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CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES CONSIDERED 
 
 WITH SOME REFERENCE 
 
 TO ITS ORIGINS 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN FISKE 
 
 AtVaojuai, iral Ziji/bs 'EKsvBepCov, 
 
 'l(iepav evpvaOeve a;u,(/)t7rdAei, Sbireipa Ivj^a* 
 
 tXv yap iv iTOVTU) Kv^epvisiVTat. BoaX 
 
 i/aes, f.v x^p(^V ■'"^ Aanir/jpol TroAe^ot 
 
 Kayopal /SouAa^opoi. 
 
 Pindar, Olymp. xiL 
 
 Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! 
 Sail on, O Union, strong and great! . . 
 Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
 Are aU with thee, — are all with thee! 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO 
 
 HOUGHTON, '^"T^TLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 ^fce ^i . pre??, Cambridge 
 
11 
 
 
 
 Q s 
 
 
 Copyright 1890, 
 By JOHN FISKE. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 E E 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. 
 Electrotyped and Printed by n. u. jaougixton oc Company. 
 

 ^ 
 
 This little book is dedicated, with the author's best wishes and 
 sincere regard, to the many hundreds of young friends whom he has 
 found it so pleasant to meet in years past, and also to those whom 
 he looks forward to meeting in years to come, in studies and read- 
 ings upon the rich and fruitful history of our beloved country. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 Some time ago, my friends, Messrs. Houghton, 
 Mifflin & Co., requested me to write a small book on 
 Civil Government in the United States, which might 
 be useful as a text-book, and at the same time service- 
 able and suggestive to the general reader interested 
 in American history. In preparing the book certain 
 points have been kept especially in view, and deserve 
 some men»tion here. 
 
 It seemed desirable to adopt a historical method of 
 exposition, not simply describing our political insti- 
 tutions in their present shape, but pointing out their 
 origin, indicating some of the processes through which 
 they have acquired that present shape, and thus keep- 
 ing before the student's mind the fact that govern- 
 ment is perpetually undergoing modifications in adapt- 
 ing itself to new conditions. Inasmuch as such gradual 
 changes in government do not make themselves, but 
 are made by men — and made either for better or for 
 worse — it is obvious that the history of political in- 
 stitutions has serious lessons to teach us. The stu- 
 dent should as soon as possible come to understand 
 that every institution is the outgrowth of experiences. 
 One probably gets but little benefit from abstract 
 definitions and axioms concerning the rights of men 
 and the nature of civil society, such as we often find 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 at the beginning of books on government. Meta- 
 physical generalizations are well enough in their place, 
 but to start with such things — as the French philos- 
 ophers of the eighteenth century were fond of doing — 
 is to get the cart before the horse. It is better to 
 have our story first, and thus find out what govern- 
 ment in its concrete reality has been, and is. Then 
 we may finish up with the metaphysics, or do as I 
 have done — leave it for somebody else. 
 
 I was advised to avoid the extremely systematic, 
 intrusively symmetrical, style of exposition, which is 
 sometimes deemed indispensable in a book of this 
 sort. It was thought that students would be more 
 likely to become interested in the subject if it were 
 treated in the same informal manner into which one 
 naturally falls in giving- lectures to young people. I 
 have endeavoured to bear this in mind without sacri- 
 ficing that lucidity in the arrangement of topics which 
 is always the supreme consideration. For many years 
 I have been in the habit of lecturing on history to col- 
 lege students in different parts of the United States, 
 to young ladies in private schools, and occasionally to 
 the pupils in high and normal schools, and in writing 
 this little book I have imagined an audience of these 
 earnest and intelligent young friends gathered before 
 me. 
 
 I was especially advised — by my friend, Mr. James 
 MacAlister, superintendent of schools in Philadelphia, 
 for whose judgment I have the highest respect — to 
 make it a little book, less than three hundred pages 
 in length, if possible. Teachers and pupils do not 
 have time enough to deal properly with large treatises. 
 Brevity, therefore, is golden. A concise manual is 
 the desideratum, touching lightly upon the various 
 points, bringing out their relationships distinctly, and 
 
PREFACE, vii 
 
 referring to more elaborate treatises, monographs, and 
 documents, for the use of those who wish to pursue 
 the study at greater length. 
 
 Within limits thus restricted, it will probably seem 
 strange to some that so much space is given to the 
 treatment of local institutions, — comprising the gov- 
 ernments of town, county, and city. It may be ob- 
 served, by the way, that some persons apparently 
 conceive of the state also as a " local institution." 
 In a recent review of Professor Howard's admirable 
 " Local Constitutional History of the United States," 
 we read, " the first volume, which is all that is yet 
 published, treats of the development of the township, 
 hundred, and shire ; the second volume, we suppose, 
 being designed to treat of the State Constitutions." 
 The reviewer forgets that there is such a subject as 
 the " development of the city and local magistracies " 
 (which is to be the subject of that second volume), 
 and- lets us see that in his apprehension the American 
 state is an institution of the same order as the town 
 and county. We can thus readily assent when we 
 are told that " many youth have grown to manhood 
 with so little appreciation of the political importance 
 of the state as to believe it nothing more than a 
 geographical division." ^ In its historic genesis, the 
 American state is not an institution of the same order 
 as the town and county, nor has it as yet become de- 
 pressed or " mediatized " to that degree. The state, 
 while it does not possess such attributes of sovereignty 
 as were by our Federal Constitution granted to the 
 United States, does, nevertheless, possess many very 
 important and essential characteristics of a sovereign 
 body, as is here pointed out on pages 172-177. The 
 study of our state governments is inextricably wrapped 
 ^ Young's Government Class Book, p. iv. 
 
vui PREFACE. 
 
 up with the study of our national government, in such 
 wise that both are parts of one subject, which cannot 
 be understood unless both parts are studied. Whether 
 in the course of our country's future development we 
 shall ever arrive at a stage in which this is not the 
 case, must be left for future events to determine. But, 
 if we ever do arrive at such a stage, " American insti- 
 tutions " win present a very different aspect from those 
 with which we are now familiar, and which we have 
 always been accustomed (even, perhaps, without al- 
 ways understanding them) to admire. 
 
 The study of local government properly includes 
 town, county, and city. To this part of the subject 
 I have devoted about half of my limited space, quite 
 unheedful of the warning which I find in the preface 
 of a certain popular text-book, that " to learn the 
 duties of town, city, and county officers, has nothing 
 whatever to do with the grand and noble subject of 
 Civil Government," and that " to attempt class drill 
 on petty town and county offices, would be simply 
 burlesque of the whole subject." But, suppose one 
 were to say, with an air of ineffable scorn, that petty 
 experiments on terrestrial gravitation and radiant 
 heat, such as can be made with commonplace pendu- 
 lums and tea-kettles, have nothing whatever to do with 
 the grand and noble subject of Physical Astronomy! 
 Science would not have got very far on that plan, I 
 fancy. The truth is, that science, while it is perpetu- 
 ally dealing with questions of magnitude, and knows 
 very well what is large and what is small, knows 
 nothing whatever of any such distinction as that be- 
 tween things that are " grand " and things that are 
 " petty." When we try to study things in a scientific 
 spirit, to learn their modes of genesis and their present 
 aspects, in order that we laaj foresee their tendencies, 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 and make our volitions count for something in mod- 
 ifying them, there is nothing which we may safely dis- 
 regard as trivial. This is true of whatever we can 
 study ; it is eminently true of the history of institu- 
 tions. Government is not a royal mystery, to be shut 
 off, like old Deiokes,^ by a sevenfold wall from the 
 ordinary business of life. Questions of civil govern- 
 ment are practical business questions, the principles 
 of which are as often and as forcibly illustrated in a 
 city council or a county board of supervisors, as in the 
 House of Representatives at Washington. It is partly 
 because too many of our citizens fail to realize that 
 local government is a worthy study, that we find it 
 making so much trouble for us. The " bummers " 
 and " boodlers "do not find the subject beneath their 
 notice ; the Master who inspires them is wide awake 
 and — for a creature that divides the hoof — ex- 
 tremely intelligent. 
 
