The ABC GOVERNMENT UNITED STATES By PERLEY MORSE Ceriifx^d Public Accountant BB (Rmull W^mvmii^ ^itotg THE GIFT OF ?JlJl)-aldi;^ ..A,!d..^:5aull^^ t^ismn^. zJ^lKt,.. Cornell University Library JK274 .M8S The A B C of the government of the Unite olin 3 1924 030 468 395 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030468395 Vhe ABC of the Government of the United States By PERLEY MORSE Certified Public Accountant Price: Seventy-five Cents PUBLISHED BY PERLEY MORSE & COMPANY Certified Public Accountants 6i Broadway, New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Copyright, 1916, BY Perley Morse & Company. THE SPHERES OF THE DIVISIONS OF OUR GOVERNMENT CONTENTS CHAPTER I.— THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA 11 Sources of Power — Divisions of Government — Limita- tions of Power. CHAPTER II.— FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 14 Articles of Confederation — The Constitutional Conven- tion — Framing of the Constitution — Sources of the Con- stitution — Constitutional Limitations — Contents of Con- stitution — Congress — Legislative Procedure — Powers of Congress — The President — The Judiciary — The States and the Nation — Admission of States — Amendment of Constitution — Reservations by States — Due Process of Law — Freedom of Franchise — Amendment by the Courts. CHAPTER III.— THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. .. .26 Relations of States and Nation — The Nation and the Citizen — Federal Executive — Executive Departments — Execution of Federal Laws — State vs. Federal Laws — Exclusive Functions — Currency — Bankruptcy and Monopolies — Police Power — Commerce Regula- tions — Conflicts with State Powers — National Finance, — Federal Taxation — Revenue and Disbursements — Ex- tension of Federal Powers. CONTENTS — Continued CHAPTER IV.— THE STATE GOVERNMENT 38 Organization of States — State Rights — State Constitu- tions — Fashions in Constitutions — Checks and Balances — State Executives — State Laws — The State and the Citizen — State Activities — Conflict of State Laws — State Powers — State Finance — State Revenue — State Accountancy. CHAPTER v.— THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT 47 Functions of the County — County Organization — County Finance — Judicial Functions. CHAPTER VL— THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP 52 The New England Type— The Town Meeting— The General Town Type — Town Functions. CHAPTER VII.— THE CITY GOVERNMENTS 56 Problems of the City — Source of Government — Details of Government — Greater New York — Boston — Com- mission Government — City Finance. CHAPTER VIII.— THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS 62 Federal Citizenship — Naturalization — Citizenship and the Franchise — Rights of Federal Citizens — Rights of State Citizens. CHAPTER IX.— JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION 66 Federal Judiciary — The Supreme Court — District Courts — Federal Jurisdiction — Federal Procedure — Federal and State Comity — State Courts — County Courts — ^Attorneys-at-Law — Criminal Procedure — Con- flicts of Law — State and Federal Relations. CONTENTS — Continued CHAPTER X.— RULING BY COMMISSION .74 Origin of the Commission — Interstate Commerce Com- mission — State Commissions. CHAPTER XL— THE VOTER AND THE VOTE 77 Right to Vote — SuflErage Regulations — Elections — ^The Ballot — Federal Elections — Presidential Elections — Party System — Party Organization — Party Principles — National Convention — Nominating the President — State Organization — Primary Nominations — Electing the Right Men. THE A B C OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES Chapter I THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA THE idea of government in the United States in its three phases — National, State and Local — is one of zones. If the whole frame of government is broadly viewed, it will be seen that it consists of self- governing zones. The smallest zone is that around the individual in his home affairs; then come successive zones until the outer circle of the Federal Government is reached. Under nationalist rule, divisions and subdivisions are formed for the purpose of more convenient ad- ministration. These are subordinate and largely ex- ecutive districts. The United States is composed of numerous, and in a degree absolutely, self-governing units. Every division of government in the United States has certain exclusive powers which, v^rithin their legitimate limits, are not to be interfered with by any other power. SOURCES OF POWER The State is the original source of power; it has given certain of its inherent powers to the United States by the Federal Constitution and it has dele- gated certain other powers to its own smaller divisions — the County, and the Township or City. The under- lying idea is that broader functions shall be given to greater entities and smaller functions shall be given to smaller entities so that each individual may have a large part in the affairs which are nearest to him while bigger community matters shall be transferred to larger units. And the same principle is extended 11 THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA into the organization of the judiciary — each unit has its own courts. The Federal Government is the binding force of the United States and through that government the citizen treats with foreign affairs, with other States and with the large affairs that are common to all States and peculiar to none. When the nation exerts its power as a whole — as in war — it does so through the United States. DIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT The United States is composed of forty-eight States and these States reserve to themselves all powers which are not necessarily national. They are the ex- clusive judges of their own affairs within the limits which they have set for themselves in the Constitu- tion of the United States. But the State is too large a unit for the best conduct of the affairs of the individual citizen, and therefore the State is divided into Counties. The County does not have the same relation to the State that the State has to the United States, but it is in analogy. Within the County comes the Town or Township. If the Town becomes very large, it will be incorporated into a City which then exists with whatever rights of government that have been given to it. LIMITATIONS OF POWER Throughout all of these divisions of government runs the principle of English law that an act done beyond the authority of the acting power is void. Therefore we have the Federal Constitution, the State Constitutions, and the City Charters and other instru- ments defining governmental powers. Acts done be- yond the authorization of these instruments are abso- lutely void and the courts will so declare them. Thus it is that the courts in the United States exer- cise a supervision over legislative and administrative 12 THE FUNDAM EN T A L IDEA acts which are unknown to the courts of other coun- tries. Every law and every act in the United States must clearly be within the immediate limits of author- ity. The citizen of the United States in his daily life comes in contact with at least three and sometimes with five distinct divisions of government. If he lives in the South, he will be controlled by the Federal, State and County governments; if he lives in Greater New York, he will be under the Federal, State, County, City and Borough supervision. All of these govern- ments exist on the same area but distinct from each other and without communication or conference; each has its own powers, finances and officers. Within its own sphere, each is supreme. Common to all government is a system of checks and balances in order that no individual or group of individuals may gain autocratic power. The extent of each zone or circle of government and its activities are sketched in the chapters which follow. 13 Chapter II FEDERAL CONSTITUTION DURING the progress of the Revolution, the Conti- nental Congress, which was a revolutionary and not a representative body, realized the need for some union between the thirteen colonies to preserve them against foreign aggression The Declaration of Independence had asserted the right to live as free States, but it was evident that not one of them was powerful enough to live as a distinct State. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The colonists had a common language and they were largely of English descent; a complete union was racially possible but they were so jealous of their new freedom that they dreaded any binding compact which might merely substitute another ruler for George III. To meet the situation. Congress adopted in 1777 the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, with the intent of forming "a firm league of friendship for common defense, the security of their liberties and their mutual and general welfare." The colonies retained their entities and practically sovereign powers in this alliance. They made no pro- vision for a national executive and, although they established a Congress, they gave it no authority to enforce its legislative acts and no means by which contributions to the national welfare might be com- pelled. The federation had no jurisdiction over the indi- vidual citizen nor over the actions of the individual 14 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION States; it was only a loose, voluntary league of the military and foreign relations departments. Under the federation, the colonies conducted their affairs as they pleased ; they issued debased currency, they put obstacles in the way of interstate trade, and they passed laws hampering the collection of debts due to non-residents. Conditions went from bad to worse; it became apparent that some stronger union must be effected. To this end delegates from all the colonies excepting Rhode Island met in Philadelphia on May 14th, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confedera- tion and to report their recommendations back to Congress which would, in turn, submit them to the States. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION The fifty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Con- vention included the foremost men in the country; their first act was to disregard formally their instruc- tions. Instead of revising the old Articles, they de- termined to prepare a Constitution for a nation. They further resolved that they would neither submit their results to the Congress nor to the legislatures of the States, but only directly to the people. They sat in secret session for five months ; the result is our present Constitution. It was submitted to State conventions of delegates of the people and adopted generally in 1789. The notes of the deliberations of the convention have since been published ; they show that the policies of the delegates divided sharply between a strong union and a loose union — one in which all power should be granted to the federal authority and one in which all power possible should be reserved to the States. And then the smaller States feared the dom- ination of the greater States, while the greater States were equally opposed to submitting to a government of the smaller units. The Constitution is the com- promise between these factions. IS FEDERAL CONSTITUTION FRAMING OF THE CONSTITUTION The delegates were not without experience in self- government; the colonies had been practically self- governing for many years and they all had legislatures under various names and of varied powers. The dele- gates were agreed upon these fundamentals for the new union: 1. A strong central executive. 2. A division of the government into executive, leg- islative and judicial departments withl checks and balances so that no one department might become supreme. 3. The popular election of all important officers for short terms in order to prevent a dictatorship. 4. The guarantee of the rights of citizens by the constitution. SOURCES OF THE CONSTITUTION The delegates had as guides, the unwritten consti- tution of England with its divisions of the powers of government; the- writings of Montesquieu, Rousseau and other French authors, and the constitutions of the colonies themselves. They also had the whole body of the English common law and particularly the axiom that acts in excess of legal authority are absolutely void. It is the development of this last principle that has per- mitted the State and the Federal governments to be cre- ated and to exist, side by side, without the one absorbing the other. With the exception of the system for electing the President, all of the clauses of the Constitution may be traced to the English constitution or to the con- stitutions of the States; the electoral system was an invention of the delegates, and is the only part of the whole machinery of government which has been sub- stantiallv disregarded in practice. 16 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS The Federal government, in the mindg of the dele- gates, should do only those things which the States as separate entities could not well do. States could not easily treat with foreign nations, therefore the union took over that function; the States could not efficiently make war alone, therefore the control of military and naval affairs and the power to declare war was given to the central authority. War, foreign affairs and commerce between the States and other countries are at the foundation of the union because these powers did not conflict with State sovereignty. The colonies did not want to form a homogeneous nation ; they only desired a union which might be just strong enough to manage common interests. They were afraid of tyranny — some saw tyranny in too democratic a government, others in too auto- cratic a government. Therefore the functions of gov- ernment were divided into three grand divisions — executive, legislative, and judicial, with numerous inter-checks and balances which might equally prevent the tyranny of too popular or of too autocratic a gov- ernment. The Constitution vests the ultimate sovereignty in the people. Their legislative or executive representa- tives may do only those things which the Constitution permits. It is a rule of interpretation of the Consti- tution that powers which are not specifically granted shall be deemed to he withheld. The granting of further or broader powers is with the people. CONTENTS OF CONSTITUTION The Constitution contains only seven articles. It may be read through in twenty minutes, but its inter- pretation by the courts fills thousands of pages. The makers of the Constitution used general rather than specific language. It is held by statesmen that the great strength and permanence of the Constitution is 17 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION due to the refusal of the makers to be led into detail. As a consequence, the government of the United States is to-day radically different from that which the foun- ders projected; the Constitution has been flexible enough to meet most needs without amendments, whereas a non-elastic instrument would have com- pelled changes with the advent of every new political condition. CONGRESS The First Article defines the limits and manner of exercise of federal legislative power. The legislative department of the government is vested in the Con- gress, which is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate was designed as a check upon the pop- ular ideas of the democratic House. It is composed of two members from each State regardless of popula- tion and therefore now has a membership of ninety-six. The Senators were formerly chosen by the Legislatures of the States, but the Seventeenth Amendment, pro- claimed