "borough." The borough, +then, was simply several townships packed tightly together; a hundred +smaller in extent and thicker in population than other hundreds.[4] + +[Footnote 4: Freeman, _Norman Conquest_, vol. v. p. 466. For a +description of the _hundred_, see above, pp. 75-80.] + +[Sidenote: The borough as a hundred.] +From this compact and composite character of the borough came several +important results. We have seen that the hundred was the smallest area +for the administration of justice. The township was in many respects +self-governing, but it did not have its court, any more than the New +England township of the present day has its court. The lowest court +was that of the hundred, but as the borough was equivalent to a +hundred it soon came to have its own court. And although much +obscurity still surrounds the early history of municipal government in +England, it is probable that this court was a representative board, +like any other hundred court, and that the relation of the borough to +its constituent townships resembled the relation of the modern city to +its constituent wards. + +[Sidenote: The borough as a county.] +But now as certain boroughs grew larger and annexed outlying +townships, or acquired adjacent territory which presently became +covered with streets and houses, their constitution became still more +complex. The borough came to embrace several closely packed hundreds, +and thus became analogous to a shire. In this way it gained for itself +a sheriff and the equivalent of a county court. For example, under the +charter granted by Henry I. in 1101, London was expressly recognized +as a county by itself. Its burgesses could elect their own chief +magistrate, who was called the port-reeve, inasmuch as London is a +seaport; in some other towns he was called the borough-reeve. He was +at once the chief executive officer and the chief judge. The burgesses +could also elect their sheriff, although in all rural counties Henry's +father, William the Conqueror, had lately deprived the people of +this privilege and appointed the sheriffs himself. London had its +representative board, or council, which was the equivalent of a county +court. Each ward, moreover, had its own representative board, which +was the equivalent of a hundred court. Within the wards, or hundreds, +the burgesses were grouped together in township, parish, or manor.... +Into the civic organization of London, to whose special privileges +all lesser cities were ever striving to attain, the elements of local +administration embodied in the township, the hundred, and the shire +thus entered as component parts.[5] Constitutionally, therefore, +London was a little world in itself, and in a less degree the same was +true of other cities and boroughs which afterwards obtained the same +kind of organization, as for example, York and Newcastle, Lincoln and +Norwich, Southampton and Bristol. + +[Footnote 5: Hannis Taylor, _Origin and Growth of the English +Constitution_, vol. i. p. 458.] + +[Sidenote: The guilds.] +[Sidenote: mayor, aldermen, and common council.] +In such boroughs or cities all classes of society were brought into +close contact,--barons and knights, priests and monks, merchants and +craftsmen, free labourers and serfs. But trades and manufactures, +which always had so much to do with the growth of the city, acquired +the chief power and the control of the government. From an early +period tradesmen and artisans found it worth while to form themselves +into guilds or brotherhoods, in order to protect their persons and +property against insult and robbery at the hands of great lords and +their lawless military retainers. Thus there came to be guilds, or +"worshipful companies," of grocers, fishmongers, butchers, weavers, +tailors, ironmongers, carpenters, saddlers, armourers, needle-makers, +etc. In large towns there was a tendency among such trade guilds +to combine in a "united brotherhood," or "town guild," and this +organization at length acquired full control of the city government. +In London this process was completed in the course of the thirteenth +century. To obtain the full privileges of citizenship one had to +be enrolled in a guild. The guild hall became the city hall. The +_aldermen_, or head men of sundry guilds, became the head men +of the several wards. There was a representative board, or _common +council_, elected by the citizens. The aldermen and common council +held their meetings in the Guildhall, and over these meetings presided +the chief magistrate, or port-reeve, who by this time, in accordance +with the fashion then prevailing, had assumed the French title of +_mayor_. As London had come to be a little world in itself, +so this city government reproduced on a small scale the national +government; the mayor answering to the king, the aristocratic board of +aldermen to the House of Lords, and the democratic common council to +the House of Commons. A still more suggestive comparison, perhaps, +would be between the aldermen and our federal Senate, since the +aldermen represented wards, while the common council represented the +citizens. + +[Sidenote: The city of London.] +The constitution thus perfected in the city of London[6] six hundred +years ago has remained to this day without essential change. The voters +are enrolled members of companies which represent the ancient guilds. +Each year they choose one of the aldermen to be lord mayor. Within the +city he has precedence next to the sovereign and before the royal +family; elsewhere he ranks as an earl, thus indicating the equivalence +of the city to a county, and with like significance he is lord +lieutenant of the city and justice of the peace. The twenty-six +aldermen, one for each ward, are elected by the people, such as are +entitled to vote for members of parliament; they are justices of the +peace. The common councilmen, 206 in number, are also elected by the +people, and their legislative power within the city is practically +supreme; parliament does not think of overruling it. And the city +government thus constituted is one of the most clean-handed and +efficient in the world.[7] + +[Footnote 6: The city of London extends east and west from the Tower +to Temple Bar, and north and south from Finsbury to the Thames, with +a population of not more than 100,000, and is but a small part of the +enormous metropolitan area now known as London, which is a circle of +twelve miles radius in every direction from its centre at Charing +Cross, with a population of more than 5,000,000. This vast area is an +agglomeration of many parishes, manors, etc., and has no municipal +government in common.] + +[Footnote 7: Loftie, _History of London _, vol. i. p. 446] +[Sidenote: English cities, the bulwarks of liberty.] + +The development of other English cities and boroughs was so far like +that of London that merchant guilds generally obtained control, and +government by mayor, aldermen, and common council came to be the +prevailing type. Having also their own judges and sheriffs, and not +being obliged to go outside of their own walls to obtain justice, to +enforce contracts and punish crime, their efficiency as independent +self-governing bodies was great, and in many a troubled time they +served as staunch bulwarks of English liberty. The strength of their +turreted walls was more than supplemented by the length of their +purses, and such immunity from the encroachments of lords and king +as they could not otherwise win, they contrived to buy. Arbitrary +taxation they generally escaped by compounding with the royal +exchequer in a fixed sum or quit-rent, known as the _firma +burgi_. We have observed the especial privilege which Henry I. +confirmed to London, of electing its own sheriff. London had been +prompt in recognizing his title to the crown, and such support, in +days when the succession was not well regulated, no prudent king could +afford to pass by without some substantial acknowledgment. It was +never safe for any king to trespass upon the liberties of London, and +through the worst times that city has remained a true republic with +liberal republican sentiments. If George III. could have been guided +by the advice of London, as expressed by its great alderman Beckford, +the American colonies would not have been driven into rebellion. + +[Sidenote: Simon de Montfort and the cities.] +The most signal part played by the English boroughs and cities, in +securing English freedom, dates from the thirteenth century, when +the nation was vaguely struggling for representative government on a +national scale, as a means of curbing the power of the crown. In that +memorable struggle, the issue of which to some extent prefigured +the shape that the government of the United States was to take five +hundred years afterward, the cities and boroughs supported Simon de +Montfort, the leader of the popular party and one of the foremost +among the heroes and martyrs of English liberty. Accordingly on the +morrow of his decisive victory at Lewes in 1264, when for the moment +he stood master of England, as Cromwell stood four centuries later +Simon called a parliament to settle the affairs of the kingdom, and +to this parliament he invited, along with the lords who came by +hereditary custom, not only two elected representatives from each +rural county, but also two elected representatives from each city and +borough. In this parliament, which met in 1265, the combination of +rural with urban representatives brought all parts of England together +in a grand representative body, the House of Commons, with interests +in common; and thus the people presently gained power enough to defeat +all attempts to establish irresponsible government, such as we call +despotism, on the part of the crown. + + +[Sidenote: Oligarchical abuses in English cities (cir. 1500-1835).] +If we look at the later history of English cities and boroughs, it +appears that, in spite of the splendid work which they did for the +English people at large, they did not always succeed in preserving +their own liberties unimpaired. London, indeed, has always maintained +its character as a truly representative republic. But in many English +cities, during the Tudor and Stuart periods, the mayor and aldermen +contrived to dispense with popular election, and thus to become close +corporations or self-perpetuating oligarchical bodies. There was a +notable tendency toward this sort of irresponsible government in +the reign of James I., and the Puritans who came to the shores of +Massachusetts Bay were inspired with a feeling of revolt against such +methods. This doubtless lent an emphasis to the mood in which they +proceeded to organize themselves into free self-governing townships. +The oligarchical abuses in English cities and boroughs remained until +they were swept away by the great Municipal Reform Act of 1835. + +[Sidenote: Government of the city of New York (1686-1821).] +The first city governments established in America were framed in +conscious imitation of the corresponding institutions in England. +The oldest city government in the United States is that of New York. +Shortly after the town was taken from the Dutch in 1664, the new +governor, Colonel Nichols, put an end to its Dutch form of government, +and appointed a mayor, five aldermen, and a sheriff. These officers +appointed inferior officers, such as constables, and little or nothing +was left to popular election. But in 1686, under Governor Dongan, +New York was regularly incorporated and chartered as a city. Its +constitution bore an especially close resemblance to that of Norwich, +then the third city in England in size and importance. The city of New +York was divided into six wards. The governing corporation consisted +of the mayor, the recorder, the town-clerk, six aldermen, and six +assistants. All the land not taken up by individual owners was granted +as public land to the corporation, which in return paid into the +British exchequer one beaver-skin yearly. This was a survival of the +old quit-rent or _firma burgi_.[8] The city was made a county, +and thus had its court, its sheriff and coroner, and its high +constable. Other officers were the chamberlain or treasurer, seven +inferior constables, a sergeant-at-arms, and a clerk of the market, +who inspected weights and measures, and punished delinquencies in the +use of them. The principal judge was the recorder, who, as we have +just seen, was one of the corporation. The aldermen, assistants, and +constables were elected annually by the people; but the mayor and +sheriff were appointed by the governor. The recorder, town-clerk, and +clerk of the market were to be appointed by the king, but in case +the king neglected to act, these appointments also were made by the +governor. The high constable was appointed by the mayor, the treasurer +by the mayor, aldermen, and assistants, who seem to have answered +to the ordinary common council. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen, +without the assistants, were a judicial body, and held a weekly court +of common pleas. When the assistants were added, the whole became a +legislative body empowered to enact by-laws. + +[Footnote 8: Jameson, "The Municipal Government of New York," _Mag. +Amer. Hist_., vol. viii. p. 609.] + +Although this charter granted very imperfect powers of +self-government, the people contrived to live under it for a hundred +and thirty-five years, until 1821. Before the Revolution their +petitions succeeded in obtaining only a few unimportant amendments.[9] +When the British army captured the city in September, 1776, it was +forthwith placed under martial law, and so remained until the army +departed in November, 1783. During those seven years New York was not +altogether a comfortable place in which to live. After 1783 the city +government remained as before, except that the state of New York +assumed the control formerly exercised by the British crown. Mayor and +recorder, town-clerk and sheriff, were now appointed by a council of +appointment consisting of the governor and four senators. This did not +work well, and the constitution of 1821 gave to the people the power +of choosing their sheriff and town-clerk, while the mayor was to be +elected by the common council. Nothing but the appointment of the +recorder remained in the hands of the governor. Thus nearly forty +years after the close of the War of Independence the city of New York +acquired self-government as complete as that of the city of London. +In 1857, as we shall see, this self-government was greatly curtailed, +with results more or less disastrous. + + +[Footnote 9: Especially in the so-called Montgomerie charter of 1730.] + +[Sidenote: City government in Philadelphia (1701-1789).] +The next city governments to be organized in the American colonies, +after that of New York, were those of Philadelphia, incorporated in +1701, and Annapolis, incorporated in 1708. These governments were +framed after the wretched pattern then so common in England. In +both the mayor, the recorder, the aldermen, and the common council +constituted a close self-electing corporation. The resulting abuses +were not so great as in England, probably because the cities were +so small. But in course of time, especially in Philadelphia as it +increased in population, the viciousness of the system was abundantly +illustrated. As the people could not elect the governing corporation +or any of its members, they very naturally and reasonably distrusted +it, and through the legislature they contrived so to limit its powers +of taxation that it was really unable to keep the streets in repair, +to light them at night, or to support an adequate police force. An +attempt was made to supply such wants by creating divers independent +boards of commissioners, one for paving and draining, another for +street-lamps and watchmen, a third for town-pumps, and so on. In this +way responsibility got so minutely parcelled out and scattered, and +there was so much jealousy and wrangling between the different boards +and the corporation, that the result was chaos. The public money was +habitually wasted and occasionally embezzled, and there was general +dissatisfaction. In 1789 the close corporation was abolished, and +thereafter the aldermen and common council were elected by the +citizens, the mayor was chosen by the aldermen out of their own +number, and the recorder was appointed by the mayor and aldermen. Thus +Philadelphia obtained a representative government. + +[Sidenote: Traditions of good government lacking.] +These instances of New York and Philadelphia sufficiently illustrate +the beginnings of city government in the United States. In each case +the system was copied from England at a time when city government +in England was sadly demoralized. What was copied was not the free +republic of London, with its noble traditions of civic honour and +sagacious public spirit, but the imperfect republics or oligarchies +into which the lesser English boroughs were sinking, amid the foul +political intrigues and corruption which characterized the Stuart +period. The government of American cities in our own time is admitted +on all hands to be far from satisfactory. It is interesting to observe +that the cities which had municipal government before the Revolution, +though they have always had their full share of able and high-minded +citizens, do not possess even the tradition of good government. And +the difficulty, in those colonial times, was plainly want of adequate +self-government, want of responsibility on the part of the public +servants toward their employers the people. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the origin of the _casters_ and _chesters_ that are found +in England to-day? + +2. Trace the development of the English borough until it became +a kind of hundred. + +3. Compare this borough, with the hundred in the administration +of justice. + +4. Trace the further development of the borough in cases in +which it became a county. + +5. Illustrate this development with London, showing how the elements of +the township, the hundred, and the shire government enter into its civic +organization. + +6. Explain the origin and the objects of the various guilds. + +7. Speak of the "town guild" under the following heads:-- + + a. Its composition and power. + b. Its relation to citizenship. + c. Its place of meeting. + d. The aldermen. + e. The common council. + f. The chief magistrate. + +8. Compare the government of London with that of Great Britain or of the +United States. + +9. Give some account of the lord mayor, the aldermen, and the councilmen +of London. + +10. Distinguish between London the city and London the metropolis. + +11. Show how the English cities and boroughs became bulwarks of liberty +by (1) their facilities for obtaining justice, (2) the strength of their +walls, and (3) the length of their purses. + +12. Contrast the power of London with that of the throne. + +13. What notable advance in government was made under the leadership of +Simon de Montfort? + +14. What abuses crept into the government of many of the English cities? + +15. What was the Puritan attitude towards such abuses? + +16. Give an account of the government of New York city:-- + + a. The charter of 1686. + b. The governing corporation. + c. The public land. + d. The city's privileges as a county. + e. Officers by election and by appointment. + f. Judicial functions. + g. Martial law. + h. The charter of 1821. + +17. Give an account of the government of Philadelphia:-- + + a. The governments after which it was patterned. + b. The viciousness of the system adopted. + c. The legislative interference that was thus provoked. + d. The division of responsibility and the results of such + division. + e. The nature of the changes made in 1789. + +18. Why are the traditions of good government lacking in the older +American cities? + + +Section 3. The Government of Cities in the United States. + +[Sidenote: Several features of our city governments.] +At the present day American municipal governments are for the most +part constructed on the same general plan, though with many variations +in detail. There is an executive department, with the mayor at its +head. The mayor is elected voters of the city, and holds office +generally for one year, but sometimes for two or three years, and in +St. Louis and Philadelphia even for four years. Under the mayor are +various heads of departments,--street commissioners, assessors, +overseers of the poor, etc.,--sometimes elected by the citizens, +sometimes appointed by the mayor or the city council. This city +council Is a legislative body, usually consisting of two chambers, the +aldermen and the common council, elected by the citizens; but in many +small cities, and a few of the largest,--such as New York, Brooklyn, +Chicago, and San Francisco,--there is but one such chamber. Then there +are city judges, sometimes appointed by the governor of the state, to +serve for life or during good behaviour, but usually elected by the +citizens for short terms. + +All appropriations of money for city purposes are made by the city +council; and as a general rule this council has some control over the +heads of executive departments, which it exercises through committees. +Thus there may be a committee upon streets, upon public buildings, +upon parks or almshouses or whatever the municipal government is +concerned with. The head of a department is more or less dependent +upon his committee, and in practice this is found to divide and weaken +responsibility. The heads of departments are apt to be independent of +one another, and to owe no allegiance in common to any one. The mayor, +when he appoints them, usually does so subject to the approval, of the +city council or of one branch of it. The mayor is usually not a member +of the city council, but can veto its enactments, which however can be +passed over his veto by a two thirds majority. + +[Sidenote: They do not seem to work well.] +[Sidenote: some difficulties to be stated.] +City governments thus constituted are something like state governments +in miniature. The relation of the mayor to the city council is +somewhat like that of the governor to the state legislature, and of +the president to the national congress. In theory nothing could well +be more republican, or more unlike such city governments as those of +New York and Philadelphia before the Revolution. Yet in practice it +does not seem to work well. New York and Philadelphia seem to +have heard as many complaints in the nineteenth century as in the +eighteenth, and the same kind of complaints,--of excessive taxation, +public money wasted or embezzled, ill-paved and dirty streets, +inefficient police, and so on to the end of the chapter. In most of +our large cities similar evils have been witnessed, and in too many of +the smaller ones the trouble seems to be the same in kind, only less +in degree. Our republican government, which, after making all due +allowances, seems to work remarkably well in rural districts, and in +the states, and in the nation, has certainly been far less successful +as applied to cities. Accordingly our cities have come to furnish +topics for reflection to which writers and orators fond of boasting +the unapproachable excellence of American institutions do not like to +allude. Fifty years ago we were wont to speak of civil government +in the United States as if it had dropped from heaven or had been +specially created by some kind of miracle upon American soil; and we +were apt to think that in mere republican forms there was some kind of +mystic virtue which made them a panacea for all political evils. Our +later experience with cities has rudely disturbed this too confident +frame of mind. It has furnished facts which do not seem to fit our +self-complacent theory, so that now our writers and speakers are +inclined to vent their spleen upon the unhappy cities, perhaps too +unreservedly. We hear them called "foul sinks of corruption" and +"plague spots on our body politic." Yet in all probability our cities +are destined to increase in number and to grow larger and larger; so +that perhaps it is just as well to consider them calmly, as presenting +problems which had not been thought of when our general theory of +government was first worked out a hundred years ago, but which, after +we have been sufficiently taught by experience, we may hope to succeed +in solving, just as we have heretofore succeeded in other things. A +general discussion of the subject does not fall within the province of +this brief historical sketch. But our account would be very incomplete +if we were to stop short of mentioning some of the recent attempts +that have been made toward reconstructing our theories of city +government and improving its practical working. And first, let us +point out a few of the peculiar difficulties of the problem, that we +may see why we might have been expected, up to the present time, +to have been less successful in managing our great cities than in +managing our rural communities, and our states, and our nation. + + +[Sidenote: Rapid growth of American cities.] +In the first place, the problem is comparatively new and has taken us +unawares. At the time of Washington's inauguration to the presidency +there were no large cities in the United States. Philadelphia had a +population of 42,000; New York had 33,000; Boston, which came next, with +18,000, was not yet a city. Then came Baltimore, with 13,000; while +Brooklyn was a village of 1,600 souls. Now these five cities have a +population of more than 4,000,000, or more than that of the United +States in 1789. And consider how rapidly new cities have been added to +the list. One hardly needs to mention the most striking cases, such as +Chicago, with 4,000 inhabitants in 1840. and at least 1,000,000 in 1890; +or Denver, with its miles of handsome streets and shops, and not one +native inhabitant who has reached his thirtieth birthday. Such facts are +summed up in the general statement that, whereas in 1790 the population +of the United States was scarcely 4,000,000, and out of each 100 +inhabitants only 3 dwelt in cities and the other 97 in rural places; on +the other hand in 1880, when the population was more than 50,000,000, +out of each 100 inhabitants 23 dwelt in cities and 77 in rural places. +But duly to appreciate the rapidity of this growth of cities, we must +observe that most of it has been subsequent to 1840. In 1790 there were +six towns in the United States that might be ranked as cities from their +size, though to get this number we must include Boston. In 1800 the +number was the same. By 1810 the number had risen from 6 to 11; by 1820 +it had reached 13; by 1830 this thirteen had doubled and become 26; and +in 1840 there were 44 cities altogether. The urban population increased +from 210,873 in 1800 to 1,453,994 in 1840. But between 1840 and 1880 the +number of new cities which came into existence was 242, and the urban +population increased to 11,318,547. Nothing like this was ever known +before in any part of the world, and perhaps it is not strange that such +a tremendous development did not find our methods of government fully +prepared to deal with it. + + +[Sidenote: Want of practical foresight.] +This rapidity of growth has entailed some important consequences. In the +first place it obliges the city to make great outlays of money in order +to get immediate results. Public works must be undertaken with a view to +quickness rather than thoroughness. Pavements, sewers, and reservoirs of +some sort must be had at once, even if inadequately planned and +imperfectly constructed; and so, before a great while, the work must be +done over again. Such conditions of imperative haste increase the +temptations to dishonesty as well as the liability to errors of judgment +on the part of the men who administer the public funds.[10] Then the +rapid growth of a city, especially of a new city, requiring the +immediate construction of a certain amount of public works, almost +necessitates the borrowing of money, and debt means heavy taxes. It is +like the case of a young man who, in order to secure a home for his +quickly growing family, buys a house under a heavy mortgage. Twice a +year there comes in a great bill for interest, and in order to meet it +he must economize in his table or now and then deny himself a new suit +of clothes. So if a city has to tax heavily to pay its debts, it must +cut down its current expenses somewhere, and the results are sure to be +visible in more or less untidiness and inefficiency. Mr. Low tells us +that "very few of our American cities have yet paid in full the cost of +their original water-works." Lastly, much wastefulness results from want +of foresight. It is not easy to predict how a city will grow, or the +nature of its needs a few years hence. Moreover, even when it is easy +enough to predict a result, it is not easy to secure practical foresight +on the part of a city council elected for the current year. Its members +are afraid of making taxes too heavy this year, and considerations of +ten years hence are apt to be dismissed as "visionary." It is always +hard for us to realize how terribly soon ten years hence will be here. +The habit of doing things by halves has been often commented on (and, +perhaps, even more by our own writers than by foreigners) as especially +noticeable in America. It has doubtless been fostered by the conditions +which in so many cases have made it absolutely necessary to adopt +temporary makeshifts. These conditions have produced a certain habit of +mind. + +[Footnote 10: This and some of the following considerations have been +ably set forth and illustrated by Hon. Seth Low, president of Columbia +College, and lately mayor of Brooklyn, in an address at Johns Hopkins +University, published in _J. H. U. Studies, Supplementary Notes_, +no. 4.] + +[Sidenote: Growth in complexity of government in cities.] +Let us now observe that as cities increase in size the amount of +government that is necessary tends in some respects to increase. +Wherever there is a crowd there is likely to be some need of rules and +regulations. In the country a man may build his house pretty much as he +pleases; but in the city he may be forbidden to build it of wood, and +perhaps even the thickness of the party walls or the position of the +chimneys may come in for some supervision on the part of the government. +For further precaution against spreading fires, the city has an +organized force of men, with costly engines, engine-houses, and stables. +In the country a board of health has comparatively little to do; in the +city it is often confronted with difficult sanitary problems which call +for highly paid professional skill on the part of physicians and +chemists, architects and plumbers, masons and engineers. So, too, the +water supply of a great city is likely to be a complicated business, and +the police force may well need as much, management as a small army. In +short, with a city, increase in size is sure to involve increase in +complexity of organization, and this means a vast increase in the number +of officials for doing the work and of details to be superintended. For +example, let us enumerate the executive department and officers of the +city of Boston at the present time. + +[Sidenote: Municipal officers in Boston.] +There are three street commissioners with power to lay out streets and +assess damages thereby occasioned. These are elected by the people. The +following officers are appointed by the mayor, with the concurrence of +the aldermen: a superintendent of streets, an inspector of buildings, +three commissioners each for the fire and health departments, four +overseers of the poor, besides a board of nine directors for the +management of almshouses, houses of correction, lunatic hospital, etc.; +a city hospital board of five members, five trustees of the public +library, three commissioners each for parks and water-works; five chief +assessors, to estimate the value of property and assess city, county, +and state taxes; a city collector, a superintendent of public buildings, +five trustees of Mount Hope Cemetery, six sinking fund commissioners, +two record commissioners, three registrars of voters, a registrar of +births, deaths, and marriages, a city treasurer, city auditor, city +solicitor, corporation counsel, city architect, city surveyor, +superintendent of Faneuil Hall Market, superintendent of street lights, +superintendent of sewers, superintendent of printing, superintendent of +bridges, five directors of ferries, harbour master and ten assistants, +water registrar, inspector of provisions, inspector of milk and vinegar, +a sealer and four deputy sealers of weights and measures, an inspector +of lime, three inspectors of petroleum, fifteen inspectors of pressed +hay, a culler of hoops and staves, three fence-viewers, ten +field-drivers and pound-keepers, three surveyors of marble, nine +superintendents of hay scales, four measurers of upper leather, fifteen +measurers of wood and bark, twenty measurers of grain, three weighers of +beef, thirty-eight weighers of coal, five weighers of boilers and heavy +machinery, four weighers of ballast and lighters, ninety-two +undertakers, 150 constables, 968 election officers and their deputies. A +few of these officials serve without pay, some are paid by salaries +fixed by the council, some by fees. Besides these there is a clerk of +the common council elected by that body, and also the city clerk, city +messenger, and clerk of committees, in whose election both branches of +the city council concur. The school committee, of twenty-four members, +elected by the people, is distinct from the rest of the city government, +and so is the board of police, composed of three commissioners appointed +by the state executive.[11] + +[Footnote 11: Bugbee, "The City Government of Boston," _J.H.U. +Studies_, V., iii.] + +[Sidenote: How city government comes to be a mystery.] +This long list may serve to give some idea of the mere quantity of +administrative work required in a large city. Obviously under such +circumstances city government must become more or less of a mystery to +the great mass of citizens. They cannot watch its operations as the +inhabitants of a small village can watch the proceedings of their +township and county governments. Much work must go on which cannot +even be intelligently criticised without such special knowledge as it +would be idle to expect in the average voter, or perhaps in any voter. +It becomes exceedingly difficult for the taxpayer to understand just +what his money goes for, or how far the city expenses might reasonably +be reduced; and it becomes correspondingly easy for municipal +corruption to start and acquire a considerable headway before it can +be detected and checked. + +[Sidenote: In some respects it is more of a mystery that state and +national government.] +In some respects city government is harder to watch intelligently +than the government of the state or of the nation. For these wider +governments are to some extent limited to work of general supervision. +As compared with the city, they are more concerned with the +establishment and enforcement of certain general principles, and less +with the administration of endlessly complicated details. I do not +mean to be understood as saying that there is not plenty of intricate +detail about state and national governments. I am only comparing one +thing with another, and it seems to me that one chief difficulty with +city government is the bewildering vastness and multifariousness of +the details with which it is concerned. The modern city has come to be +a huge corporation for carrying on a huge business with many branches, +most of which call for special aptitude and training. + +[Sidenote: The mayor at first had too little power.] +As these points have gradually forced themselves upon public attention +there has been a tendency in many of our large cities toward +remodeling their governments on new principles. The most noticeable +feature of this tendency is the increase in the powers of the mayor. + +A hundred years ago our legislators and constitution-makers were much +afraid of what was called the "one-man power." In nearly all the +colonies a chronic quarrel had been kept up between the governors +appointed by the king and the legislators elected by the people, and +this had made the "one-man power" very unpopular. Besides, it was +something that had been unpopular in ancient Greece and Rome, and it +was thought to be essentially unrepublican in principle. Accordingly +our great grandfathers preferred to entrust executive powers to +committees rather than to single individuals; and when they assigned +an important office to an individual they usually took pains to +curtail its power and influence. This disposition was visible in our +early attempts to organize city governments like little republics. +First, in the board of aldermen and the common council we had a +two-chambered legislature. Then, lest the mayor should become +dangerous, the veto power was at first generally withheld from him, +and his appointments of executive officers needed to be confirmed by +at least one branch of the city council. These executive officers, +moreover, as already observed, were subject to more or less control or +oversight from committees of the city council. + +[Sidenote: Scattering and weakening of responsibility.] +Now this system, in depriving the mayor of power, deprived him of +responsibility, and left the responsibility nowhere in particular. In +making appointments the mayor and council would come to some sort of +compromise with each other and exchange favours. Perhaps for private +reasons incompetent or dishonest officers would get appointed, and +if the citizens ventured to complain the mayor would say that he +appointed as good men as the council could be induced to confirm, +and the council would declare their willingness to confirm good +appointments if the mayor could only be persuaded to make them. + +[Sidenote: Committees inefficient for executive purposes.] +Then the want of subordination of the different executive departments +made it impossible to secure unity of administration or to carry out +any consistent and generally intelligible policy. Between the various +executive officers and visiting committees there was apt to be a +more or less extensive interchange of favours, or what is called +"log-rolling;" and sums of money would be voted by the council only +thus to leak away in undertakings the propriety or necessity of which +was perhaps hard to determine. There was no responsible head who could +be quickly and sharply called to account. Each official's hands were +so tied that whatever went wrong he could declare that it was not his +fault. The confusion was enhanced by the practice of giving executive +work to committees or boards instead of single officers. Benjamin +Franklin used to say, if you wish to be sure that a thing is done, go +and do it yourself. Human experience certainly proves that this is the +only absolutely safe way. The next best way is to send some competent +person to do it for you; and if there is no one competent to be +had, you do the next best thing and entrust the work to the least +incompetent person you can find. If you entrust it to a committee your +prospect of getting it done is diminished and it grows less if +you enlarge your committee. By the time you have got a group of +committees, independent of one another and working at cross purposes, +you have got Dickens's famous Circumlocution Office, where the great +object in life was "how not to do it." + +[Sidenote 1: Increase of city debts.] + +[Sidenote 2: Attempt to cure the evil by state interference; + experience of New York.] + +Amid the general dissatisfaction over the extravagance and +inefficiency of our city governments, people's attention was first +drawn to the rapid and alarming increase of city indebtedness in +various parts of the country. A heavy debt may ruin a city as surely +as an individual, for it raises the rate of taxation, and thus, as was +above pointed out, it tends to frighten people and capital away from +the city. At first it was sought to curb the recklessness of city +councils in incurring lavish expenditures by giving the mayor a veto +power. Laws were also passed limiting the amount of debt which a city +would be allowed to incur under any circumstances. Clothing the +mayor with the veto power is now seen to have been a wise step; and +arbitrary limitation of the amount of debt, though a clumsy expedient, +is confessedly a necessary one. But beyond this, it was in some +instances attempted to take the management of some departments of city +business out of the hands of the city and put them into the hands of +the state legislature. The most notable instance of this was in New +York in 1857. The results, there and elsewhere, have been generally +regarded as unsatisfactory. After a trial of thirty years the +experience of New York has proved that a state legislature is not +competent to take proper care of the government of cities. Its +members do not know enough about the details of each locality, and +consequently local affairs are left to the representatives from each +locality, with "log-rolling" as the inevitable result. A man fresh +from his farm on the edge of the Adirondacks knows nothing about the +problems pertaining to electric wires in Broadway, or to rapid transit +between Harlem and the Battery; and his consent to desired legislation +on such points can very likely be obtained only by favouring some +measure which he thinks will improve the value of his farm, or perhaps +by helping him to debauch the civil service by getting some neighbour +appointed to a position for which he is not qualified. All this is +made worse by the fact that the members of a state government are +generally less governed by a sense of responsibility toward the +citizens of a particular city than even the worst local government +that can be set up in such a city.[12] + +[Footnote 1: It is not intended to deny that there may be instances +in which the state government may advantageously participate in the +government of cities. It may be urged that, in the case of great +cities, like New York or Boston, many people who are not residents +either do business in the city or have vast business interests there, +and thus may be as deeply interested in its welfare as any of the +voters. It may also be said that state provisions for city government +do not always work badly. There are many competent judges who approve +of the appointment of police commissioners by the executive of +Massachusetts. There are generally two sides to a question; and to +push a doctrine to extremes is to make oneself a _doctrinaire_ +rather than a wise citizen. But experience clearly shows that in all +doubtful cases it is safer to let the balance incline in favour of +local self-government than the other way.] + +Moreover, even if legislatures were otherwise competent to manage the +local affairs of cities, they have not time enough, amid the pressure +of other duties, to do justice to such matters. In 1870 the number of +acts passed by the New York legislature was 808. Of these, 212, or +more than one fourth of the whole, related to cities and villages. The +808 acts, when printed, filled about 2,000 octavo pages; and of these +the 212 acts filled more than 1,500 pages. This illustrates what +I said above about the vast quantity of details which have to be +regulated in municipal government. Here we have more than three +fourths of the volume of state-legislation devoted to local affairs; +and it hardly need be added that a great part of these enactments were +worse than worthless because they were made hastily and +without due consideration,--though not always, perhaps, without what +lawyers call _a_ consideration.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Nothing could be further from my thought than to cast any +special imputation upon the New York legislature, which is probably a +fair average specimen of law-making bodies. The theory of legislative +bodies, as laid down in text-books, is that they are assembled for the +purpose of enacting laws for the welfare of the community in +general. In point of fact they seldom rise to such a lofty height of +disinterestedness. Legislation is usually a mad scramble in which the +final result, be it good or bad, gets evolved out of compromises and +bargains among a swarm of clashing local and personal interests. +The "consideration" may be anything from log-rolling to bribery. In +American legislatures it is to be hoped that downright bribery is +rare. As for log-rolling, or exchange of favours, there are many +phases of it in which that which may be perfectly innocent shades +off by almost imperceptible degrees into that which is unseemly or +dishonourable or even criminal; and it is in this hazy region that +Satan likes to set his traps for the unwary pilgrim.] + +[Sidenote: Tweed Ring in New York.] +The experience of New York thus proved that state intervention and +special legislation did not mend matters. It did not prevent the +shameful rule of the Tweed Ring from 1868 to 1871, when a small band +of conspirators got themselves elected or appointed to the principal +city offices, and, having had their own corrupt creatures chosen +judges of the city courts, proceeded to rob the taxpayers at their +leisure. By the time they were discovered and brought to justice, +their stealings amounted to many millions of dollars, and the rate of +taxation had risen to more than two per cent. + +[Sidenote: New experiments.] +The discovery of these wholesale robberies, and of other villainies +on a smaller scale in other cities, has led to much discussion of the +problems of municipal government, and to many attempts at practical +reform. The present is especially a period of experiments, yet in +these experiments perhaps a general drift of opinion may be discerned. +People seem to be coming to regard cities more as if they were huge +business corporations than as if they were little republics. The +lesson has been learned that in executive matters too much limitation +of power entails destruction of responsibility; the "ring" is now more +dreaded than the "one-man power;" and there is accordingly a manifest +tendency to assail the evil by concentrating power and responsibility +in the mayor. + +[Sidenote: New government of Brooklyn.] +The first great city to adopt this method was Brooklyn. In the first +place the city council was simplified and made a one-chambered council +consisting of nineteen aldermen. Besides this council of aldermen, the +people elect only three city officers,--the mayor, comptroller, +and auditor. The comptroller is the principal finance officer and +book-keeper of the city; and the auditor must approve bills against +the city, whether great or small, before they can be paid. The mayor +appoints, without confirmation by the council, all executive heads of +departments; and these executive heads are individuals, not +boards. Thus there is a single police commissioner, a single fire +commissioner, a single health commissioner, and so on; and each of +these heads appoints his own subordinates; so that the principle +of defined responsibility permeates the city government from top +to bottom,[14] In a few cases, where the work to be done is rather +discretionary than executive in character, it is intrusted to a board; +thus there is a board of assessors, a board of education, and a board +of elections. These are all appointed by the mayor, but for terms +not coinciding with his own; "so that, in most cases, no mayor would +appoint the whole of any such board unless he were to be twice elected +by the people." But the executive officers are appointed by the mayor +for terms coincident with his own, that is for two years. "The mayor +is elected at the general election in November; he takes office on the +first of January following, and for one month the great departments of +the city are carried on for him by the appointees of his predecessor. +On the first of February it becomes his duty to appoint his own heads +of departments, and thus each incoming mayor has the opportunity to +make an administration in all its parts in sympathy with himself." + +[Footnote 14: Seth Low on "Municipal Government," in Bryce's +_American Commonwealth_, vol. i. p. 626.] + +With all these immense executive powers entrusted to the mayor, +however, he does not hold the purse-strings. He is a member of a board +of estimate, of which the other four members are the comptroller +and auditor, with the county treasurer and supervisor. This board +recommends the amounts to be raised by taxation for the ensuing year. +These estimates are then laid before the council of aldermen, who +may cut down single items as they see fit, but have not the power to +increase any item. The mayor must see to it that the administrative +work of the year does not use up more money than is thus allowed him. + +[Sidenote: Some of its merits.] +This Brooklyn system has great merits. It ensures unity of +administration, it encourages promptness and economy, it locates +and defines responsibility, and it is so simple that everybody can +understand it. The people, having but few officers to elect, are +more likely to know something about them. Especially since everybody +understands that the success of the government depends upon the +character of the mayor, extraordinary pains are taken to secure good +mayors; and the increased interest in city politics is shown by the +fact that in Brooklyn more people vote for mayor than for governor +or for president. Fifty years ago such a reduction in the number of +elective officers would have greatly shocked all good Americans. But +In point of fact, while in small townships where everybody knows +everybody popular control is best ensured by electing all public +officers, it is very different in great cities where it is impossible +that the voters in general should know much about the qualifications +of a long list of candidates. In such cases citizens are apt to vote +blindly for names about which they know nothing except that they occur +on a Republican or a Democratic ticket; although, if the object of +a municipal election is simply to secure an upright and efficient +municipal government, to elect a city magistrate because he is a +Republican or a Democrat is about as sensible as to elect him because +he believes in homoeopathy or has a taste for chrysanthemums.[15] To +vote for candidates whom one has never heard of is not to insure +popular control, but to endanger it. It is much better to vote for +one man whose reputation we know, and then to hold him strictly +responsible for the appointments he makes. The Brooklyn system seems +to be a step toward lifting city government out of the mire of party +politics. + +[Footnote 15: Of course from the point of view of the party politician, +it Is quite different. Each party has its elaborate "machine" for +electing state and national officers; and in order to be kept at +its maximum of efficiency the machine must be kept at work on all +occasions, whether such occasions are properly concerned with +differences in party politics or not. To the party politician it +of course makes a great difference whether a city magistrate is a +Republican or a Democrat. To him even the political complexion of his +mail-carrier is a matter of importance. But these illustrations +only show that party politics may be carried to extremes that are +inconsistent with the best interests of the community. Once in a while +it becomes necessary to teach party organizations to know their place, +and to remind them that they are not the lords and masters but the +servants and instruments of the people.] + +This system went into operation in Brooklyn in January, 1882, and +seems to have given general satisfaction. Since then changes in a +similar direction, though with variations in detail, have been made in +other cities, and notably in Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted.] +In speaking of the difficulties which beset city government in the +United States, mention is often (and perhaps too exclusively) made +of the great mass of ignorant voters, chiefly foreigners without +experience in self-government, with no comprehension of American +principles and traditions, and with little or no property to suffer +from excessive taxation. Such people will naturally have slight +compunctions about voting away other people's money; indeed, they are +apt to think that "the Government" has got Aladdin's lamp hidden away +somewhere in a burglar-proof safe, and could do pretty much everything +that is wanted, if it only would. In the hands of demagogues such +people may be dangerous, they are supposed to be especially accessible +to humbug and bribes, and their votes have no doubt been used to +sustain and perpetuate most flagrant abuses. We often hear it said +that the only way to get good government is to deprive such people of +their votes and limit the suffrage to persons who have some property +at stake. Such a measure has been seriously recommended in New York, +but it is generally felt to be impossible without a revolution. + + +[Sidenote: Testimony of Pennsylvania Municipal Commission.] +Perhaps, after all, it may not be so desirable as it seems. The +ignorant vote has done a great deal of harm, but not all the harm. In +1878 it was reported by the Pennsylvania Municipal Commission, as +a remarkable but notorious fact, that the accumulations of debt in +Philadelphia and other cities of the state have been due, not to a +non-property-holding, irresponsible element among the electors, but to +the desire for speculation among the property-owners themselves. Large +tracts of land outside the built-up portion of the city have been +purchased, combinations made among men of wealth, and councils +besieged until they have been driven into making appropriations to +open and improve streets and avenues, largely in advance of the real +necessities of the city. Extraordinary as the statement may seem +at first, the experience of the past shows clearly that frequently +property-owners need more protection against themselves than against +the non-property-holding class.