 It is, moreover, the mental training gained through 
 contact with local government that enables the people 
 of a community to conduct successfully, through their 
 representatives, the government of the state and the 
 nation. And so it makes a great deal of difference 
 whether the government of a town or county is of one 
 sort or another. If the average character of our local 
 governments for the past quarter of a century had 
 been quite as high as that of the Boston town-meeting 
 or the Virginia boards of county magistrates, in the 
 days of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, who can 
 doubt that many an airy demagogue, who, through 
 session after session, has pla,yed his pranks at the nar 
 tional capital, would long ago have been abruptly re- 
 called to his native heath, a sadder if not a wiser man? 
 We cannot expect the nature of the aggregate to be 
 
 '^ Herodotus, i. 98. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 much better than the average natures of its units. 
 One may hear people gravely discussing the difference 
 between Frenchmen and Englishmen in political effi- 
 ciency, and resorting to assumed ethnological causes 
 to explain it, when, very likely, to save their lives 
 they could not describe the difference between a 
 French commune and an English parish. To com- 
 prehend the interesting contrasts between Gambetta 
 in the Chamber of Deputies, and Gladstone in the 
 House of Commons, one should begin with a historical 
 inquiry into the causes, operating through forty gen- 
 erations, which have frittered away seK-government 
 in the rural districts and small towns of France, until 
 there is very little left. If things in America ever 
 come to such a pass that the city council of Cambridge 
 must ask Congress each year how much money it can 
 be allowed to spend for municipal purposes, while the 
 mayor of Cambridge holds his office subject to re- 
 moval by the President of the United States, we may 
 safely predict further extensive changes in the char- 
 acter of the American people and their government. 
 It was not for nothing that our profoundest political 
 thinker, Thomas Jefferson, attached so much impor- 
 tance to the study of the township. 
 
 In determining the order of exposition, I have 
 placed local government first, beginning with the 
 township as the simplest unit. It is well to try to 
 understand what is near and simple, before dealing 
 with what is remote and complex. In teaching geog- 
 raphy with maps, it is wise to get the pupil interested 
 in the streets of his own town, the country roads run- 
 ning out of it, and the neighbouring hills and streams, 
 before burdening his attention with the topographical 
 details of Borrioboola Gha. To study grand generali- 
 zations about government, before attending to such of 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 its features as come most directly before us, is to run 
 the risk of achieving a result like that attained by the 
 New Hampshire school-boy, who had studied geology 
 in a text-book, but was not aware that he had ever 
 set eyes upon an igneous rock. 
 
 After the township, naturally comes the county. 
 The city, as is here shown, is not simply a larger town, 
 but is much more complex in organization. His- 
 torically, many cities have been, or still are, equiva- 
 lent to counties ; and the development of the county 
 must be studied before we can understand that of the 
 city. It has been briefly indicated how these forms of 
 local government grew up in England, and how they 
 have become variously modified in adapting them- 
 selves to different social conditions in different parts 
 of the United States. 
 
 Next in order come the general governments, those 
 which possess and exert, in one way or another, attri- 
 butes of sovereignty. First, the various colonial gov- 
 ernments have been considered, and some features of 
 their metamorphosis into our modern state govern- 
 ments have been described. In the course of this 
 study, our attention is called to the most original and 
 striking feature of the development of civil govern- 
 ment upon American soil, — the written constitution, 
 with the accompanying power of the courts in certain 
 cases to annul the acts of the legislature. This is not 
 only the most original feature of our government, but 
 it is in some respects the most important. Without 
 the Supreme Court, it is not likely that the Federal 
 Union could have been held together, since Congress 
 has now and then passed an act which the people in 
 some of the states have regarded as unconstitutional 
 and tyrannical ; and in the absence of a judicial 
 method of settling such questions, the only available 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 remedy would have been nullification. I have de- 
 voted a brief chapter to the origin and development 
 of written constitutions, and the connection of our 
 colonial charters therewith. 
 
 Lastly, we come to the completed structure, the 
 Federal Union ; and by this time we have examined 
 so many points in the general theory of American 
 government, that our Federal Constitution can be 
 more concisely described, and (I believe) more 
 quickly understood, than if we had made it the sub- 
 ject of the first chapter instead of the last. In con- 
 clusion, there have been added a few brief hints and 
 suggestions with reference to our political history. 
 These remarks have been intentionally limited. It is 
 no part of the purpose of this book to give an account 
 of the doings of political parties under the Constitu- 
 tion. But its study may fitly be supplemented by 
 that of Professor Alexander Johnston's " History of 
 American Politics." 
 
 This arrangement not only proceeds from the sim- 
 pler forms of government to the more complex, but 
 it follows the historical order of development. From 
 time immemorial, and down into the lowest strata of 
 savagery that have come within our ken, there have 
 been clans and tribes ; and, as is here shown, a town- 
 ship was originally a stationary clan, and a county 
 was originally a stationary tribe. There were town- 
 ships and counties (or equivalent forms of organiza- 
 tion) before there were cities. In like manner there 
 were townships, counties, and cities long before there 
 was anything in the world that could properly be 
 called a state. I have remarked below upon the way 
 in which English shires coalesced into little states, 
 and in course of time the English nation was formed 
 by the union of such little states, which lost their 
 
• •• 
 
 PREFACE, xm 
 
 statehood (i, e., tlieir functions of sovereignty, though 
 not their self-government within certain limits) in the 
 process. Finally, in America, we see an enormous 
 nationality formed by the federation of states which 
 partially retain their statehood; and some of these 
 states are themselves of national dimensions, as, for 
 example. New York, which is nearly equal in area, 
 quite equal in population, and far superior in wealth, 
 to Shakespeare's England. 
 
 In studying the local institutions of our different 
 states, I have been greatly helped by the " Johns 
 Hopkins University Studies in History and Politics," 
 of which the eighth annual series is now in course of 
 publication. In the course of the pages below I have 
 frequent occasion to acknowledge my indebtedness to 
 these learned and sometimes profoundly suggestive 
 monographs ; but I cannot leave the subject without 
 a special word of gratitude to my friend. Dr. Herbert 
 Adams, the editor of the series, for the noble work 
 which he is doing in promoting the study of American 
 history. 
 
 It had always seemed to me that the mere existence 
 of printed questions in text-books proves that the pub- 
 lishers must have rather a poor opinion of the aver- 
 age intelligence of teachers ; and it also seemed as if 
 the practical effect of such questions must often be 
 to make the exercise of recitation more mechanical 
 for both teachers and pupils, and to encourage the 
 besetting sin of " learning by heart." Nevertheless, 
 there are usually two sides to a case ; and, in deference 
 to the prevailing custom, for which, no doubt, there 
 is much to be said, full sets of questions have been 
 appended to each chapter and section. It seemed de- 
 sirable that such questions should be prepared by 
 some one especially familiar with the use of school- 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 books ; and for these I have to thank Mr. F. A. Hill, 
 Head Master of the Cambridge English High School. 
 I confess that Mr. Hill's questions have considerably 
 modified my opinion as to the merits of such appara- 
 tus. They seem to add very materially to the useful- 
 ness of the book. 
 
 It will be observed that there are two sets of these 
 questions, entirely distinct in character and purpose. 
 The first set — " Questions on the Text " — is ap- 
 pended to each section., so as to be as near the text 
 as possible. These questions furnish an excellent top- 
 ical analysis of the text.^ In a certain sense they ask 
 " what the book says," bux the teacher is advised em- 
 phatically to discourage any such thing as committing 
 the text to memory. The tendency to rote-learning 
 is very strong. I had to contend with it in teaching 
 history to seniors at Harvard twenty years ago, but 
 much has since been done to check it through the de- 
 velopment of the modern German seminary methods. 
 (For an explanation of these methods, see Dr. Herbert 
 Adams on "• Seminary Libraries and University Ex- 
 tension," J. H. U. Studies., V., xi.) With younger 
 students the tendency is of course stronger. It is 
 only through much exercise that the mind learns 
 how to let itself — as Matthew Arnold used to say — 
 " play freely about the facts." 
 
 In order to supply the pupil with some wholesome 
 exercise of this sort, Mr. Hill has added, at the end 
 of each chapter., a set of " Suggestive Questions and 
 Directions." Here he has thoroughly divined the 
 purpose of the book and done much to further it. 
 
 1 " This," says Mr. Hill, " will please those who prefer the topical 
 method, while it does not forbid the easy transformation of topics to 
 questions, which others may demand. " 
 
 In the table of contents I have made a pretty full topical analysis 
 of the book, which may prove useful for comparison 'with Mr. Hill's. 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 Problems or cases are suggested for the student to 
 consider, and questions are asked which cannot be 
 disposed of by a direct appeal to the text. Some- 
 times the questions go quite outside of the text, and 
 relate to topics concerning which it provides no in- 
 formation whatever. This has been done with a pur- 
 pose. The pupil should learn how to go outside of 
 the book and gather from scattered sources informa- 
 tion concerning questions that the book suggests. In 
 other words, he should begin to learn how to make 
 researches^ for that is coming to be one of the useful 
 arts, not merely for scholars, but for men and women 
 in many sorts of avocations. It is always useful, as 
 well as ennobling, to be able to trace knowledge to its 
 sources. Work of this sort involves more or less con- 
 ference and discussion among classmates, and calls for 
 active aid from the teacher ; and if the teacher does 
 not at first feel at home in these methods, practice 
 will nevertheless bring familiarity, and will prove 
 most wholesome training. For the aid of teachers 
 and pupils, as well as of the general reader who wishes 
 to pursue the subject, I have added a bibliographical 
 note at the end of each chapter, immediately after 
 Mr. Hill's " Suggestive Questions and Directions." 
 