in 1913, puts their election with the people. The term of a Senator is six years. The Senate has, in addition to its legislative powers, the executive func- tion of approving the appointments of the President and the judicial office of sitting as a court to try the impeachment of public officers. The House of Representatives is composed of mem- bers chosen for two years by the people of the states on the ratio of one for every 30,000 of population, ex- cluding Indians. A census of the population of the country is taken every ten years; after the returns are collated. Congress passes an act fixing the num- ber of members in the next House according to the population of the States. The division into districts and the manner of election are left to the States. LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE The House represents the whole body of the people ; it is supposed to be closely in touch with the wishes 18 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION of the voter. Hence with it was placed the exclusive right to originate finance bills — finance bills have been the rock on which most governments have split, and this power was therefore entrusted to the body nearest the people. At the time of the Constitution, the House had 65 members ; the Sixty-fourth Congress had 440 members ; 30,000 bills on the average are introduced at each session. In order to make such an unwieldy body into a work- able forum, a curious system of internal management has arisen. The presiding officer is the Speaker; the power of the Speaker is very great in managing the machinery of the sessions. Most of the business is performed in committees, and nearly all bills which are given serious consideration are prepared by com- mittees. The Speaker formerly appointed these com- mittees, his power was then absolute ; he had the op- portunity to make or break any member at will by the simple expedient of placing him on an important or an unimportant committee. Committees are now nominally elected by the House; practically they are selected by the Committee on Committees composed of the party leaders. The great political parties have members upon every committee; the party in House majority having also the committee majority. The principal committees are Rules, Ways and Means (of revenue), Appropriations, Rivers and Harbors, Inter- state and Foreign Commerce, Foreign Affairs, Mili- tary, Naval, Insular Affairs, and Banking and Cur- rency. The internal workings of the House are very complicated and have their genesis in the desire to dispose of majority party legislation in the shortest time possible and with the least open debate. A bill must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate and ordinarily be signed by the Presi- dent before it becomes a law. If the President does not approve a bill he may exercise his right of veto. That is, he may refuse to sign the bill and return it to 19 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION Congress for reconsideration. If thereupon Congress again passes the bill by at least a two-thirds majority, it becomes a law without the signature of the Presi- dent. If the President does not take action on any bill within ten days after its presentation to him, it becomes a law as of course. POWERS OF CONGRESS The specific powers granted to Congress are 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 with the provi- sion that all such duties, imposts £ind excises shall be uniform. Congress may borrow money on the na- tion's credit, declare war and make peace, support an army and navy, found federal courts of justice, regu- late foreign commerce and commerce between the States, establish a currency, formulate copyright and patent laws, maintain post ofiSces and post roads, and make uniform rules for naturalization and for bank- ruptcy. Congress is expressly forbidden to suspend the writ of habeas corpus except in time of martial law; to pass bills of attainder, which are bills that take away the right to hold or inherit property; to pass ex-post- facto laws in criminal legislation, that is, laws which operate retroactively; to levy export taxes or duties, to prefer one port over another, or to hamper com- merce between States. They also cannot grant titles of nobility. The States are inferentially forbidden to legislate on any of the above subjects, and they are specifically forbidden to enter into any treaties or alliances, to coin money, to make other than gold and silver legal tender, to pass bills of attainder, ex-post-facto laws, laws impairing the obligation of contract or to grant titles of nobility and, without the consent of Congress, to lay imposts or duties except to pay the expenses 20 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION of inspection laws, to keep troops (the State militia does not come within this prohibition), or ships of war, or to engage in war unless actually invaded. Congress has only the inherent power to make laws concerning the enumerated subjects of the Constitu- tion, but the rights to tax, to borrow money, to regu- late commerce, and to carry on war, have produced an enormous number of collateral powers. THE PRESIDENT The Second Article concerns the election and powers of the President. He must be a natural born citizen, have attained at least the age of thirty-five years, and have been for fourteen years a resident of the United States. His powers are very great. He is the Execu- tive of all federal law. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, of the Navy and of the State Militia, when called into National service. He may make treaties, nominate Ambassadors, Ministers, Consuls, United States Judges, and most of the other higher officers of the Federal Government, subject to the ratification of the Senate. It is his duty to call the Congress into extra sessions whenever necessary; to inform Congress, from time to time, on the state of the Union and to recommend legislation. Many other duties have grown up around the Chief Executive as inherent in his granted powers and other duties have been delegated by him, for instance most of the lower places in the government service are now appointed by him on the recommendations of the Civil Service Commission, based on competitive examinations. The office of President has steadily grown in power and with a majority of his own party in Congress he can, and in recent years has, dictated much legislation. A recalcitrant Senator or Representative may be brought to terms by the President through withholding the patronage in appointments or by the threat of the veto. 21 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION THE JUDICIARY The Third Article creates and defines the federal ju- dicial system ; this is so important a division of the gov- ernment that it will be enlarged upon in a subsequent chapter. The Supreme Court of the United States is the court of last resort in the system and, being charged with the interpretation of the Constitution, it is in the decisions of the Supreme Court that one will find the working Constitution. Almost every law of importance is tested for its constitutionality before this high tribunal, which has the power to declare any act void that is in conflict with or which exceeds the funda- mental law of the Union. THE STATES AND THE NATION The important and delicate relations between the Federal government and the States are given broadly in the fourth article. The Union as such makes cer- tain guarantees to the States and imposes upon them certain conditions for their inter-relations. The United States guarantees to each State a republican form of government, protection from invasion and protection from domestic intra-state insurrection upon formal application. The Federal power has no right to inter- vene to preserve tranquillity within a State unless the State so requires or unless some function of the na- tional government is being menaced. Each State is entitled to have its citizens enjoy all the rights and privileges of citizens of other States while temporarily in residence, and each State must give full faith and credit to the public acts, records and judicial proceed- ings of every other State. It is provided that criminals, escaping from one State into another, shall be deliv- ered to the State in which they were indicted for crime. ADMISSION OF STATES Congress is given the power to admit new States into the Union ; it was originally intended that new 22 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION States should be formed only out of the territory then owned by the National Government, but with the acquisition of new districts and their settlement by emigration, new States were formed and admitted. The usual procedure is for Congress to pass an enabling act by which the inhabitants of the territory may hold a constitutional convention ; the resulting constitution is approved by Congress and an act then passed creat- ing the State. In several cases, Congress has insisted upon a change in the constitution before admitting the territory to statehood. For instance, the provisions for the recall of judges had to be eliminated from the organic law of Arizona and New Mexico, while Utah had to undertake to insert a provision against polygamy. Probably these States may change their constitutions after admission so long as a republican form of government is preserved. AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION The Fifth Article says that the Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Senate and House, and the ratification thereof by the legislatures of three fourths of the States. The founders intended to make amendment as difficult as possible and, of the seven- teen amendments to the Constitution, the first ten were adopted in a body almost at once ; the next two within a few years, while the remaining five amendments are scattered through the subsequent history of the nation. Seventeen amendments have been added to the Con- stitution. The first ten were added at once in 1789 and constitute the Bill of Rights, designed to protect and insure the rights of the people against the encroach- ment of federal power. RESERVATIONS BY STATES The Tenth Amendment gives the whole spirit of the compact between the States when it says, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 23 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people." The more important of the amendments subse- quently adopted are those concerning due process of law and the freedom of the franchise. DUE PROCESS OF LAW The Thirteenth Amendment, adopted in 1865, abol- ished slavery, and three years later came the important Fourteenth Amendment to aid in establishing the ne- gro in the States that had lately been part of the Con- federacy. It declares that persons born or naturalized in the tlnited States are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside and that States may not abridge the privileges or immunities of citi- zens of the United States. The letter of this amendment would have taken away all power of the States to pass regulations con- cerning their own citizens and thus destroyed State government, but the Supreme Court held that it con- cerned only the civil and political rights. A further clause in this same amendment forbade any State to deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or to deny the equal protection of the laws. This amendment has resulted in extensive litigation. FREEDOM OF FRANCHISE The Fifteenth Amendment says that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude." Any State may, however, abridge the right to vote for any reason other than these three. The last two Amend- ments, proclaimed in 1913, permit the levy of a tax on incomes and the direct election of senators by the peo- ple. It will be seen that the Federal government is not a complete government; it aims only to afford those fa- cilities which make for strength against -the outside 24 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION world and in the relations between States. Everything in the nature of local government is left to the State with a few prohibitions as to the kind of laws which must not be enacted and the injunction that the State form of government be republican. Congress may not interfere with local affairs ; it cannot, for instance, pass uniform commercial laws, regulate marriage or divorce or, in any manner interfere with State self-government. Within its own borders, the State is supreme and it may govern itself as well or as badly as it likes provided it does not touch upon the powers reserved to the nation. It was thought that a State might even withdraw from the Union, for on this point the Constitution is silent; the Civil War decided the question in the negative. AMENDMENT BY THE COURTS As the United States has grown, amendments to the Con- stitution have become more and more difficult and it is for that reason that the Supreme Court of the United States has practically amended it by judicial decision. In practice the Federal powers have been gradually extended by the Supreme Court on the theory that Congress has wide latitude in the execution of the powers specifically granted. Chief Justice Marshall gives this rule of construction : "We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the government are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended. But we think the sound construction of the Constitution must allow to the national legisla- ture that discretion, with respect to the means by which the powers it confers are to be carried into exe- cution, which will enable that body to perform the high duties assigned to it, in the manner most bene- ficial to the people. Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitu- tional." 25 Chapter III THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THE big, all-enveloping circle of government is the Federal. It extends around and beyond all State and local government and forms the line which is presented to the outside world as the United States. In all our larger relations — our world-relations and our relations beyond our home States, we are dependent upon the Federal Government. It is the Federal power which makes the United States something more than a collection of States; it both encircles and binds together the State units into one single unit where single, harmonious effort is nec- essary. The two sources of government are the Na- tion and the State. RELATIONS OF STATES AND NATION The Federal and the State Governments exist side by side, throughout every portion of the United States but without relation or interdependence. The Federal Government maintains its separate officers and offices, institutions, laws, and courts. The national servants are responsible only to Washington and, in the per- formance of their duties, they are in no way amenable to the State laws nor can they be interfered with by the State or its servants. Although the State is both surrounded and trav- ersed by the Federal power, broadly speaking, most things which concern the citizen in his relations out- side of the State or with foreign powers, are covered by the national government, while purely local mat- 26 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ters are supremely vested in the State and its subdi- visions. THE NATION AND THE CITIZEN The Federal Government acts only on the individual citizen. It touches the State as a State at four points : 1. The furnishing by the State of presidential elec- tors, and legislative Congressional representatives. 2. The interposition of the Federal Courts to de- cide whether any State law conflicts with the Federal Constitution. 