[16] This is a statement of profound +significance, and should be duly pondered by advocates of a restricted +suffrage. + +[Footnote 16: Allinson and Penrose, _Philadelphia, 1681-1887; a +History of Municipal Development_, p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: Dangers of a restricted suffrage.] +It should also be borne in mind that, while ignorant and needy voters, +led by unscrupulous demagogues, are capable of doing much harm with +their votes, it is by no means clear that the evil would be removed +by depriving them of the suffrage. It is very unsafe to have in any +community a large class of people who feel that political rights +or privileges are withheld from them by other people who are their +superiors in wealth or knowledge. Such poor people are apt to have +exaggerated ideas of what a vote can do; very likely they think it is +because they do not have votes that they are poor; thus they are ready +to entertain revolutionary or anarchical ideas, and are likely to be +more dangerous material in the hands of demagogues than if they were +allowed to vote. Universal suffrage has its evils, but it undoubtedly +acts as a safety-valve. The only cure for the evils which come +from ignorance and shiftlessness is the abolition of ignorance and +shiftlessness; and this is slow work. Church and school here find +enough to keep them busy; but the vote itself, even if often misused, +is a powerful educator; and we need not regret that the restriction of +the suffrage has come to be practically impossible. + +[Sidenote: Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national +politics.] +The purification of our city governments will never be completed +until they are entirely divorced from national party politics. The +connection opens a limitless field for "log-rolling," and rivets +upon cities the "spoils system," which is always and everywhere +incompatible with good government. It is worthy of note that the +degradation of so many English boroughs and cities during the Tudor +and Stuart periods was chiefly due to the encroachment of national +politics upon municipal politics. Because the borough returned members +to the House of Commons, it became worth while for the crown to +intrigue with the municipal government, with the ultimate object of +influencing parliamentary elections. The melancholy history of the +consequent dickering and dealing, jobbery and robbery, down to 1835, +when the great Municipal Corporations Act swept it all away, may be +read with profit by all Americans.[17] It was the city of London only, +whose power and independence had kept it free from complications with +national politics, that avoided the abuses elsewhere prevalent, so +that it was excepted from the provisions of the Act of 1835, and still +retains its ancient constitution. + +[Footnote 17: See _Parliamentary Reports_, 1835, "Municipal +Corporations Commission;" also Sir Erskine May, _Const. Hist._, +vol. ii. chap, xv.] + +In the United States the entanglement of municipal with national +politics has begun to be regarded as mischievous and possibly +dangerous, and attempts have in some cases been made toward checking +it by changing the days of election, so that municipal officers may +not be chosen at the same time with presidential electors. Such a +change is desirable, but to obtain a thoroughly satisfactory result, +it will be necessary to destroy the "spoils system" root and branch, +and to adopt effective measures of ballot reform. To these topics I +shall recur when treating of our national government. But first we +shall have to consider the development of our several states. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +Give an account of city government in the United States, under the +following heads:-- + +1. The American city:-- + + a. The mayor. + b. The heads of departments. + c. The city council. + d. The judges. + e. Appropriations. + +f. The power of committees. + +2. The practical workings of city governments:-- + + a. The contrast they show between theory and practice. + b. Various complaints urged against city governments. + c. Their effect upon the old-time confidence in the perfection of our + institutions. + +3. The growth of American cities:-- + + a. The cities of Washington's time and those of to-day. + b. The population of cities in 1790 and their population to-day. + c. City growth since 1840. + +4. Some consequences of rapid city growth:-- + a. The pressure to construct public works. + b. The incurring of heavy debts. + c. The wastefulness due to a lack of foresight. + d. The increase in government due to the complexity of a city. + e. An illustration of this complexity in Boston. + f. The consequent mystery that enshrouds much of city government. + +5. Some evils due to the fear of a "one-man" power:-- + a. The objection to such power a century ago. + b. Restrictions imposed upon the mayor's power. + c. The division and weakening of responsibility. + d. The lack of unity in the administration of business. + e. The inefficiency of committees for executive purposes. + f. The alarming increase in city debts. + +6. Attempts to remedy some of the evils of city government:-- + a. The power of veto granted to the mayor. + b. The limitation of city indebtedness. + c. State control of some city departments. + +7. Difficulties inherent in state control of cities:-- + a. Lack of familiarity with city affairs. + b. The tendency to "log-rolling." + c. Lack of time due to the pressure of state affairs. + d. The failure of state control as shown in the rule of the Tweed ring. + +8. The government of the city of Brooklyn:-- + a. The elevation of the "one-man" power above that of the "ring." + b. Officers elected by the people. + c. Officers appointed by the mayor. + d. The principle of well-defined responsibility. + e. The appointment of certain boards by the mayor. + f. The holding of the purse-strings. + g. The inadequacy of the township elective system, in a city like + Brooklyn. + +9. Restriction of the suffrage:-- + a. The dangers from large masses of ignorant voters. + b. The responsibility for the debt of Philadelphia and other cities. + c. The dangers from large classes who feel that political rights are + denied them. + +d. Suffrage as a "safety-valve." + +10. The mixture of city politics with those of the state or nation: + + a. The degradation of the English borough. + b. The exemption, of London from the Municipal Corporations Act. + c. The importance of separate days for municipal elections. + d. The importance of abolishing the "spoils system." + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +(Chiefly for pupils who live in cities.) + +1. When was your city organized? + +2. Give some account of its growth, its size, and its present +population. How many wards has it? Give their boundaries. +In which ward do you live? + +3. Examine its charter, and report a few of its leading provisions. + + +4. What description of government in this chapter comes nearest +to that of your city? + +5. Consider the suggestions about the study of town government +(pp. 43, 44), and act upon such of them as are applicable +to city government. + +6. What is the general impression about the purity of your city +government? (Consult several citizens and report what you find out.) + +7. What important caution should be observed about vague rumours of +inefficiency or corruption? + +8. What are the evidences of a sound financial condition in a city? + +9. Is the financial condition of your city sound? + +10. When debts are incurred, are provisions made at the same time for +meeting them when due? + +11. What are "sinking funds"? + +12. What wants has a city that a town is free from? + +13. Describe your system of public water works, making an analysis of +important points that may be presented. + +14. Do the same for your park system or any other system that involves a +long time for its completion as well as a great outlay. + +15. Are the principles of civil service reform recognized in your city? +If so, to what extent? Do they need to be extended further? + +16. Describe the parties that contended for the supremacy in your last +city election and tell what questions were at issue between them. + +17. What great corporations exact an influence in your city affairs? Is +such influence bad because it is great? What is a possible danger from +such influence? + +18. In view of the vast number and range of city interests, what is the +most that the average citizen can reasonably be asked to know and to do +about them? What things is it indispensable for him to know and to do is +he is to contribute to good government? + + +BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + + +Section 1. DIRECT AND INDIRECT GOVERNMENT.--The transition from +direct to indirect government, as illustrated in the gradual +development of a township into a city, may be profitably studied in +Quincy's _Municipal History of Boston_, Boston, 1852; and in +Winsor's _Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. pp. 189-302, +Boston, 1881. + +Section 2. ORIGIN OF ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES.--See Loftie's +_History of London_, 2 vols., London, 1883; Toulmin Smith's +_English Gilds_, with Introduction by Lujo Brentano, London, +1870; and the histories of the English Constitution, especially those +of Gneist, Stubbs, Taswell-Langmead, and Hannis Taylor. + +Section 3. GOVERNMENT OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.--_J.H.U. Studies_, +III., xi.-xii., J.A. Porter, _The City of Washington_; IV., iv., W.P. +Holcomb, _Pennsylvania Boroughs_; IV., x., C.H. Lovermore, _Town and +City Government of New Haven_; V., i.-ii., Allinson and Penrose, _City +Government of Philadelphia_; V., iii., J.M. Bugbee, _The City Government +of Boston_; V., iv., M.S. Snow, _The City Government of St. Louis_; +VII., ii.-iii., B. Moses, _Establishment of Municipal Government in San +Francisco_; VII., iv., W.W. Howe, _Municipal History of New Orleans_; +also _Supplementary Notes_, No. 4, Seth Low, _The Problem of City +Government_ (compare No. 1, Albert Shaw, _Municipal Government in +England_.) See, also, the supplementary volumes published at +Baltimore,--Levermore's _Republic of New Haven_, 1886, Allinson and +Penrose's _Philadelphia_, 1681-1887: _a History of Municipal +Development_, 1887. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE. + + +Section 1. _The Colonial Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Claims of Spain to the possession of North America.] +In the year 1600 Spain was the only European nation which had obtained +a foothold upon the part of North America now comprised within the +United States. Spain claimed the whole continent on the strength of +the bulls of 1493 and 1494, in which Pope Alexander VI. granted her +all countries to be discovered to the west of a certain meridian +which, happens to pass a little to the east of Newfoundland. From +their first centre in the West Indies the Spaniards had made a +lodgment in Florida, at St. Augustine, in 1565; and from Mexico they +had in 1605 founded Santa Fe, in what is now the territory of New +Mexico. + +[Sidenote: Claims of France and England.] +France and England, however, paid little heed to the claim of Spain. +France had her own claim to North America, based on the voyages of +discovery made by Verrazano in 1524 and Cartier in 1534, in the course +of which New York harbour had been visited and the St. Lawrence partly +explored. England had a still earlier claim, based on the discovery +of the North American continent in 1497 by John Cabot. It presently +became apparent that to make such claims of any value, discovery must +be followed up by occupation of the country. Attempts at colonization +had been made by French Protestants in Florida in 1562-65, and by the +English in North Carolina in 1584-87, but both attempts had failed +miserably. Throughout the sixteenth century French and English sailors +kept visiting the Newfoundland fisheries, and by the end of the +century the French and English governments had their attention +definitely turned to the founding of colonies in North America. + +[Sidenote: The London and Plymouth Companies.] +In 1606 two great joint-stock companies were formed in England for +the purpose of planting such colonies. One of these companies had its +headquarters at London, and was called the London Company; the other +had its headquarters at the seaport of Plymouth, in Devonshire, and +was called the Plymouth Company. To the London Company the king +granted the coast of North America from 34 deg. to 38 deg. north latitude; +that is, about from Cape Fear to the mouth of the Rappahannock. To the +Plymouth Company he granted the coast from 41 deg. to 45 deg.; that is, about +from the mouth of the Hudson to the eastern extremity of Maine. These +grants were to go in straight strips or zones across the continent +from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Almost nothing was then known +about American geography; the distance from ocean to ocean across +Mexico was not so very great, and people did not realize that further +north it was quite a different thing. As to the middle strip, starting +from the coast between the Rappahannock and the Hudson, it was open to +the two companies, with the understanding that neither was to plant a +colony within 100 miles of any settlement already begun by the +other. This meant practically that it was likely to be controlled by +whichever company should first come into the field with a flourishing +colony. Accordingly both companies made haste and sent out settlers in +1607, the one to the James River, the other to the Kennebec. The +first enterprise, after much suffering, resulted in the founding of +Virginia; the second ended in disaster, and it was not until 1620 that +the Pilgrims from Leyden made the beginnings of a permanent settlement +upon the territory of the Plymouth Company. + +[Sidenote: Their common charter.] +These two companies were at first organized under a single charter. +Each was to be governed by a council in England appointed by the king, +and these councils were to appoint councils of thirteen to reside in +the colonies, with powers practically unlimited. Nevertheless the king +covenanted with his colonists as follows: Also we do, for us, our +heirs and successors, declare by these presents that all and every the +persons, being our subjects, which shall go and inhabit within the +said colony and plantation, and every their children and posterity, +which shall happen to be born within any of the limits thereof, shall +have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities of free +denizens and natural subjects within any of our other dominions, to +all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within +this our realm of England, or in any other of our dominions. This +principle, that British subjects born in America should be entitled to +the same political freedom as if born in England, was one upon which +the colonists always insisted, and it was the repeated and persistent +attempts of George III. to infringe it that led the American colonies +to revolt and declare themselves independent of Great Britain. + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of the two companies.] +[Sidenote: Settlement of the three zones.] +Both the companies founded in 1606 were short-lived. In 1620 the +Plymouth Company got a new charter, which made it independent of the +London Company. In 1624 the king, James I., quarreled with the London +Company, brought suit against it in court, and obtained from the +subservient judges a decree annulling its charter. In 1635 the +reorganized Plymouth Company surrendered its charter to Charles I. +in pursuance of a bargain which need not here concern us.[1] But the +creation of these short-lived companies left an abiding impression +upon the map of North America and upon the organization of civil +government in the United States. Let us observe what was done with the +three strips or zones into which the country was divided: the northern +or New England zone, assigned to the Plymouth Company; the southern or +Virginia zone, assigned to the London Company; and the central zone, +for which the two companies were, so to speak, to run a race. + +[Footnote 1: See my _Beginnings of New England_, p. 112.] + +[Sidenote: 1. the northern zone.] +[Sidenote: 2. The southern zone.] +In 1663 Charles II. cut off the southern part of Virginia, the area +covering the present states of North and South Carolina and Georgia, +and it was formed into a new province called Carolina. In 1729 the +two groups of settlements which had grown up along its coast were +definitively separated into North and South Carolina; and in 1732 +the frontier portion toward Florida was organized into the colony of +Georgia. Thus four of the original thirteen states--Virginia, the two +Carolinas, and Georgia--were constituted in the southern zone. + +To this group some writers add Maryland, founded in 1632, because its +territory had been claimed by the London Company; but the earliest +settlements in Maryland, its principal towns, and almost the whole of +its territory, come north of latitude 38 deg. and within the middle zone. + +[Sidenote: 3. The middle zone.] +Between the years 1614 and 1621 the Dutch founded their colony of New +Netherland upon the territory included between the Hudson and Delaware +rivers, or, as they quite naturally called them, the North and South +rivers. They pushed their outposts up the Hudson as far as the site +of Albany, thus intruding far into the northern zone. In 1638 Sweden +planted a small colony upon the west side of Delaware Bay, but in 1655 +it was surrendered to the Dutch. Then in 1664 the English took New +Netherland from the Dutch, and Charles II. granted the province to his +brother, the Duke of York. The duke proceeded to grant part of it to +his friends, Berkeley and Carteret, and thus marked off the new colony +of New Jersey. In 1681 the region west of New Jersey was granted to +William Penn, and in the following year Penn bought from the Duke of +York the small piece of territory upon which the Swedes had planted +their colony. Delaware thus became an appendage to Penn's greater +colony, but was never merged in it. Thus five of the original +thirteen states--Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and +Delaware--were constituted in the middle zone. + +As we have already observed, the westward movement of population in +the United States has largely followed the parallels of latitude, and +thus the characteristics of these three original strips or zones have, +with more or less modification, extended westward. The men of New +England, with their Portland and Salem reproduced more than 3000 miles +distant in the state of Oregon, and within 100 miles of the Pacific +Ocean, may be said in a certain sense to have realized literally the +substance of King James's grant to the Plymouth Company. It will be +noticed that the kinds of local government described in our earlier +chapters are characteristic respectively of the three original zones: +the township system being exemplified chiefly in the northern zone, +the county system in the southern zone, and the mixed township-county +system in the central zone. + +[Sidenote: House of Burgesses in Virginia.] +The London and Plymouth companies did not perish until after state +governments had been organized in the colonies already founded upon +their territories. In 1619 the colonists of Virginia, with the aid of +the more liberal spirits in the London Company, secured for themselves +a representative government; to the governor and his council, +appointed in England, there was added a general assembly composed of +two burgesses from each "plantation," [2] elected by the inhabitants. +This assembly, the first legislative body that ever sat in America, +met on the 30th of July, 1619, in the choir of the rude church at +Jamestown. The dignity of the burgesses was preserved, as in the House +of Commons, by sitting with their hats on; and after offering prayer, +and taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy, they proceeded to +enact a number of laws relating to public worship, to agriculture, and +to intercourse with the Indians. Curiously enough, so confident was +the belief of the settlers that they were founding towns, that they +called their representatives "burgesses," and down to 1776 the +assembly continued to be known as the House of "Burgesses," although +towns refused to grow in Virginia, and soon after counties were +organized in 1634 the burgesses sat for counties. Such were the +beginnings of representative government in Virginia. + +[Footnote 2: The word "plantation" is here used, not in its later and +ordinary sense, as the estate belonging to an individual planter, +but in an earlier sense. In this early usage it was equivalent to +"settlement." It was used in New England as well as in Virginia; +thus Salem was spoken of by the court of assistants in 1629 as "New +England's Plantation."] + +[Sidenote: Company of Massachusetts Bay.] +The government of Massachusetts is descended from the Dorchester +Company formed in England in 1623, for the ostensible purpose of +trading in furs and timber and catching fish on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay. After a disastrous beginning this company was +dissolved, but only to be immediately reorganized on a greater scale. +In 1628 a grant of the land between the Charles and Merrimack rivers +was obtained from the Plymouth Company; and in 1629 a charter was +obtained from Charles I. So many men from the east of England had +joined in the enterprise that it could no longer be fitly called a +Dorchester Company. The new name was significantly taken from the +New World. The charter created a corporation under the style of the +Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. The freemen +of the Company were to hold a meeting four times a year; and they were +empowered to choose a governor, a deputy governor, and a council of +eighteen assistants, who were to hold their meetings each month. They +could administer oaths of supremacy and allegiance, raise troops +for the defence of their possessions, admit new associates into the +Company, and make regulations for the management of their business, +with the vague and weak proviso that in order to be valid their +enactment must in no wise contravene the laws of England. Nothing was +said as to the place where the Company should hold its meetings, and +accordingly after a few months the Company transferred itself and +its charter to New England, in order that it might carry out its +intentions with as little interference as possible on the part of the +crown. + +Whether this transfer of the charter was legally justifiable or not +is a question which has been much debated, but with which we need not +here vex ourselves. The lawyers of the Company were shrewd enough to +know that a loosely-drawn instrument may be made to admit of great +liberty of action. Under the guise of a mere trading corporation the +Puritan leaders deliberately intended to found a civil commonwealth in +accordance with their own theories of government. + +[Sidenote: Government of Massachusetts; the General Court] +After their arrival in Massachusetts, their numbers increased so +rapidly that it became impossible to have a primary assembly of all +the freemen, and so a representative assembly was devised after the +model of the Old English county court. The representatives sat for +townships, and were called deputies. At first they sat in the same +chamber with the assistants, but in 1644 the legislative body was +divided into two chambers, the deputies forming the lower house, while +the upper was composed of the assistants, who were sometimes called +magistrates. In elections the candidates for the upper house were put +in nomination by the General Court and voted on by the freemen. In +general the assistants represented the common or central power of +the colony, while the deputies represented the interests of popular +self-government. The former was comparatively an aristocratic and the +latter a democratic body, and there were frequent disputes between the +two. + +It is worthy of note that the governing body thus constituted was at +once a legislative and a judicial body, like the English county court +which served as its model. Inferior courts were organized at an early +date in Massachusetts, but the highest judicial tribunal was the +legislature, which was known as the General Court. It still bears this +name to-day, though it long ago ceased to exercise judicial functions. + +[Sidenote: New charter of Massachusetts] +Now as the freemen of Massachusetts directly chose their governor and +deputy-governor, as well as their chamber of deputies, and also took +part in choosing their council of assistants, their government was +virtually that of an independent republic. The crown could interpose +no effective check upon its proceedings except by threatening to annul +its charter and send over a viceroy who might be backed up, if need +be, by military force. Such threats were sometimes openly made, but +oftener hinted at. They served to make the Massachusetts government +somewhat wary and circumspect, but they did not prevent it from +pursuing a very independent policy in many respects, as when, +for example, it persisted in allowing none but members of the +Congregational church to vote. This measure, by which it was intended +to preserve the Puritan policy unchanged, was extremely distasteful to +the British government. At length in 1684 the Massachusetts charter +was annulled, an attempt was made to suppress town-meetings, and the +colony was placed under a military viceroy, Sir Edmund Andros. After +a brief period of despotic rule, the Revolution in England worked a +change. In 1692 Massachusetts received a new charter, quite different +from the old one. The people were allowed to elect representatives to +the General Court, as before, but the governor and lieutenant-governor +were appointed by the crown, and all acts of the legislature were +to be sent to England for royal approval. The general government of +Massachusetts was thus, except for its possession of a charter, made +similar to that of Virginia. + +[Sidenote: Connecticut and Rhode Island] +The governments of Connecticut and Rhode Island were constructed +upon the same general plan as the first government of Massachusetts. +Governors councils, and assemblies were elected by the people. These +governments were made by the settlers themselves, after they had come +out from Massachusetts; and through a very singular combination of +circumstances[3] they were confirmed by charters granted by Charles II +in 1662, soon after his return from exile. So thoroughly republican +were these governments that they remained without change until 1818 in +Connecticut and until 1842 in Rhode Island. + +[Footnote 3: See my _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 192-196.] + + +We thus observe two kinds of state government in the American +colonies. In both kinds the people choose a representative legislative +assembly; but in the one kind they also choose their governor, while +in the other kind the governor is appointed by the crown. We have now +to observe a third kind. + + + +[Sidenote: Counties palatine in England] +[Sidenote: Charter of Maryland] +After the downfall of the two great companies founded in 1606, the +crown had a way of handing over to its friends extensive tracts of +land in America. In 1632 a charter granted by Charles I to Cecilius +Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded the palatinate colony of Maryland. To +understand the nature of this charter, we must observe that among the +counties of England there were three whose rulers from an early time +were allowed special privileges. Because Cheshire and Durham bordered +upon the hostile countries, Wales and Scotland, and needed to be ever +on the alert, their rulers, the earls of Chester and the bishops of +Durham, were clothed with almost royal powers of command, and similar +powers were afterwards granted through favouritism to the dukes of +Lancaster. The three counties were called counties palatine (i.e. +"palace counties"). Before 1600 the earldom of Chester and the duchy +of Lancaster had been absorbed by the crown, but the bishopric of +Durham remained the type of an almost independent state, and the +colony palatine of Maryland was modelled after it. The charter of +Maryland conferred upon Lord Baltimore the most extensive privileges +ever bestowed by the British crown upon any subject. He was made +absolute lord of the land and water within his boundaries, could erect +towns, cities, and ports, make war or peace, call the whole fighting +population to arms and declare martial law, levy tolls and duties, +establish courts of justice, appoint judges, magistrates, and other +civil officers, execute the laws, and pardon offenders. He could erect +manors, with courts-baron and courts-leet, and confer titles and +dignities, so that they differed from those of England. He could make +laws with the assent of the freemen of the province, and, in cases of +emergency, ordinances not impairing life, limb, or property, without +their assent. He could found churches and chapels, have them +consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of England, and +appoint the incumbents.[4] For his territory and these royal powers +Lord Baltimore was to send over to the palace at Windsor a tribute of +two Indian arrows yearly, and to reserve for the king one fifth part +of such gold and silver as he might happen to get by mining. "The king +furthermore bound himself and his successors to lay no taxes, customs, +subsidies, or contributions whatever upon the people of the province, +and in case of any such demand being made, the charter expressly +declared that this clause might be pleaded as a discharge in full." +Maryland was thus almost an independent state. Baltimore's title was +Lord Proprietary of Maryland, and his title and powers were made +hereditary in his family, so that he was virtually a feudal king. His +rule, however, was effectually limited. The government of Maryland was +carried on by a governor and a two-chambered legislature. The governor +and the members of the upper house of the legislature were appointed +by the lord proprietary, but the lower house of the legislature was +elected, here as elsewhere, by the people; and in accordance with +time-honoured English custom all taxation must originate in the lower +house, which represented the people. + +[Footnote 4: Browne's _Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, p. +19.] + +[Sidenote: Charter of Pennsylvania.] +[Sidenote: Mason and Dixon's line] +Half a century after the founding of Maryland, similar though somewhat +less extensive proprietary powers were granted by Charles II. to +William Penn, and under them the colony of Pennsylvania was founded +and Delaware was purchased. Pennsylvania and Delaware had each its +house of representatives elected by the people; but there was only one +governor and council for the two colonies. The governor and council +were appointed by the lord proprietary, and as the council confined +itself to advising the governor and did not take part in legislation, +there was no upper house. The legislature was one-chambered. The +office of lord proprietary was hereditary in the Penn family. For +about eighty years the Penns and Calverts quarrelled, like true +sovereigns, about the boundary-line between their principalities, +until in 1763 the matter was finally settled. A line was agreed upon, +and the survey was made by two distinguished mathematicians, Charles +Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The line ran westward 244 miles from the +Delaware River, and every fifth milestone was engraved with the arms +of Penn on the one side and those of Calvert on the other. In later +times, after all the states north of Maryland had abolished slavery, +Mason and Dixon's line became famous as the boundary between slave +states and free states. + +[Sidenote: Other proprietary governments.] +At first there were other proprietary colonies besides those just +mentioned, but in course of time the rights or powers of their lords +proprietary were resumed by the crown. When New Netherland was +conquered from the Dutch it was granted to the duke of York as lord +proprietary; but after one-and-twenty years the duke ascended the +throne as James II., and so the part of the colony which he had kept +became the royal province of New York. The part which he had sold to +Berkeley and Carteret remained for a while the proprietary colony of +New Jersey, sometimes under one government, sometimes divided between +two; but the rule of the lords proprietary was very unpopular, and in +1702 their rights were surrendered to the crown. The Carolinas and +Georgia were also at first proprietary colonies, but after a while +they willingly came under the direct sway of the crown. In general the +proprietary governments were unpopular because the lords proprietary, +who usually lived in England and visited their colonies but seldom, +were apt to regard their colonies simply as sources of personal +income. This was not the case with William Penn, or the earlier +Calverts, or with James Oglethorpe, the illustrious founder of +Georgia; but it was too often the case. So long as the lord's rents, +fees, and other emoluments were duly collected, he troubled himself +very little as to what went on in the colony. If that had been all, +the colony would have troubled itself very little about him. But the +governor appointed by this absentee master was liable to be more +devoted to his interests than to those of the people, and the civil +service was seriously damaged by worthless favourites sent over from +England for whom the governor was expected to find some office that +would pay them a salary. On the whole, it seemed less unsatisfactory +to have the governors appointed by the crown; and so before the +Revolutionary War all the proprietary governments had fallen, except +those of the Penns and the Calverts, which doubtless survived because +they were the best organized and best administered. + +[Sidenote: At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of +colonial government: 1. Republican, 2. Proprietary, 3. Royal.] +There were thus at the time of the Revolutionary War three forms of +state government in the American colonies. There were, _first_, +the Republican colonies, in which the governors were elected by the +people, as in Rhode Island and Connecticut; _secondly,_the +Proprietary colonies, in which the governors were appointed by +hereditary proprietors, as in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; +_thirdly_, the Royal colonies,[5] in which the governors were +appointed by the crown, as in Georgia, the two Carolinas, Virginia, +New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. It is +customary to distinguish the Republican colonies as _Charter_ +colonies, but that is not an accurate distinction, inasmuch as the +Proprietary colonies also had charters. And among the Royal colonies, +Massachusetts, having been originally a republic, still had a charter +in which her rights were so defined as to place her in a somewhat +different position from the other Royal colonies; so that Prof. +Alexander Johnston, with some reason, puts her in a class by herself +as a _Semi-royal_ colony. + +[Footnote 5: Or, as they were sometimes called, Royal +_provinces._ In the history of Massachusetts many writers +distinguish the period before 1692 as the _colonial_ period, and +the period 1692 to 1774 as the _provincial_ period.] + +[Sidenote: In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which +alone could impose taxes.] +These differences, it will be observed, related to the character and +method of filling the governor's office. In the Republican colonies +the governor naturally represented the interests of the people, in the +Proprietary colonies he was the agent of the Penns or the Calverts, +in the Royal colonies he was the agent of the king. All the thirteen +colonies alike had a legislative assembly elected by the people. The +basis of representation might be different in different colonies, +as we have seen that in Massachusetts the delegates represented +townships, whereas in Virginia they represented counties; but in all +alike the assembly was a truly representative body, and in all alike +it was the body that controlled the expenditure of public money. These +representative assemblies arose spontaneously because the founders of +the American colonies were Englishmen used from time immemorial to tax +themselves and govern themselves. As they had been wont to vote for +representatives in England, instead of leaving things to be controlled +by the king, so now they voted for representatives in Maryland or New +York, instead of leaving things to be controlled by the governor. The +spontaneousness of all this is quaintly and forcibly expressed by the +great Tory historian Hutchinson, who tells us that in the year 1619 a +house of burgesses _broke out_ in Virginia! as if it had been the +mumps, or original sin, or any of those things that people cannot help +having. + +[Sidenote: The governor's council was a kind of upper house.] +This representative assembly was the lower house in the colonial +legislatures. The governor always had a council to advise with him and +assist him in his executive duties, in imitation of the king's privy +council in England. But in nearly all the colonies this council took +part in the work of legislation, and thus sat as an upper house, with +more or less power of reviewing and amending the acts of the assembly. +In Pennsylvania, as already observed, the council refrained from this +legislative work, and so, until some years after the Revolution, the +Pennsylvania legislature was one-chambered. The members of the council +were appointed in different ways, sometimes by the king or the lord +proprietary, or, as in Massachusetts, by the outgoing legislature, or, +as in Connecticut, they were elected by the people. + +[Sidenote: The colonial government was like the English system in +miniature.] +Thus all the colonies had a government framed after the model to which +the people had been accustomed in England. It was like the English +system in miniature, the governor answering to the king, and the +legislature, usually two-chambered, answering to parliament. And as +quarrels between king and parliament were not uncommon, so quarrels +between governor and legislature were very frequent indeed, except +in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The royal governors, representing +British imperial ideas rather than American ideas, were sure to come +into conflict with the popular assemblies, and sometimes became +the objects of bitter popular hatred. The disputes were apt to be +concerned with questions in which taxation was involved, such as +the salaries of crown officers, the appropriations for war with +the Indians, and so on. Such disputes bred more or less popular +discontent, but the struggle did not become flagrant so long as the +British parliament refrained from meddling with it. + + + +[Sidenote: The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament;] +The Americans never regarded parliament as possessing any rightful +authority over their internal affairs. When the earliest colonies were +founded, it was the general theory that the American wilderness was +part of the king's private domain and not subject to the control of +parliament. This theory lived on in America, but died out in England. +On the one hand the Americans had their own legislatures, which stood +to them in the place of parliament. The authority of parliament was +derived from the fact that it was a representative body, but it did +not represent Americans. Accordingly the Americans held that the +relation of each American colony to Great Britain was like the +relation between England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. +England and Scotland then had the same king, but separate parliaments, +and the English parliament could not make laws for Scotland. Such is +the connection between Sweden and Norway at the present day; they have +the same king, but each country legislates for itself. So the American +colonists held that Virginia, for example, and Great Britain had the +same king, but each its independent legislature; and so with the +other colonies,--there were thirteen parliaments in America, each as +sovereign within its own sphere as the parliament at Westminster, and +the latter had no more right to tax the people of Massachusetts than +the Massachusetts legislature had to tax the people of Virginia. + +In one respect, however, the Americans did admit that parliament had a +general right of supervision over all parts of the British empire.[6] +Maritime commerce seemed to be as much the affair of one part of the +empire as another, and it seemed right that it should be regulated by +the central parliament at Westminster. Accordingly the Americans did +not resist custom-house taxes as long as they seemed to be imposed +for purely commercial purposes; but they were quick to resist direct +taxation, and custom-house taxes likewise, as soon as these began to +form a part of schemes for extending the authority of parliament over +the colonies. + +[Footnote 6: except in the regulation of maritime commerce.] + +In England, on the other hand, this theory that the Americans were +subject to the king's authority but not to that of parliament +naturally became unintelligible after the king himself had become +virtually subject to parliament.[7] The Stuart kings might call +themselves kings by the grace of God, but since 1688 the sovereigns of +Great Britain owe their seat upon the throne to an act of parliament. + +[Footnote 7: In England there grew up the theory of the imperial +supremacy of parliament.] + +To suppose that the king's American subjects were not amenable to the +authority of parliament seemed like supposing that a stream could rise +higher than its source. Besides, after 1700 the British empire began +to expand in all parts of the world, and the business of parliament +became more and more imperial. It could make laws for the East India +Company; why not, then, for the Company of Massachusetts Bay? + +[Sidenote: Conflict between the British and the American theories was +precipitated by George III.] +Thus the American theory of the situation was irreconcilable with +the British theory, and when parliament in 1765, with no unfriendly +purpose, began laying taxes upon the Americans, thus invading the +province of the colonial legislatures, the Americans refused to +submit. The ensuing quarrel might doubtless have been peacefully +adjusted, had not the king, George III., happened to be entertaining +political schemes which were threatened with ruin if the Americans +should get a fair hearing for their side of the case.[8] Thus +political intrigue came in to make the situation hopeless. When a +state of things arises, with which men's established methods of civil +government are incompetent to deal, men fall back upon the primitive +method which was in vogue before civil government began to exist. +They fight it out; and so we had our Revolutionary War, and became +separated politically from Great Britain. It is worthy of note, in +this connection, that the last act of parliament, which brought +matters to a crisis, was the so-called Regulating Act of April, 1774, +the purpose of which was to change the government of Massachusetts. +This act provided that members of the council should be appointed by +the royal governor, that they should be paid by the crown and thus +be kept subservient to it, that the principal executive and judicial +officers should be likewise paid by the crown, and that town-meetings +should be prohibited except for the sole purpose of electing town +officers. Other unwarrantable acts were passed at the same time, but +this was the worst. Troops were sent over to aid in enforcing this +act, the people of Massachusetts refused to recognize its validity, +and out of this political situation came the battles of Lexington and +Bunker Hill. + +[Footnote 8: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-64, 69-71 +(Riverside Library for Young People).] + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Various claims to North America:-- + + a. Spanish. + b. English. + c. French. + +2. What was needed to make such claims of any value? + +3. The London and Plymouth companies:-- + + a. The time and purpose of their organization. + b. The grant to the London Company. + c. The grant to the Plymouth Company. + d. The magnitude of the zones granted. + e. The peculiar provisions for the intermediate zone. + f. First attempts at settlement. + +4. To what important principle of the common charter of these +two companies did the colonists persistently cling? + +5. The influence of these short-lived companies upon the settlement +and government of the United States:-- + + a. A review of the zones and their assignment. + b. The states of the northern zone and their origin. + c. The states of the southern zone and their origin. + d. The states of the middle zone and their origin. + e. The influence of the movement of population on local + government in each zone. + +6. Early state government in Virginia:-- + + a. The part appointed and the part elected. + b. The first legislative body in America. + c. The dignity of its members. + d. The reason for the name "House of Burgesses." + +7. Early state government in Massachusetts:-- + + a. The Dorchester Company. + b. The government provided for the Company of Massachusetts + Bay by its charter. + c. The real purpose of the Puritan leaders. + d. The change from the primary assembly of freemen to the + representative assembly. + e. The division of this assembly into two houses, with a comparison + of the houses. + f. The reason for the name "General Court." + g. The loss of the charter and the causes that led to it. + h. The new charter as compared with the old. + +8. Compare the early governments of Connecticut and Rhode +Island with the first government of Massachusetts. + +9. What two kinds of state government have thus far been +observed? + +10. Early state government in Maryland:-- + + a. The favouritism of the crown as shown in land grants. + b. The palatine counties of England. + c. The bishopric of Durham the model of the colony of + Maryland. + d. The extraordinary privileges granted Lord Baltimore. + e. The tribute to be paid in return. + f. The ruler a feudal long. + g. Limitations of the ruler's power. + +11. Early state government in Pennsylvania and Delaware:-- + + a. The powers of Penn as compared with those of Calvert. + b. One governor and council, + c. The legislature of each colony. + d. The quarrels of the Penns and Calverts. + e. Mason and Dixon's line. + +12. What other proprietary governments were organized, and +what was their fate? + +13. Why were proprietary governments unpopular? (Note the +exceptions, however.) + +14. Classify and define the forms of colonial government in existence +at the beginning of the Revolution. + +15. Show that these forms differed chiefly in respect to the governor's +office. + +16. A representative assembly in each of the thirteen colonies:-- + + a. The basis of representation. + b. The control of the public money. + c. The spontaneousness of the representative assembly. + +17. The governor's council:-- + + a. The custom in England. + b. The council as an upper house. + c. The council in Pennsylvania. + +18. Compare the colonial systems with the British (1) in organization +and (2) in the nature of their political quarrels. + + +19. What was the American theory of the relation of each colony +to the British parliament? + +20. What was the American attitude towards maritime regulations? + +21. What was the British theory of the relation of the American +colonies to parliament? + +22. How was the Revolutionary War brought on? + +23. Describe the last act of parliament that brought matters to a +crisis. + + + +Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments.] +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence.] +During the earlier part of the Revolutionary War most of the states +had some kind of provisional government. The case of Massachusetts +may serve as an illustration. There, as in the other colonies, the +governor had the power of dissolving the assembly. This was like the +king's power of dissolving parliament in the days of the Stuarts. +It was then a dangerous power. In modern England there is nothing +dangerous in a dissolution of parliament; on the contrary, it is a +useful device for ascertaining the wishes of the people, for a new +House of Commons must be elected immediately. But in old times the +king would turn his parliament out of doors, and as long as he could +beg, borrow, or steal enough money to carry on government according to +his own notions, he would not order a new election. Fortunately such +periods were not very long. The latest instance was in the reign of +Charles I, who got on without a parliament from 1629 to 1640.[9] In +the American colonies the dissolution of the assembly by the governor +was not especially dangerous, but it sometimes made mischief by +delaying needed legislation. During the few years preceding the +Revolution, the assemblies were so often dissolved that it became +necessary for the people to devise some new way of getting their +representatives together to act for the colony. In Massachusetts this +end was attained by the famous "Committees of Correspondence." No one +could deny that town-meetings were legal, or that the people of +one township had a right to ask advice from the people of another +township. Accordingly each township appointed a committee to +correspond or confer with committees from other townships. This system +was put into operation by Samuel Adams in 1772, and for the next two +years the popular resistance to the crown was organized by these +committees. For example, before the tea was thrown into Boston +harbour, the Boston committee sought and received advice from every +township in Massachusetts, and the treatment of the tea-ships was from +first to last directed by the committees of Boston and five neighbour +towns. + +[Footnote: 9: The kings of France contrived to get along without a +representative assembly from 1614 to 1789, and during this long period +abuses so multiplied that the meeting of the States-General in 1789 +precipitated the great revolution which overthrew the monarchy.] + +[Sidenote: Provincial Congress] +In 1774 a further step was taken. As parliament had overthrown the old +government, and sent over General Gage as military governor, to put +its new system into operation, the people defied and ignored Gage, and +the townships elected delegates to meet together in what was called a +"Provincial Congress." The president of this congress was the chief +provincial executive officer of the commonwealth, and there was a +small executive council, known as the "Committee of Safety." + +[Sidenote: Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents."] +This provisional government lasted about a year. In the summer of +1775 the people went further. They fell back upon their charter and +proceeded to carry on their government as it had been carried on +before 1774, except that the governor was left out altogether. The +people in town-meeting elected their representatives to a general +assembly, as of old, and this assembly chose a council of twenty-eight +members to sit as an upper house. The president of the council was the +foremost executive officer of the commonwealth, but he had not the +powers of a governor. He was no more the governor than the president +of our federal senate is the president of the United States. The +powers of the governor were really vested in the council, which was +an executive as well as a legislative body, and the president was +its chairman. Indeed, the title "president" is simply the Latin for +"chairman," he who "presides" or "sits before" an assembly. In 1775 +it was a more modest title than "governor," and had not the smack of +semi-royalty which lingered about the latter. Governors had made so +much trouble that people were distrustful of the office, and at first +it was thought that the council would be quite sufficient for the +executive work that was to be done. Several of the states thus +organized their governments with a council at the head instead of +a governor; and hence in reading about that period one often comes +across the title "president," somewhat loosely used as if equivalent +to governor. Thus in 1787 we find Benjamin Franklin called "president +of Pennsylvania," meaning "president of the council of Pennsylvania." +But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory and did not last long. +It soon appeared that for executive work one man is better than a +group of men. In Massachusetts, in 1780, the old charter was replaced +by a new written constitution, under which was formed the state +government which, with some emendations in detail, has continued to +the present day. Before the end of the eighteenth century all the +states except Connecticut and Rhode Island, which, had always been +practically Independent, thus remodelled their governments. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the Senates.] +These changes, however, were very conservative. The old form of +government was closely followed. First there was the governor, elected +in some states by the legislature, in others by the people. Then there +was the two-chambered legislature, of which the lower house was the +same institution after the Revolution that it had been before. The +upper house, or council, was retained, but in a somewhat altered +form. The Americans had been used to having the acts of their popular +assemblies reviewed by a council, and so they retained this revisory +body as an upper house. But the fashion of copying names and titles +from the ancient Roman republic was then prevalent, and accordingly +the upper house was called a Senate. There was a higher property +qualification for senators than for representatives, and generally +their terms of service were longer. In some states they were chosen by +the people, in others by the lower house. In Maryland they were chosen +by a special college of electors, an arrangement which was copied in +our federal government in the election of the president of the United +States. In most of the states there was a lieutenant-governor, as +there had been in the colonial period, to serve in case of the +governor's death or incapacity; ordinarily the lieutenant-governor +presided over the senate. + +[Sidenote: Likenesses and differences between British and American +systems.] +Thus our state governments came to be repetitions on a small scale of +the king, lords, and commons of England. The governor answered to the +king, with his dignity very much curtailed by election for a short +period. The senate answered to the House of Lords except in being a +representative and not a hereditary body. It was supposed to represent +more especially that part of the community which was possessed of most +wealth and consideration; and in several states the senators were +apportioned with some reference to the amount of taxes paid by +different parts of the state.