 This particular purpose in my book must be care- 
 fully borne in mind. It explains the omission of 
 many details which some text-books on the same sub- 
 ject would be sure to include. To make a manual 
 complete and self-sufficing is precisely what I have 
 not intended. The book is designed to be suggestive 
 and stimulating, to leave the reader with scant in- 
 formation on some points, to make him (as Mr. Samuel 
 W^eller says) " vish there wos more," and to show him 
 how to go on by himself. I am weU aware that, in 
 making an experiment in this somewhat new direction. 
 
XVI PREFACE, 
 
 nothing is easier than to fall into errors of judgment. 
 1 can hardly suppose that this book is free from such 
 errors ; but if in spite thereof it shall turn out to be 
 in any way helpful in bringing the knowledge and 
 use of the German seminary method into our higher 
 schools, I shall be more than satisfied. 
 
 Just here, let me say to young people in all parts 
 of our country : — If you have not already done 
 so, it would be well worth while for you to organize a 
 debating society in your town or village, for the dis- 
 cussion of such historical and practical questions re- 
 lating to the government of the United States as are 
 suggested in the course of this book. Once started, 
 there need be no end of interesting and profitable 
 subjects for discussion. As a further guide to the 
 books you need in studying such subjects, use Mr. 
 W. E. Foster's "Eeferences to the Constitution of 
 the United States," the invaluable pamphlet men- 
 tioned below on page 277. If you cannot afford to 
 buy the books, get the public library of your town or 
 village to buy them ; or, perhaps, organize a small 
 special library for your society or club. Librarians 
 will naturally feel interested in such a matter, and 
 will often be able to help with advice. A few hours 
 every week spent in such wholesome studies cannot 
 fail to do much toward the political education of the 
 local community, and thus toward the general im- 
 provement of the American people. For the ameli- 
 oration of things will doubtless continue to be ef- 
 fected in the future, as it has been effected in the 
 past, not by ambitious schemes of sudden and uni- 
 versal reform (which the sagacious man always sus- 
 pects, just as he suspects all schemes for returning a 
 fabulously large interest upon investments), but by 
 the gradual and cumulative efforts of innumerable in- 
 
PREFACE, xvii 
 
 dividuals, each doing something to help or instruct 
 those to whom his influence extends. He who makes 
 two clear ideas grow where there was only one hazy 
 one before, is the true benefactor of his species. 
 
 In conclusion, I must express my sincere thanks to 
 Mr. Thomas Emerson, superintendent of schools in 
 Newton, for the very kind interest he has shown in 
 my work, in discussing its plan with me at the outset, 
 in reading the completed manuscript, and in offering 
 valuable criticisms. 
 
 Cambridge, August 5, 1890. 
 
 PEEFACE TO THIS EDITION. 
 
 Ik the present revision such errors as are incident 
 to first editions have been carefully eliminated, and 
 such changes have been made as have seemed de- 
 sirable in order to keep the book abreast with the 
 times. 
 
 JOHN FISKE. 
 Cambridge, March 22, 1900. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 PAaii 
 
 " Too much taxes " . .1,2 
 
 What is taxation ? 3 
 
 Taxation and eminent domain . . . , , ^ 4 
 
 /What is government ? . . . , . c . 5 
 
 The " ship of state " . . . , , , . 5 
 
 " The government " . . . . . „ . . 6 
 
 Whatever else it may be, " the government " is the power 
 which imposes taxes ....... 7 
 
 Difference between taxation and robbery .... 8 
 
 Sometimes taxation is robbery ...... 9 
 
 The study of history is full of practical lessons, and helpful 
 
 to those who would be good citizens . . . 9, 10 
 
 Perpetual vigilance is the price of liberty ... 11 
 
 Questions on the Text 11, 12 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . . 12-14 
 Bibliographical Note . . . . . 14, 15 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 § 1. The Neio England Township. 
 
 The most ancient and simple form of government . . 16 
 New England settled by church congregations . . 16, 17 
 Policy of the early Massachusetts government as to land 
 
 grants « , , . , . , -. .17 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 Smallness of the farms ....... 18 
 
 Township and village ...,,.« 18 
 Social position of the settlers ...... 19 
 
 The town-meeting 19 
 
 Selectmen ; town-clerk ....... 20 
 
 Town-treasurer ; constables ; assessors of taxes and over- 
 seers of the poor . . • * • • • • • 21 
 
 Act of 1647 establishing public schools . . . .22 
 
 School committees 22, 23 
 
 Field-drivers and pound-keepers ; fence-viewers ; other 
 
 town officers 23, 24 
 
 Calling the town-meeting ...... 24 
 
 Town, county, and state taxes 25 
 
 Poll-tax 25 
 
 Taxes on real-estate ; taxes on personal property . . 26 
 When and where taxes are assessed . . . . 26, 27 
 
 Tax-lists . .27 
 
 Cheating the government 28 
 
 The rate of taxation ........ 28 
 
 Undervaluation; the burden of taxation .... 29 
 
 The " magic-fund " delusion 30 
 
 Educational value of the town-meeting .... 31 
 
 By-laws 31 
 
 Power and responsibility ....... 32 
 
 There is nothing especially American, democratic, or meri- 
 torious about " rotation in office " . . . . .32 
 
 Questions on the Text 32-34 
 
 § 2. Origin of the Township, 
 
 Town-meetings in ancient Greece and Rome . . .34 
 Clans ; the mark and the tun ...... 35 
 
 The Old-English township, the manor, and the parish 36, 37 
 The vestry-meeting ........ 37 
 
 Parish and vestry clerks; beadles, waywardens, hay wards, 
 common-drivers, churchwardens, etc. . . . .38 
 
 Transition from the English parish to the New England 
 township ......... 38, 39 
 
 Building of states out of smaller political units . . 39 
 Representation; shire-motes; Earl Simon's Parliament . 46 
 The township as the *^ unit of representation " in the shire- 
 mote and in the General Court . . . . .41 
 
 Contrast with the Russian village-community which is not 
 represented in the general government • . . . 42 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 Questions on the Text 43 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . . 43-46 
 Bibliographical Note 46, 47 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 THE COUNTY. 
 
 § 1. The County in its Beginnings* 
 
 Why do we have counties ? 48 
 
 Clans and tribes . 49 
 
 The English nation, like the American, grew out of the 
 union of small states ...... 49, 50 
 
 Ealdorman and sheriff; shire-mote and county court 50, 51 
 
 The coroner, or " crown officer "..... 51, 52 
 
 Justices of the peace; the Quarter Sessions; the lord lieu- 
 tenant 52 
 
 Decline of the English county ; beginnings of counties in 
 Massachusetts ........ 53 
 
 Questions on the Text 54 
 
 § 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts. 
 
 County commissioners, etc. ; shire-towns and court-houses 55 
 Justices of the peace, and trial justices .... 55, 56 
 
 The sheriff 56 
 
 Questions on the Text 57 
 
 § 3. The Old Virginia County. 
 
 Virginia sparsely settled ; extensive land grants to individ- 
 uals 57, 58 
 
 Navigable rivers ; absence of towns ; slavery ... 58 
 Social position of the settlers ...... 59 
 
 Virginia parishes ; the vestry was a close corporation 59, 60 
 Powers of the vestry ....... 60 
 
 The county was the unit of representation . . . .61 
 
 The county court was virtually a close corporation . . 61, 62 
 The county-seat, or Court House . . . ... 62 
 
 Powers of the court ; the sheriff 63 
 
 The county-lieutenant ...=,.... 64 
 Contrast between old Virginia and old New England, in re- 
 spect of local government ...... 64, 65 
 
xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 Jefferson's opinion of township government . . .65 
 
 " Court-day " in old Virginia 65, 66 
 
 Virginia has been prolific in great leaders . , , QQ,, 67 
 
 Questions on the Text 67, 68 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . . 68-70 
 Bibliographical Note 70 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 township and county. 
 
 § 1. Various Local Systems. 
 
 Parishes in South Carolina 71 
 
 The back country ; the " regulators " .... 72 
 
 The district system . 72, 73 
 
 The modern South Carolina county 73, 74 
 
 The counties are too large ....... 74 
 
 Tendency of the school district to develop into something 
 
 like a township 74 
 
 Local institutions in colonial Maryland ; the hundred . . 75 
 Clans ; brotherhoods, or phratries ; and tribes . . 75 
 Origin of the hundred ; the hundred court ; the high con- 
 stable 76 
 
 Decay of the hundred ; hundred-meeting in Maryland . 77 
 The hundred in Delaware ; the levy court, or representa- 
 tive county assembly . . . . . . .78 
 
 The old Pennsylvania county ...... 78 
 
 Town-meetings in New York . ... . .79 
 
 The county board of supervisors ..... 79, 80 
 
 Questions on the Text 80 
 
 § 2. Settlement of the Public Domain. 
 