3. The suspending of State laws on such matters as Congress has exclusively legislated upon. 4. The assistance, under certain conditions, of the State militia. Federal activities may all be traced to the jurisdic- tion given to Congress, by the Constitution, over (1) Federal taxation, the borrowing of money for Federal purposes and the coinage ; (2) the regulation of foreign trade, foreign relations and commerce between States ; (3) the maintenance of the army and navy. FEDERAL EXECUTIVE The laws of the United States are enacted by Con- gress and promulgated and executed by the President as Chief Executive. The actual execution of the laws is divided among ten departments at the head of each of which is a secretary. These secretaries are respon- sible directly to the President who appoints them ; to- gether they form what is known as the President's Cabinet. This is not a formal legal body recognized by statute and it has of itself no powers but is in the na- ture of a conference to report to the President and to discuss with him and each other, matters of national policy. The various secretaries take rank in the order of the creation of their departments. This order and 27 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT the general functions of the departments are as fol- lows: EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 1. State. In charge of the foreign relations of the United States and all diplomatic and consular repre- sentatives. 2. Treasury. In charge of the finances of the United States, collects and pays all moneys and super- vises the currency, the national banks, and the Federal Reserve System. 3. War. In charge of the army and of certain mat- ters concerning the waters of the United States open to navigation. Through the Bureau of Insular Affairs, has in charge the government of the overseas posses- sions. 4. Justice. The Attorney-General is the legal ad- visor of the Government and is also at the head of the entire legal department of the United States and of all the local Federal district attorneys attached to the various judicial districts. 5. Post Office.- Cares for the conduct of the postal system. 6. Navy. In charge of the war vessels of the Unit- ed States, their maintenance and operation. 7. Interior. In charge of the public lands, the In- dian Office, Bureau of Pensions, Patent Office, Bureau of Education, the Geological Survey, the Reclamation Service and the Bureau of Mines. 8. Agriculture. Furthering the development and regulation of agriculture and numerous welfare causes, the administration of the Food and Drugs Act, and of the meat and food inspections. 9. Commerce. Supervises and administers the laws 28 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT relating to interstate and foreign commerce, interstate corporations, census, trade statistics, Coast and Geo- detic Surveys. 10. Labor. Executes the immigration laws and various matters concerning labor relations. These are only a few of the numerous matters cared for by each of these executive departments. It has be- come the custom for Congress to pass acts which are more or less general in their phraseology and the va- rious secretaries have a considerable discretion in for- mulating rules of procedure, which have the force of legislation. The Federal authority permeates the whole geog- raphy of a State but does not touch it politically. No Federal officer is elected by the people of any local area; in fact all of the Federal administrative officers, excepting the President and Vice-President, are ap- pointed. EXECUTION OF FEDERAL LAWS The execution of Congressional acts has called into being a mass of Federal laws both civil and criminal. These laws are maintained by Federal officials, offens- es against them are tried only in the Federal Courts and the punishments are under Federal authority. The Nation maintains not only its own machinery of justice but also its own penal institutions. The decrees and the warrants of the Federal Courts are delivered to United States marshals who act in- dependently of the State authorities but who may call upon any citizen to aid them in the case of resistance and may also appeal for greater force to the President, who has the power to send either Federal troops or the State militia. In the same manner attacks upon Fed- eral property are resisted by the Federal authority; the regular army has been called upon to prevent in- terference with the postal service. 29 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STATE VS. FEDERAL LAWS The Federal power is, however, exclusively confined to matters of Federal jurisdiction and is not concerned with States disorders, unless the Governor of the State asks aid from the President, in which case the whole weight of the nation is at call. When a Federal power is once called into being it transcends State power. In certain fields, by the letter of the Constitution, the Nation is supreme, in others the State is supreme and in a third division the State is permitted to act until Congress legislates. It might be expected that two sovereign powers such as the State and the Nation could not well exist side by side without conflict ; but the spheres are fairly well defined and only in recent years has the Congress leg- islated upon matters which formerly were considered purely of State concern. Among the exclusively national functions wherein there is no conflict are : EXCLUSIVE FUNCTIONS 1. The Post Office. In addition to the carriage of the mails, the scope of the office has been extended to include a savings bank and a parcels post. The author- ity to perform these functions has brought into being many civil and criminal laws and especially laws which prohibit the sending of obscene or fradulent letters or matter through the post. To so do is a crime and, in addition, through a- "Fraud Order" the use of the post may be withdrawn from any person suspected of its improper use. All tampering with the mails or in any way interfering with the working of the post office are Federal offenses attended to exclusively by Fed- eral officers. CURRENCY 2. The power to coin money is exclusively federal. The National currency is composed of gold, silver, 30 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT government notes and the notes issued by National Banks and the Federal Reserve Banks. The National Banks are privately owned but chartered by the na- tion ; the Comptroller of the Currency is charged with the inspection of the National Banks and has broad powers over them. In December 1913 the Federal Re- serve Act was passed. Under this act the United States is divided into twelve reserve districts with a Federal Reserve Bank in each district, the stock of which is subscribed to by the National and the State banks of the district. Each reserve bank is governed by a board of directors chosen partly by the stock- holders and partly by the Federal Reserve Board which is a central authority supervising the entire sys- tem. The reserve banks act as the fiscal agents of the. National Government and are reserve depositories for the subscribing banks in the district. The Federal Re- serve Institutions re-discount commercial paper for the member banks, who are thus enabled more easily to make their assets liquid. The District Reserve Banks issue bank notes and it is designed that these will eventually supersede all the outstanding notes of the National Banks. Counterfeiting, embezzlement from, or robbery of national banks is a Federal ofifense. BANKRUPTCY AND MONOPOLIES 3. The Constitution gave Congress the power to make uniform laws of bankruptcy, patent and copy- right. For a long time, the States maintained their own bankruptcy laws. With the growth of interstate business. Congress passed statutes taking to the Fed- eral courts all bankruptcies and promulgating the code under which the affairs of bankrupts are adjudicated. The State courts still have a control over insolvency, but creditors have the privilege, at any time, of filing what is known as a petition in bankruptcy which throws the estate of the insolvent into the United 31 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT States Courts, which, thereafter, administer it exclu- sively. All criminal acts, as well as all civil dispositions in bankruptcy are entirely with the Federal officers. All questions concerning patents and copyrights are also Federal. No considerable conflict of authority arises between the States and the Nation over the powers specifically granted in the Constitution. None of these functions, excepting bankruptcy, could well be left to the States without intolerable confusion. POLICE POWER Congress cannot touch or regulate any matters which are purely intra-state, but they can and do con- trol every person and thing which moves in interstate traffic. The moment any railroad, any corporation or any person engages in interstate trade the Federal authority is invoked. Chief Justice Marshall broadly defined commerce as "intercourse" and, acting on this theory, Congress has assumed control not only of the means of commerce, but also the articles of commerce, from the moment of their manufac- ture until they are actually delivered to the retail purchaser. They have added to the commerce clause, a power not specifically granted in the Constitution, but which has been read into it by the Supreme Court — that is the inherent authority of government to pro- tect the health, comfort and safety of the people and to provide for their welfare. This is known as the Police Power. COMMERCE REGULATIONS Congress thus controls the trusts, the railroads, the express companies, the telegraph and telephone com^ panics, the lighthouses, harbors, coast survey and fish- eries. The Sherman Anti-Trust Law prevents monop- olies in trade; the railroads and other public carriers are forbidden to discriminate among their customers, or to charge extortionate rates. Undesirable immi- 32 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT grants are excluded. By a combination of the com- merce and police power it is forbidden, under the White Slave Act, to transport women across State boundaries for immoral purposes. Under the Food and Drugs Act the circulation of compounds is forbidden unless the ingredients of their composition are plainly stated on the label and it is also forbidden to misrepresent their efiEcacy. Habit-forming drugs are barred. Un- der the Meat Inspection Laws, meats must be passed and stamped by United States inspectors before they can cross a State line. Under the Lottery Acts it is made a criminal ofiFense to send lottery literature through the mails. CONFLICTS WITH STATE POWERS These extensions of power come very close to the line of interference with local State affairs. For in- stance, Wisconsin passed a law that all drugs and foods must bear a State label. The National Food and Drugs Act also imposes a label upon the articles which have passed through interstate commerce. The con- flict immediately arose as to the validity of the Wis- consin statute and the Supreme Court held that the National label could not be disturbed and that, in so far as the Wisconsin Act conflicted with the Federal Act, it was invalid. Wisconsin might, however, apply any measure it chose to goods manufactured and sold within the State. Numerous questions have arisen con- cerning the things and the men employed in interstate commerce; Congress regulates the hours of labor and also requires certain safety appliances, particularly on the railroads. A railroad is within the borders of a State and is amenable to State laws. Minnesota passed a law lowering the rates within the State. A trans- continental line, whose rates were regulated by the Federal authority, was affected by the State rates. The famous Minnesota rate case held that the State authority was constitutional so long as it was restricted to rates within the State and so long as it did not re- 33 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT duce these rates to such a low point that the railways were unable to earn a reasonable return upon their investment. The line of demarcation between the Federal and the State powers in transportation and manufacture is not well defined and cannot be generally stated to include all cases and circumstances. Broadly, however, Congress has no power to regulate manufacture within a State or to regiilate traffic which is purely intra-state unless it be part of an interstate system. It is fundamental that the person or thing regulated by Congress be in some way an integral part of in- terstate commerce. NATIONAL FINANCE The Federal Government does not depend upon the State for its running expenses. The National finances are collected directly by the Federal officers, and the National power of taxation is very broad. It is re- stricted only as follows: (i) Direct taxes, excepting on incomes, must be levied among the States in pro- portion to their population. The Supreme Court has held that a tax at so much per head of the population, or levies on land or on the rent of land, are direct taxes. (2) Indirect taxes must be uniform through- out the United States. This prevents one section from being favored over another. (3) Taxes may not be laid upon exports. (4) One port may not be preferred over another in the way of taxes, and vessels going from one State to another may not be required to pay taxes. The chief sources of national revenue are duties laid upon imports ; excise taxes on tobacco, malt, and spirit- uous liquors, articles of luxury such as perfume, and substances which it is desired to keep at a minimum consumption, like oleomargarine, mixed flour, filled cheese and adulterated butter. These taxes are indi- rect; recently the income of corporations has been taxed and yet more recently the income of individuals, 34 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT this latter being made possible by constitutional- amendment. The corporation and income taxes are sources of revenue which have previously been con- sidered purely State, and although ample opportunity offered for double taxation — and double taxation is not forbidden by the Constitution — the State and the National authority had tacitly arranged to divide their systems of taxation to avoid double taxes. The growing needs of the Federal Government make it fairly certain that in time it will also tax real estate and personal property and inheritances — which have been exclusively State matters. FEDERAL TAXATION The national taxes are collected by the Treasury Department. The taxes on imports are with the Divi- sion of Customs; the entire United States is divided into forty-nine customs districts located at the larger ports and on the Mexican and Canadian boundaries. The districts are subdivided into inspection districts. The excise taxes, the corporation tax, and the income tax, are with the Collector of Internal Revenue, who divides the country into sixty-four collection districts. The excise taxes are chiefly collected through stamps, graded according to the quality and quantity of the article. The Income and Corporation taxes are paid directly after the filing of reports by individuals and corporations. REVENUE AND DISBURSEMENTS The magnitude of the Federal revenue and the gen- eral disposition of the funds are shown in the follow- ing summary of national finances for the year 1914: Total receipts from Customs $292,320,000 Total receipts from Internal Revenue 380,041,000 Net receipts from Postal Service 4,376,000 Miscellaneous 62,311,000 Total Receipts $739,048,000 35 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Total expenditures for Civil Establish- ment $170,530,000 Total expenditures for Army and Public Works 173,522,000 Total expenditures for Navy 139,682,000 Total expenditures for Pensions 173,440,000 Total expenditures for Indian Service 20,215,000 Interest on Debt 22,863,000 Total Expenditures $700,252,000 The military establishment and the pensions to sol- diers of former wars make up the bulk of our national expenditure. These are matters which no single State coilld afford and yet without which the continued ex- istence of the State would be hazardous ; the colonies found that they could not preserve their new inde- pendence on a pacifist basis ; one of the strongest rea- sons for entering the union was the possibility of ob- taining an army and navy of sufficient strength to re- sist any curtailing of liberty. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL POWERS In addition to purchasing insurance on liberty, the Federal funds are expended in many directions for our better and cheaper living. The idea running through the Constitution was that the individual should be protected from the abuse of government; the problem of government has developed in the opposite direction — protecting the people from each other. The National regulations on interstate commerce through the equal- izing of rates, the breaking up of harmful monopolies and the many other activities along similar lines are all for the protection of the individual against exploi- tation. The railroads and the trusts are too large to be adequately policed by a single State even if the State could reach its hand out beyond its borders. As has been noted, these National police activities some- times encroach upon State powers, but the new prin- 36 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ciple has arisen that the Nation is bigger than the State. As transportation facilities increase. State lines are becoming of less and less moment in the business world; it is difficult to find a business that does not buy or sell through interstate commerce and there- fore require a regulation which is beyond the jurisdic- tion of any one State. Thus Federal power has stead- ily broadened in its scope while State power has found an ample field in the things which more intimately concern the citizen in his home and factory. 37 Chapter IV THE STATE GOVERNMENT IN the concentric circles of government narrowing around the individual, the circle next within the Federal is the State. It is not so big a circle as the Federal, but it is, for its own concerns, just as impor- tant. But where the Federal circle is national, the State circle is local. The State is not merely an administrative sub-divi- sion of the general government; it is an autonomous unit. All of the powers of government which are not specifically withdrawn by the Federal Constitution re- main with the State ; its powers within its own sphere are absolute. ORGANIZATION OF STATES The States have their own legislatures, executives, funds and debts, civil and criminal laws, courts of first instance and appellate courts and, unless the State activities bring them into conflict with the activities of the Federal Government or the Federal Constitu- tion, the actions of the State — legislative, judicial or executive — cannot be reviewed. The National Government is supreme in the larger view of interstate and foreign activities. The State Government is supreme within the borders of the State ; the State Governments are further divided into units of local self-government, such as counties, cities, townships, school districts, or other divisions under various titles. These subdivisions are likewise self- governing, but they derive their power from the State and have only such power as is delegated. 38 THE STATE GOVERNMENT STATE RIGHTS The States are wheels within the great wheel of the Federal Government but their rights are not to be measured with the rights of the United States be- cause, by the whole scheme of the union, the powers of the States are kept separate and away from the pow- ers granted to the union. The union has only such powers as the States have granted to it ; the source of government remains with the units that combined to make the nation. The State governments are founded on the funda- mental law of their constitutions and they can adopt any form of constitution provided the resulting form of government is Republican. This is the only injunc- tion contained in the Federal Constitution. The States have taken full advantage of the liberties thus accorded to them and they differ very greatly in the details of the mechanism of legislative and executive power. They have, however, certain principles in common. STATE CONSTITUTIONS The State Constitutions are framed by conventions of delegates especially elected for the purpose. Con- stitutions cannot be framed by the legislatures because these bodies derive their powers from the Constitu- tion and hence they cannot recast their own functions. The following guarantees of liberty are contained in all State Constitutions: Freedom of the speech and of the press. Religious liberty. Honesty in elections. The rights to the franchise. Jury trials. The right to a writ of habeas corpus. Most of the Constitutions also contain provisions for the incorporation of companies, the laws on mar- riage and divorce, and other matters of administrative 39 THE STATE GOVERNMENT detail which might more properly be expressed in laws but which the people generally have seen fit to with- draw from the consideration of their representative. FASHIONS IN CONSTITUTIONS Fashions in State Constitutions change; being par- ticular instead of general instruments, new needs com- pel frequent amendments and often new constitutions. Louisiana has had seven constitutions, Virginia, Geor- gia and South Carolina each have had six. New York has tried five and recently refused a new draft com- posed at enormous expense, Pennsylvania and Dela- ware have had four. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts are the only States which have never adopted a new organic law, although each has made frequent amendment. A further development of the popular dissatisfaction with State legislatures is in placing the voting power on questions of great State importance in the people themselves. The increase of debt is usually subject to the authorization of the whole body of voters while several States have inau- gurated the Initiative and the Referendum; in these systems, legislation can be proposed by a prescribed number of voters and then submitted to State-wide bal- lot or, if any considerable number of voters disapprove of any law made by the legislature, they can call for a referendum by which the law is submitted to all the voters for approval or disapproval. The Recall is a popular device adopted by many of the Western States to dislodge unpopular or inefficient officers; its ma- chinery is similar to the Referendum, but the question presented to the people is the continuance in office of any State officer. CHECKS AND BALANCES The State constitutions divide the powers of gov- ernment, as does the Federal Constitution, into ex- ecutive, legislative, and judicial departments. The legislature is divided into two houses, an upper house 40 THE STATE GOVERNMENT or Senate and a House of Representatives, or As- sembly. Delaware has the smallest Senate with 15 members and Minnesota the largest with 63 members. New Hampshire has only 24 Senators, but has 402 members in the House. New York and Pennsylvania have 50 and 51 State Senators. New York has 150 and Pennsylvania 207 members in the House. In most of the States the members of the legislature are paid and they commonly meet in regular session every two years. The Governor may call them into special ses- sions at any time. The legislative organization of the States has, gen- erally speaking, proved cumbersome. In a number of States, many of the fundamentally legislative func- tions are exercised by commissions, appointed for a term of years. Numerous limits and restrictions are imposed on the legislators. The California and Ohio Constitutions mention more than 30 subjects on which special laws may not be enacted. The founders of the State governments expected that the legislatures would be capable governing bodies but the whole trend in recent years has been toward the taking away of the powers of the legislature and the increasing of the executive importance. STATE EXECUTIVES The Governor is the chief executive; his duties are multifarious. His major duties concern appointments, the exercise of the legislative veto, the general execu- tive power, and the judicial and military powers. The appointments of a Governor are numerous. Many States have now adopted a system of appointment by civil service rules for most of the subordinate posi- tions. The incumbents of these positions gain their appointments in competitive examinations and are re- movable only for cause. The other major executive ofificers, some of whom are elected and others appointed, are Lieutenant Gov- 41 THE STATE GOVERNMENT ernor. Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney- General, Treasurer, Comptroller or Auditor, Banking Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, Superinten- dent of Public Instruction, Factory Inspector, Highway Commissioner, and the Industrial Commission, the Board of Health, the Bureau of Charity, Public Service Commission, Board of Agriculture and commissions dealing with the public welfare. STATE LAWS Each State has its own civil and criminal law, Loui- siana preserves the principles of the Code Napoleon, but the laws of all the other States have their source in the common law of England; some States, such as New York, have abolished the Common Law, in name, and enacted elaborate codes which are supposed to comprehend all law. The State laws are administered by the State judiciary. The State courts are the inter- preters of the acts of their legislatures and they have the power to set aside any act which is contrary to the State Constitution. Owing to the immense num- ber of acts which are hastily passed by the State legis- latures, the courts have frequent occasion to declare laws unconstitutional. THE STATE AND THE CITIZEN The citizen, as a citizen, comes more directly in con- tact with the Federal than with the State government because most of the State powers are delegated to counties or cities, while the National functions are nev- er delegated. Yet nearly every part of our direct daily dealings is with some form of State authority — our po- lice protection, our laws, our licenses, the building of our houses, the kind and up-keep of our streets, all find their foundation in the stewardship of the State. Only in our outside relations are we conscious of the superintendence of the Nation; the intimate things about us that make life safer and more comfortable are the State's concern. 42 THE STATE GOVERNMENT In former years the State governments gave little attention to welfare work; they passed laws and the counties or municipalities carried them out. But States are more and more taking to themselves the care of the individual in order that conditions of life should be uniform throughout the State and not dependent upon local whim. To this end they have generally adopted State Boards of Health, Food Commissions, Housing Commissions, Commerce Commissions and have given far more attention to labor, charities, edu- cation and agriculture than in past years. Many States have taken up the creation and repair of high- ways and it is now generally accepted that good roads are a State as well as a county function. STATE ACTIVITIES States now regulate the hours of labor especially for women and children; they compel public service corporations to give efficient and convenient service and some have adopted scales of wages as minimums in certain lines of industry. They may and do regu- late all that which is within their own boundaries and, as noticed in the chapter on the Federal Government, they have a measure of regulation over interstate commerce. The Police Power deduced from the right to govern is now extensively used by the States and is also delegated to the smaller units of government; for instance, some States prohibit the sale of liquor, others abridge the right to sell or use tobacco ; certain drugs and chemicals are limited in sale ; as a general proposition, any State may interdict any business or article within its borders except that it may not, in so doing, impair the obligation of contract or take life, liberty or property witiiout due process of law. CONFLICT OF STATE LAWS The State laws on welfare subjects as well as the general body of their civil and criminal laws differ so widely that no general summary can be made of them. 43 THE STATE GOVERNMENT Commercial laws are commonly founded on the same thought but the laws of personal relations have little in common. Especial divergences are in the laws con- cerning marriage and divorce, the incorporation and regulation of corporations and the control of public utilities. Some States are very strict and other States are very lax; if a man be divorced under certain con- ditions in one State, he will still be held to be married by all other States if the question is presented to the other States as growing out of a property matter; similarly a corporation chartered in one State will not have a corporate standing to do business in an- other State without placing itself under the laws of that State. The confusion, with the growth of inter- state business, in these dissimilar laws, has started a demand that the National Constitution be amended to take over incorporation and divorce. STATE POWERS State legislation determines the private law for its citizens, the regulation of the right to vote in both State and National elections, the foundation and regulation of counties and municipalities, the chartering of corpora- tions and their government, the right of public corpora- tions to do business or to occupy land, the inspection of the means of industry. State and local taxation. State health, the creation and procedure of the courts and the rights and restrictions upon the doing of business by cor^ porafions or individuals. Upon all these subjects, unless they conflict with the restrictions of the Federal Consti- tution, the powers of the States are plenary within their own borders. STATE FINANCE The powers of the State are broad and sweeping but they transfer all detail to the local governments. The up-keep of the State establishments is not commonly expensive ; the large expenditures are for public works 44 THE STATE GOVERNMENT such as canals and roads and, in many cases, for ex- tensive Capitols and administrative buildings. The State expenditures may be grouped thus: (1) Salaries of executive and judicial officers; (2) up-keep of the militia; (3) charitable, educational and penal institu- tions; (4) public works; (5) interest on funded debt. The direct property tax is the main source of State revenue but, unlike the Federal Authorities, the States do not commonly levy the tax ; the county is the unit of taxation and collects direct taxes, transmitting a portion thereof to the State and keeping the balance for its own needs. The license fees are usually paid di- rectly to the State. Some of the States have no debts ; others, like Massachusetts and New York, have debts exceeding a hundred millions. Most States have def- inite debt limits determined by a percentage upon the value of all taxable property and it is usually provided that bonds issued by a State shall not run for more than from 25 to 30 years, and that a sinking fund be provided for their retirement. STATE REVENUE The current sources of State revenue are, (1) A gen- eral property tax, covering both real and personal property. This is usually the largest single item of revenue. (2) The sale of licenses for the sale of liquor. (3) Mercantile and vehicle licenses. Other sources of revenue which have been called upon owing to the in- creasing expenses of the State are: (1) An Inheri- tance Tax, usually adopted upon a progressive scale, and usually applied only to collateral inheritance, that is, property left to heirs who are not in the direct line of the deceased. (2) A tax upon corporations. This tax assumes various forms, sometimes being levied upon net income or again upon gross revenue, or on the franchise. The taxes from corporation sources are so large in New Jersey as to pay the entire running expenses of the State. (3) Taxes upon incomes. 