[10] When New York made its senate a +supreme court of appeal, it was in deliberate imitation of the House +of Lords. On the other hand, the House of Representatives answered to +the House of Commons as it used to be in the days when its power was +really limited by that of the upper house and the king. At the present +day the English of Commons is a supreme body. In case of a serious +difference with the House of Lords, the upper house must yield, or +else new peers will be created in sufficient number to reverse its +vote; and the lords always yield before this point is reached. So, +too, though the veto power of the sovereign has never been explicitly +abolished, it has not been exercised since 1707, and would not now be +tolerated for a moment. In America there is no such supreme body. The +bill passed by the lower house may be thrown out by the upper house, +or if it passes both it may be vetoed by the governor; and unless the +bill can again pass both houses by more than a simple majority, the +veto will stand. In most of the states a two-thirds vote in the +affirmative is required. + +[Footnote 10: See my _Critical Period of American History_, p. +68.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. The dissolution of assemblies and parliaments:-- + + a. The governor's power over the assembly in the colonies. + b. The king's power over parliament in England. + c. The danger of dissolution in the time of the Stuarts. + d. The safety of dissolution in modern England. + e. The frequency of dissolution before the Revolution. + +2. Representation of the people in the provisional government +of Massachusetts:-- + + a. The committees of correspondence. + b. Their function, with an illustration from the "tea-ships." + c. The provincial congress. + d. The committee of safety. + e. The return to the two-chambered legislature of the charter. + +3. Executive powers in the provisional government of Massachusetts;-- + + a. The foremost executive officer. + b. Where the power of governor was really vested. + c. Why the name of president was preferred to that of governor. + d. The example of Massachusetts followed elsewhere. + e. The end of provisional government in 1780. + +4. The council transformed to a senate:-- + + a. The principle of reviewing the acts of the popular assembly. + b. The borrowing of Roman names. + c. The qualifications and service of senators. + d. The lieutenant-governor. + +5. Our state governments patterned after the government of +England:-- + + a. The governor and the king. + b. The Senate and the House of Lords. + c. The House of Representatives and the House of Commons. + d. Some differences between the British system and the American. + + + +Section 3. _The State Governments._ + +[Sidenote: Later modifications.] +During the present century our state governments have undergone +more or less revision, chiefly in the way of abolishing property +qualifications for offices making the suffrage universal, and electing +officers that were formerly appointed. Only in Delaware does there +still remain a property qualification for senators. There is no longer +any distinction in principle between the upper and lower houses of the +legislature. Both represent population, the usual difference being +that the senate consists of fewer members who represent larger +districts. Usually, too, the term of the representatives is two years, +and the whole house is elected at the same time, while the term of +senators is four years, and half the number are elected every two +years. This system of two-chambered legislatures is probably retained +chiefly through a spirit of conservatism, because it is what we +are used to. But it no doubt has real advantages in checking hasty +legislation. People are always wanting to have laws made about all +sorts of things, and in nine cases out of ten their laws would be +pernicious laws; so that it is well not to have legislation made too +easy. + +[Sidenote: The suffrage.] +The suffrage by which the legislature is elected is almost universal. +It is given in all the states to all male citizens who have reached +the age of one-and-twenty. In many it is given also to _denizens_ +of foreign birth who have declared an intention of becoming citizens. +In some it is given without further specification to every male +_inhabitant_ of voting age. Residence in the state for some +period, varying from three months to two years and a half, is also +generally required; sometimes a certain length of residence in the +county, the town, or even in the voting precinct, is prescribed. In +many of the states it is necessary to have paid one's poll-tax. There +is no longer any property qualification, though there was until +recently in Rhode Island, Criminals, idiots, and lunatics are excluded +from the suffrage. Some states also exclude duellists and men who bet +on elections. Connecticut and Massachusetts shut out persons who are +unable to read. In no other country has access to citizenship and the +suffrage been made so easy. + +[Sidenote: Separation between legislation and the executive.] +A peculiar feature of American governments, and something which it is +hard for Europeans to understand, is the almost complete separation +between the executive and the legislative departments. In European +countries the great executive officers are either members of the +legislature, or at all events have the right to be present at its +meetings and take part in its discussions; and as they generally have +some definite policy by which they are to stand or fall, they are wont +to initiate legislation and to guide the course of the discussion. But +in America the legislatures, having no such central points about which +to rally their forces, carry on their work in an aimless, rambling +sort of way, through the agency of many standing committees. When +a measure is proposed it is referred to one of the committees for +examination before the house will have anything to do with it. Such a +preliminary examination is of course necessary where there is a vast +amount of legislative work going on. But the private and disconnected +way in which our committee work is done tends to prevent full and +instructive discussion in the house, to make the mass of legislation, +always chaotic enough, somewhat more chaotic, and to facilitate the +various evil devices of lobbying and log-rolling. + +In pointing out this inconvenience attendant upon the American plan of +separating the executive and legislative departments, I must not be +understood as advocating the European plan as preferable for this +country. The evils that inevitably flow from any fundamental change in +the institutions of a country are apt to be much more serious than the +evils which the change is intended to remove. Political government is +like a plant; a little watering and pruning do very well for it, but +the less its roots are fooled with, the better. In the American system +of government the independence of the executive department, with +reference to the legislative, is fundamental; and on the whole it is +eminently desirable. One of the most serious of the dangers which +beset democratic government, especially where it is conducted on a +great scale, is the danger that the majority for the time being will +use its power tyrannically and unscrupulously, as it is always tempted +to do. Against such unbridled democracy we have striven to guard +ourselves by various constitutional checks and balances. Our written +constitutions and our Supreme Court are important safeguards, as +will be shown below. The independence of our executives is another +important safeguard. But if our executive departments were mere +committees of the legislature--like the English cabinet, for +example--this independence could not possibly be maintained; and the +loss of it would doubtless entail upon us evils far greater than those +which mow flow from want of leadership in our legislatures.[11] + +[Footnote 11: In two admirable essays on "Cabinet Responsibility and +the Constitution," and "Democracy and the Constitution," Mr. Lawrence +Lowell has convincingly argued that the American system is best +adapted to the circumstances of this country. Lowell, _Essays on +Government_, pp. 20-117, Boston, 1890.] + +We must remember that government is necessarily a cumbrous affair, +however conducted. + +The only occasion on which the governor is a part of the legislature +is when he signs or vetoes a bill. Then he is virtually in himself +a third house.[12] As an executive officer the governor is far less +powerful than in the colonial times. We shall see the reason of +this after we have enumerated some of the principal offices in the +executive department. There is always a secretary of state, whose main +duty is to make and keep the records of state transactions. There is +always a state treasurer, and usually a state auditor or comptroller +to examine the public accounts and issue the warrants without which +the treasurer cannot pay out a penny of the state's money. There is +almost always an attorney-general, to appear for the state in the +supreme court in all cases in which the state is a party, and in +all prosecutions for capital offences. He also exercises some +superintendence over the district attorneys, and acts as legal adviser +to the governors and the legislature. There is also in many states +a superintendent of education; and in some there are boards of +education, of health, of lunacy and charity, bureau of agriculture, +commissioners of prisons, of railroads, of mines, of harbours, of +immigration, and so on. Sometimes such boards are appointed by the +governor, but such officers as the secretary of state, the treasurer, +auditor, and attorney-general are, in almost all the states, elected +by the people. They are not responsible to the governor, but to the +people who elect them. They are not subordinate to the governor, but +are rather his colleagues. Strictly speaking, the governor is not the +head of the executive department, but a member of it. The executive +department is parcelled out in several pieces, and his is one of the +pieces. + +[Footnote 12: The state executive.] + +[Sidenote: The governor's functions: 1. Advisor of legislature. 2. +Commander of state militia. 3. Royal prerogative of pardon. 4. Veto power.] +The ordinary functions of the governor are four in number. 1. He +sends a message to the legislature, at the beginning of each session, +recommending such measures as he would like to see embodied in +legislation. 2. He is commander-in-chief of the state militia, and as +such can assist the sheriff of a county in putting down a riot, or +the President of the United States, in the event of a war. On such +occasions the governor may become a personage of immense importance, +as, for example, in our Civil War, when President Lincoln's demands +for troops met with such prompt response from the men who will be +known to history as the great "war governors." 3. The governor is +invested with the royal prerogative of pardoning criminals, or +commuting the sentences pronounced upon them by the courts. This power +belongs to kings in accordance with the old feudal notion that the +king was the source or fountain of justice. When properly used it +affords an opportunity for rectifying some injustice for which the +ordinary machinery of the law could not provide, or for making such +allowances for extraordinary circumstances as the court could not +properly consider. In our country it is too often improperly used to +enable the worst criminals to escape due punishment, just because +it is a disagreeable duty to hang them. Such misplaced clemency is +pleasant for the murderers, but it makes life less secure for honest +men and women, and in the less civilized regions of our country it +encourages lynch law. 4. In all the states except Rhode Island, +Delaware, Ohio, and North Carolina, the governor has a veto upon the +acts of the legislature, as above explained; and in ordinary times +this power, which is not executive but legislative, is probably the +governor's most important and considerable power. In thirteen of +the states the governor can veto particular items in a bill for the +appropriation of public money, while at the same time he approves +the rest of the bill. This is a most important safeguard against +corruption, because where the governor does not have this power it is +possible to make appropriations for unworthy or scandalous purposes +along with appropriations for matters of absolute necessity, and then +to lump them all together in the same bill, so that the governor must +either accept the bad along with the good or reject the good along +with the bad. It is a great gain when the governor can select the +items and veto some while approving others. In such matters the +governor is often more honest and discreet than the legislature, if +for no other reason, because he is one man, and responsibility can be +fixed upon him more clearly than upon two or three hundred. + +Such, in brief outline, is the framework of the American state +governments. But our account would be very incomplete without some +mention of three points, all of them especially characteristic of +the American state, and likely to be overlooked or misunderstood by +Europeans. + +[Sidenote: In building the state, the local self-government was left +unimpaired.] +_First_, while we have rapidly built up one of the greatest +empires yet seen upon the earth, we have left our self-government +substantially unimpaired in the process. This is exemplified in +two ways: first, in the relationship of the state to its towns +and counties, and, secondly, in its relationship to the federal +government. Over the township and county governments the state +exercises a general supervision; indeed, it clothes them with their +authority. Townships and counties have no sovereignty; the state, on +the other hand, has many elements of sovereignty, but it does not use +them to obliterate or unduly restrict the control of the townships +and counties over their own administrative work. It leaves the local +governments to administer themselves. As a rule there is only just +enough state supervision to harmonize the working of so many local +administrations. Such a system of government comes as near as possible +toward making all American citizens participate actively in the +management of public affairs. It generates and nourishes a public +spirit and a universal acquaintance with matters of public interest +such as has probably never before been seen in any great country. +Public spirit of equal or greater intensity may have been witnessed +in small and highly educated communities, such as ancient Athens or +mediaeval Florence, but in the United States it is diffused over an +area equal to the whole of Europe. Among the leading countries of the +world England is the one which comes nearest to the United States +in the general diffusion of enlightened public spirit and political +capacity throughout all classes of society. + +[Sidenote: Instructive contrast with France.] +A very notable contrast to the self-government which has produced such +admirable results is to be seen in France, and as contrasts are +often instructive, let me mention one or two features of the French +government. There is nothing like the irregularity and spontaneity +there that we have observed in our survey of the United States. +Everything is symmetrical. France is divided into eighty-nine +_departments_, most of them larger than the state of Delaware, +some of them nearly as large as Connecticut, and the administration +of one department is exactly like that of all the others. The chief +officer of the department is the prefect, who is appointed by +the minister of the interior at Paris. The prefect is treasurer, +recruiting officer, school superintendent, all in one, and he appoints +nearly all inferior officers. The department has a council, elected +by universal suffrage, but it has no power of assessing taxes. The +central legislature in Paris decides for it how much money it shall +use and how it shall raise it. The department council is not even +allowed to express its views on political matters; it can only attend +to purely local details of administration. + +The smallest civil division in France is the _commune_, which may +be either rural or urban. The commune has a municipal council which +elects a mayor; but when once elected the mayor becomes directly +responsible to the prefect of the department, and through him to the +minister of the interior. If these greater officers do not like what +the mayor does, they can overrule his acts or even suspend him from +office; or upon their complaint the President of the Republic can +remove him. + +[Sidenote: In France whether it is nominally a despotic empire or a +republic at the top, there is scarcely any self-government at the +bottom. Hence government there rests on an insecure foundation.] +Thus in France people do not manage their own affairs, but they are +managed for them by a hierarchy of officials with its head at Paris. +This system was devised by the Constituent Assembly in 1790 and +wrought into completeness by Napoleon in 1800. The men who devised +it in 1790 actually supposed that they were inaugurating a system or +political freedom(!), and unquestionably it was a vast improvement +upon the wretched system which it supplanted; but as contrasted with +American methods and institutions, it is difficult to call it anything +else than a highly centralized despotism. It has gone on without +essential change through all the revolutions which have overtaken +France since 1800. The people have from time to time overthrown an +unpopular government at Paris, but they have never assumed the direct +control of their own affairs. + +Hence it is commonly remarked that while the general intelligence +of the French people is very high, their intelligence in political +matters is, comparatively speaking, very low. Some persons try to +explain this by a reference to peculiarities of race. But if we +Americans were to set about giving to the state governments things +to do that had better be done by counties and towns, and giving the +federal government things to do that had better be done by the states, +it would not take many generations to dull the keen edge of our +political capacity. We should lose it as inevitably as the most +consummate of pianists will lose his facility if he stops practising. +It is therefore a fact of cardinal importance that in the United +States the local governments of township, county, and city are left to +administer themselves instead of being administered by a great bureau +with its head at the state capital. In a political society thus +constituted from the beginning it has proved possible to build up +our Federal Union, in which the states, while for certain purposes +indissolubly united, at the same time for many other purposes retain +their self-government intact. As in the case of other aggregates, the +nature of the American political aggregate has been determined by the +nature of its political units. + +[Sidenote: Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the +American Union.] +_Secondly_, let us observe how great are the functions retained +by our states under the conditions of our Federal Union. The +powers granted to our federal government, such as the control over +international questions, war and peace, the military forces, the +coinage, patents and copyrights, and the regulation of commerce +between the states and with foreign countries,--all these are powers +relating to matters that affect all the states, but could not be +regulated harmoniously by the separate action of the states. In order +the more completely to debar the states from meddling with such +matters, they are expressly prohibited from entering into agreements +with each other or with a foreign power; they cannot engage in war, +save in case of actual invasion or such imminent danger as admits of +no delay; without consent of Congress they cannot keep a military or +naval force in time of peace, or impose custom-house duties. Besides +all this they are prohibited from granting titles of nobility, coining +money, emitting bills of credit, making anything but gold and silver +coin a tender in payment of debts, passing bills of attainder, _ex +post facto_ laws, or laws impairing the obligation of contracts. +The force of these latter restrictions will be explained hereafter. +Such are the limitations of sovereignty imposed upon the states within +the Federal Union. + +Compared with the vast prerogatives of the state legislatures, these +limitations seem small enough. All the civil and religious rights +of our citizens depend upon state legislation; the education of the +people is in the care of the states; with them rests the regulation +of the suffrage; they prescribe the rules of marriage, the legal +relations of husband and wife, of parent and child; they determine the +powers of masters over servants and the whole law of principal and +agent, which is so vital a matter in all business transactions; they +regulate partnership, debt and credit, insurance; they constitute all +corporations, both private and municipal, except such as specially +fulfill the financial or other specific functions of the federal +government; they control the possession, distribution, and use of +property, the exercise of trades, and all contract relations; and they +formulate and administer all criminal law, except only that which +concerns crimes committed against the United States, on the high seas, +or against the law of nations. Space would fail in which to enumerate +the particulars of this vast range of power; to detail its parts would +be to catalogue all social and business relationships, to examine all +the foundations of law and order.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Woodrow Wilson, _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, p. 437.] + +This enumeration, by Mr. Woodrow Wilson, is so much to the point that I +content myself with transcribing it. A very remarkable illustration of +the preponderant part played by state law in America is given by Mr. +Wilson, in pursuance of the suggestion of Mr. Franklin Jameson.[14] +Consider the most important subjects of legislation in England during +the present century, the subjects which make up almost the entire +constitutional history of England for eighty years. These subjects are +Catholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, the abolition of slavery, +the amendment of the poor-laws, the reform of municipal corporations, +the repeal of the corn laws, the admission of Jews to parliament, the +disestablishment of the Irish church, the alteration of the Irish land +laws, the establishment of national education, the introduction of the +ballot, and the reform of the criminal law. In the United States only +two of these twelve great subjects could be dealt with by the federal +government: the repeal of the corn laws, as being a question of national +revenue and custom-house duties, and the abolition of slavery, by virtue +of a constitutional amendment embodying some of the results of our Civil +War. All the other questions enumerated would have to be dealt with by +our state governments; and before the war that was the case with the +slavery question also. A more vivid illustration could not be asked for. + +[Footnote 14: Jameson, "The Study of the Constitutional +History of the States" _J.H.U. Studies_, IV., v.] + +How complete is the circle of points in which the state touches the +life of the American citizen, we may see in the fact that our +state courts make a complete judiciary system, from top to bottom +independent of the federal courts.[15] An appeal may be carried from +a state court to a federal court in cases which are found to involve +points of federal law, or in suits arising between citizens of +different states, or where foreign ambassadors are concerned. Except +for such cases the state courts make up a complete judiciary world of +their own, quite outside the sphere of the United States courts. + +[Footnote 15: Independence of the state courts.] + +[Sidenote: Constitution of the state courts.] +We have already had something to say about courts in connection with +those primitive areas for the administration of justice, the hundred +and the county. In our states there are generally four grades of +courts. There are, first, the _justices of the peace _, with +jurisdiction over "petty police offences and civil suits for trifling +sums." They also conduct preliminary hearings in cases where persons +are accused of serious crimes, and when the evidence seems to warrant +it they may commit the accused person for trial before a higher court. +The mayor's court in a city usually has jurisdiction similar to that +of justices of the peace. Secondly, there are _county_ and +_municipal courts_, which hear appeals from justices of the peace +and from mayor's courts, and have original jurisdiction over a more +important grade of civil and criminal cases. Thirdly, there are +_superior courts_, having original jurisdiction over the most +important cases and over wider of the state areas of country, so that +they do not confine their sessions to one place, but move about from +place to place, like the English _justices in eyre_. Cases are +carried up, on appeal, from the lower to the superior court. Fourthly, +there is in every state a _supreme court_, which generally has no +original jurisdiction, but only hears appeals from the decisions of +the other courts. In New York there is a "supremest" court, styled +the _court of appeals_, which has the power of revising sundry +judgments of the supreme court; and there is something similar in New +Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana.[16] + +[Footnote 16: Wilson. The State, pp. 509-513.] + +[Sidenote: Elective and appointive judges.] +In the thirteen colonies the judges were appointed by the governor, +with or without the consent of the council, and they held office +during life or good behaviour. Among the changes made in our state +constitutions since the Revolution, there have been few more important +than those which have affected the position of the judges. In most of +the states they are now elected by the people for a term of years, +sometimes as short as two years. There is a growing feeling that this +change was a mistake. It seems to have lowered the general character +of the judiciary. The change was made by reasoning from analogy: it +was supposed that in a free country all offices ought to be elective +and for short terms. But the case of a judge is not really analogous +to that of executive officers, like mayors and governors and +presidents. The history of popular liberty is much older than the +history of the United States, and it would be difficult to point to +an instance in which popular liberty has ever suffered from the +life tenure of judges. On the contrary, the judge ought to be as +independent as possible of all transient phases of popular sentiment, +and American experience during the past century seems to teach us that +in the few states where the appointing of judges during life or good +behaviour has prevailed, the administration of justice has been better +than in the states where the judges have been elected for specified +terms. Since 1869 there has been a marked tendency toward lengthening +the terms of elected judges, and in several states there has been a +return to the old method of appointing judges by the governor, subject +to confirmation by the senate.[17] It is one of the excellent features +of our system of federal government, that the several states can thus +try experiments each for itself and learn by comparison of results. +When things are all trimmed down to a dead level of uniformity by the +central power, as in France, a prolific source of valuable experiences +is cut off and shut up. + +[Footnote 17: For details, see the admirable monograph of Henry Hitchcock, +_American State Constitutions_, p. 53.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Modifications of state government during the present century:-- + + a. Property qualifications for office. + b. The distinction between the upper and the lower house. + c. The advantage in retaining a two-chambered legislature. + +2. The suffrage:-- + + a. The persons to whom it is granted. + b. The qualifications established. + c. The persons excluded from its exercise. + +3. The separation of the executive and legislative departments:-- + + a. The relation of the great executive officers to legislation in + Europe. + b. The work of legislation in the United States. + c. The most serious of the dangers that beset democratic + government. + d. Important safeguards against such a danger. + +4. The state executive:-- + + a. The governor as a part of the legislature. + b. Officers always belonging to executive departments. + c. Officers frequently belonging to executive departments. + d. The relation of the governor to other elected executive + officers. + +5. The ordinary functions of the governor:-- + + a. Advising the legislature. + b. Commanding the militia. + c. Pardoning criminals or commuting their sentences. + d. Vetoing acts of the legislature. + +6. Why is the power to veto particular items in a bill appropriating +public money an important safeguard against corruption? + +7. Local self-government in the United States left unimpaired:-- + + a. The extent of state supervision of towns and counties. + b. The spirit thus developed in American citizens. + +8. A lesson from the symmetry of the French government:-- + + a. The departments and their administration. + b. The prefect and his duties. + c. The department council and its sphere of action. + d. The commune. + e. The French system contrasted with the American. + f. A common view of the political intelligence of the French. + g. The probable effect of excessive state control upon the + political intelligence of Americans. + +9. The greatness of the functions retained by the states under +the federal government:-- + + a. Powers granted to the government of the United States. + b. The reason for granting such powers, + c. The powers denied to the states. + d. The reason for such prohibitions. + e. The vast range of powers exercised by the states. + f. The most important subjects of legislation in England for the past + eighty years. + g. The governments, state or national, to which these twelve + subjects would have fallen in the United States. + +10. Speak of the independence of the state courts. + +11. In what cases only may matters be transferred from them to +a federal court? + +12. The constitution of the state courts:-- + + a. Justices of the peace; the mayor's court. + b. County and municipal courts. + c. The superior courts. + d. The supreme court. + e. Still higher courts in certain states. + +13. The selection of judges and their terms of service:-- + + a. In the thirteen colonies. + b. In most of the states since the Revolution. + c. The reasons for a life tenure. + d. The tendency since 1869. + +14. Mention a conspicuous advantage of our system of government over the +French. + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Was there ever a charter government in your state? If so, where is +the charter at the present time? What is its present value? Try to see +it, if possible. Pupils of Boston and vicinity, for example, may +examine in the office of the secretary of state, at the state house, the +charter of King Charles (1629) and that of William and Mary (1692). + +2. When was your state organized under its present government? If it is +not one of the original thirteen, what was its history previous to +organization; that is, who owned it and controlled it, and how came it +to become a state? + +3. What are the qualifications for voting in your state? + +4. What are the arguments in favour of an educational qualification for +voters (as, for example, the ability to read the Constitution of the +United States)? What reasons might be urged against such qualifications? + +5. Who is the governor of your state? What political party supported him +for the position? For what ability or eminent service was he selected? + +6. Give illustrations of the governor's exercise of the four functions +of advising, vetoing, pardoning, and commanding (consult the newspapers +while the legislature is in session). + +7. Mention some things done by the governor that are not included +in the enumeration of his functions in the text. + +8. Visit, if practicable, the State House. Observe the various offices, +and consider the general nature of the business done there. Attend a +session of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Obtain some +"orders of the day." + +9. If the legislature is in session, follow its proceedings in the +newspapers. What important measures are under discussion? On what sort +of questions are party lines pretty sharply drawn? On what sort of +questions are party distinctions ignored? + +10. Consult the book of general or public statutes, and report on +the following points:-- + + a. The magnitude of the volume. + b. Does it contain all the laws? If not, what are omitted? + c. Give some of the topics dealt with. + d. Where are the laws to be found that have been made since the printing + of the volume? + e. Are the originals of the laws in the volume? If not, where are they + and in what shape? + +11. Is everybody expected to know all the laws? + +12. Does ignorance of the law excuse one for violating it? + +13. Suppose people desire the legislature to pass some law, as, for +example, a law requiring towns and cities to provide flags for +school-houses, how is the attention of the legislature secured? What are +the various stages through which the bill must pass before it can become +a law? Why should there be so many stages? + +14. Give illustrations of the exercise of federal government, state +government, and local government, in your own town or city. Of which +government do you observe the most signs? Of which do you observe the +fewest signs? Of which government do the officers seem most sensitive to +local opinion? + +15. Are the sessions of the legislature in your state annual or +biennial? What is the argument for each system? + +For answers to numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19, consult the public statutes, +a lawyer, or some intelligent business man. A fair idea of the +successive steps in the courts may be obtained from a good unabridged +dictionary by looking up the technical terms employed in these +questions. + +16. What is the difference between a civil action and a criminal? + + a. In respect to the object to be gained in each? + b. In respect to the party that is the plaintiff? + c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case goes + against him? + +17. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action that is +tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider +(1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) the recognizance, +(5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, +(9) the arguments,(10) the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and +its enforcement. + +What is an appeal?--This procedure seems cumbrous, but it +is founded in common sense. What one of the foregoing steps, for +example, would you omit? Why? + +18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is tried +with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun in a lower court +where the first five stages are the same as in number 17. Then follow +(6) the examination of witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to +appear before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the +complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or county +attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of the grand jury upon the +indictment, (11) the challenging of jurors before the trial, (12) the +arraignment, (13) the plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) +the charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sentence, with +its penalty and the enforcement of it. What are "exceptions?"--Why +should there be a jury in the higher court when there is none in the +lower? What is the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing +steps? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish crime? Why should +an accused person receive so much consideration? + +19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. Consider +(1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the summons to the defendant, (4) +the return, (5) the pleading, (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) +the judgment or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution.--If the +action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides the question +at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in points of law. + +20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and +acquitted, has he any redress? + +21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your +community? + +22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and property +in your community? + +23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a law and the +enforcement of that law? If so, what is it? + +24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 177 may +be taken as a special topic. Consult any modern history of England. + +25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for the +citizen,--an acquaintance with the principles and details of government +and law, or a law-abiding and law-supporting spirit? What reasons have +you for your opinion? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with, +those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce it? (Suppose a +case in which you do not approve the law, and then answer.) + +26. May you ever become an officer of the law? Would you as a citizen be +justified in withholding from an officer that obedience and moral +support which you as an officer might justly demand from every citizen? + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +The State.--For the founding of the several colonies, their charters, +etc., the student may profitably consult the learned monographs in +Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, 8 vols., +Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite full in details, is given in +Lodge's _Short History of the English Colonies in America_, +N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account of the revision and +transformation of the colonial governments in Bancroft's _History of +the United States_, final edition, N.Y., 1886, vol. v. pp. 111-125. + +The series of "American Commonwealths," edited by H.E. Scudder, and +published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be found helpful. The +following have been published: Johnston, _Connecticut: a Study +of a Commonwealth-Democracy_, 1887; Roberts, _New York: the +Planting and Growth of the Empire State_, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, +_Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, 2d ed., 1884; Cooke, +_Virginia: a History of the People_, 1883; Shaler, _Kentucky: +a Pioneer Commonwealth_, 1884; King, _Ohio: First Fruits of +the Ordinance of 1787_,1888; Dunn, _Indiana: a Redemption from +Slavery_, 1888; Cooley, _Michigan: a History of Governments_, +1885; Carr, _Missouri: a Bone of Contention_, 1888; Spring, +_Kansas: the Prelude to the War for the Union_, 1885; Royce, +_California: a Study of American Character_, 1886; Barrows, +_Oregon: the Struggle for Possession_, 1883. + +In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is advised +to consult Dole's _Talks about Law: a Popular Statement of What +our Law is and How it is Administered_, Boston, 1887. This book +deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive way it gives an +account of such facts and principles of law as ought to be familiarly +understood by every man and woman. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. + + +[Sidenote: In the American state there is a power above the +legislature.] +Toward the close of the preceding chapter[1] I spoke of three points +especially characteristic of the American state, and I went on to +mention two of them. The third point which I had in mind is so +remarkable and important as to require a chapter all to itself. In the +American state the legislature is not supreme, but has limits to its +authority prescribed by a written document, known as the Constitution; +and if the legislature happens to pass a law which violates the +constitution, then whenever a specific case happens to arise in which +this statute is involved, it can be brought before the courts, and +the decision of the court, if adverse to the statute, annuls it and +renders it of no effect. The importance of this feature of civil +government in the United States can hardly be overrated. It marks a +momentous advance in civilization, and it is especially interesting as +being peculiarly American. Almost everything else in our fundamental +institutions was brought by our forefathers in a more or less highly +developed condition from England; but the development of the written +constitution, with the consequent relation of the courts to the +law-making power, has gone on entirely upon American soil. + +[Footnote 1: See above, p. 172.] + +[Sidenote: Germs of the idea of a written constitution.] +[Sidenote: Our indebtedness to the Romans.] +[Sidenote: Mediaeval charters.] +The germs of the written constitution existed a great while ago. +Perhaps it would not be easy to say just when they began to exist. +It was formerly supposed by such profound thinkers as Locke and such +persuasive writers as Rousseau, that when the first men came together +to live in civil society, they made a sort of contract with one +another as to what laws they would have, what beliefs they would +entertain, what customs they would sanction, and so forth. This +theory of the Social Contract was once famous, and exerted a notable +influence on political history, and it is still interesting in the +same way that spinning-wheels and wooden frigates and powdered wigs +are interesting; but we now know that men lived in civil society, +with complicated laws and customs and creeds, for many thousand years +before the notion had ever entered anybody's head that things could +be regulated by contract. That notion we owe chiefly to the ancient +Romans, and it took them several centuries to comprehend the idea and +put it into practice. We owe them a debt of gratitude for it. The +custom of regulating business and politics and the affairs of life +generally by voluntary but binding agreements is something without +which we moderns would not think life worth living. It was after the +Roman world--that is to say, Christendom, for in the Middle Ages the +two terms were synonymous--had become thoroughly familiar with the +idea of contract, that the practice grew up of granting written +charters to towns, or monasteries, or other corporate bodies. The +charter of a mediaeval town was a kind of written contract by which +the town obtained certain specified immunities or privileges from the +sovereign or from a great feudal lord, in exchange for some specified +service which often took the form of a money payment. It was common +enough for a town to buy liberty for hard cash, just as a man might +buy a farm. The word _charter_ originally meant simply a paper or +written document, and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer +of real estate. In contracts of such importance papers or parchment +documents were drawn up and carefully preserved as irrefragable +evidences of the transaction. And so, in quite significant phrase the +towns zealously guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their +liberties." + +[Sidenote: The "Great Charter" (1215).] +After a while the word charter was applied in England to a particular +document which specified certain important concessions forcibly wrung by +the people from a most unwilling sovereign. This document was called +_Magna Charta_, or the "Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 15, +1215, by John, king of England. After the king had signed it and gone +away to his room, he rolled in a mad fury on the floor, screaming +curses, and gnawing sticks and straw in the impotence of his, wrath.[2] +Perhaps it would be straining words to call a transaction in which the +consent was so one-sided a "contract," but the idea of Magna Charta was +derived from that of the town charters with which people were already +familiar. Thus a charter came to mean "a grant made by the sovereign +either to the whole people or to a portion of them, securing to them the +enjoyment of certain rights." Now in legal usage a charter differs from +a constitution in this, that the former is granted by the sovereign, +while the latter is established by the people themselves: both are the +fundamental law of the land.[3] a The distinction is admirably +expressed, but in history it is not always easy to make it. Magna Charta +was in form a grant by the sovereign, but it was really drawn up by the +barons, who in a certain sense represented the English people; and +established by the people after a long struggle which was only in its +first stages in John's time. To some extent it partook of the nature of +a written constitution. + +[Footnote 2: Green, _Hist. of the English People_, vol. i. p. +248.] + +[Footnote 3: Bouvier, _Law Dictionary_, 12th ed., vol. i. p. +259.] + +[Sidenote: The "Bill of Rights" (1689).] +Let us now observe what happened early in 1689, after James II had +fled from England. On January 28th parliament declared the throne +vacant. Parliament then drew up the "Declaration of Rights," a +document very similar in purport to the first eight amendments to +our Federal Constitution, and on the 13th of February the two houses +offered the crown to William and Mary on condition of their accepting +this declaration of the "true, ancient, and indubitable rights of the +people of this realm." The crown having been accepted on these terms, +parliament in the following December enacted the famous "Bill of +Rights," which simply put their previous declaration into the form of +a declaratory statute. The Bill of Rights was not--even in form--a +grant from a sovereign; it was an instrument framed by the +representatives of the people, and without promising to respect +it William and Mary could no more have mounted the throne than a +president of the United States could be inducted into office if he +were to refuse to take the prescribed oath of allegiance to the +Federal Constitution. The Bill of Rights was therefore, strictly +speaking, a piece of written constitution; it was a constitution as +far as it went. + +[Sidenote: Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane +(1656).] +The seventeenth century, the age when the builders of American +commonwealths were coming from England, was especially notable in +England for two things. One was the rapid growth of modern commercial +occupations and habits, the other was the temporary overthrow of +monarchy, soon followed by the final subjection of the crown to +parliament. Accordingly the sphere of contract and the sphere of +popular sovereignty were enlarged in men's minds, and the notion of a +written constitution first began to find expression. The "Instrument +of Government" which in 1653 created the protectorate of Oliver +Cromwell was substantially a written constitution, but it emanated +from a questionable authority and was not ratified. It was drawn up +by a council of army officers; and "it broke down because the first +parliament summoned under it refused to acknowledge its binding +force." [4] The dissolution of this parliament accordingly left Oliver +absolute dictator. In 1656, when it seemed so necessary to decide what +sort of government the dictatorship of Cromwell was to prepare the way +for, Sir Harry Vane proposed that a _national convention_ should +be called for drawing up a written constitution.[5] The way in which +he stated his case showed that he had in him a prophetic foreshadowing +of the American idea as it was realized in 1787. But Vane's ideas were +too far in advance of his age to be realized then in England. Older +ideas, to which men were more accustomed, determined the course of +events there, and it was left for Americans to create a government by +means of a written constitution. And when American statesmen did so, +they did it without any reference to Sir Harry Vane. His relation to +the subject has been discovered only in later days, but I mention him +here in illustration of the way in which great institutions grow. They +take shape when they express the opinions and wishes of a multitude +of persons; but it often happens that one or two men of remarkable +foresight had thought of them long beforehand. + +[Footnote 4: Gardiner, _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan +Revolution_, p. lx.] + +[Footnote 5: See Hosmer's _Young Sir Henry Vane_, pp. +432-444,--one of the best books ever written for the reader who wishes +to understand the state of mind among the English people in the crisis +when they laid the foundations of the United States.] + +[Sidenote: The Mayflower compact(1620).] +In America the first attempts at written constitutions were in the +fullest sense made by the people, and not through representatives but +directly. In the Mayflower's cabin, before the Pilgrims had landed on +Plymouth rock, they subscribed their names to a compact in which they +agreed to constitute themselves into a "body politic," and to enact such +laws as might be deemed best for the colony they were about to +establish; and they promised "all due submission and obedience" to such +laws. Such a compact is of course too vague to be called a constitution. +Properly speaking, a written constitution is a document which defines +the character and powers of the government to which its framers are +willing to entrust themselves. Almost any kind of civil government might +have been framed under the Mayflower compact, but the document is none +the less interesting as an indication of the temper of the men who +subscribed their names to it. + +[Sidenote: The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut" (1639).] +The first written constitution known to history was that by which the +republic of Connecticut was organized in 1639. At first the affairs +of the Connecticut settlements had been directed by a commission +appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts, but on the 14th of +January, 1639, all the freemen of the three river towns--Windsor, +Hartford, and Wethersfield--assembled at Hartford, and drew up a +written constitution, consisting of eleven articles, in which the +frame of government then and there adopted was distinctly described. +This document, known as the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut", +created the government under which the people of Connecticut lived for +nearly two centuries before they deemed it necessary to amend it. The +charter granted to Connecticut by Charles II. in 1662 was simply a +royal recognition of the government actually in operation since the +adoption of the Fundamental Orders. + +[Sidenote: Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the +modern state constitution.] +In those colonies which had charters these documents served, to a +certain extent, the purposes of a written constitution. They limited the +legislative powers of the colonial assemblies. The question sometimes +came up as to whether some statute made by the assembly was not in +excess of the powers conferred by the charter. This question usually +arose in connection with some particular law case, and thus came before +the courts for settlement,--first before the courts of the colony; +afterwards it might sometimes be carried on appeal before the Privy +Council in England. If the court decided that the statute was in +transgression of the charter, the statute was thereby annulled.[6] The +colonial legislature, therefore, was not a supreme body, even within the +colony; its authority was restricted by the terms of the charter. Thus +the Americans, for more than a century before the Revolution, were +familiarized with the idea of a legislature as a representative body +acting within certain limits prescribed by a written document. They had +no knowledge or experience of a supreme legislative body, such as the +House of Commons has become since the founders of American states left +England. At the time of the Revolution, when the several states framed +new governments, they simply put a written constitution into the +position of supremacy formerly occupied by the charter. Instead of a +document expressed in terms of a royal grant, they adopted a document +expressed in terms of a popular edict. To this the legislature must +conform; and people were already somewhat familiar with the method of +testing the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter brought +before the courts. The mental habit thus generated was probably more +important than any other single circumstance in enabling our Federal +Union to be formed. Without it, indeed, it would have been impossible to +form a durable union. + +[Footnote 6: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. i. pp. 243, +415.] + +[Sidenote: Abnormal development of the state constitution, encroaching +upon the province of the legislature.] +[Sidenote: The Swiss "Referendum" 196] +Before pursuing this subject, we may observe that American state +constitutions have altered very much in character since the first part +of the present century. The earlier constitutions were confined to a +general outline of the organization of the government. They did not +undertake to make the laws, but to prescribe the conditions under +which laws might be made and executed. Recent state constitutions +enter more and more boldly upon the general work of legislation. For +example, in some states they specify what kinds of property shall be +exempt from seizure for debt, they make regulations as to railroad +freight-charges, they prescribe sundry details of practice in the +courts, or they forbid the sale of intoxicating liquors. Until +recently such subjects would have been left to the legislatures, no +one would have thought of putting them into a constitution. The motive +in so doing is a wish to put certain laws into such a shape that it +will be difficult to repeal them. What a legislature sees fit to enact +this year it may see fit to repeal next year. But amending a state +constitution is a slow and cumbrous process. An amendment may be +originated in the legislature, where it must secure more than a mere +majority--perhaps a three fifths or two thirds vote--in order to pass; +in some states it must be adopted by two successive legislatures, +perhaps by two thirds of one and three fourths of the next; in some +states not more than one amendment can be brought before the same +legislature; in some it is provided that amendments must not be +submitted to the people oftener than once in five years; and so +on. After the amendment has at length made its way through the +legislature, it must be ratified by a vote of the people at the next +general election. Another way to get a constitution amended is to call +a convention for that purpose. In order to call a convention, it is +usually necessary to obtain a two thirds vote in the legislature; but +in some states the legislature is required at stated intervals to +submit to the people the question of holding such a convention, as +in New Hampshire every seven years; in Iowa, every ten years; in +Michigan, every sixteen years; in New York, Ohio, Maryland, and +Virginia, every twenty years.