 Westv/ard movement of population along parallels of lati- 
 tude 81 
 
 Method of surveying the public lands . . . 81-83 
 
 Origin of townships in the West ..... 83 
 
 Formation of counties in the West .... 84, 85 
 
 Some effects of this system . . . . . . 85 
 
 The reservation of a section for public schools . . .86 
 In this reservation there were the germs of township gov- 
 ernment .....«•... 87 
 
CONTENTS, xxiii 
 
 But at first the county system prevailed . . o 87, 88 
 Questions on the Text 88 
 
 § 3. The Representative Township-County System in the West. 
 The town-meeting in Michigan ...... 89 
 
 Conflict between township and county systems in Illinois 89/90 
 
 Effects of the Ordinance of 1787 90 
 
 Intense vitality of the township system . . . .91 
 County option and township option in Missouri, Nebraska, 
 
 Minnesota, and Dakota ...... 91, 92 
 
 Grades of township government in the West . . .92 
 An excellent result of the absence of centralization in the 
 
 United States 93 
 
 Effect of the self-governing school district in the South, in 
 
 preparing the way for the self-governing township . . 94 
 Woman-suffrage in the school district .... 94, 95 
 
 Questions on the Text 95, 96 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . . 96-98 
 Bibliographical Note . . . . . .98 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CITY. 
 
 § 1. Direct and Indirect Government. 
 
 Summary of the foregoing results ; township government 
 is direct, county government is indirect ... 99 
 
 Representative government is necessitated in a county by 
 the extent of territory, and in a city by the multitude of 
 people 100, 101 
 
 Josiah Quincy's account of the Boston town-meeting in 
 1830 101, 102 
 
 Distinctions between towns and cities in America and in 
 
 England 102, 103 
 
 Questions on the Text ..... 104 
 
 § 2. Origin of English Boroughs and Cities. 
 
 Origin of the Chester s and casters in Roman camps . . 104 
 
 Coalescence of towns into fortified boroughs . . ^104, 105 
 The borough as a hundred ; it acquires a court . . . 105 
 
 The borough as a county ; it acquires a sheriff . 105, 106 
 
XXIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Government of London under Henry 1 106 
 
 The guilds ; the town guild, and Guild Hall . . 106, 107 
 Government of London as perfected in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury ; mayor, aldermen, and common council . . 107, 108 
 The city of London, and the metropolitan district . . 108 
 English cities vfexe for a long time the bulwarks of liberty 109 
 Simon de Montfort and the cities . . . . .110 
 
 Oligarchical abuses in English cities, beginning with the 
 Tudor period . . . . . . . . 110 
 
 The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 Ill 
 
 Government of the city of New York before the Revolu- 
 tion Ill, 112 
 
 Changes after the Revolution ..... 112, 113 
 City government in Philadelphia in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury 113, 114 
 
 The very tradition of good government was lacking in these 
 
 cities 114 
 
 Questions on the Text .... 114-116 
 
 § 3. The Government of Cities in the United States. 
 
 Several features of our municipal governments . . 116, 117 
 In many cases they do not seem to work well . . 117, 118 
 Rapid growth of American cities ..... 119 
 
 Some consequences of this rapid growth .... 120 
 
 Wastefulness resulting from want of foresight . . . 121 
 Growth in complexity of government in cities . . 121, 122 
 Illustrated by list of municipal officers in Boston . 122, 123 
 
 How city government comes to be a mystery to the citizens, 
 in some respects harder to understand than state and 
 national government ....... 124 
 
 Dread of the " one-man power " has in many cases led to 
 
 scattering and weakening of responsibility . . . 125 
 Committees inefficient for executive purposes ; the " Cir- 
 cumlocution Office " 126 
 
 Alarming increase of city debts, and various attempts to 
 
 remedy the evil 127 
 
 Experience of New York with state interference in muni- 
 cipal affairs ; unsatisfactory results . . . 127-129 
 
 The Tweed Ring in New York 129 
 
 The present is a period of experiments . . - . 130 
 The new government of Brooklyn .... 130-132 
 Necessity of separating municipal from national politics . 132 
 
CONTENTS. XXV 
 
 Notion that the suffrage ought to be restricted ; evils 
 
 wrought by ignorant voters 133 
 
 Evils wrought by wealthy speculators ; testimony of the 
 
 Pennsylvania Municipal Commission .... 134 
 Dangers of a restricted suffrage ..... 134, 135 
 Baneful effects of mixing city politics with national poli- 
 tics 135, 136 
 
 The " spoils system " must be destroyed, root and branch ; 
 
 ballot reform also indispensable . . . . . 136 
 
 Questions on the Text .... 136-138 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . 138, 139 
 
 Bibliographical Note 139 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STATE. 
 
 § 1. The Colonial Governments. 
 
 Claims of Spain to the possession of North America . . 140 
 Claims of France and England .... 140, 141 
 
 The London and Plymouth Companies .... 141 
 
 Their common charter ....... 142 
 
 Dissolution of the two companies ..... 143 
 
 States formed in the three zones .... 143-145 
 
 Formation of representative governments ; House of Bur- 
 gesses in Virginia ....... 145, 146 
 
 Company of Massachusetts Bay ..... 146 
 
 Transfer of the charter from England to Massachusetts 147 
 
 The General Court ; assistants and deputies . . 147, 148 
 Virtual independence of Massachusetts, and quarrels with 
 the Crown ......... 148 
 
 New charter of Massachusetts in 1692 ; its liberties cur- 
 tailed 149 
 
 Republican governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island 149 
 Counties palatine in England ; proprietary charter of Mary- 
 land 150,151 
 
 Proprietary charter of Pennsylvania ..... 152 
 Quarrels between Penns and Calverts ; Mason and Dixon's 
 
 line 152 
 
 Other proprietary governments ..... 152, 153 
 They generally became unpopular , . . . . 153 
 
xxvi COJ^TENTS. 
 
 At the time of tlie Revolution there were three forms of co- 
 lonial government : 1. Republican ; 2. Proprietary ; 3. 
 Royal 154 
 
 (After 1692 the government of Massachusetts might be de- 
 scribed as Semi-royal) ....... 154 
 
 In all three forms there was a representative assembly, 
 which alone could impose taxes .... 154, 155 
 
 The governor's council was a kind of upper house . . 155 
 
 The colonial government was much like the English system 
 in miniature ......... 155 
 
 The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parlia- 
 ment 156 
 
 Except in the regulation of maritime commerce . . . 157 
 
 In England there grew up the theory of the imperial su- 
 premacy of parliament 157 
 
 And the conflict between the British and American theories 
 was precipitated by becoming involved in the political 
 
 schemes of George III . 158 
 
 Questions on the Text . . . . 159, 160 
 
 § 2. The Transition from Colonial to State Governments. 
 
 Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments .... 161 
 
 Committees of correspondence ; provincial congresses . 162 
 Provisional governments ; "governors " and "presidents '* 163 
 Origin of the senates ........ 164 
 
 Likenesses and differences between British and American 
 systems . ... . . • • • • 165 
 
 Questions on the Text . . . . . 165, 166 
 
 § 3. The State Governments. 
 
 Later modifications ......•• 166 
 
 Universal suffrage ........ 167 
 
 Separation between legislative and executive departments ; 
 its advantages and disadvantages as compared with the 
 European plan ....... 168. 169 
 
 In our system the independence of the executive is of vital 
 importance ......... 169 
 
 The state executive ........ 169 
 
 The governor's functions : 1. Adviser of legislature ; 2. 
 Commander of state militia ; 3. Royal prerogative of 
 pardon ; 4. Veto power ...... 170, 171 
 
 Importance of the veto power as a safeguard against cor- 
 . ruptiou ,,.-,..-,. 171 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 In building the state, the local self-government was left un- 
 impaired «... 172 
 
 Instructive contrast with France 
 Some causes of French political incapacity . 
 Vastness of the functions retained by the states in 
 ican Union ....... 
 
 Illustration from recent English history 
 Independence of the state courts 
 Constitution of the state courts . 
 Elective and appointive judges 
 
 Questions on the Text . 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions 
 
 Bibliographical Note 
 
 . 173 
 
 . 174: 
 
 the Amer- 
 
 175, 176 
 . 176,177 
 
 o 177 
 . . 178 
 
 . 179 
 . 180, 181 
 
 181-185 
 . 185,186 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 written constitutions. 
 