45 THE STATE GOVERNMENT New York collects and disburses more money than any State in the union. It is an illustration of the lavish manner in which the public funds are often scattered. The expenditure is far greater than the income. STATE ACCOUNTANCY State finances have been receiving much attention of late. The State legislatures pass money measures ex- travagantly and toward the end of a session often ap- propriate enormous sums for public works and char- ities ; it is not uncommon for the appropriations to ex- ceed the possible State revenues by ten or twenty mil- lion dollars at a single session. Then it becomes the duty of the governor to pare down all bills until they in some degree match the revenues ; thus the governor becomes the real financial power of the State. The sys- tems of accounting is in keeping with the method of appropriating funds; no State exactly knows either its revenues or its expenses and many States, consid- ered as businesses, would promptly be adjudged bank- rupt. Efforts are everywhere being made to establish proper accounting methods and State budgets in order that income and expenditure may be correlated. State activities, like national activities, are growing in their scope and the present disposition is to make all larger public works, of more than local moment, State works maintained by State funds. 46 Chapter V THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT THE county is a sub-division of the State for the ad- ministration of State and local government. It may be called the circle of government next within that of the State but it is not really so much a govern- mental as a judicial and administrative unit. All States are divided into counties (they are called parishes in Louisiana) but the function and the im- portance of the county varies. In New England the town was the first local government body and still retains its power, with the county distinctly subordi- nate ; in the South, the large plantations made any kind of town organization impossible and hence the county first came into being as the unit of local government. The Middle Atlantic and the Western States are be- tween these two extremes; in none of them is the county so important as in the South nor so unimpor- tant as in New England. The county importance also varies with the population ; a large city may occupy a whole county as do Philadelphia, Chicago and Cincin- nati or five counties as does Greater New York. There are 2852 counties in the whole United States. They range in size from Bristol County in Rhode Is- land with 25 square miles to Custer County in Mon- tana with 20,000 square miles; some Texas counties have less than 400 persons, while New York County has around three million. FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNTY The county nowhere bears the same relation to the State that the State bears to the United States, for it 47 THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT has no legislative functions whatsoever and the powers of its officers are only those given to them by the State Constitution. Administration necessarily involves a certain amount of regulation, but the limits are rather narrow and, for broader powers, the State Legislature must be called upon for new law. The county elects its own officers and has its own funds and other property distinct and separate from other public property but, in the average community, few citizens who are not well versed in politics are quite sure precisely what property belongs to the county — especially since State, county and city officers often occupy the same public buildings. A single or even several examples of county man- agement would not truly represent all types ; generali- zation is more or less inaccurate, but the following features are common to most counties. COUNTY ORGANIZATION (1) An absence of an assembly or other legislative body. (2) An elected county board, often called County Commissioners or County Court, with power to fix taxes, appropriate funds, care for the county property, and regulate the machinery of county elections. (3) A county judge or, in the larger counties, a civil and criminal judicial system divided into as many courts as the legal and criminal business of the com- munity needs. In addition to the civil and the criminal courts, the county usually has an officer variously called a Sur- rogate or Register of Wills who administers dece- dents' estates. (4) A District Attorney who presents to the crim- inal courts the evidence on behalf of the State against persons accused of crime. He is sometimes called the 48 THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT Public Prosecutor and is one of the most important county officers; in the large counties, such as New York, he has extensive staffs of assistant attorneys and clerks and the cost of maintaining his office is a heavy charge. (5) A sheriff, who executes the orders of the court, makes judicial sales, service of writs and the like and who is also the representative of the police power of the area acting as the guardian of life and property and is the public jailer. The police of the cities and towns are not under the sheriff but under city or town control; but the sheriff represents the police power of the court and a prisoner in the custody of the court is in the legal custody of the sheriff. The sheriff com- monly impanels both the grand and the petit juries and is the general administrative officer of the court. Having the police force who make the arrests in cities under a different head from the District Attor- ney who tries the cases and the sheriff who holds the prisoners, has obvious disadvantages and sometimes the city and the county do not work at all harmoni- ously. The conflicts are however less frequent than might be expected. (6) A coroner who views the bodies of those who die as the result of accident or crime and finds, with the assistance of a jury that he summons, the cause of the death. The function of the coroner is passing; his findings are no longer considered of moment be- cause they are usually made on first impression with- out much investigation of the facts. (7) A treasurer who collects the taxes and makes the disbursements upon proper warrant from the county authorities; he usually collects all taxes and then remits portions thereof to the State, township or city. In larger communities a separate officer is elected to receive taxes. (8) A separate department for the assessing of the valuation of property for the purpose of taxation. 49 THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT Closely connected with the assessor's office is the very important matter of the registration of land titles, which is a true county function. Deeds, mortgages and liens against real property are recorded in an of- fice maintained for that purpose. Charters and im- portant legal documents afifecting the status of prop- erty are also filed with this officer and by him copied verbatim as official records. (9) A superintendent of schools is usual in the rural districts, but the larger cities often take the adminis- tration of the schools to themselves. COUNTY FINANCE All of the officers are elected by the voters of the county for stated terms, usually for not more than two years. The counties have exactly the same sources of reve- nue as the State and, out of the taxes which they col- lect, they pay a percentage, based upon the assessed valuation of their property, to the State. Each county fixes its assessments of property and its own rate of taxes according to its local needs and the State tax is merely superimposed upon the county tax. For permanent improvements, counties are usually permitted to create issues of bonds with sinking fund provisions and nearly all counties go into debt for their court-houses and more important bridges. The principal current county expenditures are for schools, courts, prisons, poor houses, hospitals and the up-keep of roads and bridges. JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS The judicial functions are never delegated, but any or all of the other functions may be left to some local government unit if the local unit is better fitted for the work. The county does more in the rural than in the densely populated districts. For instance, the SO THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT county never directly takes charge of city streets and seldom has much to do with city schools; in many States, the townships care for their own roads. The function of the county with which the citizen is most familiar is the judicial; he depends upon the county courts for his redress in all important cases which do not fall into the Federal Courts ; he is called by the county for jury duty and he depends upon the District Attorney and the Sheriff to convict and con- fine criminals. The county is but a step removed from the individ- ual; it is not so near as the local government but it is nearer than the State; its affairs are mixed with and yet distinct from the local authority, but the coun- ty and the town, township or city, are much more closely allied than are any other of the divisions of government. 51 Chapter VI THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP THE Town or Towship exists as a sub-division of the County in almost all the States, excepting in the South where the County is the smallest local sub-division of government, but the importance of the Town varies with the character of the people who settled the area. The true Town is a New England form of govern- ment and, outside of New England, it is found in the true form only in such States as were populated largely by New England people. In most states the town is only an administrative unit; in New England it is a legislative unit and in antiquity of foundation predates both the county and the State. Towns or Townships seldom exceed an area of five square miles; sometimes the word Town is applied to any collection of houses, but that designation is more properly Village. When Towns or Villages of only a few houses spring up within the boundaries of a Town- ship, the small community has no separate entity, no laws and no fixed limits — it is merely a collection of houses on the administrative area. Some States in- corporate these small units as Villages and they then become distinct entities with their own government separate from that of the Township in which they stand. THE NEW ENGLAND TYPE The New England Town is the real unit of self-gov- ernment and, as such, it is most jealously guarded. 52 THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP The size differs widely — some have as few as 92 while Brookline, outside of Boston, has almost 30,000 people. The distinguishing feature of the New England Town is that all the inhabitants are partners in the manage- ment of affairs and that they are jointly responsible for the debts of the Town. The latter feature has caused them to carefully watch their expenditures. The government vests in a Town Meeting made up of all the qualified voters within the Town limits ; this meeting convenes once or more a year in regular meet- ing but may be called into special meetings by the pe- tition of a certain number of the electors. THE TOWN MEETING The annual Town Meeting elects the Selectmen who have the executive powers of the government as laid down by the Town Meeting; there are usually three, five or seven Selectmen. A Town Clerk is also elected ; he is the secretary of the Town Meeting and the reg- istrar of births and deaths. Other officers are elected according to the size and importance of the Town; sometimes there will be a treasurer, tax collectors, as- sessors and other officers. If the Town is large these men will receive salaries, otherwise they are entitled to take commissions or fees. The Town Meeting is the primary legislative assem- bly ; it chooses a school committee to manage the pub- lic schools of the area and enacts all necessary ordi- nances to govern local affairs. It is the source of fi- nancial power and at its meeting gives authority for the- expenditures for schools, police, poor, the up-keep of highways and the other matters needing attention and then fixes the rate of taxation in accordance with the expenditures which are to be made. Outside of New England, only a few States have the Town Meeting ; Illinois voters in any district have the right to choose the Town form of governpient and S3 THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP many have done so. Wisconsin also has a Town Meet- ing in many parts. Where no Town Meeting exists the people usually have a referendum to decide increases in debt or any large increase in the tax rate; important public im- provements are also submitted to the people for au- thority. THE GENERAL TOWN TYPE The Township or Town is properly, however, always excepting the New England form, a mere adminis- trative unit and its functions are only such as are given to it by the State Legislature. The Town com- monly looks after its own roads and bridges through a Road Supervisor, but the States are taking over many roads now; it supports the Constables who have petty civil as well as police duties and the Magistrates or Justices of the Peace who have limited civil juris- diction and the power in criminal cases to impose small fines or committments in certain classes of crimes and to hold more serious offenders for the County Grand Jury. Most Townships regulate and maintain their own primary schools under the supervision of a School Board or Committee. The Towns have their own revenue through taxes upon real and personal property and they also have the power to borrow money upon bonds for public im- provements. TOWN FUNCTIONS Towns vary so in kind and functions that no type example is possible; they are the units which touch the voter, outside the city, in his closest relations, for it is the Town that primarily protects his property and person. Almost all town ofificers are elected and the taxes are commonly levied at the same time as the 54 THE TOWN AND TOWNSHIP State and County taxes, but there is no unanimity of procedure ; the town may levy its taxes separately and collect its taxes separately if the Legislature so per- mits. 55 Chapter VII THE CITY GOVERNMENTS THE term City is used to denote a government within a State with separate corporate powers. It is not an overgrown Town or Village — al- though at some stage of its existence it has been a Town or a Village — but a political entity created by the State Legislature to govern the affairs of the large number of citizens who have chosen a particular local- ity for their residence. A City is as independent as the State permits it to be ; no general rule exists. A continuous war goes on, in most States that contain large cities, between the City and the State. The City is commonly the source of greatest revenue and therefore the legislators from the country districts all covet the diversion of funds raised within the Cities to