[7] A convention is a representative +body elected by the people to meet at some specified time and +place for some specified purpose, and its existence ends with the +accomplishment of that purpose. It is in this occasional character +that the convention differs from an ordinary legislative assembly. +With such elaborate checks against hasty action, it is to be presumed +that if a law can be once embodied in a state constitution, it will be +likely to have some permanence. Moreover, a direct vote by the people +gives a weightier sanction to a law than a vote in the legislature. +There is also, no doubt, a disposition to distrust legislatures and in +some measure do their work for them by direct popular enactment. For +such reasons some recent state constitutions have come almost to +resemble bodies of statutes. Mr. Woodrow Wilson suggestively compares +this kind of popular legislation with the Swiss practice known as the +_Referendum_; in most of the Swiss cantons an important act of +the legislature does not acquire the force of law until it has been +_referred_ to the people and voted on by them. "The objections +to the, _referendum_," says Mr. Wilson, "are, of course, that it +assumes a discriminating judgment and a fullness of information on the +part of the people touching questions of public policy which they do +not often possess, and that it lowers the sense of responsibility on +the part of legislators." [8] Another serious objection to our recent +practice is that it tends to confuse the very valuable distinction +between a constitution and a body of statutes, to necessitate a +frequent revision of constitutions, and to increase the cumbrousness +of law-making. It would, however, be premature at the present time to +pronounce confidently upon a practice of such recent origin. It is +clear that its tendency is extremely democratic, and that it implies +a high standard of general intelligence and independence among the +people. If the evils of the practice are found to outweigh its +benefits, it will doubtless fall into disfavour. + +[Footnote 7: See Henry Hitchcock's admirable monograph, _American +State Constitutions_, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 8: Wilson. The State, p. 490.] + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. What is to be said with regard to the following +topics? + +I. A power above the legislature:-- + + a. The constitution. + b. The relation of the courts to laws that violate the constitution. + c. The importance of this relation. + d. The American origin of the written constitution. + +2. The germs of the idea of a written constitution:-- + + a. The theory of a "social contract." + b. The objection to this theory. + c. Roman origin of the idea of contract. + +3. Mediaeval charters:-- + + a. The charter of a town. + b. The word _charter_. + c. Magna Charta. + d. The difference between a charter and a constitution. + e. The form of Magna Charta as contrasted with its essential nature. + +4. Documents somewhat resembling written constitutions:-- + + a. The Declaration of Rights. + b. The Bill of Rights. + +5. The foreshadowing of the American idea of written constitutions:-- + +a. Two conditions especially notable in England in the seventeenth +century. + b. The influence of these conditions on popular views of government. + c. The "Instrument of Government." + d. Sir Harry Vane's proposition. + e. Why allude to Vane's scheme when nothing came of it? + +6. Early suggestions of written constitutions in America:-- + + a. The compact on the Mayflower. + b. Wherein the compact fell short of a written constitution. + c. The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." + +7. The development of the colonial charter into a written constitution:-- + + a. The limitation of the powers of colonial assemblies. + b. The decision of questions relating to the transgression of a charter + by a colonial legislature. + c. The colonial assembly as contrasted with the House of + Commons. + d. The difference between the written constitution and the + charter for which it was substituted. + e. The readiness of the people to adopt written constitutions. + +8. The extensive development of the written constitution in +some states:-- + + a. The simplicity of the earlier constitutions. + b. Illustrations of the legislative tendencies of later constitutions. + c. The motive for such extension of a constitution. + d. The difficulty of amending a constitution. + e. The legislative method of amendment. + f. The convention method of amendment. + g. The presumed advantage of embodying laws in the constitution. + h. A comparison with the Swiss Referendum. + i. Objections to the Swiss Referendum. + j. Other objections to the practice of putting laws into the + constitution. + + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. Do you belong to any society that has a constitution? Has the society +rules apart from the constitution? Which may be changed the more +readily? Why not put all the rules into the constitution? + +2. Read the constitution of your state in part or in full. Give some +account of its principal divisions, of the topics it deals with, and its +magnitude or fullness. Are there any amendments? If so, mention two or +three, and give the reasons for their adoption. Is there any declaration +of rights in it? If so, what are some of the rights declared, and whose +are they said to be? + +3. Where is the original of your state constitution kept? What sort of +looking document do you suppose it to be? Where would you look for a +copy of it? If a question arises in any court about the interpretation +of the constitution, must the original be produced to settle the wording +of the document? + +4. Has any effort been made in your state to put into the constitution +matters that have previously been subjects of legislative action? If so, +give an account of the effort, and the public attitude towards it. + +5. Which is preferable,--a constitution that commands the approval of +the people as a whole or that which has the support of a dominant +political party only? + +6. Suppose it is your personal conviction that a law is +unconstitutional, may you disregard it? What consequences might ensue +from such disregard? + +7. May people honestly and amicably differ about the interpretation of +the constitution or of a law, in a particular case? If important +interests are dependent on the interpretation, how can the true one be +found out? Does a lawyer's opinion settle the interpretation? What value +has such an opinion? Where must people go for authoritative and final +interpretations of the laws? Can they get such interpretations by simply +asking for them? + +8. The constitution of New Hampshire provides that when the governor +cannot discharge the duties of his office, the president of the senate +shall assume them. During the severe sickness of a governor recently, +the president of the senate hesitated to act in his stead; it was not +clear that the situation was grave enough to warrant such a course. +Accordingly the attorney-general of the state brought an action against +the president of the senate for not doing his duty; the court considered +the situation, decided against the president of the senate, and ordered +him to become acting governor. Why was this suit necessary? Was it +conducted in a hostile spirit? Wherein did the decision help the state? +Wherein did it help the defendant? Wherein may it possibly prove helpful +in the future history of the state? + +9. Mention particular things that the governor, the legislature, and the +judiciary of your state have done or may do. Then find the section or +clause or wording in your state constitution that gives authority for +each of these things. For example, read the particular part that +authorizes your legislature:-- + + a. To incorporate a city. + b. To compel children to attend school. + c. To buy uniforms for a regiment of soldiers. + d. To establish a death penalty. + e. To send a committee abroad to study a system of waterworks. + +10. Trace the authority of a school-teacher, a policeman, a selectman, a +mayor, or of any public officer, back to some part of your constitution. + +11. Mention any parts of your constitution that seem general and +somewhat indefinite, and that admit, therefore, of much freedom in +interpretation. + +12. Show how the people are, in one aspect, subordinate to the +constitution; in another, superior to it. + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +Written Constitutions.--Very little has been written or published with +reference to the history of the development of the idea of a written +constitution. The student will find some suggestive hints in Hannis +Taylor's _Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, vol. i, +Boston, 1889. See Henry Hitchcock's _American State Constitutions; a +Study of their Growth_, N.Y., 1887, a learned and valuable essay. See +also _J.H.U. Studies_, I., xi., Alexander Johnston, _The Genesis of a +New England State (Connecticut)_; III., ix.-x., Horace Davis, _American +Constitutions_; also Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American +History_, 1606-1863, N.Y., 1886; Stubbs, _Select Charters and other +Illustrations of English Constitutional History_, Oxford, 1870; +Gardiner's _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution_, Oxford, +1888. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FEDERAL UNION. + + +Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union._ + +Having now sketched the origin and nature of written constitutions, we +are prepared to understand how by means of such a document the +government of our Federal Union was called into existence. We have +already described so much of the civil government in operation in the +United States that this account can be made much more concise than if we +had started at the top instead of the bottom and begun to portray our +national government before saying a word about states and counties and +towns. Bit by bit the general theory of American self-government has +already been set before the reader. We have now to observe, in +conclusion, what a magnificent piece of constructive work has been +performed in accordance with that general theory. We have to observe the +building up of a vast empire out of strictly self-governing elements. + +[Sidenote: English institutions in all the colonies.] +There was always one important circumstance in favour of the union of +the thirteen American colonies into a federal nation. The inhabitants +were all substantially one people. It is true that in some of the +colonies there were a good many persons not of English ancestry, but +the English type absorbed and assimilated everything else. + +All spoke the English language, all had English institutions. Except +the development of the written constitution, every bit of civil +government described in the preceding pages came to America directly +from England, and not a bit of it from any other country, unless by +being first filtered through England. Our institutions were as English +as our speech. It was therefore comparatively easy for people in one +colony to understand people in another, not only as to their words but +as to their political ideas. Moreover, during the first half of the +eighteenth century, the common danger from the aggressive French +enemy on the north and west went far toward awakening in the thirteen +colonies a common interest. And after the French enemy had been +removed, the assertion by parliament of its alleged right to tax the +Americans threatened all the thirteen legislatures at once, and thus +in fact drove the colonies into a kind of federal union. + +[Sidenote: The New England confederacy (1643-84).] +[Sidenote: Albany Congress(1754).] +[Sidenote: Stamp Act Congress (1765).] +Confederations among states have generally owed their origin, in +the first instance, to military necessities. The earliest league in +America, among white people at least, was the confederacy of New +England colonies formed in 1643, chiefly for defence against the +Indians. It was finally dissolved amid the troubles of 1684, when the +first government of Massachusetts was overthrown. Along the Atlantic +coast the northern and the southern colonies were for some time +distinct groups, separated by the unsettled portion of the central +zone. The settlement of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1681, filled this +gap and made the colonies continuous from the French frontier of +Canada to the Spanish frontier of Florida. The danger from France +began to be clearly apprehended after 1689, and in 1698 one of the +earliest plans of union was proposed by William Penn. In 1754, just +as the final struggle with France was about to begin, there came +Franklin's famous plan for a permanent federal union; and this plan +was laid before a congress assembled at Albany for renewing the +alliances with the Six Nations.[1] Only seven colonies were +represented in this congress. Observe the word "congress." If it +had been a legislative body it would more likely have been called +a "parliament." But of course it was nothing of the sort. It was a +diplomatic body, composed of delegates representing state governments, +like European congresses,--like the Congress of Berlin, for example, +which tried to adjust the Eastern Question in 1878. Eleven years after +the Albany Congress, upon the news that parliament had passed the +Stamp Act, a congress of nine colonies assembled at New York in +October, 1765, to take action thereon. + +[Footnote 1: Franklin's plan was afterward submitted to the several +legislatures of the colonies, and was everywhere rejected because the +need for union was nowhere strongly felt by the people.] + +[Sidenote: Committees of Correspondence (1772-75).] +Nine years elapsed without another congress. Meanwhile the political +excitement, with occasional lulls, went on increasing, and some sort +of cooperation between the colonial governments became habitual. In +1768, after parliament had passed the Townshend revenue acts, there +was no congress, but Massachusetts sent a circular letter to the other +colonies, inviting them to cooperate in measures of resistance, and +the other colonies responded favourably. In 1772, as we have seen, +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts acted +as a sort of provisional government for the commonwealth. In 1773 +Dabney Carr, of Virginia, enlarged upon this idea, and committees of +correspondence were forthwith instituted between the several colonies. +Thus the habit of acting in concert began to be formed. In 1774, +after parliament had passed an act overthrowing the government of +Massachusetts, along with other offensive measures, a congress +assembled in September at Philadelphia, the city most centrally +situated as well as the largest. If the remonstrances adopted at this +congress had been heeded by the British government, and peace had +followed, this congress would probably have been as temporary an +affair as its predecessors; people would probably have waited until +overtaken by some other emergency. But inasmuch as war followed, +the congress assembled again in May, 1775, and thereafter became +practically a permanent institution until it died of old age with the +year 1788. + + +[Sidenote: Continental Congress (1774-1789).] +This congress was called "continental" to distinguish it from the +"provincial congresses" held in several of the colonies at about the +same time. The thirteen colonies were indeed but a narrow strip on the +edge of a vast and in large part unexplored continent, but the word +"continental" was convenient for distinguishing between the whole +confederacy and its several members. + +[Sidenote: The several states were never at any time sovereign +states.] +[Sidenote: The Articles of Confederation] +The Continental Congress began to exercise a certain amount of +directive authority from the time of its first meeting in 1774. Such +authority as it had arose simply from the fact that it represented an +agreement on the part of the several governments to pursue a certain +line of policy. It was a diplomatic and executive, but scarcely yet a +legislative body. Nevertheless it was the visible symbol of a kind of +union between the states. There never was a time when any one of the +original states exercised singly the full powers of sovereignty. Not +one of them was ever a small sovereign state like Denmark or Portugal. +As they acted together under the common direction of the British +government in 1759, the year of Quebec, so they acted together under +the common direction of that revolutionary body, the Continental +Congress, in 1775, the year of Bunker Hill. In that year a +"continental army" was organized in the name of the "United Colonies." +In the following year, when independence was declared, it was done +by the concerted action of all the colonies; and at the same time a +committee was appointed by Congress to draw up a written constitution. +This constitution, known as the "Articles or Confederation," was +submitted to Congress in the autumn of 1777, and was sent to the +several states to be ratified. A unanimous ratification was necessary, +and it was not until March 1781, that unanimity was secured and the +articles adopted. + +Meanwhile the Revolutionary War had advanced into its last stages, +having been carried on from the outset under the general direction +of the Continental Congress. When reading about this period of our +history, the student must be careful not to be misled by the name +"congress" into reasoning as if there were any resemblance whatever +between that body and the congress which was created by our Federal +Constitution. The Continental Congress was not the parent of our +Federal Congress; the former died without offspring, and the latter +had a very different origin, as we shall soon see. The former simply +bequeathed to the latter a name, that was all. + +[Sidenote: Nature and powers of the Continental Congress] +The Continental Congress was an assembly of delegates from the thirteen +states, which from 1774 to 1783 held its sessions at Philadelphia.[2] It +owned no federal property, not even the house in which it assembled, and +after it had been turned out of doors by a mob of drunken soldiers in +June, 1783, it flitted about from place to place, sitting now at +Trenton, now at Annapolis, and finally at New York.[3] Each state sent +to it as many delegates as it chose, though after the adoption of the +articles no state could send less than two or more than seven. Each +state had one vote, and it took nine votes, or two thirds of the whole, +to carry any measure of importance. One of the delegates was chosen +president or chairman of the congress, and this position was one of +great dignity and considerable influence, but it was not essentially +different from the position, of any of the other delegates. There were +no distinct executive officers. Important executive matters were at +first assigned to committees, such as the Finance Committee and the +Board of War, though at the most trying time the finance committee was a +committee of one, in the person of Robert Morris, who was commonly +called the Financier. The work of the finance committee was chiefly +trying to solve the problem of paying bills without spending money, for +there was seldom any money to spend. Congress could not tax the people +or recruit the army. When it wanted money or troops, it could only ask +the state governments for them; and generally it got from a fifth to a +fourth part of the troops needed, but of money a far smaller proportion. +Sometimes it borrowed money from Holland or France, but often its only +resource was to issue paper promises to pay, or the so-called +Continental paper money. There were no federal courts,[4] nor marshals +to execute federal decrees. Congress might issue orders, but it had no +means of compelling obedience. + +[Footnote 2: Except for a few days in December, 1776, when it fled +to Baltimore; and again from September, 1777, to June, 1778, when +Philadelphia was in possession of the British; during that interval +Congress held its meetings at York in Pennsylvania.] + +[Footnote 3: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +112, 271, 306] + +[Footnote 5: Except the "Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture," for +an admirable account of which see Jameson's _Essays in the +Constitutional History of the United States_, pp. 1-45.] + +[Sidenote: It was not fully endowed with sovereignty.] +The Continental Congress was therefore not in the full sense a +sovereign body. A government is not really a government until it can +impose taxes and thus command the money needful for keeping it in +existence. Nevertheless the Congress exercised some of the most +indisputable functions of sovereignty. "It declared the independence +of the United States; it contracted an offensive and defensive +alliance with France; it raised and organized a Continental army; it +borrowed large sums of money, and pledged what the lenders understood +to be the national credit for their repayment; it issued an +inconvertible paper currency, granted letters of marque, and built a +navy." [6] Finally it ratified a treaty of peace with Great Britain. So +that the Congress was really, in many respects, and in the eyes of the +world at large, a sovereign body. Time soon showed that the continued +exercise of such powers was not compatible with the absence of the +power to tax the people. In truth the situation of the Continental +Congress was an illogical situation. In the effort of throwing off +the sovereignty of Great Britain, the people of these states were +constructing a federal union faster than they realized. Their theory +of the situation did not keep pace with the facts, and their first +attempt to embody their theory, in the Articles of Confederation, was +not unnaturally a failure. + + +[Footnote 6: _Critical Period_, p. 93.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Continental Congress.] +At first the powers of the Congress were vague. They were what are +called "implied war powers;" that is to say, the Congress had a war +with Great Britain on its hands, and must be supposed to have power to +do whatever was necessary to bring the war to a successful conclusion. +At first, too, when it had only begun to issue paper money, there +was a momentary feeling of prosperity. Military success added to its +appearance of strength, and the reputation of the Congress reached its +high water mark early in 1778, after the capture of Burgoyne's army +and the making of the alliance with France. After that time, with the +weary prolonging of the war, the increase of the public debt, and the +collapse of the paper currency, its reputation steadily declined. +There was also much work to be done in reorganizing the state +governments, and this kept at home in the state legislatures many of +the ablest men who would otherwise have been sent to the Congress. +Thus in point of intellectual capacity the latter body was distinctly +inferior in 1783 to what it had been when first assembled nine years +earlier. + +[Sidenote: Anarchical tendencies.] +The arrival of peace did not help the Congress, but made matters worse. +When the absolute necessity of presenting a united front to the common +enemy was removed, the weakness of the union was shown in many +ways that were alarming. The _sentiment_ of union was weak. In spite of +the community in language and institutions, which was so favourable to +union, the people of the several states had many local prejudices which +tended to destroy the union in its infancy. A man was quicker to +remember that he was a New Yorker or a Massachusetts man than that he +was an American and a citizen of the United States. Neighbouring states +levied custom-house duties against one another, or refused to admit into +their markets each other's produce, or had quarrels about boundaries +which went to the verge of war. Things grew worse every year until by +the autumn of 1786, when the Congress was quite bankrupt and most of the +states nearly so, when threats of secession were heard both in New +England and in the South, when there were riots in several states and +Massachusetts was engaged in suppressing armed rebellion, when people in +Europe were beginning to ask whether we were more likely to be seized +upon by France or reconquered piecemeal by Great Britain, it came to be +thought necessary to make some kind of a change. + +[Sidenote: The Federal Convention (1787).] + +Men were most unwillingly brought to this conclusion, because they were +used to their state assemblies and not afraid of them, but they were +afraid of increasing the powers of any government superior to the states, +lest they should thus create an unmanageable tyranny. They believed that +even anarchy, though a dreadful evil, is not so dreadful as despotism, +and for this view there is much to be said. After no end of trouble a +convention was at length got together at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and +after four months of work with closed doors, it was able to offer to the +country the new Federal Constitution. Both in its character and in +the work which It did, this Federal Convention, over which Washington +presided, and of which Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton were members, +was one of the most remarkable deliberative bodies known to history. + +We have seen that the fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress +lay in the fact that it could not tax the people. Hence although it +could for a time exert other high functions of sovereignty, it could +only do so while money was supplied to it from other sources than +taxation; from contributions made by the states in answer to its +"requisitions," from foreign loans, and from a paper currency. But such +resources could not last long. It was like a man's trying to live upon +his own promissory notes and upon gifts and unsecured loans from his +friends. When the supply of money was exhausted, the Congress soon found +that it could no longer comport itself as a sovereign power; it could +not preserve order at home, and the situation abroad may be illustrated +by the fact that George III. kept garrisons in several of our +northwestern frontier towns and would not send a minister to the United +States. This example shows that, among the sovereign powers of a +government, the power of taxation is the fundamental one upon which all +the others depend. Nothing can go on without money. + +But the people of the several states would never consent to grant the +power of taxation, to such a body as the Continental Congress, in +which they were not represented. The Congress was not a legislature, +but a diplomatic body; it did not represent the people, but the state +governments; and a large state like Pennsylvania had no more weight in +it than a little state like Delaware. If there was to be any central +assembly for the whole union, endowed with the power of taxation, +it must be an assembly representing the American people just as the +assembly of a single state represented the people of the state. + +As soon as this point became clear, it was seen to be necessary to +throw the Articles of Confederation overboard, and construct a new +national government. As was said above, our Federal Congress is not +descended from the Continental Congress. Its parentage is to be sought +in the state legislatures. Our federal government was constructed +after the general model of the state governments, with some points +copied from British usages, and some points that were original and +new. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What are the reasons for reserving the Constitution of the +United States for the concluding chapter? + +2. Circumstances that favoured union of the colonies:-- + + a. The origin of their inhabitants. + b. All the details of their civil government. + c. The ease with which they understood one another. + d. Their common dangers, two in particular. + +3. Earlier unions among the colonies:-- + + a. The New England Confederacy,--its time, purpose, and + duration. + b. The French danger, and plans to meet it. + c. The Albany Congress,--its nature and immediate purpose. + d. The Stamp Act Congress. + +4. Committees of correspondence:-- + + a. The circular letter of Massachusetts in 1768. + b. Town committees of correspondence in Massachusetts in + 1772. + c. Colonial committees of correspondence in 1773. + d. The habit established through these committees. + +5. The Continental Congress:-- + + a. The immediate causes that led to it. + b. How it might have been temporary. + c. How it became permanent. + d. Its date, place of meeting, and duration. + e. Why "continental" as distinguished from "provincial?" + f. The nature and extent of its authority. + g. The states represented in it never fully sovereign. + +6. Give an account of the "Articles of Confederation." + +7. Distinguish between the Continental Congress and the +Federal. + +8. The powers of the Continental Congress:-- + a. Its homelessness and wandering. + b. Its delegates and their voting power. + c. Its presiding officer. + d. Its management of executive matters. + e. The finance committee and its problems. + f. The raising of money. + g. The compelling of obedience. + +9. The Continental Congress not a sovereign body:-- + + a. The nature of real government. + b. Some functions of sovereignty exercised by the Congress. + c. The situation illogical. + +10. Explain the "implied war powers" of the Congress. + +11. When was the Congress at the height of its reputation, and +why? + +12. Explain the decline in its reputation from 1778 to 1783. + +13. The alarming weakness of the union after 1783:-- + + a. The effect of peace upon the union. + b. Local prejudices. + c. State antagonisms. + d. The gloomy outlook in 1786. + +14. The Federal Convention in 1787:-- + + a. The reluctance to make the change that was felt to be needed. + b. Some facts about the Convention. + c. The character of its delegates. + d. The fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress. + e. The fundamental power of a strong government. + f. The objection to granting the power of taxation to the Continental + Congress. + g. The sort of assembly demanded for exercising the taxing power. + h. The model on which the federal government was built. + + +Section 2. _The Federal Congress._ + +[Sidenote: The House of Representatives.] +The federal House of Representatives is descended, through the state +houses of representatives, from the colonial assemblies. It is an +assembly representing the whole population of the country as if it were +all in one great state. It is composed of members chosen every other +year by the people of the states. Persons in any state who are qualified +to vote for state representatives are qualified to vote for federal +representatives. This arrangement left the power of regulating the +suffrage in the hands of the several states, where it still remains, +save for the restriction imposed in 1870 for the protection of the +southern freedmen. A candidate for election to the House of +Representatives must be twenty-five years old, must have been seven +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state in which he is chosen. + +[Sidenote: The three fifths compromise.] +As the Federal Congress is a taxing body, representatives and direct +taxes are apportioned among the several states according to the same +rule, that is, according to population. At this point a difficulty +arose in the Convention as to whether slaves should be counted as +population. If they were to be counted, the relative weight of the +slave states in all matters of national legislation would be much +increased. The northern states thought, with reason, that it would +be unduly increased. The difficulty was adjusted by a compromise +according to which five slaves were to be reckoned as three persons. +Since the abolition of slavery this provision has become obsolete, but +until 1860 it was a very important factor in American history.[7] + +In the federal House of Representatives the great states of course +have much more weight than the small states. In 1790 the four largest +states had 32 representatives, while the other nine had only 33. The +largest state, Virginia, had 10 representatives to 1 from Delaware. +These disparities have increased. In 1880, out of thirty-eight states +the nine largest had a majority of the house, and the largest state, +New York, had 34 representatives to 1 from Delaware. + +[Footnote 7: See my _Critical Period_, pp. 257-262.] + +[Sidenote: The Connecticut compromise] +This feature of the House of Representatives caused +the smaller states in the Convention to oppose the whole scheme of +constructing a new government. They were determined that great and +small states should have equal weight in Congress. Their steadfast +opposition threatened to ruin everything, when fortunately a method +of compromise was discovered. It was intended that the national +legislature, in imitation of the state legislatures, should have an +upper house or senate; and at first the advocates of a strong national +government proposed that the senate also should represent population, +thus differing from the lower house only in the way in which we have +seen that it generally differed in the several states. But it happened +that in the state of Connecticut the custom was peculiar. There it +had always been the custom to elect the governor and upper house by a +majority vote of the whole people, while for each township there was +an equality of representation In the lower house. The Connecticut +delegates in the Convention, therefore, being familiar with a +legislature in which the two houses were composed on different +principles, suggested a compromise. Let the House of Representatives, +they said, represent the people, and let the Senate represent the +states; let all the states, great and small, be represented equally +in the federal Senate. Such was the famous "Connecticut Compromise." +Without it the Convention would probably have broken up without +accomplishing anything. When it was adopted, half the work of making +the new government was done, for the small states, having had their +fears thus allayed by the assurance that they were to be equally +represented in the Senate, no longer opposed the work but cooperated +in it most zealously. + +[Sidenote: The Senate] +Thus it came to pass that the upper house of our national legislature +is composed of two senators from each state. As they represent the +state, they are chosen by its legislature and not by the people; but +when they have taken their seats in the senate they do not vote +by states, like the delegates in the Continental Congress. On the +contrary each senator has one vote, and the two senators from the same +state may, and often do, vote on opposite sides. + +In accordance with the notion that an upper house should be somewhat +less democratic than a lower house, the term of office for senators +was made longer than for representatives. The tendency is to make the +Senate respond more slowly to changes in popular sentiment, and +this is often an advantage. Popular opinion is often very wrong at +particular moments, but with time it is apt to correct its mistakes. +We are usually in more danger of suffering from hasty legislation than +from tardy legislation. Senators are chosen for a term of six years, +and one third of the number of terms expire every second year, so +that, while the whole Senate may be renewed by the lapse of six years, +there is never a "new Senate." The Senate has thus a continuous +existence and a permanent organization; whereas each House of +Representatives expires at the end of its two years' term, and is +succeeded by a "new House," which requires to be organized by electing +its officers, etc., before proceeding to business. A candidate for the +senatorship must have reached the age of thirty, must have been nine +years a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of the +state which he represents. + +The constitution leaves the times, places, and manner of holding +elections for senators and representatives to be prescribed in each +state by its own legislature; but it gives to Congress the power to +alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing senators. + +Here we see a vestige of the original theory according to which the +Senate was to be peculiarly the home of state rights. + +[Sidenote: Electoral districts.] +[Sidenote: "Gerrymandering."] +In the composition of the House of Representatives the state +legislatures play a very important part. For the purposes of the +election a state is divided into districts corresponding to the number +of representatives the state is entitled to send to Congress. These +electoral districts are marked out by the legislature, and the division +is apt to be made by the preponderating party with an unfairness that is +at once shameful and ridiculous. The aim, of course, is so to lay out +the districts as to secure in the greatest possible number of them a +majority for the party which conducts the operation. This is done +sometimes by throwing the greatest possible number of hostile voters +into a district which is anyhow certain to be hostile, sometimes by +adding to a district where parties are equally divided some place in +which the majority of friendly voters is sufficient to turn the scale. +There is a district in Mississippi (the so-called Shoe String district) +250 miles long by 30 broad, and another in Pennsylvania resembling a +dumb-bell.... In Missouri a district has been contrived longer, if +measured along its windings, than the state itself, into which as large +a number as possible of the negro voters have been thrown.[8] This +trick is called "gerrymandering," from Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, +who was vice-president of the United States from 1813 to 1817. It seems +to have been first devised in 1788 by the enemies of the Federal +Constitution in Virginia, in order to prevent the election of James +Madison to the first Congress, and fortunately it was unsuccessful.[9] +It was introduced some years afterward into Massachusetts. In 1812, +while Gerry was governor of that state, the Republican legislature +redistributed the districts in such wise that the shapes of the towns +forming a single district in Essex county gave to the district a +somewhat dragon-like contour. This was indicated upon a map of +Massachusetts which Benjamin Russell, an ardent Federalist and editor of +the "Centinel," hung up over the desk in his office. The celebrated +painter, Gilbert Stuart, coming into the office one day and observing +the uncouth figure, added with his pencil a head, wings, and claws, and +exclaimed, "That will do for a salamander!" "Better say a Gerrymander!" +growled the editor; and the outlandish, name, thus duly coined, soon +came into general currency. + +[Illustration] + +[Footnote 8: Tyler's _Patrick Henry_, p. 313.] + +[Footnote 9: _Winsor's Memorial History of Boston_, vol. iii. p. 212; +see also Bryce, _loc. cit_. The word is sometimes incorrectly pronounced +"jerrymander." Mr. Winsor observes that the back line of the creature's +body forms a profile caricature of Gerry's face, with the nose at +Middleton.] + +[Sidenote: The election their at large.] +When after an increase in its number of representatives the state has +failed to redistribute its districts, the additional member or members +are voted for upon a general state ticket, and are called +"representatives at large." In Maine, where the census of 1880 had +_reduced_ the number of representatives and there was some delay in the +redistribution, Congress allowed the State in 1882 to elect all its +representatives upon a general ticket. The advantage of the district +system is that the candidates are likely to be better known by +neighbours, but the election at large is perhaps more likely to secure +able men.[10] It is the American custom to nominate only residents of the +district as candidates for the House of Representatives. A citizen of +Albany, for example, would not be nominated for the district in which +Buffalo is situated. In the British practice, on the other hand, if an +eminent man cannot get a nomination in his own county or borough, there +is nothing to prevent his standing for any other county or borough. This +system seems more favourable to the independence of the legislator than +our system. Some of its advantages are obtained by the election at +large. + +[Footnote 10: The difference is similar to the difference between the +French _scrutin d'arrondissement_ and _scrutin de liste_.] + +[Sidenote: Time of assembling.] +Congress must assemble at least once in every year, and the constitution +appoints the first Monday in December for the time of meeting; but +Congress can, if worth while, enact a law changing the time. The +established custom is to hold the election for representatives upon the +same day as the election for president, the Tuesday after the first +Monday in November. As the period of the new administration does not +begin until the fourth day of the following March, the new House of +Representatives does not assemble until the December following that +date, unless the new president should at some earlier moment summon an +extra session of Congress. It thus happens that ordinarily the +representatives of the nation do not meet for more than a year after +their election; and as their business is at least to give legislative +expression to the popular opinion which elected them, the delay is in +this instance regarded by many persons as inconvenient and injudicious. + +Each house is judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its +own members; determines its own rules of procedure, and may punish its +members for disorderly behaviour, or by a two thirds vote expel a +member. Absent members may be compelled under penalties to attend. Each +house is required to keep a journal of its proceedings and at proper +intervals to publish it, except such parts as for reasons of public +policy had better be kept secret. At the request of one fifth of the +members present, the yeas and nays must be entered on the journal. +During the session of Congress neither house may, without consent of the +other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any other place than that +in which Congress is sitting. + +[Sidenote: Privileges of members.] +Senators and representatives receive a salary fixed by law, and as they +are federal functionaries they are paid from the federal treasury. In +all cases, except treason or felony or breach of the peace, they are +privileged from arrest during their attendance in Congress, as also +while on their way to it and while returning home; "and for any speech +or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in any other +place." These provisions are reminiscences of the evil days when the +king strove to interfere, by fair means or foul, with free speech in +parliament; and they are important enough to be incorporated in the +supreme law of the land. No person can at the same time hold any civil +office under the United States government and be a member of either +house of Congress. + +[Sidenote: The Speaker.] +The vice-president is the presiding officer of the Senate, with power +to vote only in case of a tie. The House of Representatives elects its +presiding officer, who is called the Speaker. In the early history of +the House of Commons, its presiding officer was naturally enough its +_spokesman_. He could speak for it in addressing the crown. Henry +of Keighley thus addressed the crown in 1301, and there were other +instances during that century, until in 1376 the title of Speaker was +definitely given to Sir Thomas Hungerford, and from that date the list +is unbroken. The title was given to the presiding officers of the +American colonial assemblies, and thence it passed on to the state and +federal legislatures. The Speaker presides over the debates, puts the +question, and decides points of order. He also appoints the committees +of the House of Representatives, and as the initiatory work in our +legislation is now so largely done by the committees, this makes him +the most powerful officer of the government except the President. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in England] +The provisions for impeachment of public officers are copied from the +custom in England. Since the fourteenth century the House of Commons +has occasionally exercised the power of impeaching the king's +ministers and other high public officers, and although the power was +not used during the sixteenth century it was afterward revived and +conclusively established. In 1701 it was enacted that the royal pardon +could not be pleaded against an impeachment, and this act finally secured +the responsibility of the king's ministers to Parliament. An impeachment +is a kind of accusation or indictment brought against a public officer +by the House of Commons. The court in which the case is tried is the House +of Lords, and the ordinary rules of judicial procedure are followed. +The regular president of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who +is the highest judicial officer in the kingdom. A simple majority vote +secures conviction, and then it is left for the House of Commons to +say whether judgment shall be pronounced or not. + +[Sidenote: Impeachment in the United States.] +In the United States the House of Representatives has the sole +power of impeachment, and the Senate has the sole power to try all +impeachments. When the president of the United States is tried, +the chief-justice must preside. As a precaution against the use of +impeachment for party purposes, a two thirds vote is required for +conviction; and this precaution proved effectual (fortunately, as most +persons now admit) in the famous case of President Johnson in 1868. In +case of conviction the judgment cannot extend further than "to removal +from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of +honour, trust, or profit under the United States;" but the person +convicted is liable afterward to be tried and punished by the ordinary +process of law. + +[Sidenote: Veto power of the president] +The provisions of the Constitution for legislation are admirably +simple. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the lower +house, but the upper house may propose or concur with amendments, as +on other bills. This provision was inherited from Parliament, through +the colonial legislatures. After a bill has passed both houses it must +be sent to the president for approval. If he approves it, he signs +it; if not, he returns it to the house in which it originated, with +a written statement of his objections, and this statement must be +entered in full upon the journal of the house. The bill is then +reconsidered, and if it obtains a two thirds vote, it is sent, +together with the objections, to the other house. If it there +likewise obtains a two thirds vote, it becomes a law, in spite of the +objections. Otherwise it fails. If the president keeps a bill longer +than ten days (Sundays excepted) without signing it, it becomes a law +without his signature; unless Congress adjourns before the expiration +of the ten days, in which case it fails to become a law, just as if +it had been vetoed. This method of vetoing a bill just before the +expiration of a Congress, by keeping it in one's pocket, so to speak, +was dubbed a "pocket veto," and was first employed by President +Jackson in 1829. The president's veto power is a qualified form of +that which formerly belonged to the English sovereign but has now, as +already observed, become practically obsolete. As a means of guarding +the country against unwise legislation, it has proved to be one of the +most valuable features of our Federal Constitution. In bad hands it +cannot do much harm, it can only delay for a short time a needed law. +But when properly used it can save the country from, laws that if once +enacted would sow seeds of disaster very hard to eradicate; and it has +repeatedly done so. A single man will often act intelligently where +a group of men act foolishly, and, as already observed, he is apt to +have a keener sense of responsibility. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +What is to be said with regard to the following topics? + +1. The House of Representatives:-- + + a. Its relation to the people. + b. The term of service. + c. Qualifications of those who may vote for representatives. + d. Qualifications for membership. + e. The three fifths compromise. + +2. The Connecticut Compromise. + + a. The powers of the different states in the House. + b. Opposition to the scheme of a new government. + c. What the advocates of a strong government wanted the Senate to + represent. + d. A peculiar Connecticut system. + e. The suggestion of the Connecticut delegates. + f. The effect of the compromise. + +3. The Senate:-- + + a. The number of senators. + b. The method of electing senators. + c. The voting of senators. + d. The term of service. + e. The maintenance of a continuous existence. + f. A comparison with the House in respect to nearness to the people. + g. Qualifications for membership. + +4. Elections for senators and representatives:-- + + a. Times, places, and manner of holding elections. + b. The power of Congress over state regulations. + c. Electoral districts. + d. The temptation to unfairness in laying out electoral districts. + e. Illustrations of unfair divisions. + f. "Gerrymandering." + g. Representatives at large. + h. The advantage of the district system. + i. The British system and its advantage. + +5. The assembling of Congress:-- + + a. The time of assembling. + b. The interval between a member's election and the beginning of his + service. + c. The disadvantage of this long interval. + +6. What is the duty of each house in respect (1) to its membership, +(2) its rules, (3) its records, and (4) its adjournment. + +7. Give an account (1) of the pay of a congressman, (2) of his freedom +from arrest, (3) of his responsibility for words spoken in debate, and +(4) of his right to hold other office. + +8. Tell (1) who preside in Congress, (2) how the name _speaker_ +originated, (3) what the speaker's duties are, and (4) what his power +in the government is. + +9. Impeachment of public officers:-- + + a. Old English usage. + b. The conduct of an impeachment trial in England. + c. The conduct of an impeachment trial in the United States. + d. The penalty in case of conviction. + +10. The provisions of the Constitution for legislation:-- + + a. Bills for raising revenue. + b. How a bill becomes a law. + c. The president's veto power. + d. Passage of a bill over the president's veto. + e. The "pocket veto." + f. The veto power in England. + g. The value of the veto power. + + +Section 3. _The Federal Executive._ + +[Sidenote: The title of "President."] +In signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress the president shares in +legislation, and is virtually a third house. In his other capacities +he is the chief executive officer of the Federal Union; and inasmuch +as he appoints the other great executive officers, he is really the +head of the executive department, not--like the governor of a state--a +mere member of it. His title of "President" is probably an inheritance +from the presidents of the Continental Congress. In Franklin's plan +of union, in 1754, the head of the executive department was called +"Governor General," but that title had an unpleasant sound to American +ears. Our great-grandfathers liked "president" better, somewhat as the +Romans, in the eighth century of their city, preferred "imperator" to +"rex." Then, as it served to distinguish widely between the head of +the Union and the heads of the states, it soon fell into disuse in the +state governments, and thus "president" has come to be a much grander +title than "governor," just as "emperor" has come to be a grander +title than "king." [11] + + +[Footnote 11: See above p. 163.] + +[Sidenote: The electoral college.] +There was no question which perplexed the Federal Convention more than +the question as to the best method of electing the president. There +was a general distrust of popular election for an office so exalted. +At one time the Convention decided to have the president elected by +Congress, but there was a grave objection to this; it would be likely +to destroy his independence, and make him the tool of Congress. +Finally the device of an electoral college was adopted. Each state +is entitled to a number of electors equal to the number of its +representatives in Congress, _plus_ two, the number of its +senators. Thus to-day Delaware, with 1 representative, has 3 electors; +Missouri, with 14 representatives, has 16 electors; New York, with +34 representatives, has 36 electors. No federal senator or +representative, or any person holding civil office under the United +States, can serve as an elector. Each state may appoint or choose its +electors in such manner as it sees fit; at first they were more often +than otherwise chosen by the legislatures, now they are always elected +by the people. The day of election must be the same in all the states. + +By an act of Congress passed in 1792 it is required to be within 34 days +preceding the first Wednesday in December. A subsequent act in 1845 +appointed the Tuesday following the first Monday in November as election +day. + +By the act of 1792 the electors chosen in each state are required to +assemble on the first Wednesday in December at some place in the state +which is designated by the legislature. Before this date the governor of +the state must cause a certified list of the names of the electors to be +made out in triplicate and delivered to the electors. Having met +together they vote for president and vice-president, make out a sealed +certificate of their vote in triplicate, and attach to each copy a copy +of the certified list of their names. One copy must be delivered by a +messenger to the president of the Senate at the federal capital before +the first Wednesday in January; the second is sent to the same officer +through the mail; the third is to be deposited with the federal judge of +the district in which the electors meet. If by the first Wednesday in +January the certificate has not been received at the federal capital, +the secretary of state is to send a messenger to the district judge and +obtain the copy deposited with him. The interval of a month was allowed +to get the returns in, for those were not the days of railroad and +telegraph. The messengers were allowed twenty-five cents a mile, and +were subject to a fine of a thousand dollars for neglect of duty. On the +second Wednesday in February, Congress is required to be in session, and +the votes received are counted and the result declared.