 In the American state there is a power above the legis- 
 lature 187 
 
 Germs of the idea of a written constitution .... 188 
 Development of the idea of contract in Roman law ; medi- 
 aeval charters ...<..... 188 
 
 The " Great Charter " (1215) 189 
 
 The Bill of Rights (1689) 190 
 
 Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane 
 
 (1656) » , 191 
 
 The Mayflower compact (1620) . . . ' . .192 
 The " Fundamental Orders " of Connecticut (1639) . 192, 193 
 Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the 
 modern state constitution . . . . . .193 
 
 Abnormal development of some recent state constitutions, 
 
 encroaching upon the legislature 194 
 
 The process of amending constitutions . . . = 195 
 
 The Swiss " Referendum " 196 
 
 Questions on the Text ..... 196-198 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . 198, 199 
 Bibliographical Note ...... 200 
 
xxvin 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 § 1. Origin of the Federal Union. 
 
 Circumstances favourable to the union of the colonies . 201 
 The New England Confederacy (1643-84) . . . .202 
 Albany Congress (1754) ; Stamp Act Congress (1765) ; 
 Committees of Correspondence (1772-75) . . . 203 
 
 The Continental Congress (1774-89) 204 
 
 The several states were never at any time sovereign states 205 
 The Articles of Confederation ...... 205 
 
 Nature and powers of the Continental Congress . . 206, 207 
 It could not impose taxes, and therefore was not fully en- 
 dowed with sovereignty ...... 207 
 
 Decline of the Continental Congress ..... 208 
 
 Weakness of the sentiment of union ; anarchical tenden- 
 cies 208, 209 
 
 The Federal Convention (1787) 209-211 
 
 Questions on the Text .... 211, 212 
 
 § 2. The Federal Congress, 
 
 The House of Representatives 
 
 The three fifths compromise .... 
 
 The Connecticut compromise 
 
 The Senate ....... 
 
 Electoral districts ; the " Gerrymander " . 
 The election at large ..... 
 
 Time of assenqi|)ling . . . » . 
 Privileges of members ..... 
 
 The Speaker . . . 
 
 Impeachment in England ; in the United States 
 
 The president's veto power .... 
 
 Questions on the Text 
 
 § 3. The Federal Executive. 
 
 The title of « President " . . . . 
 The electoral college ..... 
 
 The twelfth amendment .... 
 The electoral commission (1877) 
 Provisions against a lapse of the presidency 
 
 212-214 
 . 213 
 
 . 214 
 
 . 215 
 
 216, 217 
 
 . 218 
 
 . 219 
 . 220 
 
 . 220 
 . 221 
 
 . 222 
 223, 224 
 
 . 224 
 225, 226 
 
 . 227 
 
 . 228 
 
 228, 229 
 
CONTENTS. xxix 
 
 Original purpose of the electoral college not fulfilled . . 229 
 Electors formerly chosen in many states by districts ; now 
 always on a general ticket ...... 230 
 
 « Minority presidents " 230,231 
 
 Advantages of the electoral system ..... 231 
 Nomination of candidates by congressional caucus (1800-24) 232 
 Nominating conventions ; the " primary " ; the district con- 
 vention ; the national convention ..... 233 
 
 . 234 
 
 234, 235 
 
 . 235 
 
 . 236 
 
 . 237 
 
 . 238 
 
 . 239 
 
 . 240 
 
 240-243 
 
 Qualifications for the presidency ; the term of office 
 Powers and duties of the president . 
 The president's message ..... 
 Executive departments ; the cabinet 
 The secretary of state ..... 
 
 Diplomatic and consular service 
 The secretary of the treasury .... 
 The other departments ..... 
 Questions on the Text .... 
 
 § 4. The Nation and the States. 
 
 Difference between confederation and federal union . 243 
 
 Powers granted to Congress ...... 244 
 
 The " Elastic Clause " 245 
 
 Powers denied to the states . . . . . . 245 
 
 Evils of an inconvertible paper currency . . . 245, 246 
 
 Powers denied to Congress 247 
 
 Bills of attainder 247 
 
 Intercitizenship ; mode of making amendments . . . 248 
 Questions on the Text .... 249, 250 
 
 § 5. The Federal Judiciary. 
 
 Need for a federal judiciary ...... 250 
 
 Federal courts and judges ..... 250, 251 
 
 District attorneys and marshals ...... 251 
 
 The federal jurisdiction . . . . . . 251, 252 
 
 Questions on the Text 252 
 
 § 6. Territorial Government. 
 
 The Northwest Territory and the Ordinance of 1787 . 253 
 
 Other territories and their government .... 254 
 
 Questions on the Text 254 
 
XXX CONTENTS. 
 
 § 7. Ratification and Amendments. 
 
 Provisions for ratification 253 
 
 Concessions to slavery . . . . , , . 255 
 
 Demand for a bill of rights 25d 
 
 The first ten amendments , 256 
 
 Questions on the Text 257 
 
 § 8. ^ Few Words about Politics. 
 
 Federal taxation ........ 257 
 
 Hamilton's policy ; excise ; tariff .... 258, 259 
 
 Origin of American political parties ; strict and loose con- 
 struction of the Elastic Clause ..... 259 
 
 Tariff, Internal Improvements, and National Bank . . 260 
 Civil Service reform ....... 261 
 
 Origin of the " spoils system " in the state politics of New 
 
 York and Pennsylvania 262 
 
 « Rotation in office ; " the Crawford Act . . . . 262 
 How the " spoils system " was made national . r . 263 
 
 The Civil Service Act of 1883 264 
 
 The Australian ballot ........ 265 
 
 The English system of accounting for election expenses . 266 
 
 Questions on the Text 267, 268 
 
 Suggestive Questions and Directions . 269-271 
 Bibliographical Note ..... 272-277 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. The Articles of Confederation . 
 
 B. The Constitution of the United States 
 
 C. Magna Charta ..... 
 
 D. Part of the Bill of Rights, 1689 . 
 
 E. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut 
 
 F. The States classified according to origin 
 
 G. Table of states and territories 
 H. Population of the United States 1790-1880^ 
 
 centages of urban population 
 
 I. An Examination Paper for Customs Clerks . . 337 
 
 J. The New York Corrupt Practices Act of 1890 . . 342 
 
 K. Specimen of an Avistralian ballot .... 347 
 
 Index 353 
 
 279 
 287 
 308 
 325 
 329 
 335 
 336 
 
 with per- 
 
 337 
 
CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 CONSIDERED WITH SOME REFER^ 
 
 ENCE TO ITS ORIGINS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 In that strangely beautiful story, "The Cloister 
 and the Hearth," in which Charles Reade has drawn 
 such a vivid picture of human life at the close of the 
 Middle Ages, there is a good description of the siege 
 of a revolted town by the army of the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy. Arrows whiz, catapults hurl their ponderous 
 stones, wooden towers are built^ secret mines are ex- 
 ploded. The sturdy citizens, led by a tall knight who 
 seems to bear a charmed life, baffle every device of 
 the besiegers. At length the citizens capture the 
 brother of the duke's general, and the besiegers cap- 
 ture the tall knight, who turns out to be no knight 
 after all, but just a plebeian hosier. The duke's gen- 
 eral is on the point of ordering the tradesman who 
 has made so much trouble to be shot, but the latter 
 still remains master of the situation ; for, as he dryly 
 observes, if any harm comes to him, the enraged citi- 
 zens will hang the general's brother. Some parley 
 ensues, in which the shrewd hosier promises for the 
 townsfolk to set free their prisoner and pay a round 
 
2 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 sum of money if the besieging- army will depart and 
 leave tliem in peace. The offer is accepted, and so 
 the matter is amicably settled. As the worthy citizen 
 is about to take his leave, the general ventures a word 
 of inquiry as to the cause of the town's revolt. " What, 
 then, is your grievance, my good friend ? " Our ho- 
 ^-I'oo much sier knight, though deft with needle and 
 taxes." keen with lance, has a stammering tongue. 
 He answers : " Tuta — tuta — tuta — tuta — too much 
 taxes ! " 
 
 " Too much taxes : " those three little words fur- 
 nish us with a clue wherewith to understand and ex- 
 plain a great deal of history. A great many sieges 
 of towns, so horrid to have endured though so pictur- 
 esque to read about, hundreds of weary marches and 
 deadly battles, thousands of romantic plots that have 
 led their inventors to the scaffold, have owed their 
 origin to questions of taxation. The issue between 
 the ducal commander and the warlike tradesman has 
 been tried over and over again in every country and 
 in every age, and not always has the oppressor been 
 so speedily thwarted and got rid of. The questions as 
 to how much the taxes shall be, and who is to decide 
 how much they shall be, are always and in every stage 
 of society questions of most fundamental importance. 
 And ever since men began to make history, a very 
 large part of what they have done, in the way of 
 making history, has been the attempt to settle these 
 questions, whether by discussion or by blows, whether 
 in council chambers or on the battlefield. The French 
 Revolution of 1789, the most terrible political convul- 
 sion of modern times, was caused chiefly by " too 
 much taxes," and by the fact that the people who paid 
 the taxes were not the people who decided what the 
 taxes were to be. Our own Revolution, which made 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 3 
 
 the United States a nation independent of Great Brit- 
 ain, was brought on by the disputed question as to 
 who was to decide what taxes American citizens must 
 pay. 
 