the purposes of their less wealthy districts. The exactly satisfactory relation between City and State has never been found and is a subject of ardent dissension. PROBLEMS OF THE CITY The problems of city government are various and multiplex; the citizen meets that government in his daily life — it is the government most intimate to him. He depends upon the city for his police protection, to save his house from fire, to guard him from danger of disease and to provide him with proper facilities for living. And, as the mass of people in any one place increases, so do the complexities of government in- 56 THE CITY GOVERNMENTS crease; and in addition to the mere mass, the popula- tion of most large cities now contains many foreign elements — men and women who have been born in other countries and who are without experience either in American habits of life or of governm.ent. The City is not a sub-division of a County. Many cities occupy the entirety of a County and some take in several Counties — New York has five counties with- in its limits. The County government is side by side with the City government and often there is a wasteful duplication of functions and what might be termed a lack of team-work between the divisions of government. SOURCE OF GOVERNMENT Since the government of Cities depends upon the State Legislatures, no uniformity of government ex- ists between Cities throughout the United States and not even in the States themselves. Some States di- vide their Cities into classes according to population and lay down frames of government which are uni- form for each class. Other States grant special char- ters for each City without much regard for what has gone before. In general the City tries to get as much freedom as possible and the State Legislature grants as little freedom as possible. A City is a business plant in many respects and much of its activity is along business lines — the pav- ing of streets, the granting of transportation and other franchises, the cleaning of streets, the sanitation, the supply of water and light. In these matters the City is commonly supreme and overrides the county lines in their conduct. Other functions are political; these consist of powers delegated by the State and powers which are essentially local. The State delegates to the City the right to police within its borders, to es- tablish City Courts, to grant licenses and to execute SI THE CITY GOVERNMENTS local laws, while the local powers include those of education and the care of the poor. DETAILS OF GOVERNMENT The frame of City Government is influenced by the frame of its State Government. Excepting where Commission government has been put into force, the City has a Mayor who is elected by the people of the whole City. He is the Chief Executive of the City and the modern tendency is to give him broad powers in the execution of the laws and the appointment of heads of department and then to make him personally responsible for the proper conduct of all departments of the City. The legislative power for City affairs is fixed in an elective chamber or chambers which rep- resent the wards of the city. The Mayor has a right of veto over the acts of this assembly whose members are called Aldermen or Councilmen. The actual execution of the laws is with the depart- ments of the City government — Police, Fire, Health, Law, Streets and Highways, Parks or whatever the size and character of the city may call for. Sometimes these heads are elected by the people ; more commonly they are appointed by the Mayor with or without the consent and approval of the City legislative body. The City maintains its own primary and higher schools and sometimes colleges and the affairs of all these are placed in the hands of a Board of Education or with Commissioners of Education. Sometimes this Board is under the control of the city administration but the general policy is to make it separate and dis- tinct in order to take it out of politics. The educa- tional authorities have a special tax levied for them but do not themselves collect it. The City maintains both ci-iminal and civil courts of original, limited jurisdiction and also has Magistrates who have much the same functions as the country Justices of the Peace. An appeal from all these courts may usually be had to the County Courts. 58 THE CITY GOVERNMENTS GREATER NEW YORK The governments of Greater New York and of Bos- ton are examples of the peculiar complications which the growth of Cities brings about. New York not only takes in five Counties with all the County officers as described in the chapter on Counties, but is also divided into five Boroughs — all our large cities are the result of the consolidation of smaller units. Each of the five boroughs has its own elected president. A Board of Aldermen elected from the city districts has the con- trol of local affairs subject to the supervision of the Mayor of Greater New York. The legislative power is between a Board of Aldermen and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The latter board con- sists of the Mayor, the Comptroller, the Presi- dent of the Board of Aldermen and the five Bor- ough Presidents; this board has the ultimate finan- cial authority. The great divisions of City govern- ment are delegated to Commissioners who are ap- pointed by the Mayor. The school system is managed by a Board of Education whose members are appoint- ed by the Mayor but over whom he has no direct con- trol. The State Legislature may not pass any law afifect- ing New York City unless it has first been submitted to the local authorities but, if the local authorities re- fuse to approve it, the law may be passed and go into effect by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. BOSTON Where New York has spread out over all the former entities of government, Boston still remains distinct from its surrounding communities; it is surrounded by thirty separate municipalities — such as Cam- bridge, Chelsea, Brookline, etc. This has given rise to the designation of what is called the Me- tropolitan District with State-appointed commis- sions to deal with Metropolitan affairs such as 59 THE CITY GOVERNMENTS water, sewerage, parks and transit. The City gov- ernment is everywhere mixed with the State gov- ernment and the police and liquor license powers are delegated to a State Commission appointed by the Governor. The Mayor of Boston has no control over the police of the City. The City proper is governed by a Mayor and a Council of nine persons elected by the people; the term of the Mayor is four years, but at the end of two years he may be recalled by a vote of a majority of all the enrolled electors of the City. The Mayor appoints all heads of department but his nominees must have certificates from the State Civil Service Commission that they are fit and qualified persons for the positions. The Mayor and Council have the financial affairs of the city within their keep- ing, but here again their acts are supervised by the Financial Commission appointed by the Governor. COMMISSION GOVERNMENT A new form of City government has arisen out of the Galveston Flood; when that City was devastated by the water, the citizens put all their affairs into the hands of a Commission of three men with absolute ex- ecutive and legislative power. They liked the arrange- ment so much that they have since continued it and many other Cities of fair size have adopted it. The idea is to concentrate all power into the hands of a very few men and then hold them responsible. The Commissioners pass ordinances, look after the finances, make all appointments, and, in short, exercise control much as do the directors of a corporation. CITY FINANCE A City acquires its funds through taxation, fees, bor- rowing and, sometimes, by operating city monopolies such as gas, water, electric light or street railways. The taxes cover both real and personal property and are commonly collected at the same time as the State and County taxes. Licenses are usually required to be 60 THE CITY GOVERNMENTS paid for the conduct of various businesses and franchise taxes are imposed on public utilities for the use of the highways. The right to borrow money is limited by the State Legislatures to a percentage of the valuation of property and some of the Cities have accumulated enormous and burdening debts which entail high taxes to pay the interest and sinking funds. New York is especially thus burdened. These loans are for various purposes ; school loans are usually separate and the proceeds of all loans are supposed to be devoted to permanent improvements. Sometimes they are divert- ed to current expenses; some Cities are forced to bor- row to pay their way until tax collections are made. The Cities spend their money for the up-keep of municipal affairs, the streets, extensions and improve- ments — for some street and other sanitary improve- ments, the Cities are authorized to assess the adjoin- ing properties — bridges, police, fire and education and for the other activities which go to make up the gen- eral conduct of the more intimate affairs of govern- ment. The subject of City finances is very broad ; few Cities are managed economically and few Cities Jiave intelli- gent financial systems. The finances of the larger Cities especially are usually beyond the comprehension of the men who from time to time are elected to man- age them. They are especially in need of expert ac- countancy methods. 61 Chapter VIII THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS ALL persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside — the Constitution. The definition indicates a duality of citizenship; there are two kinds of citizens — State and National. The first depends upon the place of residence and is lost or changed by a permanent change of residence; the second is founded upon the Constitution and has no relation to residence except in the case of natural- ized citizens returning to their place of original citizen- ship. One may be a United States citizen without be- ing a State citizen and one may also, in several States, be a State citizen without having perfected United States citizenship. Citizen, either State or National, is not synonymous with voter — that is a State-conferred status. Citizens may be men or women and of any age. A child is as much a citizen as a man. FEDERAL CITIZENSHIP United States citizenship may be obtained by birth, by naturalization, by act of Congress, or by marriage in the case of a woman. Children are native-born Americans or naturalized citizens are American citiz- ens, whether born within or without the United States, except that when born without the boundaries, the children must register with an American Consul be- fore reaching the age of eighteen their intention to become residents of the United States and to remain citizens thereof; upon their majority they are required .62 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS to take the oath of allegiance. A child born of alien parents outside of the United States is a citizen if its parent is naturalized during the child's minority. Wives take the citizenship of their husbands, but, if the marriage relation is terminated, they may resume their original citizenship by making a declaration to that effect. NATURALIZATION The Acts of Congress provide a uniform rule of naturalization for aliens who are "free white perons." No provision is made for the naturalization of Asiatics. An alien must reside within the country during five years before he is eligible for citizenship ; after three years' residence he may file, in a Federal or State Court, a declaration of his intention to become a citizen; he then receives what are commonly known as his first papers. After another two years the applicant pre- sents himself to Court for examination upon the insti- tutions and government of the United States, when he also gives evidence of good moral character and of his actual residence during five years past. If accepted by the Court, he takes the Oath of Allegiance which in- cludes a renunciation of all fealty to his former land. He must also renounce all claim to any title of nobility. The petitioner is then a citizen of the United States ; he remains a citizen excepting if thereafter he resides for two years in the foreign state from which he came. In that case he automatically loses his citizenship un- less he makes a saving declaration before an United States Consul. Congress has the power to admit all of the residents of any annexed district to United States citizenship on whatever conditions it sees fit to impose. All citi- zens of Hawaii were thus admitted. CITIZENSHIP AND THE FRANCHISE Citizenship is a dual relation and it grants certain rights and privileges, some State and some National; 63 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS it also involves certain liabilities. But citizenship of itself does not carry the right to vote; the regulation of the franchise is purely a State affair and the franchise is not even confined by the Constitution to citizens. The only limitation of the Constitution is that the right to vote may not be abridged "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude." The rights are very generally abridged by the States for reasons other than these three; all States have an age qualifi- cation, many States deny the vote to women, some limit it by taxes and others by educational tests. Cer- tain periods of residence not only within the State but within the counties and even the election districts of the counties are commonly imposed and, where reg- istration laws exist, no person may vote without hav- ing complied with these laws. Nearly one-third of the States do not require citizenship as a preliminary qual- ification, but permit aliens to vote after they have received their "first papers" of naturalization. Citizenship is a status; the right to vote is a State privilege. RIGHTS OF FEDERAL CITIZENS The rights of Federal citizens are derived from the Federal Constitution and laws of the United States and are as follows : To have the protection of the Government for life, liberty and property when on the high seas or in for- eign lands. To have the benefits and privileges guaranteed to citi- zens of the United States by foreign treaties. To use the navigable waters of the country. To come to the seat of Government to transact busi- ness with the Federal Government, to seek its protection, to share its offices, to enjoy access to its seaports, and to the sub-treasuries, land offices, and courts of justice. 64 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS To acquire State citizenship upon the establishment of a residence within a State. RIGHTS OF STATE CITIZENS The rights of State citizens flow from the State Constitutions and State laws. These rights are : To have the protection of the State government. To acquire and possess property of every kind. To pursue happiness subject to State legislation for the general good. To engage in business. To maintain suits in the State courts. To enjoy the general rights of State citizens when resi- dent in other States. The obligation of all citizens is to maintain their allegiance to and to obey the laws of the United States and the States in which they reside or of which they are denizens. 