[12] + +[Footnote 12: See note on p. 278.] + +[Sidenote: The twelfth amendment (1804).] +At first the electoral votes did not state whether the candidates named +in them were candidates for the presidency or for the vice-presidency. +Each elector simply wrote down two names, only one of which could be the +name of a citizen of his own state. In the official count the candidate +who had the largest number of votes, provided they were a majority of +the whole number, was declared president, and the candidate who had the +next to the largest number was declared vice-president. The natural +result of this was seen in the first contested election in 1796, which +made Adams president, and his antagonist vice-president. In the next +election in 1800 it gave to Jefferson and his colleague Burr exactly the +same number of votes. In such a case the House of Representatives must +elect, and such intrigues followed for the purpose of defeating +Jefferson that the country was brought to the verge of civil war. It +thus became necessary to change the method. By the twelfth amendment to +the constitution, declared in force in 1804, the present method was +adopted. The electors make separate ballots for president and for +vice-president. In the official count the votes for president are first +inspected. If no candidate has a majority, then the House of +Representatives must immediately choose the president from the three +names highest on the list. In this choice the house votes by states, +each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose must consist of at +least one member from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all +the states is necessary for a choice. Then if no candidate for the +vice-presidency has a majority, the Senate makes its choice from the two +names highest on the list; a quorum for the purpose consists of two +thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole +number is necessary to a choice. Since this amendment was made there has +been one instance of an election of the president by the House of +Representatives,--that of John Quincy Adams in 1825; and there has been +one instance of an election of the vice-president by the Senate,--that +of Richard Mentor Johnson in 1837. + +[Sidenote: The electoral commission (1877).] +One serious difficulty was not yet foreseen and provided for--that of +deciding between two conflicting returns sent in by two hostile sets of +electors in the same state, each list being certified by one of two +rival governors claiming authority in the same state. Such a case +occurred in 1877, when Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were the +scene of struggles between rival governments. Ballots for Tilden and +ballots for Hayes were sent in at the same time from these states, and +in the absence of any recognized means of determining which ballots to +count, the two parties in Congress submitted the result to arbitration. +An "electoral commission" was created for the occasion, composed of five +senators, five representatives, and five judges of the supreme court; +and this body decided what votes were to be counted. It was a clumsy +expedient, but infinitely preferable to civil war. The question of +conflicting returns has at length been set at rest by the act of 1887, +which provides that no electoral votes can be rejected in counting +except by the concurrent action of the two houses of Congress. + +[Sidenote: Presidential succession.] +The devolution of the presidential office in case of the president's +death has also been made the subject of legislative change and +amendment. The office of vice-president was created chiefly for the +purpose of meeting such an emergency. Upon the accession of the +vice-president to the presidency, the Senate would proceed to elect its +own president _pro tempore_. An act of 1791 provided that in case of the +death, resignation or disability of both president and vice-president, +the succession should devolve first upon the president _pro tempore_ of +the Senate and then upon the speaker of the House of Representatives, +until the disability should be removed or a new election be held. But +supposing a newly elected president to die and be succeeded by the +vice-president before the assembling of the newly elected Congress; then +there would be no president _pro tempore_ of the Senate and no speaker +of the House of Representatives, and thus the death of one person might +cause the presidency to lapse. Moreover the presiding officers of the +two houses of Congress might be members of the party defeated in the +last presidential election; indeed, this is often the case. Sound policy +and fair dealing require that a victorious party shall not be turned out +because of the death of the president and vice-president. Accordingly an +act of 1886 provided that in such an event the succession should devolve +upon the members of the cabinet in the following order: secretary of +state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of war, attorney-general, +postmaster-general, secretary of the navy, secretary of the interior. +This would seem to be ample provision against a lapse. + +[Sidenote: Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled.] +To return to the electoral college: it was devised as a safeguard +against popular excitement. It was supposed that the electors in their +December meeting would calmly discuss the merits of the ablest men in +the country and make an intelligent selection for the presidency. The +electors were to use their own judgment, and it was not necessary +that all the electors chosen in one state should vote for the same +candidate. The people on election day were not supposed to be voting +for a president but for presidential electors. This theory was never +realized. The two elections of Washington, in 1788 and 1792, were +unanimous. In the second contested election, that of 1800, the +electors simply registered the result of the popular vote, and it has +been so ever since. Immediately after the popular election, a whole +month before the meeting of the electoral college, we know who is to +be the next president. There is no law to prevent an elector from +voting for a different pair of candidates from those at the head of +the party ticket, but the custom has become as binding as a statute. +The elector is chosen to vote for specified candidates, and he must do +so. + +[Sidenote: Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts; now +usually on a general ticket.] +On the other hand, it was not until long after 1800 that all the +electoral votes of the same state were necessarily given to the same +pair of candidates. It was customary in many states to choose the +electors by districts. A state entitled to ten electors would choose +eight of them in its eight congressional districts, and there were +various ways of choosing the other two. In some of the districts one +party would have a majority, in others the other, and so the electoral +vote of the state would be divided between two pairs of candidates. +After 1830 it became customary to choose the electors upon a general +ticket, and thus the electoral vote became solid in each state.[13] + +[Footnote 13: In 1860 the vote of New Jersey was divided between Lincoln +and Douglas, but that was because the names of three of +the seven Douglas electors were upon two different tickets, and +thus got a majority of votes while the other four fell short. In +1892 the state of Michigan chose its electors by districts.] + +[Sidenote: Minority presidents.] +[Sidenote: Advantages of the electoral system.] +This system, of course, increases the chances of electing presidents who +have received a minority of the popular vote. A candidate may carry one +state by an immense majority and thus gain 6 or 8 electoral votes; he +may come within a few hundred of carrying another state and thus lose 36 +electoral votes. Or a small third party may divert some thousands of +votes from the principal candidate without affecting the electoral vote +of the state. Since Washington's second term we have had twenty-three +contested elections,[14] and in nine of these the elected president has +failed to receive a majority of the popular vote; Adams in 1824 (elected +by the House of Representatives), Polk in 1844, Taylor in 1848, Buchanan +in 1856, Lincoln in 1860, Hayes in 1876, Garfield in 1880, Cleveland in +1884, Harrison in 1888. This has suggested more or less vague +speculation as to the advisableness of changing the method of electing +the president. It has been suggested that it would be well to abolish +the electoral college, and resort to a direct popular vote, without +reference to state lines. Such a method would be open to one serious +objection. In a closely contested election on the present method the +result may remain doubtful for three or four days, while a narrow +majority of a few hundred votes in some great state is being ascertained +by careful counting. It was so in 1884. This period of doubt is sure to +be a period of intense and dangerous excitement. In an election without +reference to states, the result would more often be doubtful, and it +would be sometimes necessary to count every vote in every little +out-of-the-way corner of the country before the question could be +settled. The occasions for dispute would be multiplied a hundred fold, +with most demoralizing effect. Our present method is doubtless clumsy, +but the solidity of the electoral colleges is a safeguard, and as all +parties understand the system it is in the long run as fair for one as +for another. + + +[Footnote 14: All have been contested, except Monroe's re-election in +1820, when there was no opposing candidate.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus +(1800-24).] +The Constitution says nothing about the method of nominating candidates +for the presidency, neither has it been made the subject of legislation. +It has been determined by convenience. It was not necessary to nominate +Washington, and the candidacies of Adams and Jefferson were also matters +of general understanding. In 1800 the Republican and Federalist members +of Congress respectively held secret meetings or caucuses, chiefly for +the purpose of agreeing upon candidates for the vice-presidency and +making some plans for the canvass. It became customary to nominate +candidates in such congressional caucuses, but there was much hostile +comment upon the system as undemocratic. Sometimes the "favourite son" +of a state was nominated by the legislature, but as the means of travel +improved, the nominating convention came to be preferred. In 1824 there +were four candidates for the presidency,--Adams, Jackson, Clay, and +Crawford. Adams was nominated by the legislatures of most of the New +England states; Clay by the legislature of Kentucky, followed by the +legislatures of Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Louisiana; Crawford by the +legislature of Virginia; and Jackson by a mass convention of the people +of Blount County in Tennessee, followed by local conventions in many +other states. The congressional caucus met and nominated Crawford, but +this endorsement did not help him,[15] and this method was no longer +tried. In 1832 for the first time the candidates were all nominated in +national conventions. + +[Footnote 15: Stanwood, _History of Presidential Elections_, pp. +80-83.] + +[Sidenote: Nomination conventions.] +[Sidenote: The "primary."] +These conventions, as fully developed, are representative bodies +chosen for the specific purpose of nominating candidates and making +those declarations of principle and policy known as "platforms." Each +state is allowed twice as many delegates as it has electoral votes. +The delegates are chosen by local conventions in their several +states, viz., two for each congressional district by the party +convention of that district, and four for the whole state (called +delegates-at-large) by the state convention. As each convention is +composed of delegates from primaries, it is the composition of the +primaries which determines that of the local conventions, and it is +the composition of the local conventions which determines that of the +national.[16] The "primary" is the smallest nominating convention. It +stands in somewhat the same relation to the national convention as the +relation of a township or ward to the whole United States. A primary +is a little caucus of all the voters of one party who live within the +bounds of the township or ward. It differs in composition from the +town-meeting in that all its members belong to one party. It has two +duties: one is to nominate candidates for the local offices of the +township or ward; the other is to choose delegates to the county or +district convention. The primary, as its name indicates, is a primary +and not a representative assembly. The party voters in a township or +ward are usually not too numerous to meet together, and all ought to +attend such meetings, though in practice too many people stay away. By +the representative system, through various grades of convention, the +wishes and character of these countless little primaries are at +length expressed in the wishes and character of the national party +convention, and candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency are +nominated. + +[Footnote 16: Bryce, _American Commonwealth_, vol. ii. p. 145; see +also p. 52.] + + +[Sidenote: Qualifications for the presidency.] +The qualifications for the two offices are of course the same. +Foreign-born citizens are not eligible, though this restriction did +not include such as were citizens of the United States at the time +when the Constitution was adopted. The candidate must have reached the +age of thirty-five, and must have been fourteen years a resident of +the United States. + + +[Sidenote: The term of office] +The president's term of office is four years. The Constitution says +nothing about his re-election, and there is no written law to prevent +his being re-elected a dozen times. But Washington, after serving two +terms, refused to accept the office a third time. Jefferson in 1808 +was "earnestly besought by many and influential bodies of citizens to +become a candidate for a third term;" [17] and had he consented there +is scarcely a doubt that he would have been elected. His refusal +established a custom which has never been infringed, though there were +persons in 1876 and again in 1880 who wished to secure a third term +for Grant. + +[Footnote 17: Morse's _Jefferson_, p. 318.] + +[Sidenote: Powers and duties of the President] +The president is commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces +of the United States, and of the militia of the several states when +actually engaged in the service of the United States; and he has the +royal prerogative of granting reprieves and pardons for offences +against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.[18] + +[Footnote 18: See above, p. 221.] + + +He can make treaties with foreign powers, but they must be confirmed +by a two thirds vote of the Senate. He appoints ministers to foreign +countries, consuls, and the greater federal officers, such as the +heads of executive departments and judges of the Supreme Court, and +all these appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate. He +also appoints a vast number of inferior officers, such as postmasters +and revenue collectors, without the participation of the Senate. When +vacancies occur during the recess of the Senate, he may fill them by +granting commissions to expire at the end of the next session. He +commissions all federal officers. He receives foreign ministers. He +may summon either or both houses of Congress to an extra session, and +if the two houses disagree with regard to the time of adjournment, he +may adjourn them to such time as he thinks best, but of course not +beyond the day fixed for the beginning of the next regular session. + +[Sidenote: The President's message.] +The president must from time to time make a report to Congress on the +state of affairs in the country and suggest such a line of policy or +such special measures as may seem good to him. This report has taken +the form of an annual written message. Washington and Adams began +their administrations by addressing Congress in a speech, to which +Congress replied; but it suited the opposite party to discover in this +an imitation of the British practice of opening Parliament with +a speech from the sovereign. It was accordingly stigmatized as +"monarchical," and Jefferson (though without formally alleging any +such reason) set the example, which has been followed ever since, +of addressing Congress in a written message.[19] Besides this annual +message, the president may at any time send in a special message +relating to matters which in his opinion require immediate attention. + +[Footnote 19: Jefferson, moreover, was a powerful writer and a poor +speaker.] + +The effectiveness of a president's message depends of course on the +character of the president and the general features of the political +situation. That separation between the executive and legislative +departments, which is one of the most distinctive features of civil +government in the United States, tends to prevent the development of +leadership. An English prime minister's policy, so long as he remains +in office, must be that of the House of Commons; power and responsibility +are concentrated. An able president may virtually direct the policy of +his party in Congress, but he often has a majority against him in one +house and sometimes in both at once. Thus in dividing power we divide +and weaken responsibility. To this point I have already alluded as +illustrated in our state governments.[20] + +[Footnote 20: The English method, however, would probably not work +well in this country, and might prove to be a source of great and +complicated dangers. See above, p. 169.] + +[Sidenote: Executive departments] +[Sidenote: The cabinet] +The Constitution made no specific provisions for the creation of +executive departments, but left the matter to Congress. At the +beginning of Washington's administration three secretaryships were +created,--those of state, treasury, and war; and an attorney-general +was appointed. Afterward the department of the navy was separated +from that of war, the postmaster-general was made a member of the +administration, and as lately as 1849 the department of the interior +was organized. The heads of these departments are the president's +advisers, but they have as a body no recognized legal existence or +authority. They hold their meetings in a room at the president's +executive mansion, the White House, but no record is kept of their +proceedings and the president is not bound to heed their advice. This +body has always been called the "Cabinet," after the English usage. It +is like the English cabinet in being composed of heads of executive +departments and in being, as a body, unknown to the law; in other +respects the difference is very great. The English cabinet is the +executive committee of the House of Commons, and exercises a guiding +and directing influence upon legislation. The position of the president is +not at all like that of the prime minister; it is more like that of +the English sovereign, though the latter has not nearly so much power +as the president; and the American cabinet in some respects resembles +the English privy council, though it cannot make ordinances. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of state.] +The secretary of state ranks first among our cabinet officers. He is +often called our prime minister or "premier," but there could not be +a more absurd use of language. In order to make an American personage +corresponding to the English prime minister we must first go to the +House of Representatives, take its committee of ways and means and +its committee on appropriations, and unite them into one committee of +finance; then we must take the chairman of this committee, give him +the power of dissolving the House and ordering a new election, and +make him master of all the executive departments, while at the +same time we strip from the president all real control over the +administration. This exalted finance-chairman would be much like the +First Lord of the Treasury, commonly called the prime minister. This +illustration shows how wide the divergence has become between our +system and that of Great Britain. + +Our secretary of state is our minister of foreign affairs, and is the +only officer who is authorized to communicate with other governments in +the name of the president. He is at the head of the diplomatic and +consular service, issuing the instructions to our ministers abroad, and +he takes a leading part in the negotiation of treaties. To these +ministerial duties he adds some that are more characteristic of his +title of secretary. He keeps the national archives, and superintends the +publication of laws, treaties, and proclamations; and he is the keeper +of the great seal of the United States. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic and consular service.] +Our foreign relations are cared for in foreign countries by two distinct +classes of officials: ministers and consuls. The former represent the +United States government in a diplomatic capacity; the latter have +nothing to do with diplomacy or politics, but look after our commercial +interests in foreign countries. Consuls exercise a protective care over +seamen, and perform various duties for Americans abroad. They can take +testimony and administer estates. In some non-Christian countries, such +as China, Japan, and Turkey, they have jurisdiction over criminal cases +in which Americans are concerned. Formerly our ministers abroad were of +only three grades: (1) "envoys extraordinary and ministers +plenipotentiary;" (2) "ministers resident;" (3) _charges d'affaires_. +The first two are accredited by the president to the head of government +of the countries to which they are sent; the third are accredited by the +secretary of state to the minister of foreign affairs in the countries +to which they are sent. We still retain these grades, which correspond +to the lower grades of the diplomatic service in European countries. +Until lately we had no highest grade answering to that of "ambassador," +perhaps because when our diplomatic service was organized the United +States did not yet rank among first-rate powers, and could not expect to +receive ambassadors. Great powers, like France and Germany, send +ambassadors to each other, and envoys to inferior powers, like Denmark +or Greece or Guatemala. When we send envoys to the great powers, we rank +ourselves along with inferior powers; and diplomatic etiquette as a rule +obliges the great powers to send to us the same grade of minister that +we send to them. There were found to be some practical inconveniences +about this, so that in 1892 the highest grade was adopted and our +ministers to Great Britain and France were made ambassadors. + +[Sidenote: The secretary of the treasury.] +The cabinet officer second in rank and in some respects first in +importance is the secretary of the treasury. He conducts the financial +business of the government, superintends the collection of revenue, +and gives warrants for the payment of moneys from the treasury. He +also superintends the coinage, the national banks, the custom-houses, +the coast-survey and lighthouse system, the marine hospitals, and +life-saving service.[21] He sends reports to Congress, and suggests +such measures as seem good to him. Since the Civil War his most +weighty business has been the management of the national debt. He +is aided by two assistant secretaries, six auditors, a register, a +comptroller, a solicitor, a director of the mint, commissioner of +internal revenue, chiefs of the bureau of statistics and bureau of +engraving and printing, etc. The business of the treasury department +is enormous, and no part of our government has been more faithfully +administered. Since 1789 the treasury has disbursed more than seven +billions of dollars without one serious defalcation. No man directly +interested in trade or commerce can be appointed secretary of the +treasury, and the department has almost always been managed by "men of +small incomes bred either to politics or the legal profession." [22] + +[Footnote 21: Many of these details concerning the executive +departments are admirably summarized, and with more fullness +than comports with the design of the present work, in Thorpe's +_Government of the People of the United States_, pp. 183-193.] + +[Footnote 22: Schouler, _Hist. of the U.S._, vol. i. p. 95.] + + +[Sidenote: War and navy.] +The war and navy departments need no special description here. The +former is divided into ten and the latter into eight bureaus. +The naval department, among many duties, has charge of the naval +observatory at Washington and publishes the nautical almanac. + +[Sidenote: Interior.] +The department of the interior conducts a vast and various business, +as is shown by the designations of its eight bureaus, which deal with +public lands, Indian affairs, pensions, patents, education (chiefly in +the way of gathering statistics and reporting upon school affairs), +agriculture, public documents, and the census. In 1889 the bureau of +agriculture was organized as a separate department. The weather bureau +forms a branch of the department of agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Postmaster-general and attorney-general.] +The departments of the postmaster-general and attorney-general need +no special description. The latter was organized in 1870 into the +department of justice. The attorney-general is the president's legal +adviser, and represents the United States in all law-suits to which +the United States is a party. He is aided by a solicitor-general and +other subordinate offices. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. Speak (1) of the president's share in legislation; (2) of his +relation to the executive department, and (3) of the origin +of his title. + +2. The electoral college:-- + + a. The method of electing the president a perplexing question. + b. The constitution of the electoral college, with illustrations. + c. Qualifications for serving as an elector. + d. The method of choosing electors. + e. The time of choosing electors. + f. When and where the electors vote. + g. The number and disposition of the certificates of their + h. The declaration of the result. + +3. What was the method of voting in the electoral college before +1804? Illustrate the working of this method in 1796 and 1800. + +4. The amendment of 1804:-- + + a. The ballots of the electors. + b. The duty of the House if no candidate for the presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + c. The duty of the Senate if no candidate for the vice-presidency + receives a majority of the electoral votes. + d. Illustrations of the working of this amendment in 1825 + and 1837. + +5. The electoral commission of 1877:-- + + a. A difficulty not foreseen. + b. Conflicting returns in 1877. + c. The plan of arbitration adopted. + +6. The presidential succession:-- + + a. The office of vice-president. + b. The act of 1791. + c. The possibility of a lapse of the presidency. + d. The possibility of an unfair political overthrow. + e. The act of 1886. + +7. Compare the original purpose of the electoral college with +the fulfillment of that purpose. + +8. Explain the transition from a divided electoral vote in a state +to a solid electoral vote. + +9. Show how a minority of the people may elect a president. +Who have been elected by minorities? + +10. What is the advantage of the electoral system over a direct +popular vote? + +11. Methods of nominating candidates for the presidency and +vice-presidency before 1832:-- + + a. The absence of constitutional and legislative requirements. + + b. Presidents not nominated. + c. Nominations by congressional caucuses. + d. Nominations by state legislatures. + e. Nominations by local conventions. + +12. Nominations by national conventions in 1832 and since:-- + + a. The nature of a national convention. + b. The platform. + c. The number of delegates from a state, and their election. + d. The relation of the "primaries" to district, state, and + national conventions. + e. The nature of the primary. + f. Its two duties. + g. The duty of the voter to attend the primaries. + +13. The presidency:-- + a. Qualifications for the office. + b. The term of office. + +14. Powers and duties of the president:-- + a. As a commander-in-chief. + b. In respect to reprieves and pardons. + c. In respect to treaties with foreign powers. + d. In respect to the appointment of federal officers. + e. In respect to summoning and adjourning Congress. + f. In respect to reporting the state of affairs in the country + to Congress. + +15. The president's message:-- + a. The course of Washington and Adams. + b. The example of Jefferson. + c. The effectiveness of the message. + d. Power and responsibility in the English system. + +e. Power and + responsibility in the American system. + +16. Executive departments:-- + a. The departments under Washington. + b. Later additions to the departments. + c. The "Cabinet." + d. The resemblance between the English cabinet and our own. + e. The difference between the English cabinet and our own. + +17. The secretary of state:-- + a. Is he a prime minister? + b. What would be necessary to make an American personage + correspond to an English prime minister? + c. What are the ministerial duties of the secretary of state? + d. What other duties has he more characteristic of his title? + +18. Our diplomatic and consular service:-- + a. The distinction between ministers and consuls. + b. Three grades of ministers. + c. The persons to whom the three grades are accredited. + d. The grade of ambassador. + +19. The secretary of the treasury:-- + a. His rank and importance. + b. His various duties. + c. His chief assistants. + d. The administration of the treasury department since 1789. + +20. The duties of the remaining cabinet officers:-- + a. Of the secretary of war. + b. Of the secretary of the navy. + c. Of the secretary of the interior. + d. Of the postmaster-general. + e. Of the attorney-general. + + +Section 4. _The Nation and the States._ + +We have left our Federal Convention sitting a good while at +Philadelphia, while we have thus undertaken to give a coherent account +of our national executive organization, which has in great part grown +up since 1789 with the growth of the nation. Observe how wisely the +Constitution confines itself to a clear sketch of fundamentals, and +leaves as much as possible to be developed by circumstances. In this +feature lies partly the flexible strength, the adaptableness, of our +Federal Constitution. That strength lies partly also in the excellent +partition of powers between the federal government and the several +states. + +[Sidenote: Difference between confederation and federal union.] +We have already remarked upon the vastness of the functions retained +by the states. At the same time the powers granted to Congress have +proved sufficient to bind the states together into a union that is +more than a mere confederation. From 1776 to 1789 the United States +_were_ a confederation; after 1789 it was a federal nation. The +passage from plural to singular was accomplished, although it took +some people a good while to realize the fact. The German language +has a neat way of distinguishing between a loose confederation and a +federal union. It calls the former a _Staatenbund_ and the latter +a _Bundesstaat_. So in English, if we liked, we might call the +confederation a _Band-of-States_ and the federal union a _Banded-State_. +There are two points especially in our Constitution which transformed +our country from a Band-of-States into a Banded-State. + +[Sidenote: Powers granted to Congress.] +The first was the creation of a federal House of Representatives, thus +securing for Congress the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, +imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common +welfare of the United States. Other powers are naturally attached to +this,--such as the power to borrow money on the credit of the United +States; to regulate foreign and domestic commerce; to coin money +and fix the standard of weights and measures; to provide for +the punishment of counterfeiters; to establish post-offices and +post-roads; to issue copyrights and patents; to define and punish +felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of +nations; to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and +make rules concerning captures on land and water; to raise and +support an army and navy, and to make rules for the regulation of +the land and naval forces; to provide for calling out the militia +to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, and to command this +militia while actually employed in the service of the United States. +The several states, however, train their own militia and appoint +the officers. Congress may also establish a uniform rule of +naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies. It +also exercises exclusive control over the District of Columbia,[23] +as the seat of the national government, and over forts, magazines, +arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings, which it erects +within the several states upon land purchased for such purposes with +the consent of the state legislature. + + +[Footnote 23: Ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia.] + +[Sidenote: The "Elastic Clause."] +Congress is also empowered "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 office thereof." This may be +called the Elastic Clause of the Constitution; it has undergone a +good deal of stretching for one purpose and another, and, as we shall +presently see, it was a profound disagreement in the interpretation of +this clause that after 1789 divided the American people into two great +political parties. + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to the states.] +[Sidenote: Paper currency.] +The national authority of Congress is further sharply defined by the +express denial of sundry powers to the several states. These we have +already enumerated.[24] There was an especial reason for prohibiting +the states from issuing bills of credit, or making anything but gold +and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. During the years 1785 +and 1786 a paper money craze ran through the country; most of the +states issued paper notes, and passed laws obliging their citizens to +receive them in payment of debts. Now a paper dollar is not money, it +is only the government's promise to pay a dollar. As long as you can +send it to the treasury and get a gold dollar in exchange, it is worth +a dollar. It is this exchangeableness that makes it worth a dollar. +When government makes the paper dollar note a "legal tender." i.e., +when it refuses to give you the gold dollar and makes you take its +note instead, the note soon ceases to be worth a dollar. You would +rather have the gold than the note, for the mere fact that government +refuses to give the gold shows that it is in financial difficulties. +So the note's value is sure to fall, and if the government is in +serious difficulty, it falls very far, and as it falls it takes more +of it to buy things. Prices go up. There was a time (1864) during our +Civil War when a paper dollar was worth only forty cents and a barrel +of flour cost $23. But that was nothing to the year 1780, when the +paper dollar issued by the Continental Congress was worth only a mill, +and flour was sold in Boston for $1,575 a barrel! When the different +states tried to make paper money, it made confusion worse confounded, +for the states refused to take each other's money, and this helped to +lower its value. In some states the value of the paper dollar fell in +less than a year to twelve or fifteen cents. At such times there is +always great demoralization and suffering, especially among the poorer +people; and with all the experience of the past to teach us, it may +now be held to be little less than a criminal act for a government, +under any circumstances, to make its paper notes a legal tender. The +excuse for the Continental Congress was that it was not completely a +government and seemed to have no alternative, but there is no doubt +that the paper currency damaged the country much more than the arms of +the enemy by land or sea. The feeling was so strong about it in the +Federal Convention that the prohibition came near being extended to +the national government, but the question was unfortunately left +undecided.[25] + +[Footnote 24: See above, p.175] + +[Footnote 25: See my _Critical Period of American History_, pp. +168-186, 273-276.] + +[Sidenote: Powers denied to Congress.] +[Sidenote: Bills of attainder.] +Some express prohibitions were laid upon the national government. Duties +may be laid upon imports but not upon exports; this wise restriction was +a special concession to South. Carolina, which feared the effect of an +export duty upon rice and indigo. Duties and excises must be uniform +throughout the country, and no commercial preference can be shown to one +state over another; absolute free trade is the rule between the states. +A census must be taken every ten years in order to adjust the +representation, and no direct tax can be imposed except according to the +census. No money can be drawn from the treasury except "in consequence +of appropriations made by law," and accounts must be regularly kept and +published. The privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ cannot be +suspended except "when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public +safety may require it;" and "no bill of attainder, or _ex post facto_ +law," can be passed. A bill of attainder is a special legislative act by +which a person may be condemned to death, or to outlawry and banishment, +without the opportunity of defending himself which he would have in a +court of law. "No evidence is necessarily adduced to support it," [26] and +in former times, especially in the reign of Henry VIII., it was a +formidable engine for perpetrating judicial murders. Bills of attainder +long ago ceased to be employed in England, and the process was abolished +by statute in 1870. + +[Footnote 26: Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, +p. 385.] + +[Sidenote: Intercitizenship.] +No title of nobility can be granted by the United States, and no federal +officer can accept a present, office, or title from a foreign state +without the consent of Congress. "No religious test shall ever be +required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the +United States." Full faith and credit must be given in each state to the +public acts and records, and to the judicial proceedings of every other +state; and it is left for Congress to determine the manner in which such +acts and proceedings shall be proved or certified. The citizens of each +state are "entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the +several states." There is mutual extradition of criminals, and, as a +concession to the southern states it was provided that fugitive slaves +should be surrendered to their masters. The United States guarantees to +every state a republican form of government, it protects each state +against invasion; and on application from the legislature of a state, or +from the executive when the legislature cannot be convened, it lends a +hand in suppressing insurrection. + +[Sidenote: Mode of making amendments.] +Amendments to the Constitution may at any time be proposed in +pursuance of a two thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or by a +convention called at the request of the legislatures of two thirds of +the states. The amendments are not in force until ratified by three-fourths +of the states, either through their legislatures or through +special conventions, according to the preference of Congress. This +makes it difficult to change the Constitution, as it ought to be; but +it leaves it possible to introduce changes that are very obviously +desirable. The Articles of Confederation could not be amended except +by a unanimous vote of the states; and this made their amendment +almost impossible. + +After assuming all debts contracted and engagements made by the United +States before its adoption, the Constitution goes on to declare itself +the supreme law of the land. By it, and by the laws and treaties made +under it, the judges in every state are bound, in spite of anything +contrary in the constitution or laws of any state. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. In what two features of the Constitution does its strength +largely lie? + +2. Distinguish between the United States as a confederation and the +United States as a federal union. How does the German language bring out +the distinction? + +3. What was the first important factor in transforming our +country from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +4. The powers granted to Congress:-- + a. Over taxes, money, and commerce. + b. Over postal affairs, and the rights of inventors and authors. + c. Over certain crimes. + d. Over war and military matters. + e. Over naturalization and bankruptcy. + f. Over the District of Columbia and other places. + g. The "elastic clause" and its interpretation. + +5. The powers denied to the states:-- + a. An enumeration of these powers. + b. The prohibition of bills of credit, in particular. + c. The paper money craze of 1785 and 1786. + d. Paper money as a "legal tender." + e. The depreciation of paper money during the Civil War. + f. The depreciation of the Continental currency in 1780. + g. The demoralization caused by the states making paper money. + h. The lesson of experience. + +6. Prohibitions upon the national government:-- + a. The imposition of duties and taxes. + b. The payment of money. + c. The writ of _habeas corpus_. + d. _Ex post facto_ laws. + e. Bills of attainder. + f. Titles and presents. + +7. Duties of the states to one another:-- + a. In respect to public acts and records, and judicial proceedings. + b. In respect to the privileges of citizens. + c. In respect to fugitives from justice. + +8. What is the duty of the United States to every state in +respect (1) to form of government, (2) invasion, and (3) +insurrection? + +9. Amendments to the Constitution:-- + a. Two methods of proposing amendments. + b. Two methods of ratifying amendments, + c. The difficulty of making amendments. + d. Amendment of the Articles of Confederation. + +10. What is meant by the Constitution's declaring itself the +supreme law of the land? + + + +Section 5. _The Federal Judiciary_. + +[Sidenote: Need for a federal judiciary.] +The creation of a federal judiciary was the second principal feature in +the Constitution, which transformed our country from a loose +confederation into a federal nation, from a _Band-of-States_ into a +_Banded-State_. We have seen that the American people were already +somewhat familiar with the method of testing the constitutionality of a +law by getting the matter brought before the courts.[27] In the case of +a conflict between state law and federal law, the only practicable +peaceful solution is that which is reached through a judicial decision. +The federal authority also needs the machinery of courts in order to +enforce its own decrees. + +[Footnote 27: See above p. 194.] + +[Sidenote: Federal courts and judges.] +[Sidenote: District attorneys and marshals.] +The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, and +district courts.[28] At present the supreme court consists of a chief +justice and eight associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the +city of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of October. Each of +these nine judges is also presiding judge of a circuit court. The area +of the United States, not including the territories, is divided into +nine circuits, and in each circuit the presiding judge is assisted +by special circuit judges. The circuits are divided into districts, +fifty-six in all, and in each of these there is a special district +judge. The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a +state is one district, but populous states with much business are +divided into two or even three districts. "The circuit courts sit +in the several districts of each circuit successively, and the law +requires that each justice of the supreme court shall sit in each +district of his circuit at least once every two years." [29] District +judges are not confined to their own districts; they may upon occasion +exchange districts as ministers exchange pulpits. A district judge +may, if need be, act as a circuit judge, as a major may command a +regiment. All federal judges are appointed by the president, with the +consent of the Senate, to serve during good behaviour. Each district +has its _district attorney_, whose business is to prosecute +offenders against the federal laws and to conduct civil cases in +which the national government is either plaintiff or defendant. Each +district has also its marshal, who has the same functions under the +federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The procedure of +the federal court usually follows that of the courts of the state in +which it is sitting. + +[Footnote 28: See the second note on p.278.] + +[Footnote 29: See Wilson, _The State_, p. 554. I have closely +followed, though, with much abridgment, the excellent description of +our federal judiciary, pp. 555-561.] + +[Sidenote: The federal jurisdiction.] +The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases: (1) those +which come before it "_because of the nature of the questions +involved_: for instance, admiralty and maritime cases, navigable +waters being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal +authorities, and cases arising out of the Constitution, laws, or +treaties of the United States or out of conflicting grants made by +different states"; (2) those which come before it "_because of the +nature of the parties to the suit_," such as cases affecting the +ministers of foreign powers or suits between citizens of different +states. + +The division of jurisdiction between the upper and lower federal +courts is determined chiefly by the size and importance of the cases. +In cases where a state or a foreign minister is a party the supreme +court has original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate +jurisdiction, and "any case which involves the interpretation of the +Constitution can be taken to the supreme court, however small the sum +in dispute." If a law of any state or of the United States is decided +by the supreme court to be in violation of the Constitution, it +instantly becomes void and of no effect. In this supreme exercise +of jurisdiction, our highest federal tribunal is unlike any other +tribunal known to history. The supreme court is the most original of +all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, and for its +exalted character and priceless services it is an institution of which +Americans may well be proud. + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was the second important factor in transforming our country +from a Band-of-States to a Banded-State? + +2. Why was a federal judiciary deemed necessary? + +3. The organization of the federal judiciary:-- + a. The supreme court and its sessions. + b. The circuit courts. + c. The district courts. + d. Exchanges of service. + e. Appointment of judges. + f. The United States district attorney. + g. The United States marshal. + +4. The jurisdiction of the federal courts:-- + a. Cases because of the nature of the questions involved. + b. Cases because of the nature of the parties to the suit. + c. The division of jurisdiction between the upper and the lower + courts. + d. Wherein the supreme court is the most original of American + institutions. + + +Section 6. _Territorial Government._ + +[Sidenote: The Northwest Territory.] +[Sidenote: The Ordinance of 1787.] +The Constitution provided for the admission of new states to the +Union, but it does not allow a state to be formed within another +state. A state cannot "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." Shortly before the +making of the Constitution, the United States had been endowed for the +first time with a public domain. The territory northwest of the Ohio +River had been claimed, on the strength of old grants and charters, by +Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia. In 1777 Maryland +refused to sign the Articles of Confederation until these states +should agree to cede their claims to the United States, and thus in +1784 the federal government came into possession of a magnificent +territory, out of which five great states--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, +Michigan, and Wisconsin--have since been made. While the Federal +Convention was sitting at Philadelphia, the Continental Congress at +New York was doing almost its last and one of its greatest pieces +of work in framing the Ordinance of 1787 for the organization and +government of this newly acquired territory. The ordinance created a +territorial government with governor and two-chambered legislature, +courts, magistrates, and militia. Complete civil and religious liberty +was guaranteed, negro slavery was prohibited, and provision was made +for free schools.[30] + +[Footnote 30: The manner in which provision should be made for these +schools had been pointed out two years before in the land-ordinance of +1785, as heretofore explained. See above, p. 86.] + +[Sidenote: Other territories and their government.] +In 1803 the enormous territory known as Louisiana, comprising +everything (except Texas) between the Mississippi River and the crest +of the Rocky Mountains, was purchased from France. A claim upon the +Oregon territory was soon afterward made by discovery and exploration, +and finally settled in 1846 by treaty with Great Britain. In 1848 by +conquest and in 1853 by purchase the remaining Pacific lands were +acquired from Mexico. All of this vast region has been at some time +under territorial government. As for Texas, on the other hand, it +has never been a territory. Texas revolted from Mexico in 1836 and +remained an independent state until 1845, when it was admitted to +the Union. Territorial government has generally passed through three +stages: first, there are governors and judges appointed by the +president; then as population increases, there is added a legislature +chosen by the people and empowered to make laws subject to +confirmation by Congress; finally, entire legislative independence is +granted. The territory is then ripe for admission to the Union as a +state. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What is the constitutional provision for admitting new states? + +2. What states claimed the territory northwest of the Ohio river? On +what did they base their claims? + +3. Why was this territory ceded to the general government? + +4. What states have since been made out of this territory? + +5. What was the Ordinance of 1787? + +6. What were the principal provisions of this ordinance? + +7. Give an account of the Louisiana purchase? + +8. Give an account of the acquisition of the Oregon territory. + +9. Give an account of the acquisition of the remaining Pacific lands. + +10. How came Texas to belong to the United States? + +11. How much of the public domain has been at some time under +territorial government? + +12. Through what three stages has territorial government usually +passed? + + +Section 7. _Ratification and Amendments._ + +[Sidenote: Concessions to the South.] +Thus the work of the Ordinance of 1787 was in a certain sense +supplementary to the work of framing the Constitution. When the latter +instrument was completed, it was provided that "the ratifications +of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the +establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying the +same." The Constitution was then laid before the Continental Congress, +which submitted it to the states. In one state after another, +conventions were held, and at length the Constitution was ratified. +There was much opposition to it, because it seemed to create a strange +and untried form of government which might develop into a +tyranny. There was a fear that the federal power might crush out +self-government in the states. This dread was felt in all parts of the +country. Besides this, there was some sectional opposition between +North and South, and in Virginia there was a party in favour of a +separate southern confederacy. But South Carolina and Georgia were won +over by the concessions in the Constitution to slavery, and especially +a provision that the importation of slaves from Africa should not +be prohibited until 1808. By winning South Carolina and Georgia the +formation of a "solid South" was prevented. + +[Sidenote: Bill of Rights proposed.] +The first states to adopt the Constitution were Delaware, +Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, with slight +opposition, except in Pennsylvania. Next came Massachusetts, where the +convention was very large, the discussion very long, and the action +in one sense critical. One chief source of dissatisfaction was the +absence of a sufficiently explicit Bill of Rights, and to meet this +difficulty, Massachusetts ratified the Constitution, but proposed +amendments, and this course was followed by other states. Maryland and +South Carolina came next, and New Hampshire made the ninth. Virginia +and New York then ratified by very narrow majorities and after +prolonged discussion. North Carolina did not come in until 1789, and +Rhode Island not until 1790. + +[Sidenote: The first ten amendments.] + +In September, 1789, the first ten amendments were proposed by +Congress, and in December, 1791, they were declared in force. Their +provisions are similar to those of the English Bill of Rights, enacted +in 1689,[31] but are much more full and explicit. They provide for +freedom of speech and of the press, the free exercise of religion, the +right of the people to assemble and petition Congress for a redress +of grievances, their right to bear arms, and to be secure against +unreasonable searches and seizures. The quartering of soldiers is +guarded, general search-warrants are prohibited, jury trial is +guaranteed, and the taking of private property for public use without +due compensation, as well as excessive fines and bail and the +infliction of "cruel and unusual punishment" are forbidden. Congress +is prohibited from establishing any form of religion. + +[Footnote 31: See above, p. 190. This is further elucidated in +Appendixes B and D.] + +Finally, it is declared that "the enumeration of certain rights shall +not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," +and that "the powers not granted to the United States by the +Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the +states respectively, or to the people." + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What provision did the Constitution make for its own ratification? + +2. What was the general method of ratification in the states? + +3. On what general grounds did the opposition to the Constitution seem +to be based? + +4. By what feature in the Constitution was the support of South +Carolina and Georgia assured? Why was this support deemed peculiarly +desirable? + +5. What five states ratified the Constitution with little or no +opposition? + +6. What was the objection of Massachusetts and some other states to +the Constitution? What course, therefore, did they adopt? + +7. What three states after Massachusetts by their ratification made +the adoption of the Constitution secure? + +8. What four states subsequently gave in their support? + +9. Give an account of the adoption of the first ten amendments. + +10. For what do these amendments provide? + +11. What powers are reserved to the states? + + +Section 8. _A Few Words about Politics._ + +[Sidenote: Federal taxation.] +A chief source of the opposition to the new federal government was the +dread of federal taxation. People who found it hard to pay their town, +county, and state taxes felt that it would be ruinous to have to pay +still another kind of tax. In the mere fact of federal taxation, +therefore, they were inclined to see tyranny. With people in such a +mood it was necessary to proceed cautiously in devising measures of +federal taxation. + +[Sidenote: Excise.] +This was well understood by our first secretary of the treasury, +Alexander Hamilton, and in the course of his administration of the +treasury he was once roughly reminded of it. The two methods of federal +taxation adopted at his suggestion were duties on imports and excise on +a few domestic products, such as whiskey and tobacco. The excise, being +a tax which people could see and feel, was very unpopular, and in 1794 +the opposition to it in western Pennsylvania grew into the famous +"Whiskey Insurrection," against which President Washington thought it +prudent to send an army of 16,000 men. This formidable display of +federal power suppressed the insurrection without bloodshed. + +[Sidenote: Tariff.] +Nowhere was there any such violent opposition to Hamilton's scheme of +custom-house duties on imported goods. People had always been familiar +with such duties. In the colonial times they had been levied by the +British government without calling forth resistance until Charles +Townshend made them the vehicle of a dangerous attack upon American +self-government.[32] After the Declaration of Independence, custom-house +duties were levied by the state governments and the proceeds were paid +into the treasuries of the several states. Before 1789, much trouble had +arisen from oppressive tariff-laws enacted by some of the states against +others. By taking away from the states the power of taxing imports, the +new Constitution removed this source of irritation. It became possible +to lighten the burden of custom-house duties, while by turning the full +stream of them into the federal treasury an abundant national revenue +was secured at once. Thus this part of Hamilton's policy met with +general approval. The tariff has always been our favourite device for +obtaining a national revenue. During our Civil War, indeed, the +national, government resorted extensively to direct taxation, chiefly in +the form of revenue stamps, though it also put a tax upon +billiard-tables, pianos, gold watches, and all sorts of things. But +after the return of peace these unusual taxes were one after another +discontinued, and since then our national revenue has been raised, as in +Hamilton's time, from duties on imports and excise on a few domestic +products, chiefly tobacco and distilled liquors. + +[Footnote 32: See my _War of Independence_, pp. 58-83; and my +_History of the United States, for Schools_, pp. 192-203.] + +[Sidenote: Origin of American political parties.] +Hamilton's measures as secretary of the treasury embodied an entire +system of public policy, and the opposition to them resulted in the +formation of the two political parties into which, under one name or +another, the American people have at most times been divided. Hamilton's +opponents, led by Jefferson, objected to his principal measures that +they assumed powers in the national government which were not granted to +it by the Constitution. Hamilton then fell back upon the Elastic +Clause[33] of the Constitution, and maintained that such powers were +_implied_ in it. Jefferson held that this doctrine of "implied powers" +stretched the Elastic Clause too far. He held that the Elastic Clause +ought to be construed strictly and narrowly; Hamilton held that +it ought to be construed loosely and liberally. Hence the names +"strict-constructionist" and "loose-constructionist," which mark perhaps +the most profound and abiding antagonism in the history of American +politics. + +[Footnote [33]: Article I, section viii, clause 18; see above, p. 245.] + +Practically all will admit that the Elastic Clause, if construed +strictly, ought not to be construed _too_ narrowly; and, if construed +liberally, ought not to be construed _too_ loosely. Neither party has +been consistent in applying its principles, but in the main we can call +Hamilton the founder of the Federalist party, which has had for its +successors the National Republicans of 1828, the Whigs of 1833 to 1852, +and the Republicans of 1854 to the present time; while we can call +Jefferson the founder of the party which called itself Republican from +about 1792 to about 1828, and since then has been known as the +Democratic party. This is rather a rough description in view of the real +complication of the historical facts, but it is an approximation to the +truth. + +[Sidenote: Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank.] +It is not my purpose here to give a sketch of the history of American +parties. Such a sketch, if given in due relative proportion, would +double the size of this little book, of which the main purpose is to +treat of civil government in the United States with reference to its +_origins_. But it may here be said in general that the practical +questions which have divided the two great parties have been concerned +with the powers of the national government as to (1) the _Tariff_; (2) +the making of roads, improving rivers and harbours, etc., under the +general head of _Internal Improvements_; and (3) the establishment of a +_National Bank_, with the national government as partner holding shares +in it and taking a leading part in the direction of its affairs. On the +question of such a national bank the Democratic party achieved a +complete and decisive victory under President Tyler. On the question of +internal improvements the opposite party still holds the ground, but +most of its details have been settled by the great development of the +powers of private enterprise during the past sixty years, and it is not +at present a "burning question." The question of the tariff, however, +remains to-day as a "burning question," but it is no longer argued on +grounds of constitutional law, but on grounds of political economy. +Hamilton's construction of the Elastic Clause has to this extent +prevailed, and mainly for the reason that a liberal construction of that +clause was needed in order to give the national government enough power +to restrict the spread of slavery and suppress the great rebellion of +which slavery was the exciting cause. + +[Sidenote: Civil service reform.] +Another political question, more important, if possible, than that of +the Tariff, is to-day the question of the reform of the Civil Service; +but it is not avowedly made a party question. Twenty years ago both +parties laughed at it; now both try to treat it with a show of respect +and to render unto it lip-homage; and the control of the immediate +political future probably lies with the party which treats it most +seriously. It is a question that was not distinctly foreseen in the days +of Hamilton and Jefferson, when the Constitution was made and adopted; +otherwise, one is inclined to believe, the framers of the Constitution +would have had something to say about it. The question as to the Civil +Service arises from the fact that the president has the power of +appointing a vast number of petty officials, chiefly postmasters and +officials concerned with the collection of the federal revenue. Such +officials have properly nothing to do with politics; they are simply the +agents or clerks or servants of the national government in conducting +its business; and if the business of the national government is to be +managed on such ordinary principles of prudence as prevail in the +management of private business, such servants ought to be selected for +personal merit and retained for life or during good behaviour. It did +not occur to our earlier presidents to regard the management of the +public business in any other light than this. + +[Sidenote: Origin of the "spoils system."] +But as early as the beginning of the present century a vicious system +was growing up in New York and Pennsylvania. In those states the +appointive offices came to be used as bribes or as rewards for partisan +services. By securing votes for a successful candidate, a man with +little in his pocket and nothing in particular to do could obtain some +office with a comfortable salary. It would be given him as a reward, and +some other man, perhaps more competent than himself, would have to be +turned out in order to make room for him. A more effective method of +driving good citizens "out of politics" could hardly be devised. It +called to the front a large class of men of coarse moral fibre who +greatly preferred the excitement of speculating in politics to earning +an honest living by some ordinary humdrum business. The civil service of +these states was seriously damaged in quality, politics degenerated into +a wild scramble for offices, salaries were paid to men who did little or +no public service in return, and thus the line which separates taxation +from robbery was often crossed. + +[Sidenote: "Rotation in Office."] +[Sidenote: The "spoils system" made national] +About the same time there grew up an idea that there is something +especially democratic, and therefore meritorious, about "rotation in +office." Government offices were regarded as plums at which every one +ought to be allowed a chance to take a bite. The way was prepared in +1820 by W.H. Crawford, of Georgia, who succeeded in getting the law +enacted that limits the tenure of office for postmasters, revenue +collectors, and other servants of the federal government to four years. +The importance of this measure was not understood, and it excited very +little discussion at the time. The next presidential election which +resulted in a change of party was that of Jackson in 1828, and then the +methods of New York and Pennsylvania were applied on a national scale. +Jackson cherished the absurd belief that the administration of his +predecessor Adams had been corrupt, and he turned men out of office with +a keen zest. During the forty years between Washington's first +inauguration and Jackson's the total number of removals from office was +74, and out of this number 5 were defaulters. During the first year of +Jackson's administration the number of changes made in the civil +service was about 2,000. [34] Such was the abrupt inauguration upon a +national scale of the so-called "spoils system." The phrase originated +with W. L. Marcy, of New York, who in a speech in the senate in 1831 +declared that "to the victors belong the spoils." The man who said this +of course did not realize that he was making one of the most shameful +remarks recorded in history. There was, however, much aptness in his +phrase, inasmuch as it was a confession that the business of American +politics was about to be conducted on principles fit only for the +warfare of barbarians. + +[Footnote 34: Sumner's _Jackson_, p. 147.] + +In the canvass of 1840 the Whigs promised to reform the civil service, +and the promise brought them many Democratic votes; but after they had +won the election, they followed Jackson's example. The Democrats +followed in the same way in 1845, and from that time down to 1885 it was +customary at each change of party to make a "clean sweep" of the +offices. Soon after the Civil War the evils of the system began to +attract serious attention on the part of thoughtful people. The "spoils +system" has helped to sustain all manner of abominations, from grasping +monopolies and civic jobbery down to political rum-shops. The virus runs +through everything, and the natural tendency of the evil is to grow with +the growth of the country. + +[Sidenote: The Civil Service Act of 1883.] +In 1883 Congress passed the Civil Service Act, allowing the president to +select a board of examiners on whose recommendation appointments are +made. Candidates for office are subjected to an easy competitive +examination. The system has worked well in other countries, and under +Presidents Arthur and Cleveland it was applied to a considerable part of +the civil service. It has also been adopted in some states and cities. +The opponents of reform object to the examination that it is not always +intimately connected with the work of the office,[35] but, even if this +were so, the merit of the system lies in its removal of the offices from +the category of things known as "patronage." It relieves the president +of much needless work and wearisome importunity. The president and the +heads of departments appoint (in many cases, through subordinates) about +115,000 officials. It is therefore impossible to know much about their +character or competency. It becomes necessary to act by advice, and the +advice of an examining board is sure to be much better than the advice +of political schemers intent upon getting a salaried office for their +needy friends. The examination system has made a fair beginning and will +doubtless be gradually improved and made more stringent. Something too +has been done toward stopping two old abuses attendant upon political +canvasses,--(1) forcing government clerks, under penalty of losing their +places, to contribute part of their salaries for election purposes; (2) +allowing government clerks to neglect their work in order to take an +active part in the canvass. Before the reform of the civil service can +be completed, however, it will be necessary to repeal Crawford's act of +1820 and make the tenure of postmasters and revenue collectors as secure +as that of the chief justice of the United States. + +[Footnote 35: The objection that the examination questions are +irrelevant to the work of the office is often made the occasion of gross +exaggeration. I have given, in Appendix I, an average sample of the +examination papers used in the customs service. It is taken from +Comstock's _Civil Service in the United States_, New York, Holt & Co., +1885, an excellent manual with very full particulars.] + +[Sidenote: The Australian ballot-system.] +Another political reform which promises excellent results is the +adoption by many states of some form of the Australian ballot-system, +for the purpose of checking intimidation and bribery at elections. The +ballots are printed by the state, and contain the names of all the +candidates of all the parties. Against the name of each candidate the +party to which he belongs is designated, and against each name there is +a small vacant space to be filled with a cross. At the polling-place the +ballots are kept in an inclosure behind a railing, and no ballot can be +brought outside under penalty of fine or imprisonment[36]. One ballot is +nailed against the wall outside the railing, so that it may be read at +leisure. The space behind the railing is divided into separate booths +quite screened from each other. Each booth is provided with a pencil and +a convenient shelf on which to write. The voter goes behind the railing, +takes the ballot which is handed him, carries it into one of the booths, +and marks a cross against the names of the candidates for whom he votes. +He then puts his ballot into the box, and his name is checked off on the +register of voters of the precinct. This system is very simple, it +enables a vote to be given in absolute secrecy, and it keeps "heelers" +away from the polls. It is favourable to independence in voting,[37] and +it is unfavourable to bribery, because unless the briber can follow his +man to the polls and see how he votes, he cannot be sure that his bribe +is effective. To make the precautions against bribery complete it will +doubtless be necessary to add to the secret ballot the English system of +accounting for election expenses. All the funds used in an election must +pass through the hands of a small local committee, vouchers must be +received for every penny that is expended, and after the election an +itemized account must be made out and its accuracy attested under oath +before a notary public. This system of accounting has put an end to +bribery in England.[38] + +[Footnote 36: This is a brief description of the system lately adopted +in Massachusetts. The penalty here mentioned is a fine not exceeding a +thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such +fine and such imprisonment.] + +[Footnote 37: It is especially favourable to independence in voting, if +the lists of the candidates are placed in a single column, without +reference to party (each name of course, having the proper party +designation, "Rep.," "Dem.," "Prohib.," etc., attached to it). In such +case it must necessarily take the voter some little time to find and +mark each name for which he wishes to vote. If, however, the names of +the candidates are arranged according to their party, all the +Republicans in one list, all the Democrats in another, etc., this +arrangement is much less favourable to independence in voting and much +less efficient as a check upon bribery; because the man who votes a +straight party ticket will make all his marks in a very short time, +while the "scratcher," or independent voter, will consume much more time +in selecting his names. Thus people interested in seeing whether a man +is voting the straight party ticket or not can form an opinion from the +length of time he spends in the booth. It is, therefore, important that +the names of all candidates should be printed in a single column.] + +[Footnote 38: An important step in this direction has been taken in the +New York Corrupt Practices Act of April, 1890. See Appendix J.] + +Complaints of bribery and corruption have attracted especial attention +in the United States during the past few years, and it is highly +creditable to the good sense of the people that measures of prevention +have been so promptly adopted by so many states. With an independent and +uncorrupted ballot, and the civil service taken "out of politics," all +other reforms will become far more easily accomplished. These ends will +presently be attained. Popular government makes many mistakes, and +sometimes it is slow in finding them out; but when once it has +discovered them it has a way of correcting them. It is the best kind of +government in the world, the most wisely conservative, the most steadily +progressive, and the most likely to endure. + + +QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. + +1. What was a chief source of opposition to the new federal government? + +2. What necessity for caution existed in devising methods to raise money? + +3. Hamilton's scheme of excise:-- + a. The things on which excise was laid. + b. The unpopularity of the scheme. + c. The "Whiskey Insurrection." + d. Its suppression by Washington. + +4. Hamilton's tariff scheme:-- + a. The class of things on which duties were placed. + b. Popular acquiescence in the plan. + c. Effect of diverting the stream of custom-house revenue from its old + destination in the several state treasuries to its new destination in + the federal treasury. + d. Direct taxation during the Civil War. + e. Methods pursued since the Civil War. + +5. The origin of American political parties:-- + a. Jefferson's objection to Hamilton's policy. + b. Hamilton's defence of his policy. + c. Jefferson's view of the Elastic Clause. + d. Hamilton's view of the Elastic Clause. + e. Two names suggestive of an abiding antagonism in American politics. + f. A view of the Elastic Clause that commends itself to all. + g. The party of Hamilton and its successors. + h. The party of Jefferson and its successor. + +6. Great practical questions that have divided parties:-- + a. The Tariff. + b. Internal Improvements. + c. A National Bank. + d. The present attitude towards these three questions. + e. The shifting of ground in arguing the tariff question. + f. The reason for this change of base. + +7. Civil Service reform:-- + + a. The attitude of parties a few years ago. + b. The present attitude of the same parties. + c. A question not foreseen. + d. The number of officers appointed. + e. The non-political nature of their duties. + f. The principles that should prevail in their selection and + service. + +8. The "spoils system":-- + a. Early appointive officers in New York and Pennsylvania, + b. The driving of good citizens out of politics. + c. The character of the men called to the front. + d. The effect on civil service and on politics. + +9. Rotation in office:-- + a. A new idea about government offices. + b. Crawford's law of 1820. + c. Failure to grasp its significance. + d. Jackson's course in 1829. + e. Removals from office down to Jackson's time. + f. Removals during the first year of Jackson's administration. + g. Origin of the phrase, "spoils system." + h. Promises and practice down to 1885. + i. The evils conspicuous since the Civil War. + +10. The Civil Service Act of 1883. + a. A board of examiners. + b. Competitive examination of candidates. + c. The spread of the principles of the reform. + d. The merit of the system. + e. Two old abuses stopped. + f. Further measures needed. + +11. The Australian ballot system:-- + a. The object of this system. + b. The printing of the ballots. + c. What a ballot contains. + d. Ballots at the polling-places. + e. The booths. + f. The manner of voting. + g. The advantages of the system. + h. An additional precaution against bribery. + +12. What is the attitude of the people towards bribery and corruption? + +13. What reforms must be accomplished before others can make +much headway? + +SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. + +1. How much money is needed by the United States government for the +expenses of a year? How much is needed for the army, the navy, the +interest on the public debt, pensions, rivers and harbours, ordinary +civil expenses, etc.? (Answer for any recent year.) + +2. From what sources does the revenue come? Tell how much revenue each +of the several sources has yielded in any recent year. + +3. What is the origin of the word _tariff_? + +4. What is meant by _protection_? What is meant by _free +trade_? What is meant by a _tariff for revenue only_? What is +meant by _reciprocity_? Give illustrations. + +5. What are some of the reasons assigned for protection? + +6. What are some of the reasons assigned for free trade? + +7. Which policy prevails among the states themselves? + +8. Which policy prevails between the United States and other nations? + +9. Mention all the kinds of United States money in circulation. Bring +into the class a national bank bill, a gold certificate, a silver +certificate, any piece that is used as money, and inquire wherein its +value lies, what it can or cannot be used for, what the United States +will or will not give in exchange for it, and whether it is worth its +face in gold or not. + +10. Is it right to buy silver at seventy-five cents and then put +it into circulation stamped a dollar, the Government receiving the +profit? Can you get a gold dollar for a silver one? + +11. Is a promise to pay a dollar a real dollar? May it be as good as a +dollar? If so, under what conditions? + +12. If gold were as common as gravel, what characteristics of it +universally recognized would remain unchanged? What would become of +its purchasing power, if it cost little or no labour to obtain it? Why +is it accepted as a standard of value? + +13. During the Civil War gold was said to fluctuate in value, because +it took two dollars of paper money, sometimes more, sometimes less, +to buy one dollar in gold. Where was the real changing? What was the +cause of it? + +14. What men are at the head of the national government at the present +time? (Think of the executive department and its primary divisions, +the legislative department, and the judicial.) + +15. What salaries are paid these officers? Compare American salaries +with European salaries for corresponding high positions. + +16. Should a president serve a second term? What is the advantage of +such service? What is the objection to it? Is a single term of six +years desirable? + +17. Ought the president to be elected directly by the people? + +18. Name in order the persons entitled to succeed to the presidency in +case of vacancy. + +19. Who is your representative in Congress? + +20. Who are your senators in Congress? + +21. What is the pay of members of Congress? Who determines the +compensation? What is there to prevent lavish or improper pay? + + +22. There is said to be "log-rolling" in legislation at times. What is +the nature of this practice? Is it right? + +23. Is the senator or the representative of higher dignity? Why? + +24. Why should members of Congress be exempted from arrest in certain +cases? + +25. Find authority in the Constitution for various things that +Congress has done, such as the following:-- + a. It has established a military academy at West Point. + b. It has given public lands to Pacific railroads. + c. It has authorized uniforms for letter carriers. + d. It has ordered surveys of the coast. + e. It has established the Yellowstone National Park. + f. It has voted millions of dollars for pensions. + g. It refused during the Civil War to pay its promises with silver or + gold. + h. It bought Alaska of Russia. + i. It has adopted exclusive measures towards the Chinese. + +26. Reverse the preceding exercise. That is, cite clauses of the +Constitution, and tell what particular things Congress has done because +of such authority. For example, what specific things have been done +under the following powers of Congress?-- + a. To collect taxes. + b. To regulate commerce with foreign nations. + c. To coin money. + d. To establish post-roads. + e. To provide for the common defence. + f. To provide for the general welfare. + +27. Compare the strength of the national government to-day with its +strength in the past. + +28. Who are citizens according to the Constitution? Is a woman a +citizen? Is a child a citizen? Are Indians citizens? Are foreigners +residing in this country citizens? Are children born abroad of +American parents citizens? Can one person be a citizen of two nations +at the same time, or of two states, or of two towns? Explain. + +29. To what laws is an American vessel on the ocean subject? + +30. Show how the interests and needs of the various sections of +the country present wide differences. Compare mining sections with +agricultural, and both with manufacturing; Pacific states with +Atlantic; Northern states with Southern. What need of mutual +consideration exists? + +31. Name all the political divisions from the smallest to the greatest +in which you live. A Cambridge (Mass.) boy might, for example, say, "I +live in the third precinct of the first ward, in the first Middlesex +representative district, the third Middlesex senatorial district, the +third councillor district, and the fifth congressional district. +My city is Cambridge; my county, Middlesex, etc." Name the various +persons who represent you in these several districts. + +32. May state and local officers exercise authority on United States +government territory, as, for example, within the limits of an arsenal +or a custom-house? May national government officers exercise authority +in states and towns? + +33. What is a _sovereign_ state? Is New York a sovereign state? +the United States? the Dominion of Canada? Great Britain? Explain. + +34. When sovereign nations disagree, how can a settlement be +effected? What is the best way to settle such a disagreement? +Illustrate from history the methods of negotiation, of arbitration, +and of war. + +35. When two states of the Federal Union disagree, what solution of +the difficulty is possible? + + * * * * * + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. + +THE FEDERAL UNION.--For the origin of our federal constitution, see +Bancroft's _History of the United States_, final edition, vol. +vi., N.Y., 1886; Curtis's _History of the Constitution_, 2 vols., +N.Y., 1861, new edition, vol. i., 1889; and my _Critical Period of +American History_, Boston, 1888, with copious references in the +bibliographical note at the end. Once more we may refer advantageously +to _J.H.U. Studies_, II., v.-vi., H.C. Adams, _Taxation in +the United States_, 1789-1816; VIII, i.-ii., A.W. Small, _The +Beginnings of American Nationality_. See also Jameson's _Essays +in the Constitutional History of the United States in the Formative +Period_, 1775-1789, Boston, 1889, a very valuable book. + +On the progress toward union during the colonial period, see especially +Frothingham's _Rise of the Republic of the United States_, Boston, 1872; +also Scott's _Development of Constitutional Liberty in the English +Colonies of America_, N.Y., 1882. + +By far the ablest and most thorough book on the government of the +United States that has ever been published is Bryce's _American +Commonwealth_, 2 vols., London and N.Y., 1888. No American +citizen's education is properly completed until he has read the whole +of it carefully. In connection therewith, the work of Tocqueville, +_Democracy in America_, 2 vols., 6th ed., Boston, 1876, is +interesting. The Scotchman describes and discusses the American +commonwealth of to-day, the Frenchman that of sixty years ago. There +is an instructive difference in the methods of the two writers, +Tocqueville being inclined to draw deductions from ingenious +generalizations and to explain as natural results of democracy sundry +American characteristics that require a different explanation. His +great work is admirably reviewed and criticised by Bryce, in the +_J.H.U. Studies_, V., ix., _The Predictions of Hamilton and De +Tocqueville_. + +The following manuals may be recommended: Thorpe, _The_ +_Government of the People of the United States_, Phila., 1889; +Martin's _Text Book on Civil Government in the United States_, +N.Y. and Chicago, 1875 (written with special reference to +Massachusetts); Northam's _Manual of Civil Government_, Syracuse, +1887 (written with special reference to New York); Ford's _American +Citizen's Manual_, N.Y., 1887; Rupert's _Guide to the Study of +the History and the Constitution of the United States_, Boston, +1888; Andrews's _Manual of the Constitution of the United +States_, Cincinnati, 1874; Miss Dawes, _How we are Governed_, +Boston, 1888; Macy, _Our Government: How it Grew, What it Does, and +How it Does it_, Boston, 1887. The last is especially good, and +mingles narrative with exposition in an unusually interesting way. +Nordhoff's _Politics for Young Americans_, N.Y., 1887, is a book +that ought to be read by all young Americans for its robust and sound +political philosophy. It is suitable for boys and girls from twelve to +fifteen years old. C.F. Dole's _The Citizen and the Neighbour_, +Boston, 1887, is a suggestive and stimulating little book. For a +comparative survey of governmental institutions, ancient and modern, +see Woodrow Wilson's _The State: Elements of Historical and +Practical Politics_, Boston, 1889. An enormous mass of matter is +compressed into this volume, and, although it inevitably suffers +somewhat from extreme condensation, it is so treated as to be both +readable and instructive. The chapter on _The State and Federal +Governments of the United States_ has been published separately, +and makes a convenient little volume of 131 pages. Teachers should +find much help in MacAlister's _Syllabus of a Course of Elementary +Instruction in United States History and Civil Government_, Phila., +1887. + +The following books of the "English Citizen Series," published by +Macmillan & Co., may often be profitably consulted: M.D. Chalmers, +_Local Government_; H.D. Traill, _Central Government_; F.W. Maitland, +_Justice and Police_; Spencer Walpole, _The Electorate and the +Legislature_; A.J. Wilson, _The National Budget_; T.H. Farrer, _The +State in its Relations to Trade_; W.S. Jevons, _The State in its +Relations to Labour_. The works on the English Constitution by Stubbs, +Gneist, Taswell-Langmead, Freeman, and Bagehot are indispensable to a +thorough understanding of civil government in the United States: Stubbs, +_Constitutional History of England_, 3 vols., London, 1875-78; Gneist, +_History of the English Constitution_, 2d ed., 2 vols., London, 1889; +Taswell-Langmead, _English Constitutional History_, 3d ed., Boston, +1886; Freeman, _The Growth of the English Constitution_, London, 1872; +Bagehot, _The English Constitution_, revised ed., Boston, 1873. An +admirable book in this connection is Hannis Taylor's (of Alabama) +_Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, Boston, 1889. In +connection with Bagehot's _English Constitution_ the student may +profitably read Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_, Boston, +1885, and A.L. Lowell's _Essays in Government_, Boston, 1890. See also +Sir H. Maine, _Popular Government_, London, 1886; Sir G.C. Lewis on _The +Use and Abuse of Certain Political Terms_, London, 1832; _Methods of +Observation and Reasoning in Politics_, 2 vols., London, 1852; and +_Dialogue on the Best Form of Government_, London, 1863. + +Among the most valuable books ever written on the proper sphere +and duties of civil government are Herbert Spencer's _Social +Statics_, London, 1851; _The Study of Sociology_, 9th ed., +London, 1880; _The Man_ versus _The State_, London, 1884; +they are all reprinted by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The views +expressed in _Social Statics_ with regard to the tenure of land +are regarded as unsound by many who are otherwise in entire sympathy +with Mr. Spencer's views, and they are ably criticised in Bonham's +_Industrial Liberty_, N.Y., 1888. A book of great merit, which +ought to be reprinted as it is now not easy to obtain, is Toulmin +Smith's _Local Self-Government and Centralization_, London, 1851. +Its point of view is sufficiently indicated by the following admirable +pair of maxims (p. 12):-- + +LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT _is that system of Government under which the +greatest number of minds, knowing the most, and having the fullest +opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in hand, and +having the greatest interest in its well-working, have the management +of it, or control over it._ + +CENTRALIZATION _is that system of government under which the +smallest number of minds, and those knowing the least, and having the +fewest opportunities of knowing it, about the special matter in +hand, and having the smallest interest in its well-working, have the +management of it, or control over it._ + +An immense amount of wretched misgovernment would be avoided if all +legislators and all voters would engrave these wholesome definitions +upon their minds. In connection with the books just mentioned much +detailed and valuable information may be found in the collections of +essays edited by J.W. Probyn, _Local Government and Taxation_ [in +various countries], London, 1875; _Local Government and Taxation +in the United_ _Kingdom_, London, 1882. See also R.T. Ely's +_Taxation in American States and Cities_, N.Y., 1889. + +The most elaborate work on our political history is that of Hermann +von Holst, _Constitutional and Political History of the United +States_, translated from the German by J.J. Lalor, vols. i.-vi. +(1787-1859), Chicago, 1877-89. In spite of a somewhat too pronounced +partisan bias, its value is great. See also Schouler's _History +of the United States under the Constitution_, vols. i.-iv. +(1783-1847), new ed., N.Y., 1890. The most useful handbook, alike +for teachers and for pupils, is Alexander Johnston's _History of +American Politics_, 2d ed., N.Y., 1882. _The United States_, +N.Y., 1889, by the same author, is also excellent. Every school +should possess a copy of Lalor's _Cyclopaedia of Political Science, +Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States_, +3 vols., Chicago, 1882-84. The numerous articles in it relating to +American history are chiefly by Alexander Johnston, whose mastery of +his subject was simply unrivalled. His death in 1889, at the early age +of forty, must be regarded as a national calamity. For a manual of +constitutional law, Cooley's _General Principles of Constitutional +Law in the United States of America_, Boston, 1880, is to be +recommended. The reader may fitly supplement his general study of +civil government by the little book of E.P. Dole, _Talks about +Law: a Popular Statement of What our Law is and How it is to be +Administered_, Boston, 1887. + +In connection with the political history, Stanwood's _History of +Presidential Elections_, 2d ed., Boston, 1888, will be found +useful. See also Lawton's _American Caucus System_, N.Y., 1885. +On the general subject of civil service reform, see Eaton's _Civil +Service in Great Britain: a History of Abuses and Reforms, and their +Bearing upon American Politics_, N.Y., 1880. Comstock's _Civil +Service in the United States_, N.Y., 1885, is a catalogue of +offices, with full account of civil service rules, examinations, +specimens of examination papers, etc.; also some of the state rules, +as in New York, Massachusetts, etc. + + * * * * * + +I would here call attention to some publications by the Directors +of the Old South Studies in History and Politics,--first, _The +Constitution of the United States, with Historical and Bibliographical +Notes and Outlines, for Study_, prepared by E.D. Mead (sold by +D.C. Heath and Co., Boston, for 25 cents); secondly, the _Old +South Leaflets_, furnished to schools and the trade by the same +publishers, at 5 cents a copy or $3.00 a hundred. These leaflets are +for the most part reprints of important original papers, furnished +with valuable historical and bibliographical notes. The eighteen +issued up to this time (July, 1890) are as follows: 1. The +Constitution of the United States; 2. The Articles of Confederation; +3. The Declaration of Independence; 4. Washington's Farewell Address; +5. Magna Charta; 6. Vane's "Healing Question;" 7. Charter of +Massachusetts Bay, 1629; 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; +9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; 10. Washington's Inaugurals; +11. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation; 12. The +Federalist, Nos. 1 and 2; 13. The Ordinance of 1787; 14. The +Constitution of Ohio; 15. Washington's "Legacy"; 16. Washington's +Letter to Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, on the Opening of +Communication with the West; 17. Verrazano's Voyage, 1524; 18. Federal +Constitution of the Swiss Confederation. + +Howard Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American History_, +N.Y., 1886, contains the following: First Virginia Charter, 1606; +Second Virginia Charter, 1609; Third Virginia Charter, 1612; Mayflower +Compact, 1620; Massachusetts Charter, 1629; Maryland Charter, 1632; +Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639; New England Confederation, +1643; Connecticut Charter, 1662; Rhode Island Charter, 1663; +Pennsylvania Charter, 1681; Perm's Plan of Union, 1697; Georgia +Charter, 1732; Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754; Declaration of Rights, +1765; Declaration of Rights, 1774; Non-Importation Agreement, 1774; +Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776; Declaration of Independence, 1776; +Articles of Confederation, 1777; Treaty of Peace, 1783; Northwest +Ordinance, 1787; Constitution of the United States, 1787; Alien and +Sedition Laws, 1798; Virginia Resolutions, 1798; Kentucky Resolutions, +1798; Kentucky Resolutions, 1799; Nullification Ordinance, 1832; +Ordinance of Secession, 1860; South Carolina Declaration of +Independence, 1860; Emancipation Proclamation, 1863. + +See also Poore's _Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial +Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States_, 2 vols., +Washington, 1877. + +The series of essays entitled _The Federalist_, written by +Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, in 1787-88, while the ratification of the +Constitution was in question, will always remain indispensable as an +introduction to the thorough study of the principles upon which our +federal government is based. The most recent edition is by +H.C. Lodge, N.Y., 1888. For the systematic and elaborate study of the +Constitution, see Foster's _References to the Constitution of the +United States_, a little pamphlet of 50 pages published by the +"Society for Political Education," 330 Pearl St., New York, 1890, +price 25 cents. The student who should pursue to the end the line of +research marked out in this pamphlet ought thereby to become quite an +authority on the subject. + +For very pleasant and profitable reading, in connection with the +formation and interpretation of the Constitution, and the political +history of our country from 1763 to 1850, we have the "American +Statesmen Series," edited by J.T. Morse, and published by Houghton, +Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1882-90: _Benjamin Franklin_, by J.T. +Morse; _Patrick Henry_, by M.C. Tyler; _Samuel Adams_, by +J.K. Hosmer; _George Washington_, by H.C. Lodge, 2 vols.; +_John Adams and Thomas Jefferson_, by J.T. Morse; _Alexander +Hamilton_, by H.C. Lodge; _Gouverneur Morris_, by T. Roosevelt; +_James Madison_, by S.H. Gay; _James Monroe_ by D.C. Gilman; +_Albert Gallatin_, by J.A. Stevens; _John Randolph_, by H. +Adams; _John Jay_, by G. Pellew; _John Marshall_, by A.B. +Magruder; _John Quincy Adams_, by J.T. Morse; _John C. Calhoun_, +by H. von Holst; _Andrew Jackson_, by W.G. Sumner; _Martin Van +Buren_, by E.M. Shepard; _Henry Clay_, by C. Schurz, 2 vols.; +_Daniel Webster_, by H.C. Lodge; _Thomas H, Benton_, by T. Roosevelt. + + +In connection with the questions on page 269 relating to tariff, +currency, etc., references to some works on political economy are +needed. The arguments in favour of protectionism are set forth in +Bowen's _American Political Economy_, last ed., N.Y., 1870; +the arguments in favour of free trade are set forth in Perry's +_Political Economy_, 19th ed., N.Y., 1887; and for an able and +impartial historical survey, Taussig's _Tariff History of the United +States_, N.Y., 1888, may be recommended. For a lucid view of +currency, see Jevons's _Money and the Mechanism of Exchange_, +N.Y., 1875. + +A useful work on the Australian method of voting is Wigmore's _The +Australian Ballot System_, 2d ed., Boston, 1890. + +In connection with some of the questions on page 271, the student may +profitably consult Woolsey's _International Law_, 5th ed., N.Y., +1879. NOTE TO PAGE 226. + +By the act of February 3, 1887, the second Monday in January is fixed +for the meeting of the electoral colleges in all the states. The +provisions relating to the first Wednesday in January are repealed. +The interval between the second Monday in January and the second +Wednesday in February remains available for the settlement of disputed +questions. + +NOTE TO PAGE 250. + +In order to relieve the supreme court of the United States, which +had come to be overburdened with business, a new court, with limited +appellate jurisdiction, called the _circuit court of appeals_, +was organized in 1892. It consists primarily of nine _appeal +judges_, one for each of the nine circuits. For any given circuit +the supreme court justice of the circuit, the appeal judge of the +circuit, and the circuit judge constitute the court of appeal. + + + +APPENDIX A. + + +THE 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 defence, 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 pretence 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 egress 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 misdemeanour 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 imprisonment 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 State 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 vessel 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 defence 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 defence of such State; but every State +shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, +sufficiently armed and accoutered, 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 +defence, 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 defence, 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 whatever; of establishing rules for deciding, in +all cases, what captures on land and 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 cannot 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 favour, 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 cannot 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 treaties 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 hills, +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, ion 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 he 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 afterwards 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 one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in +the third year of the independence of America. + + * * * * * + +APPENDIX B. + +THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +PREAMBLE.[1] + +We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect +union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for +the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the +blessings of liberty to ourselves and oar posterity, do ordain and +establish this Constitution for the United States of America. + +ARTICLE I. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Compare this Preamble with Confed. Art. I. and III.] + +[Footnote 2: Compare Art. I. Sections i.-vii. with Confed. Art. V.] + +_Section I. Congress in General._ + +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 II. House of Representatives._ + +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 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. 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. + +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 III. Senate._ + +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. + +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. + +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 he 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 honour, 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 IV. Both Houses._ + +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 V. The Houses Separately._ + +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 behaviour, and with the concurrence of two +thirds, expel a member. 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its +proceedings, and from 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 VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members._ + +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 VII. Mode of Passing Laws._ + +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 VIII. Powers granted to Congress.[3]_ + +[Footnote 3: Compare Sections viii. and ix. with Confed. Art. IX.; +clause 1 of Section viii with Confed. Art. VIII; and clause 12 of +Section viii. with Confed. Art. VII.] + +The Congress shall have, power: + +1. 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, 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; + +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.[4] + +[Footnote 4: This is the Elastic Clause in the interpretation of which +arose the original and fundamental division of political parties. +See above, pp. 245, 259.] + + +_Section IX. Powers denied to the United States._ + +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. + +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 X. Powers denied to the States._[5] + +[Footnote 5: Compare Section X with Confed. Art. VI] + +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. + +2. No State shall, without the consent of 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. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Compare Art. II. with Confed. Art. X.] + +_Section I. President and Vice-President_. + +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. + +3. 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 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. [7] + + +[Footnote 7: This clause of the Constitution has been amended. See +Amendments, Art. XII.] + +4. 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. + +5. 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. + +6. 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. + +7. 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 may have been elected, and he shall not +receive within that period any other emolument from the United States +or any of them. + + +8. 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 II. Powers of the President._ + +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 III. Duties of the President._ + +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 IV. Impeachment._ + +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. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.[8] + +[Footnote 8: Compare Art. III. with the first three paragraphs of +Confed. Art. IX.] + +_Section I. United States Courts._ + +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 behaviour, and +shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation +which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. + + +_Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts._ + +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 he 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; 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.[9] + +[Footnote 9: This clause has been amended. See Amendments, Art. XI.] + +2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and +consuls, and those in which a State shall be a 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 III. Treason._ + +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. THE STATES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.[10] + +[Footnote 10: Compare Art. IV. with Confed. Art. IV.] + + +_Section I. State Records._ + +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 II. Privileges of Citizens, etc._ + +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 labour 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 labour, but +shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or +labour may be due.[11] + + + +[Footnote 11: This clause has been cancelled by Amendment XIII., which +abolishes slavery.] + + +_Section III. New States and Territories._[12] + +[Footnote 12: Compare section iii. with Confed. Art. XI.] + + + +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 IV. Guarantee to the States._ + +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. POWER OF AMENDMENT.[13] + +[Footnote 13: Compare Art. V. with Confed. Art. XIII.] + +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 amendments 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. PUBLIC DEBT, SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION, OATH OF +OFFICE, RELIGIOUS TEST. + +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.[14] + +[Footnote 14: Compare clause I with Confed. Art. XII.] + +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.