 What, then, are taxes ? The question is one which 
 is apt to come up, sooner or later, to puzzle children. 
 They find no difficulty in understanding the butcher's 
 bill for so many pounds of meat, or the tailor's bill 
 for so many suits of clothes, where the value received 
 is something that can be seen and handled. But the 
 tax bill, though it comes as inevitably as the ^i,at iatax. 
 autumnal frosts, bears no such obvious rela- **i<^"^ 
 tion to the incidents of domestic life ; it is not quite 
 so clear what the money goes for ; and hence it is apt 
 to be paid by the head of the household with more or 
 less grumbling, while for the younger members of the 
 family it requires some explanation. 
 
 It only needs to be pointed out, however, that in 
 every town some things are done for the benefit of all 
 the inhabitants of the town, things which concern one 
 person just as much as another. Thus roads are made 
 and kept in repair, school-houses are built and salaries 
 paid to school-teachers, there are constables who take 
 criminals to jail, there are engines for putting out 
 fires, there are public libraries, town cemeteries, and 
 poor-houses. Money raised for these purposes, which 
 are supposed to concern all the inhabitants, is sup- 
 posed to be paid by all the inhabitants, each one fur- 
 nishing his share ; and the share which each one pays 
 is his town tax. 
 
 From this illustration it would appear that taxes 
 are private property taken for public purposes ; and 
 in making this statement we come very near the truth. 
 Taxes are portions of private property which a gov- 
 ernment takes for its public purposes. Before going 
 
4 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 farther, let us pause to observe that there is one other 
 way, besides taxation, in which government 
 
 Taxation and , . , ■• • , , p it 
 
 eminent do- sometimes takcs private property tor public 
 purposes. Roads and streets are of great 
 importance to the general public ; and the government 
 of the town or city in which you live may see fit, in 
 opening a new street, to run it across your garden, or 
 to make you move your house or shop out of the way 
 for it. In so doing, the government either takes away 
 or damages some of your property. It exercises rights 
 over your property without asking your permission. 
 This power of government over private property is 
 called "the right of eminent domain." It means that 
 a man's private interests must not be allowed to ob- 
 struct the interests of the whole community in which 
 he lives. But in two ways the exercise of eminent 
 domain is unlike taxation. In the first place, it is 
 only occasional, and affects only certain persons here 
 or there, whereas taxation goes on perpetually and 
 affects all persons who own property. In the second 
 place, when the government takes away a piece of 
 your land to make a road, it pays you money in 
 return for it ; perhaps not quite so much as you believe 
 the piece of land was worth in the market ; the aver- 
 age human nature is doubtless such that men seldom 
 give fair measure for measure unless they feel com- 
 pelled to, and it is not easy to put a government un- 
 der compulsion. Still it gives you something ; it does 
 not ask you to part with your property for nothing. 
 Now in the case of taxation, the government takes 
 your money and seems to make no return to you indi- 
 vidually ; but it is supposed to return to you the value 
 of it in the shape of well-paved streets, good schools, 
 efficient protection against criminals, and so forth. 
 In giving this brief preliminary definition of taxes 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 5 
 
 and taxation, we have already begun to speak of " the 
 government " of the town or city in which you live. 
 We shall presently have to speak of other " govern- 
 ments," — as the government of your state and the 
 government of the United States ; and we shall now 
 and then have occasion to allude to the srov- 
 
 What is 
 
 ernments of other countries in which the peo- govem- 
 pie are free, as, for example, England ; and 
 of some countries in which the people are not free, as, 
 for example, Russia. It is desirable, therefore, that 
 we should here at the start make sure what we mean 
 by " government," in order that we may have a clear 
 idea of what v^e are talking about. 
 
 Our verb " to govern " is an Old French word, one 
 of the great host of French words which became a 
 part of the English language between the eleventh 
 and fourteenth centuries, when so much French was 
 spoken in England. The French word was gouverner^ 
 and its oldest form was the Latin guhernare, a word 
 which the Romans borrowed from the Greek, and 
 meant originally " to steer the ship." Hence it very 
 naturally came to mean " to guide," " to direct," " to 
 command." The comparison between governing and 
 steering was a happy one. To govern is not to com- 
 mand as a master commands a slave, but it is to issue 
 orders and give directions for the common good ; for 
 the interests of the man at the helm are the same as 
 those of the people in the ship. All must The"ship 
 float or sink together. Hence we sometimes '^^ state." 
 spe^k of the " ship of state," and we often call the 
 state a "commonwealth," or something in the weal or 
 welfare of which all the people are alike interested. 
 
 Government, then, is the directing or managing of 
 such affairs as concern all the people alike, — as, for 
 example, the punishment of criminals, the enforce- 
 
6 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT, 
 
 ment of contracts, the defence against foreign enemies, 
 tlie maintenance of roads and bridges, and so on. To 
 the directing or managing of such affairs all the peo- 
 ple are expected to contribute, each according to his 
 ability, in the shape of taxes. Government is some- 
 thing which is supported by the people and kept alive 
 by taxation. There is no other way of keeping it 
 alive. 
 
 The business of carrying on government — of steer- 
 ing the ship of state — either requires some special 
 training, or absorbs all the time and attention of 
 those who carry it on ; and accordingly, in all coun- 
 tries, certain persons or groups of persons are se- 
 lected or in some way set apart, for longer or shorter 
 periods of time, to perform the work of government. 
 Such persons may be a king with his council, as in the 
 England of the twelfth century ; or a parliament led 
 by a responsible ministry, as in the England of to-day ; 
 or a president and two houses of congress, as in the 
 United States ; or a board of selectmen, as in a New 
 England town. When we speak of " a government " 
 "The gov- o^ "the government," we often mean the 
 eminent." gj-Qup of pcrsous thus sct apart for carrying 
 on the work of government. Thus, by " the Glad- 
 stone government " we mean Mr. Gladstone, with his 
 colleagues in the cabinet and his Liberal majority in 
 the House of Commons ; and by " the Lincoln gov- 
 ernment," properly speaking, was meant President 
 Lincoln, with the Republican majorities in the Senate 
 and House of Representatives. 
 
 " The government " has always many things to do, 
 and there are many different lights in which we might 
 regard it. But for the present there is one thing 
 which we need especially to keep in mind. "The 
 government " is the power which can rightfully take 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 7 
 
 away a part of your property, in the shape of taxes, 
 to be used for public purposes. A government is not 
 worthy of the name, and cannot long be kept in exist- 
 ence, unless it can raise money by taxation, whatever 
 and use force, if necessary, in collecting its beT''*tS^^ 
 taxes. The only general government of the Ji°en?""i8 
 United States during the Revolutionary War, "hicr^'' 
 and for six years after its close, was the Con- *^^®^* 
 tinental Congress, which had no authority to raise 
 money by taxation. In order to feed and clothe the 
 army and pay its officers and soldiers, it was obliged 
 to ash for money from the several states, and hardly 
 ever got as much as was needed. It was obliged to 
 borrow millions of dollars from France and Holland, 
 and to issue promissory notes which soon became 
 worthless. After the war was over it became clear 
 that this so-called government could neither preserve 
 order nor pay its debts, and accordingly it ceased to 
 be respected either at home or abroad, and it became 
 necessary for the American people to adopt a new 
 form of government. Between the old Continental 
 Congress and the government under which we have 
 lived since 1789, the differences were many ; but by 
 far the most essential difference was that the new gov- 
 ernment could raise money by taxation, and was thus 
 enabled properly to carry on the work of governing. 
 
 If we are in any doubt as to what is really the 
 government of some particular country, we cannot do 
 better than observe what person or persons in that 
 country are clothed with authority to tax the people. 
 Mere names, as customarily applied to governments, 
 are apt to be deceptive. Thus in the middle of the 
 eighteenth century France and England were both 
 called " kingdoms ; " but so far as kingly power was 
 concerned, Louis XY. was a very different sort of a 
 
8 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 king from George II. The French king could impose 
 taxes on his people, and it might therefore be truly 
 said that the government of France was in the king. 
 Indeed, it was Louis XY.'s immediate predecessor who 
 made the famous remark, " The state is myself.'' But 
 the English king could not impose taxes ; the only 
 power in England that could do that was the House of 
 Commons, and accordingly it is correct to say that in 
 England, at the time of which we are speaking, the 
 government was (as it still is) in the House of Com- 
 mons. 
 