65 Chapter IX JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION AS a part of the dual system of Government, are two judicial systems — the State and the United States. In certain spheres the jurisdictions of these courts are respectively exclusive and in others they are concurrent. The Federal system is in no sense paramount to the State systems but exists for distinct functions. The relation is the same as that between the State and the Federal Government. The Federal Constitution established National laws. In order that these laws and the Constitution might everywhere have an harmonious interpretation, uni- form Federal Courts became necessary. FEDERAL JUDICIARY The Federal jurisdiction is as follows: (1) Cases arising under the Federal Constitution. Federal laws, or treaties with foreign powers; (2) Cases affecting Ambassadors, Consuls, etc.; (3) Cases of admiralty, and maritime jurisdiction; (4) Cases in which the United States is a party; (5) Cases between citizens of different States ; (6) Cases between States, between a State and the citizens of another State, or between citizens of the same State under land grants from dif- ferent States; (7) Cases arising between American citizens and foreign states, their citizens or subjects. A State Court could not well adjudicate any of these subjects because of possible self-interest, local feeling, or lack of sympathy with national ideas. The National Courts are organized under the Judi- 66 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION ciary Acts. The judges are appointed by the President during "good conduct," and they can be removed only by Senatorial impeachment. THE SUPREME COURT Heading the system is the Supreme Court of the United States, consisting of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices. The decisions of the Supreme Court are the last word upon the interpretation of Federal laws and of the Constitution. It is easily the most im- portant juridical body in the world, having the right absolutely to annul any act of any State or Congress which conflicts with the Constitution. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases involving an Ambassador of a foreign power or where a State is a party, but the vast majority of its business is appellate, and consists of reviewing the decisions that come to it by appeal, either from the Circuit Court of Appeals or from the State Supreme Courts. The Supreme Court is not a universal forum of appeal: cases involving the Constitution may al- ways be appealed to it but, in practically all other cases, an appeal is only allowed by a special permission or allocatur signed by one of the Justices. DISTRICT COURTS Next in importance to the Supreme Court are the nine Circuit Courts of Appeal and below them are the District Courts. The Circuit Courts of Appeal hear all cases on appeal from the District Courts and, ex- cepting in a few cases, pronounce final judgment. The District Courts have only original jurisdiction. The United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico are divided into eighty-three judicial districts, with at least one district judge in each district and several judges in the more densely populated districts. In ad- dition to the district judges, each district has one or more Commissioners who sit upon criminal cases and, 67 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION excepting a few cases, pronounce final judgment. They also have certain admiralty functions. The duties of the district judges are multifarious. They sit in criminal cases, in cases arising under the patent laws. Federal taxation disputes, bankruptcy, in admiralty, and in civil and equitable causes. The labor of bankruptcy hearing is lightened by Referees who conduct the details of such cases. The Court of Claims consists of five judges and con- siders all civil claims against the United States. Be- fore the establishment of this court, claims against the United States could only be collected by an act of Congress, for a citizen cannot sue the nation. The Court of Customs Appeals is composed of the presiding Judge and four associates. They hear all appeals concerning the value of imported goods and the proper rate of duty thereon. FEDERAL JURISDICTION Cases come into the Federal courts either by an original writ or by transfer from a State Court. The rules of the Federal Courts are very strict on matters of jurisdiction and the primary demand on every liti- gant is to show his right to be heard by the court. In order that a civil case may come into the District Court, it is necessary that the amount involved shall exceed $3000, and that all the parties on one side are citizens of a different State from the parties on the other side. If a case containing these fundamental re- quisites is begun in a State Court, it may be shifted to the Federal Court upon an order signed by a Federal judge. The State Court has no discretion in granting the transfer, but, upon the case arriving in the Federal Court, the jurisdictional issue may be determined at once. Jurisdiction is always the first point to be de- cided in the Federal Courts and is a relevant issue at any stage of the proceedings ; the Supreme Court dis- misses many cases on the simple point of lack of 68 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION jurisdiction. A Federal Court has no general right to hear cases — they have only the powers given to them by the Constitution. FEDERAL PROCEDURE The Federal Courts, in cases involving State law, follow State laws and decisions and they also follow State rules of procedure. In equity, the Federal Courts follow their own procedure, and in cases involving gen- eral commercial law, they will follow only Federal de- cisions. For instance, under the laws of Pennsylvania, the taking of a promissory note for a debt does not ex- tend the time of payment of the debt ; the note is con- sidered only as collateral and the creditor may pro- ceed upon the debt before the maturity of the note. If the case, however, should go into the Federal Courts, the Federal law would be invoked and the Federal law says that the promissory note extends the time of pay- ment of the debt to the maturity of the note. There are numerous other discrepancies between State and Federal law, sometimes to the disparagement of State statutes, and several States have endeavoi-ed to limit the authority of the Federal Courts, but such acts have been held unconstitutional. FEDERAL AND STATE COMITY A rule of comity exists between the Federal and the State Courts; this rule is frequently invoked in the numerous receivership cases involving public service corporations, especially railroads. Many of these cor- porations run through several States and their admin- istration is more convenient in the Federal Courts, but if a bill for receivership is filed in a State Court and its receiver takes possession of the property, he will not usually be disturbed by a Federal Court. This proceeds on the theory that property in the custody of a State should not be disturbed by Federal authority. 69 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION STATE COURTS The organizations of the State Courts vary with the laws of the States; sometimes their organization is prescribed in the State Constitutions, and again they may be legislative creations; usually the system is contained in the Constitution and the details are worked out by the legislatures. The nomenclature of the courts differ widely, but generally the State maintains a Supreme Court or Court of Appeals and a Superior or intermediate court for the hearing of appeals, while the actual trials are held in the several courts of the counties. Where two appellate courts exist, the inferior court is a compar- atively new development designed to take the lesser cases from the calendar of the higher court and is usu- ally a final court of appeal for all minor cases and for criminal cases less than homicide. COUNTY COURTS The County is the judicial unit. The County Courts have original jurisdiction in civil, criminal and equit- able causes; some States maintain separate courts of chancery but, in most of the States, the common law judges have power to sit in equity. States in which the criminal business is very great have distinct crim- inal courts with judges who sit only in criminal cases, but usually the county judges sit in both the criminal and in the civil sides of the court. All of these courts are courts of record ; below them come the Magistrates or Justices of the Peace who have power to hold of- fenders in bail for court, to punish petty offences and to hear petty civil cases. In many of the cities the Magistrates Courts are supplemented by Municipal Courts which hear the more trivial criminal cases and have jurisdiction of civil suits up to $500 or $1000. Magistrates and Justices of the Peace are not com- monly learned in the law ; they are supposed to do substantial justice after the fashion of English squires, 70 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION but they conduct their courts, which are not courts of record, in such hit or miss fashion that they are generally being displaced by courts on the municipal court plan. In addition to the civil and criminal tribunals, all States have county courts to administer the estates of decedents; these are called probate courts, orphans courts, surrogate courts, or whatever name the legis- lature chooses to adopt. They determine the settle- ment of estates and are usually founded on principles of equity rather than of law. An appeal lies from their findings to the ordinary State appellate courts. ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW Cases may be pleaded before courts only by at- torneys at law who are admitted to practice by State or county rules. The admission to practice carries with it only the right to practice before the courts of the county of admission; in many States, attorneys may not practice before the tribunals of a county other than their own without being admitted to the bar of that county. Another admission is required to pracr tice before the Federal Courts of any district and still another admission to practice in the United States Su- preme Court. Federal admission also includes the right to practice as a proctor in admiralty — ^proctor being the term used to denote an attorney in the mari- time law. A litigant always has the right to prosecute his own case in any court. Trials by jury are guaranteed in the Federal Courts by the Constitution and, in most of the State Courts, by the State Constitutions, but in several States the verdict need not be unanimous in civil trials. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE In criminal trials, in both State and Federal courts, a person accused of crime must be formally charged in an indictment and this indictment submitted to a 71 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION Grand Jury of twenty-four men ; this jury hears only the prosecution and either ignores or returns a true bill according to their estimation of the evidence. If a true bill be found the indictment is sent on to court for trial. The Grand Jury is supposed to be a protec- tion of the citizen against misuse of power in that no man can be brought to trial without a body of citizens having determined that the facts require the submis- sion of the case to a judge and jury; the Grand Jury may determine that the accused is innocent, but they cannot find that he is guilty — only that the facts should go on to trial. When the Grand Jury has made its finding, the case is tried on the part of the prosecution by a district attorney whose function is the presenta- tion of all the evidence in the case for consideration of the court and jury. Many district attorneys conceive their function to be the presentation of only such evi- dence as is unfavorable to the prisoner. CONFLICTS OF LAW In equity the judge determines both the law and the facts; in legal and criminal cases the judge is com- monly restricted to the interpretation of the law; the facts are left to the jury; the power of the judge varies greatly in the diflferent States. Judges are bound only by the decisions of the courts of their own State and they receive the decisions of the courts of other States, of the United States and of England only as advisory. The Federal Courts are bound by the decisions of State Courts in the determination of State laws and by the Federal decisions in Federal matters. STATE AND FEDERAL RELATIONS In spite of two complete systems of juridicature ex- isting side by side, conflicts seldom arise. If a case has a right to be heard in the Federal Courts — it is heard there; no jealousy exists between the two tribunals, principally because the Federal judges are most punc- 72 JUDICIAL ORGANIZATION tilious about not overstepping the exact borders of their authority. If the decision of the highest State Court is conceived by a litigant to violate the Consti- tution of the United States he may then petition for the right to appeal to the United States Supreme Court on the constitutional question ; if the appeal is granted — and it is more often refused than granted — a writ of error is issued to the State Supreme Court and the case heard by the United States Supreme Court. If a man's affairs are confined within the borders of a State, he will seldom get into the Federal Courts un- less he becomes a bankrupt or violates some Federal law; his property rights, his estate, his relations vrith his fellow men are for the State judges. But when he becomes involved in interstate traffic and has dealings with men of other States, he will have recourse to the Federal justice. The one is local, the other is national. 73 Chapter X RULING BY COMMISSION THE development of commerce and the growth of laws regulating the means of commerce threw a great additional burden upon the courts of law and of equity. Some years ago it was common for carriers to give rebates to favored shippers and thus encourage the growth of monopolies. The public pos- sessed but little control over public utilities. The United States and the States passed various laws affecting utilities and the cases involving these laws eventually reached the courts. It was found im- possible to make a general law that would work jus- tice to all parties — a too drastic law might ruin a car- rier in one section while it properly regulated a car- rier in another section. ORIGIN OF THE COMMISSION And then it was further discovered that the regula- tion of public utilities was not so much a matter of law as of common sense and reason under the cir- cumstance and that the legal procedure of the courts and the juridical training of the judges were not well fitted to cope with the problems. For these reasons, the Commissions have arisen. A public commission is a body with judicial and, within limits, legislative powers. They are usually made up both of lawyers and men of experience in the particu- lar field that the commission covers. 