[15] + +[Footnote 15: Compare clauses 2 and 3 with Confed. Art. XIII. and +addendum, "And whereas," etc.] + +ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. + +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,[16] 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. + +[Footnote 16: Rhode Island sent no delegates to the Federal +Convention.] + + George Washington, President, and Deputy from VIRGINIA. + NEW HAMPSHIRE--John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. + MASSACHUSETTS--Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. + CONNECTICUT--William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. + NEW YORK--Alexander Hamilton. + NEW JERSEY--William Livingston, David Brearly, William + Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. + PENNSYLVANIA--Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert + Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, + James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. + DELAWARE--George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, + Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. + MARYLAND--James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, + Daniel Carroll. + VIRGINIA--John Blair, James Madison, Jr. + NORTH CAROLINA--William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, + Hugh Williamson. + SOUTH CAROLINA--John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, + Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. + GEORGIA--William Few, Abraham Baldwin. + Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. + + * * * * * + +AMENDMENTS.[17] + +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. + + +[Footnote 17: Amendments I. to X. were proposed by Congress, Sept. 25, +1789, and declared in force Dec. 15, 1791.] + +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 offence 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 favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his +defence. + +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 reexamined 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.[18] + +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.[19] + +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. + +ARTICLE XII.[20] + +1. 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. + + +[Footnote 18: Compare Amendment X. with Confed. Art. II.] + +[Footnote 19: Proposed by Congress March 5, 1794, and declared in force +Jan, 8, 1798.] + +[Footnote 20: Proposed by Congress Dec. 12, 1803, and declared in force +Sept. 25, 1804.] + +2. 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. + +3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of +President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United +States. + +ARTICLE XIII.[21] + +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. + +2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate +legislation. + +ARTICLE XIV.[22] + +1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and + +[Footnote 21: Proposed by Congress Feb. 1, 1865, and declared in force +Dec. 18, 1865.] + +[Footnote 22: Proposed by Congress June 16, 1866, and declared in force +July 28, 1868.] 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. + +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. + +S. 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. + +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. + +5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate +legislation, the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV. [23] + +[Footnote 23: Proposed by Congress Feb. 26, 1869, and declared in force +March 30, 1870.] + +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, colour, or previous condition of servitude. + +2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by +appropriate legislation. + + * * * * * + +FRANKLIN'S SPEECH ON THE LAST DAY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION [24] + +[Footnote 24: From Madison's _Journal_, in Eliot's _Debates_, +vol. v. p. 554.] + +MONDAY, _September_ 17. _In Convention_--The engrossed +Constitution being read, Doctor Franklin rose with a speech in his +hand, which he had reduced to writing for his own convenience, and +which Mr. Wilson read in the words following: + +MR. PRESIDENT: I confess that there are several parts of this +Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I +shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have experienced +many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller +consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects which I +once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the +older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay +more respect to the judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as +most sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and +that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele, a +Protestant, in a dedication tells the Pope that the only difference +between our churches, in their opinions of the certainty of their +doctrines, is, 'the Church of Rome is infallible, and the Church of +England is never in the wrong.' But though many private persons think +almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, +few express it so naturally as a certain French lady who, in a dispute +with her sister, said, 'I don't know how it happens, sister, but I meet +with nobody but myself that is always in the right--_il n'y a que moi +qui a toujours raison.' In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this +Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a +General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government +but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and +believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a +course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done +before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic +government, being incapable of any other. I doubt, too, whether any +other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better +Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the +advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men +all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their +local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a +perfect production be expected? It, therefore, astonishes me, sir, to +find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does: and I +think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to +hear that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of +Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet +hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I +consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and +because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had +of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a +syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born and here they +shall die. If every one of us, in returning to our constituents, were to +report the objections he has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans +in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and +thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting +naturally in our favour among foreign nations as well as among +ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and +efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing happiness to the +people, depends on opinion--on the general opinion of the goodness of +the government as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. +I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and +for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in +recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by +the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future +thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it well administered. On +the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every member of the +Convention who may still have objections to it would, with me, on this +occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest +our unanimity, put his name to this instrument. + +He then moved that the Constitution be signed by the members, and +offered the following as a convenient form, viz.: "Done in Convention +by the unanimous consent of _the States_ present the seventeenth +of September, etc. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed +our names." This ambiguous form had been drawn up by Mr. Gouverneur +Morris, in order to gain the dissenting members, and put into the +hands of Doctor Franklin, that it might have the better chance of +success. [Considerable discussion followed, Randolph and Gerry stating +their reasons for refusing to sign the Constitution. Mr. Hamilton +expressed his anxiety that every member should sign. A few characters +of consequence, he said, by opposing or even refusing to sign the +Constitution, might do infinite mischief by kindling the latent sparks +that lurk under an enthusiasm in favour of the Convention which may +soon subside. No man's ideas were more remote from the plan than his +own were known to be; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy +and convulsion on one side, and the chance of good to be expected from +the plan on the other? This discussion concluded, the Convention voted +that its journal and other papers should be retained by the President, +subject to the order of Congress.] The members then proceeded to sign +the Constitution as finally amended. The Constitution being signed by +all the members except Mr. Randolph, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Gerry, who +declined giving it the sanction of their names, the Convention +dissolved itself by an adjournment sine die. + +Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Franklin, looking towards +the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to +be painted, observed to a few members near him that painters had found +it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. +I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and +the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that +behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising +or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it +is a rising, and not a setting, sun. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + + +MAGNA CHARTA.[25] + +[Footnote 25: I have, by permission, reproduced the _Old South +Leaflet_, with its notes, etc., in full.] + +OR THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN, GRANTED JUNE 15, A.D. 1215. + +JOHN, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Date of +Normandy, Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his Archbishops, Bishops, +Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Governors, +Officers, and to all Bailiffs, and his faithful subjects, greeting. +Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of +our soul, and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the +honour of God and the advancement of Holy Church, and amendment of +our Realm, by advice of our venerable Fathers, Stephen, Archbishop +of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Cardinal of the Holy Roman +Church: Henry, Archbishop of Dublin; William, of London; Peter, of +Winchester; Jocelin of Bath and Glastonbury; Hugh, of Lincoln; Walter, +of Worcester; William, of Coventry: Benedict, of Rochester--Bishops: +of Master Pandulph, Sub-Deacon and Familiar of our Lord the Pope; +Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights-Templars in England; and of the +noble Persons, William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke; William, Earl of +Salisbury; William, Earl of Warren; William, Earl of Arundel; Alan de +Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin FitzGerald, Peter FitzHerbert, +and Hubert de Burgh, Seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew +FitzHerbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip of Albiney, Robert +de Roppell, John Mareschal, John FitzHugh, and others, our liegemen, +have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present +Charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever:-- + +1. That the Church of England shall be free, and have her whole rights, +and her liberties inviolable; and we will have them so observed, that it +may appear thence that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned chief +and indispensable to the English Church, and which we granted and +confirmed by our Charter, and obtained the confirmation of the same from +our Lord the Pope Innocent III., before the discord between us and our +barons, was granted of mere free will; which Charter we shall observe, +and we do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs for ever. + +2. We also have granted to all the freemen of our kingdom, for us and +for our heirs for ever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and +holden by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever: If +any of our earls, or barons, or others, who hold of us in chief by +military service, shall die, and at the time of his death his heir +shall be of full age, and owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance +by the ancient relief--that is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl, +for a whole earldom, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +baron, for a whole barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a +knight, for a whole knight's fee, by a hundred shillings at most; and +whoever oweth less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of +fees. + +3. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, and shall be in +ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without +relief and without fine. + +4. The keeper of the land of such an heir being under age, shall +take of the land of the heir none but reasonable issues, reasonable +customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction and +waste of his men and his goods; and if we commit the custody of any +such lands to the sheriff, or any other who is answerable to us for +the issues of the land, and he shall make destruction and waste of the +lands which he hath in custody, we will take of him amends, and the +land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, +who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we shall +assign them; and if we sell or give to any one the custody of any such +lands, and he therein make destruction or waste, he shall lose the +same custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men +of that fee, who shall in like manner answer to us as aforesaid. + +5. But the keeper, so long as he shall have the custody of the land, +shall keep up the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and other +things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and +shall deliver to the heir, when he comes of full age, his whole land, +stocked with ploughs and carriages, according as the time of wainage +shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably bear. + +6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that before +matrimony shall be contracted, those who are near in blood to the heir +shall have notice. 7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall +forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage and inheritance; +nor shall she give anything for her dower, or her marriage, or her +inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his death; +and she may remain in the mansion house of her husband forty days +after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned. + +8. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, so long as she has a +mind to live without a husband; but yet she shall give security that +she will not marry without our assent, if she hold of us; or without +the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she hold of another. + +9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any +debt so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to pay the +debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long +as the principal debtor has sufficient to pay the debt; and if the +principal debtor shall fail in the payment of the debt, not having +wherewithal to pay it, then the sureties shall answer the debt; and +if they will they shall have the lands and rents of the debtor, until +they shall be satisfied for the debt which they paid for him, unless +the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof against the +said sureties. + +10. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and +die before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for +that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may +hold; and if the debt falls into our hands, we will only take the +chattel mentioned in the deed. + +11. And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall +have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the deceased left +children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them, +according to the tenement of the deceased; and out of the residue the +debt shall be paid, saving, however, the service due to the lords, and +in like manner shall it be done touching debts due to others than the +Jews. + +12. _No scutage or aid[26] shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless +by the general council of our kingdom_; except for ransoming our +person, making our eldest son a knight, and once for marrying our +eldest daughter; and for these there shall be paid no more than a +reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the +City of London. + +[Footnote 26: In the time of the feudal system _scutage_ was a +direct tax in commutation for military service; _aids_ were +direct taxes paid by the tenant to his lord for ransoming his person +if taken captive, and for helping defray the expenses of knighting his +eldest son and marrying his eldest daughter.] + +13. And the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties and +free customs, as well by land as by water: furthermore, we will and +grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and ports, shall +have all their liberties and free customs. + +14. _And for holding the general council of the kingdom concerning +the assessment of aids, except in the three cases aforesaid, and +for the assessing of scutages, we shall cause to be summoned the +archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons of the realm, +singly by our letters. And furthermore, we shall cause to be summoned +generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of us +in chief, for a certain day, that is to say, forty days before their +meeting at least, and to a certain place; and in all letters of such +summons we will declare the cause of such summons. And summons being +thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according +to the advice of such as shall be present, although all that were +summoned come not._ + +15. We will not for the future grant to any one that he may take aid +of his own free tenants, unless to ransom his body, and to make his +eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and for +this there shall be only paid a reasonable aid. + +16. No man shall be distrained to perform more service for a knight's +fee, or other free tenement, than is due from thence. + +17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be holden in +some place certain. + +18. Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin,[27] and of Mort +d'ancestor,[28] and of Darrein Presentment,[29] shall not be taken but +in their proper counties, and after this manner: We, or if we should +be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, will send two justiciaries +through every county four times a year, who, with four knights of each +county, chosen by the county, shall hold the said assizes[30] in the +county, on the day, and at the place appointed. + +[Footnote 27: Dispossession.] + +[Footnote 28: Death of the ancestor; that is, in cases of disputed +succession to land.] + +[Footnote 29: Last presentation to a benefice.] + +[Footnote 30: The word Assize here means an assembly of knights or +other substantial persons, held at a certain time and place where +they sit with the Justice. 'Assisa' or 'Assize' is also taken +for the court, place, or time at which the writs of Assize are +taken.--_Thompson's Notes._] + +19. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day appointed +for holding the assizes in each county, so many of the knights and +freeholders as have been at the assizes aforesaid shall stay to decide +them as is necessary, according as there is more or less business. + +20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but only +according to the degree of the offence; and for a great crime +according to the heinousness of it, saving to him his contenement;[31] +and after the same manner a merchant, saving to him his merchandise. +And a villein shall be amerced after the same manner, saving to him +his wainage, if he falls under our mercy; and none of the aforesaid +amerciaments shall be assessed but by the oath of honest men in the +neighbourhood. + +[Footnote 31: "That by which a person subsists and which is essential +to his rank in life."] + +21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their peers, and +after the degree of the offence. + +22. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced for his lay tenement, +but according to the proportion of the others aforesaid, and not +according to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice. + +23. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be distrained to make bridges +or embankments, unless that anciently and of right they are bound to +do it. + +24. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold +"Pleas of the Crown." [32] + +[Footnote 32: These are suits conducted in the name of the Crown +against criminal offenders.] + +25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trethings, shall stand at +the old rents, without any increase, except in our demesne manors. + +26. If any one holding of us a lay fee die, and the sheriff, or our +bailiffs, show our letters patent of summons for debt which the dead +man did owe to us, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or our bailiff +to attach and register the chattels of the dead, found upon his lay +fee, to the amount of the debt, by the view of lawful men, so as +nothing be removed until our whole clear debt be paid; and the rest +shall be left to the executors to fulfil the testament of the dead; +and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall +go to the use of the dead, saving to his wife and children their +reasonable shares.[33] + +[Footnote 33: A person's goods were divided into three parts, of which +one went to his wife, another to his heirs, and a third he was at +liberty to dispose of. If he had no child, his widow had half; and if he +had children, but no wife, half was divided amongst them. These several +sums were called "reasonable shares." Through the testamentary +jurisdiction they gradually acquired, the clergy often contrived to get +into their own hands all the residue of the estate without paying the +debts of the estate.] + +27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be +distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and friends, by view +of the Church, saving to every one his debts which the deceased owed +to him. + +28. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels +of any man unless he presently give him money for it, or hath respite +of payment by the goodwill of the seller. + +29. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for +castle-guard, if he himself will do it in his person, or by another +able man, in case he cannot do it through any reasonable cause. And if +we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be free from such +guard for the time he shall be in the army by our command. + +30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses +or carts of any freeman for carriage, without the assent of the said +freeman. + +31. Neither shall we nor our bailiffs take any man's timber for our +castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the +timber. + +32. We will retain the lands of those convicted of felony only one +year and a day, and then they shall be delivered to the lord of the +fee.[34] + +[Footnote 34: All forfeiture for felony has been abolished by the 33 +and 34 Vic., c. 23. It seems to have originated in the destruction +of the felon's property being part of the sentence, and this "waste" +being commuted for temporary possession by the Crown.] + + +33. All kydells[35] (wears) for the time to come shall be put down in +the rivers of Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except +upon the sea-coast. + +[Footnote 35: The purport of this was to prevent inclosures of common +property, or committing a "Purpresture." These wears are now called +"kettles" or "kettle-nets" in Kent and Cornwall.] + +34. The writ which is called _praecipe_, for the future, shall not be +made out to any one, of any tenement, whereby a freeman may lose his +court. + +35. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through our +whole realm; and one measure of corn, that is to say, the London +quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth, and russets, and haberjeets, +that is to say, two ells within the lists; and it shall be of weights +as it is of measures. + +36. _Nothing from henceforth shall be given or taken for a writ of +inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be granted freely, and not +denied._[36] + +[Footnote 36: This important writ, or "writ concerning hatred and +malice," may have been the prototype of the writ of _habeas +corpus_, and was granted for a similar purpose.] + +37. If any do hold of us by fee-farm, or by socage, or by burgage, and +he hold also lands of any other by knight's service, we will not have +the custody of the heir or land, which is holden of another man's fee +by reason of that fee-farm, socage,[37] or burgage; neither will we +have the custody of the fee-farm, or socage, or burgage, unless +knight's service was due to us out of the same fee-farm. We will not +have the custody of an heir, nor of any land which he holds of another +by knight's service, by reason of any petty serjeanty[38] by which he +holds of us, by the service of paying a knife, an arrow, or the like. + +[Footnote 37: "Socage" signifies lands held by tenure of performing +certain inferior offices in husbandry, probably from the old French +word _soc_, a plough-share.] + +[Footnote 38: The tenure of giving the king some small weapon of war in +acknowledgment of lands held.] + +38. No bailiff from henceforth shall pat any man to his law[39] upon +his own bare saying, without credible witnesses to prove it. + +[Footnote 39: Equivalent to putting him to his oath. This alludes to +the Wager of Law, by which a defendant and his eleven supporters or +"compurgators" could swear to his non-liability, and this amounted to +a verdict in his favour.] + +39. _No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised, or +outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed, nor will we pass upon +him, nor will we send upon him, unless by the lawful judgment of his +peers, or by the law of the land._ + +40. _We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either +justice or right._ + +41. All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct, to go out of, +and to come into England, and to stay there and to pass as well by +land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed +customs, without any unjust tolls; except in time of war, or when they +are of any nation at war with us. And if there be found any such in +our land, in the beginning of the war, they shall be attached, without +damage to their bodies or goods, until it be known unto us, or our +chief justiciary, how our merchants be treated in the nation at war +with us; and if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our +dominions. + +42. It shall be lawful, for the time to come, for any one to go out +of our kingdom, and return safely and securely by land or by water, +saving his allegiance to us; unless in time of war, by some short +space, for the common benefit of the realm, except prisoners and +outlaws, according to the law of the land, and people in war with us, +and merchants who shall be treated as is above mentioned.[40] + +[Footnote 40: The Crown has still technically the power of confining +subjects within the kingdom by the writ "ne exeat regno," though the +use of the writ is rarely resorted to.] + +43. If any man hold of any escheat,[41] as of the honour of +Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats +which be in our hands, and are baronies, and die, his heir shall give +no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would to +the baron, if it were in the baron's hand; and we will hold it after +the same manner as the baron held it. + +[Footnote 41: The word _escheat_ is derived from the French +_escheoir_, to return or happen, and signifies the return of +an estate to a lord, either on failure of tenant's issue or on his +committing felony. The abolition of feudal tenures by the Act of +Charles II. (12 Charles II. c. 24) rendered obsolete this part and +many other parts of the Charter.] + +44. Those men who dwell without the forest from henceforth shall not +come before our justiciaries of the forest, upon common, summons, but +such as are impleaded, or are sureties for any that are attached for +something concerning the forest.[42] + +[Footnote 42: The laws for regulating the royal forests, and +administering justice in respect of offences committed in their +precincts, formed a large part of the law.] + +45. We will not make any justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, +but of such as know the law of the realm and mean duly to observe it. + +46. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by charter +from the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall have the +keeping of them, when vacant, as they ought to have. + +47. All forests that have been made forests in our time shall +forthwith be disforested; and the same shall be done with the +water-banks that have been fenced in by us in our time. + +48. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, foresters, and +warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their keepers, +shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, by twelve sworn +knights of the same county, chosen by creditable persons of the same +county; and within forty days after the said inquest be utterly +abolished, so as never to be restored: so as we are first acquainted +therewith, or our justiciary, if we should not be in England. + +49. We will immediately give up all hostages and charters delivered +unto us by our English subjects, as securities for their keeping the +peace, and yielding us faithful service. + +50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks the relations of +Gerard de Atheyes, so that for the future they shall have no bailiwick +in England; we will also remove Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and +Gyon, from the Chancery; Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martyn, and his +brothers; Philip Mark, and his brothers, and his nephew, Geoffrey, and +their whole retinue. + +51. As soon as peace is restored, we will send out of the kingdom all +foreign knights, cross-bowmen, and stipendiaries, who are come with +horses and arms to the molestation of our people. + +52. If any one has been dispossessed or deprived by us, without the +lawful judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liberties, or +right, we will forthwith restore them to him; and if any dispute arise +upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five-and-twenty +barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace. And for +all those things of which any person has, without the lawful judgment +of his peers, been dispossessed or deprived, either by our father King +Henry, or our brother King Richard, and which we have in our hands, or +are possessed by others, and we are bound to warrant and make good, +we shall have a respite till the term usually allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which there is a plea depending, or +whereof an inquest hath been made, by our order before we undertook +the crusade; but as soon as we return from our expedition, or if +perchance we tarry at home and do not make our expedition, we will +immediately cause full justice to be administered therein. + +53. The same respite we shall have, and in the same manner, about +administering justice, disafforesting or letting continue the forests, +which Henry our father, and our brother Richard, have afforested; and +the same concerning the wardship of the lands which are in another's +fee, but the wardship of which we have hitherto had, by reason of a +fee held of us by knight's service; and for the abbeys founded in any +other fee than our own, in which the lord of the fee says he has a +right; and when we return from our expedition, or if we tarry at home, +and do not make our expedition, we will immediately do full justice to +all the complainants in this behalf. + +54. No man shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal[43] of a woman, +for the death of any other than her husband. + +[Footnote 43: An _Appeal_ here means an "accusation." The appeal +here mentioned was a suit for a penalty in which the plaintiff was a +relation who had suffered through a murder or manslaughter. One of the +incidents of this "Appeal of Death" was the Trial by Battle. These +Appeals and Trial by Battle were not abolished before the passing of +the Act 59 Geo. III., c. 46.] + +55. All unjust and illegal fines made by us, and all amerciaments +imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall +be entirely given up, or else be left to the decision of the +five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned for the preservation of +the peace, or of the major part of them, together with the aforesaid +Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others +whom he shall think fit to invite; and if he cannot be present, the +business shall notwithstanding go on without him; but so that if one +or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons be plaintiffs in +the same cause, they shall be set aside as to what concerns this +particular affair, and others be chosen in their room, out of the said +five-and-twenty, and sworn by the rest to decide the matter. + +56. If we have disseised or dispossessed the Welsh of any lands, +liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers, +either in England or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to +them; and if any dispute arise upon this head, the matter shall be +determined in the Marches by the judgment of their peers; for tenements +in England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales +according to the law of Wales, for tenements of the Marches according to +the law of the Marches: the same shall the Welsh do to us and our +subjects. + + +57. As for all those things of which a Welshman hath, without the lawful +judgment of his peers, been disseised or deprived of by King Henry our +father, or our brother King Richard, and which we either have in our +hands or others are possessed of, and we are obliged to warrant it, we +shall have a respite till the time generally allowed the crusaders; +excepting those things about which a suit is depending, or whereof an +inquest has been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade: but +when we return, or if we stay at home without performing our expedition, +we will immediately do them full justice, according to the laws of the +Welsh and of the parts before mentioned. + +58. We will without delay dismiss the son of Llewellin, and all the + +Welsh hostages, and release them from the engagements they have +entered into with us for the preservation of the peace. + +59. We will treat with Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the +restoring his sisters and hostages, and his right and liberties, in +the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest of our barons +of England; unless by the charters which we have from his father, +William, late King of Scots, it ought to be otherwise; and this shall +be left to the determination of his peers in our court. + +60. All the aforesaid customs and liberties, which we have granted to +be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to us, all people of +our kingdom, as well clergy as laity, shall observe, as far as they +are concerned, towards their dependents. + +61. And whereas, for the honour of God and the amendment of our +kingdom, and for the better quieting the discord that has arisen +between us and our barons, we have granted all these things aforesaid; +willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our +subjects the underwritten security, namely that the barons may choose +five-and-twenty barons of the kingdom, whom they think convenient; who +shall take care, with all their might, to hold and observe, and cause +to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by +this our present Charter confirmed in this manner; that is to say, +that if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, +shall in any circumstance have failed in the performance of them +towards any person, or shall have broken through any of these articles +of peace and security, and the offence be notified to four barons +chosen out of the five-and-twenty before mentioned, the said four +barons shall repair to us, or our justiciary, if we are out of the +realm, and, laying open the grievance, shall petition to have it +redressed without delay: and if it be not redressed by us, or if we +should chance to be out of the realm, if it should not be redressed by +our justiciary within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been +notified to us, or to our justiciary (if we should be out of the +realm), the four barons aforesaid shall lay the cause before the rest +of the five-and-twenty barons; and the said five-and-twenty barons, +together with the community of the whole kingdom, shall distrain and +distress us in all the ways in which they shall be able, by seizing +our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner they can, +till the grievance is redressed, according to their pleasure; saving +harmless our own person, and the persons of our Queen and children; +and when it is redressed, they shall behave to us as before. And any +person whatsoever in the kingdom may swear that he will obey the +orders of the five-and-twenty barons aforesaid in the execution of the +premises, and will distress us, jointly with them, to the utmost of +his power; and we give public and free liberty to any one that shall +please to swear to this, and never will hinder any person from taking +the same oath. + +62. As for all those of our subjects who will not, of their own +accord, swear to join the five-and-twenty barons in distraining and +distressing us, we will issue orders to make them take the same oath +as aforesaid. And if any one of the five-and-twenty barons dies, or +goes out of the kingdom, or is hindered any other way from +carrying the things aforesaid into execution, the rest of the said +five-and-twenty barons may choose another in his room, at their +discretion, who shall be sworn in like manner as the rest. In all +things that are committed to the execution of these five-and-twenty +barons, if, when they are all assembled together, they should happen +to disagree about any matter, and some of them, when summoned, will +not or cannot come, whatever is agreed upon, or enjoined, by the major +part of those that are present shall be reputed as firm and valid as +if all the five-and-twenty had given their consent; and the aforesaid +five-and-twenty shall swear that all the premises they shall +faithfully observe, and cause with all their power to be observed. And +we will procure nothing from any one, by ourselves nor by another, +whereby any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or +lessened; and if any such thing shall have been obtained, let it be +null and void; neither will we ever make use of it either by ourselves +or any other. And all the ill-will, indignations, and rancours that +have arisen between us and our subjects, of the clergy and laity, from +the first breaking out of the dissensions between us, we do fully +remit and forgive: moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said +dissensions, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the +restoration of peace and tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to +all, both clergy and laity, and as far as in us lies do fully forgive. +We have, moreover, caused to be made for them the letters patent +testimonial of Stephen, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Lord +Archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of Master +Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid. + +63. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin, that the Church of England be +free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid +liberties, rights, and concessions, truly and peaceably, freely and +quietly, fully and wholly to themselves and their heirs, of us and our +heirs, in all things and places, forever, as is aforesaid. It is also +sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all the +things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith, and without evil +subtilty. Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above +named, and many others, in the meadow called Runingmede, between +Windsor and Staines, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year of our +reign. + + * * * * * + +The translation here given is that published in Sheldon Amos's work +on _The English Constitution_. The translation given by Sir E. +Creasy was chiefly followed in this, but it was collated with another +accurate translation by Mr. Richard Thompson, accompanying his +_Historical Essay on Magna Charta_, published in 1829, and also +with the Latin text. "The explanation of the whole Charter," observes +Mr. Amos, must be sought chiefly in detailed accounts of the Feudal +system in England, as explained in such works as those of Stubbs, +Hallam, and Blackstone. The scattered notes here introduced have +only for their purpose to elucidate the most unusual and perplexing +expressions. The Charter printed in the Statute Book is that issued +in the ninth year of Henry III., which is also the one specially +confirmed by the Charter of Edward I. The Charter of Henry III. +differs in some (generally) insignificant points from that of John. +The most important difference is the omission in the later Charter of +the 14th and 15th Articles of John's Charter, by which the King is +restricted from levying aids beyond the three ordinary ones, without +the assent of the 'Common Council of the Kingdom.' and provision is +made for summoning it. This passage is restored by Edward I. Magna +Charter has been solemnly confirmed upwards of thirty times. See the +chapter on the Great Charter, in Green's _History of the English +People_. See also Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_. "The whole of the constitutional history of England," +says Stubbs, "is a commentary on this Charter, the illustration of +which must be looked for in the documents that precede and follow." + + * * * * * + +"CONFIRMATIO CHARTARUM" OF EDWARD I. + +1297. + +I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and +Duke Guyan, to all those that these present letters shall hear or see, +greeting. Know ye that we, to the honour of God and of holy Church, +and to the profit of our realm, have granted for us and our heirs, +that the Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest, which +were made by common assent of all the realm in the time of King Henry +our father, shall be kept in every point without breach. And we will +that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal as well to our +justices of the forest as to others, and to all sheriffs of shires, +and to all our other officers, and to all our cities throughout the +realm, together with our writs in the which it shall be contained that +they cause the foresaid Charters to be published, and to declare to +the people that we have confirmed them in all points; and that our +justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other ministers, which under us have +the laws of our land to guide, shall allow the said Charters pleaded +before them in judgment in all their points; that is to wit, the Great +Charter as the common law, and the Charter of the Forest according to +the assize of the Forest, for the wealth of our realm. + +II. And we will that if any judgment be given from henceforth, +contrary to the points of the Charters aforesaid, by the justices or +by any other our ministers that hold plea before them against the +points of the Charters, it shall be undone and holden for naught. + +III. And we will that the same Charters shall be sent under our seal +to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there to remain, and shall +be read before the people two times by the year. IV. And that all +archbishops and bishops shall pronounce the sentence of great +excommunication against all those that by word, deed, or counsel do +contrary to the foresaid Charters, or that in any point break or undo +them. And that the said curses be twice a year denounced and published +by the prelates aforesaid. And if the prelates or any of them be +remiss in the denunciation of the said sentences, the Archbishops of +Canterbury and York for the time being, as is fitting, shall compel +and distrain them to make that denunciation in form aforesaid. + +V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear that the +aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime towards our wars +and other business, of their own grant and goodwill, howsoever they +were made, might turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, because +they might be at another time found in the rolls, and so likewise the +prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers; we have granted +for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks, nor +prises into a custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore, or +that may be found by roll or in any other manner. + +VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well to +archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy Church, +as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that +for no business from henceforth will we take such manner of aids, +tasks, nor prises but by the common consent of the realm, and for the +common profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and +accustomed. + +VII. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the realm +find themselves sore grieved with the matelote of wools, that is to +wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have made +petition to us to release the same; we, at their requests, have +clearly released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we +shall not take such thing nor any other without their common assent +and goodwill; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, +and leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness +of which things we have caused these our letters to be made patents. +Witness Edward our son, at London, the 10th day of October, the +five-and-twentieth of our reign. + +And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same terms, word +for word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's Great Seal, that is +to say, at Ghent, the 5th day of November, in the 52th year of the +reign of our aforesaid Lord the King, and sent into England. + + * * * * * + +The words of this important document, from Professor Stubbs's +translation, are given as the best explanation of the constitutional +position and importance of the Charters of John and Henry III. See +historical notice in Stubbs's _Documents Illustrative of English +History_, p. 477. This is far the most important of the numerous +ratifications of the Great Charter. Hallam calls it "that famous +statute, inadequately denominated the Confirmation of the Charters, +because it added another pillar to our constitution, not less important +than the Great Charter itself." It solemnly confirmed the two Charters, +the Charter of the Forest (issued by Henry II. in 1217--see text in +Stubbs, p. 338) being then considered as of equal importance with Magna +Charta itself, establishing them in all points as the law of the land; +but it did more. "Hitherto the king's prerogative of levying money by +name of _tallage_ or _prise_, from his towns and tenants in +demesne, had passed unquestioned. Some impositions, that especially on +the export of wool, affected all the king's subjects. It was now the +moment to enfranchise the people and give that security to private +property which Magna Charta had given to personal liberty." Edward's +statute binds the king never to take any of these "aids, tasks, and +prises" in future, save by the common assent of the realm. Hence, as +Bowen remarks, the Confirmation of the Charters, or an abstract of it +under the form of a supposed statute _de tallagio non concedendo_ +(see Stubbs, p. 487), was more frequently cited than any other enactment +by the parliamentary leaders who resisted the encroachments of Charles I. +The original of the _Confirmatio Chartarum_, which is in Norman French, +is still in existence, though considerably shriveled by the fire which +damaged so many of the Cottonian manuscripts in 1731. + + +THE GRANT OF THE GREAT CHARTER. + +An island in the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been chosen as +the place of conference: the King encamped on one bank, while the +barons--covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of Runnymede, +on the other. Their delegates met in the island between them, but the +negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional +submission. The Great Charter was discussed, agreed to, and signed in a +single day. One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured +by age and fire, but with the royal seal still hanging from the brown, +shrivelled parchment. It is impossible to gaze without reverence on the +earliest monument of English freedom which we can see with our own eyes +and touch with our own hands, the great Charter to which from age to age +patriots have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in itself +the Charter was no novelty, nor did it claim to establish any new +constitutional principles. The Charter of Henry the First formed the +basis of the whole, and the additions to it are for the most part formal +recognitions of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by +Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the older charters were +now exchanged for precise and elaborate provisions. The bonds of +unwritten custom which the older grants did little more than recognize +had proved too weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now threw +them aside for the restraints of written law. It is in this way that the +Great Charter marks the transition from the age of traditional rights, +preserved in the nation's memory and officially declared by the Primate, +to the age of written legislation, of Parliaments and Statutes, which +was soon to come. The Church had shown its power of self-defence in the +struggle over the interdict, and the clause which recognized its rights +alone retained the older and general form. But all vagueness ceases when +the Charter passes on to deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, +their right to justice, to _security of person and property, to good +government_. 'No freeman,' ran the memorable article that lies at the +base of our whole judicial system, 'shall be seized or imprisoned, or +dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin; we will not go +against any man nor send against him, save by legal judgment of his +peers or by the law of the land.' 'To no man will we sell,' runs +another, 'or deny, or delay, right or justice.' The great reforms of the +past reigns were now formally recognized; judges of assize were to hold +their circuits four times in the year, and the Court of Common Pleas was +no longer to follow the King in his wanderings over the realm, but to +sit in a fixed place. But the denial of justice under John was a small +danger compared with the lawless exactions both of himself and his +predecessor. Richard had increased the amount of the scutage which Henry +II. had introduced, and applied it to raise funds for his ransom. He had +restored the Danegeld, or land tax, so often abolished, under the new +name of 'carucage,' had seized the wool of the Cistercians and the plate +of the churches, and rated movables as well as land. John had again +raised the rate of scutage, and imposed aids, fines, and ransoms at his +pleasure without counsel of the baronage. The Great Charter met this +abuse by the provision on which our constitutional system rests. With +the exception of the three customary feudal aids which still remained to +the crown, 'no scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm save by the +Common Council of the realm;' and to this Great Council it was provided +that prelates and the greater barons should be summoned by special writ, +and all tenants in chief through the sheriffs and bailiffs, at least +forty days before. But it was less easy to provide means for the control +of a King whom no man could trust, and a council of twenty-four barons +was chosen from the general body of their order to enforce on John the +observance of the Charter, with the right of declaring war on the King +should its provisions be infringed. Finally, the Charter was published +throughout the whole country, and sworn to at every hundred-mote and +town-mote by order from the King.--_Green's Short History of the English +People_, p. 123. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX D. + + + + +A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. + +AN ACT FOR DECLARING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE SUBJECT, AND +SETTLING THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN. 1689. + +Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the estates of +the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February, in +the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [o.s.],[44] +present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and +style of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being present +in their proper persons, a certain Declaration in writing, made by the +said Lords and Commons, in the words following, viz.: + +[Footnote 44: In New Style Feb. 23, 1689.] + +Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of divers evil +counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavour +to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion, and the laws and +liberties of this kingdom: + +1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and +suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent of +Parliament. + +2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly +petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power. + +3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the Great +Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of Commissioners for +Ecclesiastical Causes. + +4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of +prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was +granted by Parliament. + +5. By raising and keeping a +standing army within this kingdom in time of peace, without consent of +Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law. + +6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to be +disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both armed and employed +contrary to law. + +7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in +Parliament. + +8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes +cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary and +illegal causes. + +9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified +persons have been returned, and served on juries in trials, and +particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not +freeholders. + +10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in +criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty +of the subjects. + +11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and cruel +punishments inflicted. + +12. And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures +before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the +same were to be levied. + +All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and +statutes, and freedom of this realm. + +And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated the +government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the Prince +of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious +instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) +did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and divers +principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the +Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and other letters to +the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque ports, +for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to +be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the +two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year one thousand six hundred +eighty and eight,[45] in order to such an establishment, as that their +religion, laws, and liberties might not again be in danger of being +subverted; upon which letters elections have been accordingly made. + +[Footnote 45: In New Style Feb. 1, 1689.] + +And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, +pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now +assembled in a full and free representation of this nation, taking +into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the +ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case +have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient +rights and liberties, declare: + + +1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of +laws by regal authority, without consent of Parliament, is illegal. + +2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution +of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of +late, is illegal. + +3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners +for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of +like nature, are illegal and pernicious. + +4. _That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence +and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time or in +other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal._[46] + +5. _That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, +and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are +illegal._[47] + +6. _That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom +in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against +law._[48] + +7. _That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their +defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law._[49] + +8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. + +9. _That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in +Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or +place out of Parliament._[50] + +10. _That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive +fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted._[51] + +11. _That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and +jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be +freeholders._[52] + +[Footnote 46: Compare this clause 4 with clauses 12 and 14 of Magna +Charta, and with Art. I. Section vii. clause 1 of the Constitution of +the United States.] + +[Footnote 47: Compare clause 5 with Amendment I.] + +[Footnote 48: Compare clause 6 with Amendment III.] + +[Footnote 49: Compare clause 7 with Amendment II.] + +[Footnote 50: Compare clause 9 with Constitution, Art. I. Section vi. +clause 1.] + +[Footnote 51: Compare clause 10 with Amendment VIII.] + +[Footnote 52: Compare clause 11 with Amendments VI. and VII.] + +12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of +particular persons before conviction are illegal and void. + +13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, +strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament ought to be held +frequently. + +And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the +premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that no +declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of +the people in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn +hereafter into consequence or example. + +To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by +the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the +only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. + +Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the +Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, +and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, +which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their +religion, rights, and liberties: + +II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at +Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of +Orange, be, and be declared, King and Queen of England, France, and +Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and +royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said Prince +and Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them; +and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and +executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince +and Princess, during their joint lives; and after their deceases, the +said crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to +the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of such +issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and +for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of +Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the +said Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly. + +The act goes on to declare that, their Majesties having accepted the +crown upon these terms, the rights and liberties asserted and claimed +in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights +and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, +allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every +the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and +observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all +officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and +their successors according to the same in all times to come. + +The act then declares that William and Mary are and of right ought +to be King and Queen of England, etc.; and it goes on to regulate the +succession after their deaths. + + +The passing of the Bill of Rights in 1689 restored to the monarchy +the character which it had lost under the Tudors and the Stuarts. The +right of the people through its representatives to depose the King, +to change the order of succession, and to set on the throne whom they +would, was now established. All claim of divine right, or hereditary +right independent of the law, was formally put an end to by the +election of William and Mary. Since their day no English sovereign has +been able to advance any claim to the crown save a claim which rested +on a particular clause in a particular Act of Parliament. William, +Mary, and Anne were sovereigns simply by virtue of the Bill of Rights. +George the First and his successors have been sovereigns solely by +virtue of the Act of Settlement. An English monarch is now as much the +creature of an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his +realm.--_Green's Short History_, p. 673. + + * * * * * + + + + + +APPENDIX E. + + + +THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. + +1638(9). + +_The first written constitution that created a government._ + +Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Allmighty God by the wise disposition +of his diuyne pruidence so to Order and dispose of things that we the +Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Harteford and Wethersfield are +now cohabiting and dwelling in and vppon the River of Conectecotte and +the Lands thereunto adioyneing; And well knowing where a people are +gathered togather the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace +and vnion of such a people there should be an orderly and decent +Gouerment established according to God, to order and dispose of the +affayres of the people at all seasons as occation shall require; doe +therefore assotiate and conioyne our selues to be as one Publike State +or Comonwelth; and doe, for our selues and our Successors and such as +shall be adioyned to vs att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination +and Confederation togather, to mayntayne and p'rsearue the liberty and +purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus w'ch we now p'rfesse, as also +the disciplyne of the Churches, w'ch according to the truth of the +said gospell is now practised amongst vs; As also in o'r Ciuell +Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, +Rules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, as +followeth:-- + +1. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that there shall be yerely two +generall Assemblies or Courts, the one the second thursday in Aprill, +the other the second thursday in September, following; the first shall +be called the Courte of Election, wherein shall be yerely Chosen from +tyme to tyme soe many Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be +found requisitte: Whereof one to be chosen Gouernour for the yeare +ensueing and vntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate to be +chosen for more than one yeare; p'ruided allwayes there be sixe chosen +besids the Gouernour; w'ch being chosen and sworne according to an Oath +recorded for that purpose shall haue power to administer iustice +according to the Lawes here established, and for want thereof according +to the rule of the word of God; w'ch choise shall be made by all that +are admitted freemen and haue taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe +cohabitte w'thin this Jurisdiction, (hauing beene admitted Inhabitants +by the maior p'rt of the Towne wherein they liue,) or the mayor p'rte of +such as shall be then p'rsent. + +2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of the +aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner: euery p'rson p'rsent +and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the p'rsons deputed to +receaue them) one single pap'r w'th the name of him written in +yet whom he desires to haue Gouernour, and he that hath the greatest +number of papers shall be Gouernor for that yeare. And the rest of +the Magestrats or publike Officers to be chosen in this manner: The +Secretary for the tyme being shall first read the names of all that +are to be put to choise and then shall seuerally nominate them +distinctly, and euery one that would hane the p'rson nominated to be +chosen shall bring in one single paper written vppon, and he that +would not haue him chosen shall bring in a blanke: and euery one that +hath more written papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that +yeare; w'ch papers shall be receaued and told by one or more that +shall be then chosen by the court and sworne to be faythfull therein; +but in case there should not be sixe chosen as aforesaid, besids the +Gouernor, out of those w'ch are nominated, then he or they w'ch haue +the most written pap'rs shall be a Magestrate or Magestrats for the +ensueing yeare, to make vp the foresaid number. + +3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary shall not +nominate any p'rson, nor shall any p'rson be chosen newly into the +Magestracy w'ch was not p'rpownded in some Generall Courte before, to +be nominated the next Election; and to that end yt shall be lawfull +for ech of the Townes aforesaid by their deputyes to nominate any two +whom they conceaue fitte to be put to election; and the Courte may +ad so many more as they iudge requisitt. + +4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe p'rson be chosen + +Gouernor aboue once in two yeares, and that the Gouernor be always +a member of some approved congregation, and formerly of the +Magestracy w'th this Jurisdiction; and all the Magestrats Freemen of +this Comonwelth: and that no Magestrate or other publike officer shall +execute any p'rte of his or their Office before they are seuerally +sworne, w'ch shall be done in the face of the Courte if they be +p'rsent, and in case of absence by some deputed for that purpose. + +5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the aforesaid Conrte +of Election the seu'rall Townes shall send their deputyes, and when +the Elections are ended they may p'rceed in any publike searuice as at +other Courts. Also the other Generall Courte in September shall be for +makeing of lawes, and any other publike occation, w'ch conserns the +good of the Comonwelth. + +6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Gou'rnor shall, +ether by himselfe or by the secretary, send out sumons to the +Constables of eu'r Towne for the cauleing of these two standing +Courts, on month at lest before their seu'rall tymes: And also if the +Gou'rnor and the gretest p'rte of the Magestrats see cause vppon any +spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, they may giue order to +the secretary soe to doe w'thin fowerteene dayes warneing; and +if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a shorter notice, giueing +sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes when they meete, or els +be questioned for the same; And if the Gou'rnor and Mayor p'rte of +Magestrats shall ether neglect or refuse to call the two Generall +standing Courts or ether of them, as also at other tymes when the +occations of the Comonwelth require, the Freemen thereof, or the Mayor +p'rte of them, shall petition to them soe to doe: if then yt be ether +denyed or neglected the said Freemen or the Mayor p'rte of them shall +haue power to giue order to the Constables of the seuerall Townes to +doe the same, and so may meete togather, and ehuse to themselues a +Moderator, and may p'rceed to do any Acte of power, w'ch any other +Generall Courte may. + +7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are warrants +giuen out for any of the said Generall Courts, the Constable or +Constables of ech Towne shall forthw'th give notice distinctly to the +inhabitants of the same, in some Publike Assembly or by goeing or +sending from howse to howse, that at a place and tyme by him or +them lymited and sett, they meet and assemble the: selues togather +to elect and chuse certen deputyes to be att the Generall Courte then +following to agitate the afayres of the comonwelth; w'ch said Deputyes +shall be chosen by all that are admitted Inhabitants in the seu'rall +Townes and haue taken the oath of fidellity; p'ruided that non be +chosen a Deputy for any Generall Courte w'ch is not a Freeman of this +Comonwelth. + +The foresaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following: euery +p'rson that is p'rsent and quallified as before exp'rssed, shall bring +the names of such, written in seu'rrall papers, as they desire to haue +chosen for that Imployment. and these 3 or 4, more or lesse, being the +number agreed on to be chosen for that tyme, that haue greatest +number of papers written for the: shall be deputyes for that +Courte; whose names shall be endorsed on the backe side of the warrant +and returned into the Courte, w'th the Constable or Constables hand +vnto the same. + +8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, Hartford and +Wethersfield shall haue power, ech Towne, to send fower of their freemen +as deputyes to euery Generall Courte; and whatsoeuer other Townes shall +be hereafter added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many +deputyes as the Courte shall judge meete, a resonable p'rportion to the +number of Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be attended +therein; w'ch deputyes shall have the power of the whole Towne to giue +their voats and alowance to all such lawes and orders as may be for the +publike good, and unto w'ch the said Townes are to be bownd. + +9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen shall haue +power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of meeting togather +before any Generall Courte to aduise and consult of all such things as +may concerne the good of the publike, as also to examine their owne +Elections, whether according to the order, and if they or the gretest +p'rte of them find any election to be illegall they may seclud such for +p'rsent from their meeting, and returne the same and their resons to the +Courte; and if yt proue true, the Courte may fyne the p'rty or p'rtyes +so intruding and the Towne, if they see cause, and giue out a warrant to +goe to a newe election in a legall way, either in p'rte or in whole. +Also the said deputyes shall haue power to fyne any that shall be +disorderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due tyme or place +according to appoyntment; and they may returne the said fynes into the +Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the tresurer to take notice of +yt, and to estreete or levy the same as he doth other fynes. + +10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that euery Generall Courte, +except such as through neglecte of the Gou'rnor and the greatest p'rte +of Magestrats the Freemen themselves doe call, shall consist of the +Gouernor, or some one chosen to moderate the Court, and 4 other +Magestrats at lest, w'th the mayor p'rte of the deputyes of the geuerall +Townes legally chosen; and in case the Freemen or mayor p'rte of them, +through neglect or refusall of the Gouernor and mayor p'rte of the +magestrats, shall call a Courte, y't shall consist of the mayor p'rte of +Freemen that are p'rsent or their deputyes, w'th a Moderator chosen by +the: In w'ch said Generall Courts shall consist the supreme power of the +Comonwelth, and they only shall haue power to make laws or repeale the:, +to graunt leuyes, to admitt of Freemen, dispose of lands vndisposed of, +to seuerall Townes or p'rsons, and also shall haue power to call ether +Courte or Magestrate or any other p'rson whatsoeuer into question for +any misdemeanour, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise +according to the nature of the offence; and also may deale in any other +matter that concerns the good of this comonwelth, excepte election of +Magestrats, w'ch shall be done by the whole boddy of Freemen. + +In w'ch Courte the Gouernour or Moderator shall haue power to order the +Courte to giue liberty of spech, and silence vnceasonable and disorderly +speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in case the vote be equall +to haue the casting voice. But non of these Courts shall be adiorned or +dissolued w'thout the consent of the maior p'rte of the Court. + +11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any Generall Courte +vppon the occations of the Comonwelth haue agreed vppon any sume or +somes of mony to be leuyed vppon the seuerall Townes w'thin this +Jurisdiction, that a Comittee be chosen to sett out and appoynt w't +shall be the p'rportion of euery Towne to pay of the said letiy, +p'rvided the Comittees be made up of an equall number out of each Towne. + +14'th January, 1638, the 11 Orders abouesaid are voted. + +THE OATH OF THE GOU'RNOR, FOR THE [P'RSENT]. + +I ---- being now chosen to be Gou'rnor wthin this Jurisdiction, for +the yeare ensueing, and vntil a new be chosen, doe sweare by the +greate and dreadfull name of the everliueing God, to p'rmote the +publicke good and peace of the same, according to the best of my +skill; as also will mayntayne all lawfull priuiledges of this +Comonwealth; as also that all wholesome lawes that are or shall be +made by lawfull authority here established, be duly executed; and will +further the execution of Justice according to the rule of Gods word; +so helpe me God, in the name of the Lo: Jesus Christ. + + +THE OATH OF A MAGESTRATE, FOR THE P'RSENT. + +I, ---- being chosen a Magestrate w'thin this Jurisdiction for the +yeare ensueing, doe sweare by the great and dreadfull name of the +euerliueing God, to p'rmote the publike good and peace of the same, +according to the best of my skill, and that I will mayntayne all the +lawfull priuiledges thereof according to my vnderstanding, as also +assist in the execution of all such wholsome lawes as are made or +shall be made by lawfull authority heare established, and will further +the execution of Justice for the tyme aforesaid according to the +righteous rule of Gods word; so helpe me God, etc. + +[Until 1752, the legal year in England began March 25 (Lady Day), not +January 1. All the days between January 1 and March 25 of the year +which we now call 1639 were therefore then a part of the year 1638; so +that the date of the Constitution is given by its own terms as 1638, +instead of 1639.] + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +THE STATES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ORIGIN. + + +1. The thirteen original states. + + +2. States formed directly from other states. + Vermont from territory disputed between New York and + New Hampshire, Kentucky from Virginia, Maine + from Massachusetts, West Virginia from Virginia. + + +3. States from the Northwest Territory (see p. 253). + Ohio, Michigan, + Indiana, Wisconsin, + Illinois, Minnesota, in part. + +4. States from other territory ceded by states. + Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, + Alabama, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, + Mississippi, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia. + +5. States from the Louisiana purchase (see p. 253). + Louisiana, North Dakota, + Arkansas, South Dakota, + Missouri, Montana, + Kansas, Minnesota, in part, + Nebraska, Wyoming, in part, + Iowa, Colorado, in part. + +6. States from Mexican cessions. + California, Wyoming, in part, + Nevada, Colorado, in part. + +7. States from territory defined by treaty with Great Britain +(see p. 254). + Oregon, Washington, Idaho. + +8. States from other sources. + Florida, from a Spanish cession, + Texas, by annexation (see p. 254). + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. + +(_Ratio of representation based on census of_ 1890--173,901.) + + Popula- Popula- Rep + tion to Area in tion, in Elect. +Dates. No. Names. sq.m. sq. m. 1890. Cong vote + 1892. 1892. +Ratified the Constitution. +1787, Dec. 7 1 Delaware 82.1 2,050 168,493 1 3 + Dec. 12 2 Pennsylvania 111.2 45,215 5,258,014 30 32 + Dec. 18 3 New Jersey 179.7 7,815 1,444,933 8 10 +1788, Jan. 2 4 Georgia 30.8 59,475 1,837,353 11 13 + Jan. 9 5 Connecticut 149.5 4,990 746,258 4 6 + Feb. 6 6 Massachusetts 269.2 8,315 2,238,943 13 15 + April 28 7 Maryland 85.3 12,210 1,042,390 6 8 + May 23 8 South Carolina 37.6 30,570 1,151,149 7 9 + June 21 9 New Hampshire 40.4 9,305 376,530 2 4 + June 25 10 Virginia 39. 42,450 1,655,980 10 12 + July 26 11 New York 121.9 49,170 5,997,853 34 35 +1789, Nov. 21 12 North Carolina 30.9 52,250 1,617,947 9 11 +1790, May 29 13 Rhode Island 276.4 1,250 345,506 2 4 + +Admitted to the Union. +1791, March 4 14 Vermont 34.6 9,565 332,422 2 4 +1792, June 1 15 Kentucky 46. 40,400 1,858,635 11 13 +1796, June 1 16 Tennessee 42. 42,050 1,767,518 10 12 +1803, Feb. 19 17 Ohio 89.4 41,060 3,672,316 21 23 +1812, April 30 18 Louisiana 22.9 48,720 1,118,587 6 8 +1816, Dec. 11 19 Indiana 60.3 36,350 2,192,404 13 15 +1817, Dec. 10 20 Mississippi 42.7 46,810 1,289,600 7 9 +1818, Dec. 3 21 Illinois 67.5 56,650 3,826,351 22 24 +1819, Dec. 14 22 Alabama 28.9 52,250 1,513,017 9 11 +1820, March 15 23 Maine 20. 33,040 661,086 4 6 +1821, Aug. 10 24 Missouri 38.5 69,415 2,679,184 15 17 +1836, June 15 25 Arkansas 20.9 53,850 1,128,179 6 8 +1837, Jan. 25 26 Michigan 35.5 58,915 2,093,889 12 14 +1845, March 3 27 Florida 6.6 58,680 391,422 2 4 +1815, Dec. 29 28 Texas 8.4 265,780 2,235,523 13 15 +1846, Dec. 28 29 Iowa 34.1 56,025 1,911,896 11 13 +1848, May 29 30 Wisconsin 30. 56,040 1,686,880 10 12 +1850, Sept. 9 31 California 7.6 158,360 1,208,130 7 9 +1858, May 11 32 Minnesota 15.6 83,365 1,301,826 7 9 +1859, Feb. 14 33 Oregon 3.2 96,030 313,767 2 4 +1861, Jan. 29 34 Kansas 17.3 82,080 1,427,096 8 10 +1863, June 19 35 West Virginia 30.7 24,780 762,794 4 6 +1864, Oct. 31 36 Nevada 0.4 110,700 45,761 1 3 +1867, March 1 37 Nebraska 13.6 77,510 1,058,910 6 8 +1876, Aug. 1 38 Colorado 3.9 103,925 412,198 2 4 +1889, Nov. 2 { 39 North Dakota } 2.5 70,795 182,719 1 3 + { 40 South Dakota } 4.2 77,650 328,808 2 4 +1889, Nov. 8 41 Montana 0.9 146,080 132,159 1 3 +1889, Nov. 11 42 Washington 5. 69,180 349,390 2 4 +1890, July 3 43 Idaho 0.9 84,800 84,385 1 3 +1890, July 10 44 Wyoming 0.6 97,890 60,705 1 3 + +Organised. +1850, Sept. 9 Utah 2.4 84,970 207,905 +1850, Sept. 9 New Mexico 1.2 122,580 153,593 +1863, Feb. 24 Arizona 0.5 113,020 59,620 +1868, July 27 Alaska 577,390 no census +1834, June 30 Indian Territory 31,400 no census +1889, April 22 Oklahoma 1.5 39,030 61,834 +1791, Mar 3 Dist. of C. 3,291.1 70 230,392 + +1892, total House of Representatives 356 + Senate 88 = electoral votes, +444. + +APPENDIX H. + +POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1890, + +_Showing Percentages of Urban Population._ + +Date. | Pop. of U.S. | No. of | Pop. of Cities. | % of + | | Cities | |of Urban Pop. +------------------------------------------------------------------- +1790 | 3,929,214 | 6 | 131,472 | 3.33 +1800 | 5,308,483 | 6 | 210,873 | 3.9 +1810 | 7,239,881 | 11 | 356,920 | 4.9 +1820 | 9,633,822 | 13 | 474,135 | 4.9 +1830 | 12,866,020 | 26 | 864,509 | 6.7 +1840 | 17,069,453 | 44 | 1,453,994 | 8.5 +1850 | 23,191,876 | 85 | 2,897,586 | 12.5 +1860 | 31,443,321 | 141 | 5,072,256 | 16.1 +1870 | 38,558,371 | 226 | 8,071,875 | 20.9 +1880 | 50,155,783 | 286 | 11,318,597 | 22.5 +1890 | 62,622,250 | 443 | 18,235,670 | 29.1 +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +APPENDIX I. + +AN EXAMINATION PAPER FOR CUSTOMS CLERKS. + +Applicant's No.. + +APPLICANT'S DECLARATION. + +DIRECTIONS.--1. The number above is _your examination number_. +Write it at the top of every sheet given you in this examination. + +2. Fill promptly all the blanks in this sheet. Any omission may +lead to the rejection of your papers. + +3. Write all answers and exercises in ink. + +4. Write your name on no other sheet but this. + +Place this sheet in the envelope. Write your number on the envelope +and seal the same. + +DECLARATION. + +I declare upon my honour as follows: + +1. My true and full name is (if female, please say whether +Mrs. or Miss) + +2. Since my application was made I have been living at (give +all the places) + +3. My post-office address in full is + +4. If examined within twelve months for the civil service--for +any post-office, custom-house, or Department at Washington--state +the time, place, and result. + +5. If you have ever been in the civil service, state where and +in what position, and when you left it and the reasons therefor. + +6. Are you now under enlistment in the army or navy? + +7. If you have been in the military or naval service of the +United States, state which, and whether you were honourably +discharged, when, and for what cause. + +8. Since my application no change has occurred in my health +or physical capacity except the following: + +9. I was born at ----, on the ---- day of ----, 188. + +10. My present business or employment is + +11. I swore to my application for this examination as near as +I can remember at (town or city of) ----, on the ---- day +of ----, 188. + +All the above statements are true, to the best of my knowledge +and belief. + +(_Signature in usual form_.)------------ + +Dated at the city of ----, State of ----, this ---- day +of ----, 188_. + +FIRST SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ One of the examiners will distinctly read (at a +rate reasonable for copying) fifteen lines from the Civil-Service Law +or Rules, and each applicant will copy the same below from the reading +as it proceeds. + +_Question 2._ Write below at length the names of fifteen States +and fifteen cities of the Union. + +_Question 3. Copy the following precisely_: + +"And in my opinion, sir, this principle of claiming monopoly of office +by the right of conquest, unless the public shall effectually rebuke +and restrain it, will effectually change the character of our +Government. It elevates party above country; it forgets the common +weal in the pursuit of personal emolument; it tends to form, it does +form, we see that it has formed, a political combination, united by +no common principles or opinions among its members, either upon the +powers of the Government or the true policy of the country, but held +together simply as an association, under the charm of a popular +head, seeking to maintain possession of the Government by a vigorous +exercise of its patronage, and for this purpose agitating and alarming +and distressing social life by the exercise of a tyrannical party +proscription. Sir, if this course of things cannot be checked, good +men will grow tired of the exercise of political privileges. They will +see that such elections are but a mere selfish contest for office, +and they will abandon the Government to the scramble of the bold, the +daring, and the desperate."--_Daniel Webster on Civil Service, in +1832_. + +_Question 4._ Correct any errors in spelling which you find in +the following sentences, writing your letters so plainly that no one +of them can be mistaken: + +Unquestionebly every federil offeser should be able to spell corectly +the familier words of his own languege. + +Lose her hankercheif and elivate her head immediatly or she will +spedily loose her life by strangelation. + + +SECOND SUBJECT. + +_Question 1._ Multiply 2341705 by 23870 and divide the product by +6789. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 2._ Divide two hundred and five thousand two hundred +and five, and two hundred and five ten-thousandths, by one hundred +thousand one hundred, and one hundredth. + +_Question 3._ Multiply 10-2/3 by 7-1/8 and divide the product by +9-1/2, reducing the same to the simplest form. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 4._ The annual cost of the public schools of a city +is $36,848. What school-tax must be assessed, the cost of collecting +being 2 per cent., and 6 per cent of the assessed tax being +uncollectible? + + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 5._ Add 7-3/4, 3/5 of 6-2/9, 8-11/12, 6-1/2 divided by +8-1/8, and reduce to lowest terms. + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 6._ The Government sold 3000 old muskets at 22-1/2 per +cent, of their cost. The purchaser becoming insolvent paid only 13 per +cent. of the price he agreed to pay; that is, he paid $900. What did +each musket cost the Government? + +_Give operation in full._ + +_Question 7._ What will it cost to carpet a room 36 feet wide by +72 feet long with 3/4 width carpet at $2.12 per yard, including cost +of carpet-lining at 11 cents a square yard and 12 cents a yard for +making and laying the carpet? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 8. A owned 7/8 of a ship and sold 4/5 of his share to +B, who sold 5/9 of what he bought to C, who sold 6/7 of what he bought +to D. What part of the whole vessel did D buy? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 9. A man bought a cargo of wool and sold seven +thousand and forty-five ten-thousandths of it. How much had he left? + +_Give operation in full in decimal fractions_. + +_Question_ 10. A merchant imported from Bremen 32 pieces of linen +of 32 yards each, on which he paid for the duties, at 24 per cent, +$122.38, and other charges to the amount of $40.96. What was the +invoice value per yard, and the cost per yard after duties and charges +were paid? + +_Give operation, in full_. + + +THIRD SUBJECT. + + +_Question_ 1. On a mortgage for $3,125, dated July 5, 1880 +(interest at 3-1/2 per cent), a payment of $840 was made April 23, +1881. What amount was due January 17, 1882? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 2. The Government sold an old vessel for $160,000, +payable two fifths in eight months and the residue in seventeen months +from the sale. What was the present cash value of the vessel, the +current rate of interest on money being five per cent? + +_Give operation in full_. + +_Question_ 3. Write a promissory note to be given by J. Brown +to J. Smith, for 60 days, without grace, for $500, at 5 per cent +interest, and state what amount will be due at maturity of the note. + +_Question_ 4. James X. Young, a contractor, had the following +dealings with the Treasury Department: He furnished January 4, 1882, +14 tables at $16 each; June 6, 1882, 180 desks at $18.50 each; +December 7, 1882, 150 chairs at $2 each, and July 18, 1883, 14 +book-cases at $90 each. He was paid cash as follows: January 31, 1882, +$224; June 30, $1,800; December 18, $300; and July 31, 1883, he was +allowed on settlement $75 for cartage and charged $25 for breakages. +State his account and show balance due. + + +FOURTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. State the meaning of tense and of mood, and explain +the difference between them in the English language or grammar. + +_Question_ 2. Correct any errors you find in the following +sentences: + +The boy done it, and he is as restless here as he will be if he was +with you. + +He had did it and spoke of doing it before we come here. + +_Question_ 3. Write a letter to Senator Jackson answering in full +his letter of September 7 to the Secretary of the Treasury in which +he asks: "How must my nephew proceed to obtain a clerkship in the +Treasury Department, under the Civil-Service Law, and what are the +requisite qualifications of a good clerk?" + + +FIFTH SUBJECT. + +_Question_ 1. Write without abbreviation the names of fifteen +seaports of the Union. + +_Question_ 2. Name four of the principal tributaries of the +Mississippi River. + +_Question_ 3. Bound the State in which you live. + +_Question_ 4. Which States are peninsular, and upon what waters +are they situated? + +_Question_ 5. Name six of the principal railroads in the United +States. + +_Question_ 6. Name seven of the leading agricultural products of +the United States, and state in what section of the country each is +most extensively cultivated. + + + + + +APPENDIX J. + + +THE NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT OF 1890. + +CHAP. 94.--AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE FIVE OF THE PENAL CODE RELATING TO +CRIMES AGAINST THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. + +Approved by the Governor April 4, 1890. Passed, three fifths being +present. + +_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and +Assembly, do enact as follows:_ + + +SECTION 1. Title five of the Penal Code, entitled "Of crimes against +the elective franchise," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: + +Section 41. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To pay, lend, or contribute, or offer or promise to pay, lend, or +contribute any money or other valuable consideration, to or for any +voter, or to or for any other person, to induce such voter to vote or +refrain from voting at any election, or to induce any voter to vote +or refrain from voting at such election for any particular person or +persons, or to induce such voter to come to the polls or remain away +from the polls at such election, or on account of such voter having +voted or refrained from voting or having voted or refrained from +voting for any particular person, or having come to the poll or +remained away from the polls at such election. + +2. To give, offer, or promise any office, place, or employment, or +to promise to procure or endeavour to procure any office, place, or +employment to or for any voter, or to or for any other person, in +order to induce such voter to vote or refrain from voting at any +election, or to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting at +such election for any particular person or persons. + +3. To make any gift, loan, promise, offer, procurement, or agreement, +as aforesaid, to, for, or with any person in order to induce such +person to procure or endeavour to procure the election of any person, +or the vote of any voter at any election. + +4. To procure or engage, promise or endeavour to procure, in +consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, or +agreement, the election of any person or the vote of any voter at such +election. + +5. To advance or pay or cause to be paid any money or other valuable +thing to or for the use of any other person with the intent that the +same, or any part thereof, shall be used in bribery at any election, +or to knowingly pay, or cause to be paid, any money or other valuable +thing to any person in discharge or repayment of any money, wholly or +in part, expended in bribery at any election. + +Section 41_a_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person: + +1. To receive, agree, or contract for, before or during an election, +any money, gift, loan, or other valuable consideration, office, place, +or employment for himself or any other person, for voting or agreeing +to vote, or for coming or agreeing to come to the polls, or for +remaining, away or agreeing to remain away from the polls, or for +refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting, or for voting or +agreeing to vote or refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting for +any particular person or persons at any election. + +2. To receive any money or other valuable thing during or after an +election on account of himself or any other person having voted or +refrained from voting at such election, or on account of himself +or any other person having voted or refrained from voting for any +particular person at such election, or on account of himself or any +other person having come to the polls or remained away from the polls +at such election, or on account of having induced any other person to +vote or refrain from voting or to vote or refrain from voting for any +particular person or persons at such election. + +41_b_. It shall be unlawful for any candidate for public office, +before or during an election, to make any bet or wager with a voter, +or take a share or interest in or in any manner become a party to any +such bet or wager, or provide or agree to provide any money to be used +by another in making such bet or wager, upon any event or contingency +whatever. Nor shall it be lawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, to make a bet or wager with a voter, depending upon +the result of any election, with the intent thereby to procure the +challenge of such voter, or to prevent him from voting at such +election. + +Section 41_c_. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or +indirectly, by himself or any other person in his behalf, to make use +of, or threaten to make use of, any force, violence, or restraint, or +to inflict or threaten the infliction by himself, or through any other +person, of any injury, damage, harm, or loss, or in any manner to +practice intimidation upon or against any person, in order to induce +or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting at any election, +or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or +persons at any election, or on account of such person having voted or +refrained from voting at any election. And it shall be unlawful for +any person by abduction, duress, or any forcible or fraudulent device +or contrivance whatever to impede, prevent, or otherwise interfere +with, the free exercise of the elective franchise by any voter; or to +compel, induce, or prevail upon any voter either to give or refrain +from giving his vote at any election, or to give or refrain from +giving his vote for any particular person at any election. It shall +not be lawful for any employer in paying his employees the salary or +wages due them to inclose their pay in "pay envelopes" upon which +there is written or printed any political mottoes, devices, or +arguments containing threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such +employees. Nor shall it be lawful for any employer, within ninety days +of general election to put up or otherwise exhibit in his factory, +work-shop, or other establishment or place where his employees may be +working, any hand-bill or placard containing any threat, notice, or +information that in case any particular ticket or candidate shall be +elected, work in his place or establishment will cease, in whole or in +part, or his establishment be closed up, or the wages of his workmen +be reduced, or other threats, express or implied, intended or +calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of his +employees. This section shall apply to corporations, as well as to +individuals, and any person or corporation violating the provisions +of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and any +corporation violating this section shall forfeit its charter. + +Section 41_d_. Every candidate who is voted for at any public +election held within this state shall, within ten days after such +election, file as hereinafter provided an itemized statement, showing +in detail all the moneys contributed or expended by him, directly or +indirectly, by himself or through any other person, in aid of his +election. Such statement shall give the names of the various persons +who received such moneys, the specific nature of each item, and the +purpose for which it was expended or contributed. There shall be +attached to such statement an affidavit subscribed and sworn to by +such candidate, setting forth in substance that the statement thus +made is in all respects true, and that the same is a full and detailed +statement of all moneys so contributed or expended by him, directly +or indirectly, by himself or through any other person in aid of his +election. Candidates for offices to be filled by the electors of the +entire state, or any division or district thereof greater than a +county, shall file their statements in the office of the secretary of +state. The candidates for town, village, and city offices, excepting +the city of New York, shall file their statements in the office of the +town, village, or city clerk respectively, and in cities wherein there +is no city clerk, with the clerk of the common council wherein the +election occurs. Candidates for all other offices, including all +offices in the city and county of New York, shall file their +statements in the office of the clerk of the county wherein the +election occurs. + +Section 41_e_. A person offending against any provision of +sections forty-one and forty-one-a of this act is a competent witness +against another person so offending, and may be compelled to attend +and testify upon any trial, hearing, proceeding, or investigation in +the same manner as any other person. But the testimony so given shall +not be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, +against the person so testifying. A person so testifying shall not +thereafter be liable to indictment, prosecution, or punishment for the +offense with reference to which his testimony was given and may plead +or prove the giving of testimony accordingly, in bar of such an +indictment or prosecution. + + +Section 41_f_. Whosoever shall violate any provision of this title, upon +conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail +for not less than three months nor more than one year. The offenses +described in section[53] forty-one and forty-one-a of this act are hereby +declared to be infamous crimes. When a person is convicted of any +offense mentioned in section forty-one of this act he shall in addition +to the punishment above prescribed, forfeit any office to which he may +have been elected at the election with reference to which such offense +was committed; and when a person is convicted of any offense mentioned +in section forty-one-a of this act he shall in addition to the +punishment above prescribed be excluded from the right of suffrage for a +period of five years after such conviction, and it shall be the duty of +the county clerk of the county in which any such conviction shall be +had, to transmit a certified copy of the record of conviction to the +clerk of each county of the state, within ten days thereafter, which +said certified copy shall be duly filed by the said county clerks in +their respective offices. Any candidate for office who refuses or +neglects to file a statement as prescribed in section forty-one-d of +this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, punishable as above +provided and shall also forfeit his office. + +[Footnote 53: So in the original.] + +Section 41_g_. Other crimes against the elective franchise are +defined, and the punishment thereof prescribed by special statutes. + + +Section 2. Section forty-one of the Penal Code, as it existed prior to +the passage of this act, is hereby repealed. + + + +Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately. APPENDIX K. + + +FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ADOPTED IN MASSACHUSETTS, + 1889. + + OFFICIAL BALLOT + + FOR + + PRECINCT, WARD, + + OF (CITY OR TOWN), + + NOVEMBER__, 18__. + + [Fac-Simile of Signature of Secretary.] + _Secretary of the Commonwealth_. + +SAMPLE BALLOT, + +With explanations and illustration. + +Prepared by the Ballot Act League with the approval of the Secretary +of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Some representative districts elect one, some two, and a few three +representatives to the General Court. Worcester County elects four +commissioners of insolvency instead of three as in other counties. + +No county commissioners or special commissioners will be voted for in +the cities of Boston and Chelsea or the county of Nantucket. + + * * * * * + +Forms for nominating candidates can be had at the department of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth. + + * * * * * + +Carefully observe the official specimen ballots to be posted and +published just before election day. + + +To vote for a Person, mark a Cross X + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +OLIVER AMES, of Easton Republican. +WILLIAM H EARLE, of Worcester Prohibition. +WILLIAM E. RUSSELL, of Cambridge Democratic. + +LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR Vote for ONE. +JOHN BASCOM, of Williamstown Prohibition. +JOHN Q.A. BRACKETT, of Arlington Republican. +JOHN W. CORCORAN, of Clinton Democratic. + +SECRETARY Vote for ONE. +WILLIAM S. OSGOOD, of Boston Democratic. +HENRY R. PEIRCE, of Abington Republican. +HENRY C. SMITH, of Williamsburg Prohibition. + +TREASURER Vote for ONE. +JOHN M. FISHER, of Attleborough Prohibition. +GEORGE A. MARDEN, of Lowell Republican. +HENRY O. THACHER, of Yarmouth Democratic. + +AUDITOR Vote for ONE. +CHARLES R. LADD, of Springfield Republican. +EDMUND A. STOWE, of Hudson Prohibition. +WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, of Worcester Democratic. + +ATTORNEY-GENERAL Vote for ONE. +ALLEN COFFIN, of Nantucket Prohibition. +SAMUEL O. LAMB, of Greenfield Democratic. +ANDREW J. WATERMAN, of Pittsfield Republican. + +COUNCILLOR, Third District Vote for ONE. +ROBERT O. FULLER, of Cambridge Republican. +WILLIAM E. PLUMMER, of Newton Democratic. +SYLVANUS C. SMALL, of Winchester Prohibition. + +SENATOR, Third Middlesex District Vote for ONE. +FREEMAN HUNT, of Cambridge Democratic. +CHESTER W. KINGSLEY, of Cambridge /Republican. + \Prohibition. + +DISTRICT ATTORNEY, Northern District Vote for ONE. +CHARLES S. LINCOLN, of Somerville Democratic. +JOHN M. READ, of Lowell Prohibition. +WILLIAM B. STEVENS, of Stoneham Republican. + + + +------------------------------------------------------------- +in the Square at the right of the name. +------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------- +REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT + +First Middlesex District. Vote for TWO. + +WILLIAM H. MARBLE, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +ISAAC McLEAN, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +GEORGE A. PERKINS, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +JOHN READ, of Cambridge Republican. __ +CHESTER V. SANGER, of Cambridge Republican. __ +WILLIAM A. START, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SHERIFF Vote for ONE. + +HENRY G. CUSHING, of Lowell Republican. __ +HENRY G. HARKINS, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +WILLIAM H. SHERMAN, of Ayer Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- +COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY Vote for THREE. + +JOHN W. ALLARD, of Framingham Democratic. __ +GEORGE J. BURNS, of Ayer Republican. __ +WILLIAM P. CUTTER, of Cambridge Prohibition. __ +FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE, of Lowell Republican. __ +JAMES HICKS, of Cambridge. Prohibition. __ +JOHN C. KENNEDY, of Newton Republican. __ +RICHARD J. McKELLEGET, of Cambridge Democratic. __ +EDWARD D. McVEY, of Lowell Democratic. __ +ELMER A. STEVENS, of Somerville Prohibition. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +COUNTY COMMISSIONER Vote for ONE. + +WILLIAM S. FROST, of Marlborough Republican. __ +JOSEPH W. BARBER, of Sherborn Prohibition. __ +JAMES SKINNER, of Woburn Democratic. __ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + +SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS Vote for TWO. + +HENRY BRADLEE, of Medford Democratic. __ +LYMAN DYKE, of Stoneham Republican. __ +JOHN J. DONOVAN, of Lowell Democratic. __ +WILLIAM E. KNIGHT, of Shirley Prohibition. __ +ORSON E. MALLORY, of Lowell Prohibition. __ +EDWIN E. THOMPSON, of Woburn Republican. __ +____________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________ +------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +[Illustration: SKETCH OF POLLING PLACE.] + +SUGGESTIONS TO VOTERS. + +Give your name and residence to the ballot clerk, who, on finding your +name on the check list, will admit you within the rail and hand you a +ballot. + +Go alone to one of the voting shelves and there unfold your ballot. + +Mark a cross X in the square at the right of the name of each person +for whom you wish to vote. No other method of marking, such as erasing +names, will answer. + + +Thus, if you wished to vote for John Bowles for Governor, you would +mark your ballot in this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. X +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. + +If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, +write, or insert by a sticker, the name in the blank line at the end +of the list of candidates for the office, and mark a cross X in the +square at the right of it. Thus, if you wished to vote for George T. +Morton, of Chelsea, for Governor, you would prepare your ballot in +this way:-- + +GOVERNOR Vote for ONE +JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton Prohibition. +THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston Democratic. +ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield Republican. +_George T. Morton, of Chelsea_ X + +Notice, that for some offices you may vote for "two" or "three" +candidates, as stated in the ballot at the right of the name of the +office to be voted for, e.g.: "COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY. Vote for +THREE." + +If you spoil a ballot, return it to the ballot clerk, who will give +you another. You cannot have more than two extra ballots, or three in +all. You cannot remain within the rail more than ten minutes, and in +case all the shelves are in use and other voters waiting, you are +allowed only five minutes at the voting shelf. + +Before leaving the voting shelf, fold your ballot in the same way as +it was folded when you received it, and keep it so folded until you +place it in the ballot box. + +Do not show any one how you have marked your ballot. + +Go to the ballot box and give your name and residence to the officer +in charge. + +Put your folded ballot in the box with the certificate of the +Secretary of the Commonwealth uppermost and in sight. + +You are not allowed to carry away a ballot, whether spoiled or not. + +A voter who declares to the presiding official (under oath, if +required) that he was a voter before May 1, 1857, and cannot read, or +that he is blind or physically unable to mark his ballot, can receive +the assistance of one or two of the election officers in the marking +of his ballot. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civil Government in the United States +Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE U.S. *** + +***** This file should be named 11276.txt or 11276.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/2/7/11276/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Keren Vergon, Bradley Norton and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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