 I say, then, the most essential feature of a govern- 
 ment — or at any rate the feature with which it is 
 most important for us to become familiar at the start 
 — is its power of taxation. The government is that 
 Difference which taxcs. If individuals take away some 
 t^xSoS ^^ your property for purposes of their own, 
 and robbery. -^ jg robbcry ; you losc your money and get 
 nothing in return. But if the government takes away 
 some of your property in the shape of taxes, it is sup- 
 posed to render to you an equivalent in the shape of 
 good government, something without which our lives 
 and property would not be safe. Herein seems to lie 
 the difference between taxation and robbery. When 
 the highwayman points his pistol at me and I hand 
 him my purse and watch, I am robbed. But when I 
 pay the tax-collector, who can seize my watch or sell 
 my house over my head if I refuse, I am simply pay- 
 ing what is fairly due from me toward supporting the 
 government. 
 
 In what we have been saying it has thus far been 
 assumed that the government is in the hands of up- 
 right and competent men and is properly administered. 
 It is now time to observe that robbery may be com- 
 mitted by governments as well as by individuals. If 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. S) 
 
 the business of governing is placed in tlie hands of 
 men who have an imperfect sense of their duty toward 
 the public, if such men raise money by taxa- 
 tion and then spend it on their own pleas- taxation is 
 ures, or to increase their political influence, 
 or for other illegitimate purposes, it is really robbery, 
 just as much as if these men were to stand with pis- 
 tols by the roadside and empty the wallets of people 
 passing by. They make a dishonest use of their high 
 position as members of government, and extort money 
 for which they make no return in the shape of ser- 
 vices to the public. History is full of such lament- 
 able instances of misgovernment, and one of the most 
 important uses of the study of history is to teach us 
 how they have occurred, in order that we may learn 
 how to avoid them, as far as possible, in the future. 
 
 When we begin in childhood the study of history 
 we are attracted chiefly by anecdotes of heroes and 
 their battles, kings and their courts, how the j^^ve stuay 
 Spartans fought at Thermopylas, how Alfred °^ i^istory. 
 let the cakes burn, how Henry YIII. beheaded his 
 wives, how Louis XIV. used to live at Yersailles. It 
 is quite right that we should be interested in such per- 
 sonal details, the more so the better ; for history has 
 been made by individual men and women, and until 
 we have understood the character of a great many of 
 those who have gone before us, and how they thought 
 and felt in their time, we have hardly made a fair 
 beginning in the study of history. The greatest his- 
 torians, such as Freeman and Mommsen, show as 
 lively an interest in persons as in principles ; and I 
 would not give much for the historical theories of a 
 man who should declare himself indifferent to little 
 personal details. 
 
 Some people, however, never outgrow the child's 
 
10 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 notion of history as merely a mass of pretty anec- 
 dotes or stupid annals, without any practical bearing 
 upon our own every-day life. There could not be a 
 greater mistake. Very little has happened in the 
 past which has not some immediate prac- 
 practicai tical Icssous for US ; and when we study his- 
 
 lessons * 
 
 tory in order to profit by the experience of 
 our ancestors, to find out wherein they succeeded and 
 wherein they failed, in order that we may emulate 
 their success and avoid their errors, then history be- 
 comes the noblest and most valuable of studies. It 
 then becomes, moreover, an, arduous pursuit, at once 
 oppressive and fascinating from its endless wealth of 
 material, and abounding in problems which the most 
 diligent student can never hope completely to solve. 
 
 Few people have the leisure to undertake a syste- 
 matic and thorough study of history, but every one 
 ought to find time to learn the principal features of 
 the governments under which we live, and to get some 
 inkling of the way in which these governments have 
 come into existence and of the causes which have 
 made them what they are. Some such 
 
 and helpful , , . c ii t 
 
 to those who knowledge is necessary tor the proper dis- 
 good citi- charge of the duties of citizenship. Political 
 questions, great and small, are perpetually 
 arising, to be discussed in the newspapers and voted 
 on at the polls ; and it is the duty of every man and 
 woman, young or old, to try to understand them. 
 Thab is a duty which we owe, each and all of us, to 
 ourselves and to our fellow-countrymen. For if such 
 questions are not settled in accordance with knowledge, 
 they wiU be settled in accordance with ignorance ; and 
 that is a kind of settlement likely to be fraught with 
 results disastrous to everybody. It cannot be too often 
 repeated that eternal vigilance is the price of lib- 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 11 
 
 erty. People sometimes argue as if they supposed 
 that because our national government is called a re- 
 public and not a monarchy, and because we Etemai 
 have free schools and universal suffrage, thfpriceof 
 therefore our liberties are forever secure, ^^"^^^y- 
 Our government is, indeed, in most respects, a marvel 
 of political skill ; and in ordinary times it runs so 
 smoothly that now and then, absorbed as most of us 
 are in domestic cares, we are apt to forget that it will 
 not run of itseK. To insure that the government of 
 the nation or the state, of the city or the township, shall 
 be properly administered, requires from every citizen 
 the utmost watchfulness and intelligence of which he 
 is capable. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 To the teacher. Encourage full answers. Do neb permit any- 
 thing like committing the text to memory. In the long run the 
 pupil who relies upon his own language, however inferior it may 
 be to that of the text, is better off. Naturally, with thoughtful 
 study, the pupil's language will feel the influence of that of the 
 text, and so improve. The important thing in any answer is 
 the fundamental thought. This idea once grasped, the expres- 
 sion of it may receive some attention. The expression will often 
 be broken and faulty, partly because of the immaturity of the 
 pupil, and partly because of the newness and difficulty of the 
 theme. Do not let the endeavour to secure excellent expression 
 check a certain freedom and spontaneity that should be encour- 
 aged in the pupil. When the teacher desires to place special 
 stress on excellent presentation, it is wise to assign topics before- 
 hand, so that each pupil may know definitely what is expected 
 of him, and prepare himself accordingly. 
 
 1. Tell the story that introduces the chapter. 
 
 2. What lesson is it designed to teach ? 
 
 3. What caused the French Revolution ? 
 
 4. What caused the American Revolution ? 
 
 5. Compare the tax bill with that of the butcher or tailor. 
 
 6. What are taxes raised for in a town ? For whose benefit ? 
 
 7. Define taxes. 
 
12 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 8. Define the right of eminent domain. 
 
 9. Distinguish between taxes and the right of eminent domain. 
 
 10. What is the origin of the word "govern " ? 
 
 11. Define government. 
 
 12. By whom is it supported, how is it kept alive, and by whom 
 
 is it carried on ? 
 
 13. Give illustrations of governments. 
 
 [4. What one power must government have to be worthy of the 
 name ? 
 
 15. What was the principal weakness of the government during 
 
 the American Revolution ? 
 
 16. Compare this government with that of the United States 
 
 since 1789. 
 
 17. If it is doubtful what the real government of a country is, 
 
 how may the doubt be settled ? 
 
 18. Illustrate by reference to France and England in the eigh- 
 
 teenth century. 
 
 19. What is the difference between taxation and robbery ? 
 
 20. Under what conditions may taxation become robbery ? 
 
 21. To what are we easily attracted in our first study of history ? 
 
 22. What ought to be learned from history ? 
 
 23. What sort of knowledge is helpful in discharging the duties 
 
 of citizenship ? 
 
 24. Show how " eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 To the teacher. The object of this series of questions and 
 suggestions is to stimulate reading, investigating, and thinking. 
 It is not expected, indeed it is hardly possible, that each pupil 
 shall respond to them all. A single question may cost prolonged 
 study. Assign the numbers, therefore, to individuals to report 
 upon at a subsequent recitation, — one or more to each pupil, 
 according to the difficulty of the numbers. Reserve some for 
 class consideration or discussion. Now and then let the teacher 
 answer a question himself, partly to furnish the pupils with good 
 examples of answers, and partly to insure attention to matters 
 that might otherwise escape notice. 
 
 1. Are there people who receive no benefit from their payment 
 
 of taxes ? 
 
 2. Are the benefits received by people in proportion to the 
 
 amounts paid by them ? 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 13 
 
 3. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the French 
 
 Revolution. 
 
 4. Show somewhat fully what taxes had to do with the American 
 
 Revolution. 
 
 5. Give illustrations of the exercise of the right of eminent 
 
 domain in your own town or county or state. 
 
 6. Do railroad corporations exercise such a right ? How do 
 
 they succeed in getting land for their tracks ? 
 
 7. In case of disagreement, how is a fair price determined for 
 
 property taken by eminent domain ? 
 