74 RULING BY COMMISSION INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION The most important commission is the Interstate Commerce Commission which consists of seven com- missioners and a secretary. It regulates all the rail- road, inland and coast steamship, telephone and tele- graph rates of the companies which are engaged in interstate commerce — and practically all large com- panies somewhere cross State borders. The Commis- sion holds hearings to raise or to lower rates between points, passes upon many security issues and makes regulations for the safeguarding of communication. The Commission has already founded a procedure of its own and has handed down some volumes of de- cisions on important points or claims of discrimination. An appeal may be had from the decisions of the Com- mission to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals and thence, in a proper case, to the United States Supreme Court. STATE COMMISSIONS The States have very generally founded Public Ser- vice, Railroad and other commissions with powers analogous to those granted to the Interstate Com- merce Commission, but sometimes their powers are even broader, although of course their jurisdiction stops with the border of the State. In certain States, all public utilities must submit their plans for approval to the Commission and they generally exercise a super- visory financial power over new issues of bonds or stock. Broadly speaking, all commissions are delegations of the powers of the legislatures and are made neces- sary because the representative bodies cannot intelli- gently cope with the details of business management. The members are seldom elected ; usually they are ap- pointed. The Congress and the Legislatures are inclining more and more to the appointment of trained men to 75 RULING BY COMMISSION commissions to adjust the regulation and also the en- couragement of industry. The Federal Trade Com- mission was founded to have a general supervision over the methods of commerce and to collect statistics for the help of merchants. State commissions multiply with amazing rapidity; Massachusetts has commis- sions for almost every conceivable object — there are thirty in the Metropolitan District alone. The best opinion is that coinmissions are efHcient bodies if they are composed of well-trained and honest men but that a danger exists in the overmultiplication of commissions. 76 Chapter XI THE VOTER AND THE VOTE IN the voter we reach the center of government; he forms the Constitutions which frame his govern- ment, he elects the men to make and to administer his laws ; every person in the public service holds office directly or indirectly through the ballot case by the voter. The whole machinery of government — the wheels within wheels — pivot on the man with the ballot; the machinery is devised for the protection and convenience of all animate beings within the bor- ders of the Union, but the critical peg is the voter. He is the government. RIGHT TO VOTE The whole machinery of the franchise is left entirely to the separate wisdoms of the States with the single injunction contained in the Fifteenth Amendment that the right shall not be denied or abridged on account of "race, color or previous condition of servitude." The theory of the franchise is wholly compatible with the theory ©f our government that the State is supreme in its home affairs and is best able to judge who is and who is not fitted to vote. If a State determines on a vidde-open franchise for its own affairs, then that same franchise applies to the votes which it casts in national affairs. The States have taken full advantage of their right to regulate the vote; their systems and the qualifica- tions for voters differ widely. For instance, the effort 71 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE of the South is to keep the negro vote down, while the West is anxious for voters and permits the vote to men and women who are not citizens of the United States. SUFFRAGE REGULATIONS All States have manhood suffrage and the voting age is everywhere 21 years. A majority of the States now have given the vote to both men and women. Conviction for certain crimes disqualifies for suffrage in most States; nine States refuse the vote to pau- pers; ten States have a property qualification in the form of a real estate or county tax in a small sum called a poll tax; an educational qualification is re- quired in several States — Massachusetts demands that the voter be able to read the Constitution in English and to write his name. A State voting franchise is gained by residence with- in the State for a period which is generally a year and within a definite district for from thirty to sixty days. Most States have now some kind of a registration law by which the man who desires to vote is required to appear on certain days prior to election day, before registrars to whom he gives his name, residence, birth, place, age and occupation. This registration is de- signed to prevent fraud; if a citizen is not registered, he cannot vote. ELECTIONS Each citizen commonly has four grades of officers and representatives to vote for during four years — City, Town or Township, County, State and Federal. All candidates are elected by direct ballot, excepting the Presidential. In order to save expense, elections are seldom held oftener than twice a year and usually not more than once a year ; at these times the vote is reg- istered on a ballot that sets forth offices in two or more 78 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE sections of government. Thus a Presidential election may also find State, County or City candidates for legislative or administrative places on the ballot. THE BALLOT The actual casting of the ballot is complicated or simple according to the laws which happen to be in force. The secret ballot is now general. The ballot itself is usually arranged in party columns with the candidates of each party in their appropriate columns ; a voter may indicate his choice of all the candidates of any one party by a single mark or he may vote for the candidates individually by separate marks. The num- ber of non-Federal elective offices has so increased that ballots are often unwieldy, sometimes reaching the dimensions of a bed sheet. The impossibility of any voter familiarizing himself with the qualifications of some dozens of candidates has led to the short ballot in which only a few of the principal officers appear ; all other offices are filled by their appointees. The trend in recent years is to decrease the number of elected officers of local or State administrations. FEDERAL ELECTIONS The Federal elections are regulated in the same manner as State elections. The same voting qualifi- cations are enforced, but the units of representation are different. The whole State votes for the Senator whose term happens to expire, but the Represen- tatives are chosen from Congressional Districts. The Constitution apportions a Representative to each 30,000 inhabitants in a State and also leaves to it the manner of their election. Several States elect their Representatives "at large" — that is by the vote of the State for the whole number. This system is objectionable because it makes the entire delegation represent the majority party; most States, after each National Census, divide their territory into 79 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE districts according to population. Naturally the ma- jority party in the State Legislature sees to it that the new districts are so arranged that their party will be, in so far as possible, in majority in each district. This rule of division is known as "gerrymandering" and has caused some extraordinary geometric figures to be drawn upon State maps. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS The manner of electing the President differs in principle from all other elections. Instead of voting directly for the candidates, the voters express their preference for Presidential Electors equal to the State representation in Congress who then choose the Presi- dent. It was thus thought that the selection of the President would be far removed from the influence of the mob. The idea, original with the Constitutional Convention, has worked out quite differently from the plans of the founders. Although the ballots are still cast for the electors, the electors are only figureheads representing a candidate; the name of the candidate for whom they must vote appears on the ballot. Per- haps the electors still have discretionary powers but they have no opportunity to exercise them. The ac- tual result is that the electoral vote of any State is cast as a unit for the candidate who secures the greatest number of votes in that State. It may happen that the man who receives a plurality of the whole vote cast throughout the nation may not be elected President. Hayes received less popular votes than Tilden, Cleve- land less than Blaine and in 1888 Harrison less than Cleveland. The minority votes in any State do not count; in the famous Cleveland-Blaine campaign, Cleveland won over Blaine by only 1100 votes in a total of over a million votes cast in the State of New York, but the slight majority gave Cleveland the en- tire 36 Electoral Votes of New York and decided the election. The State Legislatures may, in so far as the Constitution is concerned, choose their Presi- 80 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE dential Electors without a vote of the people and they actually so did in the earlier days, but now all State Constitutions give the selecting power to the individ- ual voter. PARTY SYSTEM The voter possibly expresses his personal preference in his vote for any candidate, but he really votes as a member of some political party. Our government is run by political parties — as are all democracies. Two, and sometimes three, great parties manage the affairs of the nation, although parties with some single principle such as prohibition or socialism have a repre- sentation. The party division carries into State poli- tics with now and again a new and temporary party for some urgent issue, but party lines do not draw sharply in purely local elections. Local elections are founded on local issues and are not firmly bound by National party affiliations. The party has given rise to an extensive system of division and subdivision. Party organizations have no Constitutional authorization, but they are recognized by State laws in connection with the complicated ma- chinery of nomination, in the make-up of commissions, boards and legislative committees and sometimes in the very composition of the judiciary. A party is an unofHcial necessity in a democracy. PARTY ORGANIZATION The organization of a National political party again brings in the circle simile; we find first a National Committee composed of a member from each State; State Committees which look after State politics and carry out the ideas of the National Committee in Fed- eral affairs within a State. In narrowing fields come 81 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE the County Committees, the City Committees, the Ward or Precinct Committees and finally the District Committees which are in touch with the individual voter. In decreasing circles, the party organization gets down to the individual voter. PARTY PRINCIPLES All political organizations are concerned first with the nomination and then with the election of candi- dates for office ; their end is to marshal the voters for certain candidates. The basis of a party is a theory of government, but the basic theory is sometimes lost in the rush of events or so surrounded by immediate is- sues as to be obscured. The Republican Party is founded on a policy of Protection and the Democratic on Free Trade, but these principles may be forced out of the public mind by some great economic issue such as Free Silver, Human Rights, or Preparedness for National Defense. However, some members of each party always support the foundation policy regardless of its current pertinancy. NATIONAL CONVENTION A National Committee is charged with the holding of a Convention to nominate Presidential candidates; it is composed of one member from each State and territory. The committee meets from time to time to keep in touch with the political situation throughout the country and in December before the year of a Presidential election, selects a time and place for the National Convention. It selects the temporary chair- man for the Convention, makes the preliminary dispo- sition of seat contests and raises funds and manages the campaign for the Convention's nominee. The Convention is usually held in June or July be- fore the Presidential Election which always takes place in November. The delegates to the Convention are chosen at primary elections by the party voters ; these 82 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE elections are held under State auspices and are regu- lated by rules in accord with the particular pleasure of the State. Some States elect delegates under a pledge to vote for a certain candidate ; other States send their delegates unpledged. The Democrats elect all their delegates from a State "at large"; the Republicans elect four delegates "at large" and apportion their other delegates among the Congressional Districts. When the Convention has completed its preliminary organization, the Chairman appoints four important committees: Credentials to determine contests, Per- manent Organization to select the permanent officers. Rules to determine the order and methods of procedure and Resolutions to draw up the statement of the party's principles which is known as a "Platform." NOMINATING THE PRESIDENT The organization completed and the platform adopt- ed, the Convention sets about the nomination of can- didates ; the Democrats require a two-third vote of all the delegates for a nomination, the Republicans de- clare a nomination on a majority. The States register their votes by the individual poll of the delegation and not as units. The candidate who first receives the necessary number of votes is declared the candidate of the party and his nomination is usually made unani- mous. STATE ORGANIZATION State conventions were formerly held on much the same lines as the National Convention but with the delegates representing counties instead of States ; these conventions decided the nominees of the party for State offices. The direct primary is now in force through most of the States and the State Convention has lost its reason for being. County and city conven- tions have also well-nigh disappeared with the growth of the direct primary method. 83 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE PRIMARY NOMINATIONS Nation-wide primaries for the nomination of candi- dates for the presidency have been urged so that all political conventions might be abolished, but the move- ment is not so strong as it was a few years ago, for the direct primary has not measured up to the ideals of its draughtsmen. It was thought that the direct primary mode of nom- ination would result in the expression of the untram- melled will of the people and that the control of political bosses would be eliminated. This has not been the case. The candidates are still nominated by the smooth working political machinery except that it is done by the concentration of votes in the primary elections instead of in the conventions. The net result of the direct primary method is only to impose an addi- tional expense upon the candidates for office. Where they had formerly to finance one, they now must finance two campaigns. ELECTING THE RIGHT MEN The whole question of electing the right men to ofHce comes squarely down to the individual with the ballot; if he takes an interest in the affairs of his own home district, he can select the men whom he thinks best fitted for office, but if he leaves all the details to others, he will get their choice of candidates instead of his own. The theory of democracy is founded on the activity of the individual. The State Committees manage the State campaigns and endorse National nominees when a National elec- tion is in prospect. They operate through the City or County Committees whose work is divided among the Ward Committees which are subdivided into District Committees who are in touch with every voter. Each committee has a chairman who is the head of politics for the region which his committee covers, but the real 84 THE VOTER AND THE VOTE voter work is done by the members of the small dis- trict committees. The party machinery is delicately adjusted to keep in touch with every voter. The party system is abused but the remedy is al- ways with the voter. His ballot makes the circles of government as a stone dropped into a still pond sends ripples to the very borders. 86 ISAAC GOMMANN COMPANY NEW YORK