 8. What persons are prominent to-day in the government of 
 
 your own town or city ? Of your own county ? Of your 
 own state ? Of the United States ? « 
 
 9. Who constitute the government of the school to which you 
 
 belong? Does this question admit of more than one 
 answer ? Has the government of your school any power 
 to tax the people to support the school ? 
 
 10. What is the difference between a state and the government 
 
 of a state ? 
 
 11. Which is the more powerful branch of the English Parlia- 
 
 ment ? Why ? 
 
 12. Is it a misuse of the funds of a city to provide entertain- 
 
 ments for the people July 4 ? To expend money in en- 
 tertaining distinguished guests ? To provide flowers? 
 carriages, cigars, wines, etc., for such guests ? 
 
 13. What is meant by subordinating public office to private 
 
 ends ? Cite instances from history. 
 
 14. What histories have you read ? What one of them, if any, 
 
 would you call a " child's history," or a " drum and trum- 
 pet " history ? What one of them, if any, has impressed 
 any lessons upon you ? 
 
 15. Mention some principles that history has taught you. 
 
 16. Mention a few offices, and tell the sort of intelligence that is 
 
 needed by the persons who hold them. What results 
 might follow if such intelligence were lacking ? 
 
14 TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 
 
 BIBIJOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 It is designed in the bibliographical notes to indicate some au- 
 thorities to which reference may be made for greater detail than 
 is possible in an elementary work like the present. It is be- 
 lieved that the notes will prove a help to teacher and pupil in 
 special investigations, and to the reader who may wish to make 
 selections from excellent sources for purposes of self-culture. 
 It is hardly necessarj?^ to add that it is sometimes worth much 
 to the student to know where valuable information may be ob- 
 tained, even when it is not practicable to make immediate use 
 of it. 
 
 Certain books should always be at the teacher's desk during 
 the instruction in civil government, and as easily accessible as 
 the large dictionary ; as, for instance, the following : The Gen- 
 eral Statutes of the state, the manual or blue-book of the state 
 legislature, and, if the school is in a city, the city charter and 
 ordinances. It is also desirable to add to this list the statutes of 
 the United States and a manual of Congress or of the general 
 government. Manuals may be obtained through representatives 
 in the state legislature and in Congress. They will answer nearly 
 every purpose if they are not of the latest issue. The States- 
 man's Year Book, published by Macmillan & Co., New York, 
 every year, is exceedingly valuable for reference. Certain al- 
 manacs, particularly the comprehensive ones issued by the New 
 York Tribune and the New York World, are rich in state and 
 national statistics, and so inexpensive as to be within everybody's 
 means. 
 
 Taxation and Government. — As to the causes of the 
 American revolution, sec my War of Independence, Boston, 
 1889 ; and as to the weakness of the government of the United 
 States before 1789, see my Critical Period of American History, 
 Boston, 1888. As to the causes of the French revolution, see 
 Paul Lacombe, The Growth of a People, N. Y., 1883, and the 
 third volume of Kitchin's History of France, London, 1887 ; also 
 Morse Stephens, The French Revolution, vol. i., N. Y., 1887 •, 
 Taine, The Ancient Regime, N. Y., 1876, and The Revolution, 2 
 vols., N. Y., 1880. The student may read with pleasure and 
 profit Dickens's Tale of Two Cities. For the student familial 
 
TAXATION AND GOVERNMENT. 15 
 
 with French, an excellent book is Albert Babeau, Le Village sous 
 Vancien Regime, Paris, 1879 ; see also Tocqueville, L'ancien Regime 
 et la RevoluiioUy 7th ed., Paris, 1866. There is a good sketch of 
 the causes of the French revolution in the fifth volume of 
 Lecky's Historg of England in the Eighteenth Century, N. Y., 1887 ; 
 see also Buckle's History of Civilization, chaps, xii.-xiv. There is 
 no better commentary on my first chapter than the lurid history 
 of France in the eighteenth century. The strong contrast to 
 English and American history shows us most instructively what 
 we have thus far escaped. 
 
CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 § 1. The New England Township, 
 
 Of the various kinds of government to be found in 
 the United States, we may begin by considering tliat 
 of the New England township. As we shall presently 
 see, it is in principle of all known forms of govern- 
 ment the oldest as well as the simplest. Let us ob- 
 serve how the New England township grew up. 
 
 When people from England first came to dwell in 
 the wilderness of Massachusetts Bay, they settled in 
 groups upon small irregular-shaped patches of land, 
 which soon came to be known as townships. There 
 were several reasons why they settled thus in small 
 groups, instead of scattering about over the country 
 and carving out broad estates for themselves. In the 
 first place, their principal reason for coming 
 land was to Ncw Enpfland was their dissatisfaction 
 
 settled by . , , . . y oc ' 
 
 church con- With the wav lu wliicli church anairs were 
 
 gregations. i • i i rrM 
 
 managed m the old country. They wished 
 to bring about a reform in the church, in such wise 
 that the members of a congregation should have more 
 voice than formerly in the church-government, and 
 that the minister of each congregation should be more 
 independent than formerly of the bishop and of the 
 civil government. They also wished to abolish sun- 
 dry rites and customs of the church of which they 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 17 
 
 had come to disapprove. Finding the resistance to 
 their reforms quite formidable in England, and having 
 some reason to fear that they might be themselves 
 crushed in the struggle, they crossed the ocean in 
 order to carry out their ideas in a new and remote 
 country where they might be comparatively secure 
 from interference. Hence it was quite natural that 
 they should come in congregations, led by their favour- 
 ite ministers, — such men, for example, as Higginson 
 and Cotton, Hooker and Davenport. When such 
 men, famous in England for their bold preaching and 
 imperilled thereby, decided to move to America, a 
 considerable number of their parishioners would de- 
 cide to accompany them, and similarly minded members 
 of neighbouring churches would leave their own pastor 
 and join in the migration. Such a group of people, 
 arriving on the coast of Massachusetts, would natu- 
 rally select some convenient locality, where they might 
 build their houses near together and all go to the same 
 church. 
 
 This migration, therefore, was a movement, not of 
 individuals or of separate families, but of church- 
 congregations, and it continued to be so as the settlers 
 made their way inland and westward. The first river 
 towns of Connecticut were founded by congregations 
 coming from Dorchester, Cambridge, and Watertown. 
 This kind of settlement was favoured by the govern- 
 ment of Massachusetts, which made grants 
 
 . ^ . Land grants. 
 
 of land, not to individuals but to companies 
 
 of people who wished to live together and attend the 
 
 same church. 
 
 In the second place, the soil of New England was 
 not favourable to the cultivation of great quantities of 
 staple articles, such as rice or tobacco, so that there 
 was nothing to tempt people to undertake exteii- 
 
18 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 sive plantations. Most of the people lived on small 
 farms, each family raising but little more than enough 
 food for its own support ; and the small size 
 of the farms made it possible to have a good 
 many in a compact neighbourhood. It appeared also 
 that towns could be more easily defended against the 
 Indians than scattered plantations ; and this doubtless 
 helped to keep people together, although if there had 
 been any strong inducement for solitary pioneers to 
 plunge into the great w^oods, as in later years so often 
 happened at the West, it is not likely that any dread 
 of the savages would have hindered them. 
 
 Thus the early settlers of New England came to 
 live in townships. A township would consist of about 
 as many farms as could be disposed within convenient 
 distance from the meeting-house, where all the inhab- 
 tants, young and old, gathered every Sunday, coming 
 on horseback or afoot. The meeting-house was thus 
 Township centrally situated, and near it was the town 
 and viuage. pasture or " couimou," witli the school-house 
 and the block-house, or rude fortress for defence 
 against the Indians. For the latter building some 
 commanding position was apt to be selected, and hence 
 we so often find the old village streets of New Eng- 
 land running along elevated ridges or climbing over 
 beetling hilltops. Around the meeting-house and 
 common the dwellings gradually clustered into a vil- 
 lage, and after a w^iile the tavern, store, and town- 
 house made their appearance. 
 
 Among the people who thus tilled the farms and 
 built up the villages of New England, the differences 
 in what we should call social position, though notice- 
 able, were not extreme. While in England some had 
 been esquires or country magistrates, or " lords of the 
 manor," — a phrase which does not mean a member 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP, 19 
 
 of the peerage, but a landed proprietor with dependent 
 tenants ; ^ some had been yeomen, or persons holding 
 farms by some free kind of tenure ; some 
 
 1 T -1 ■• , T .... Social posi- 
 
 nad been artisans or tradesmen m cities, tionof set- 
 All had for many generations been more or 
 less accustomed to self-government and to public meet- 
 ings for discussing local affairs. That self-govern^ 
 ment, especially as far as church matters were con- 
 cerned, they were stoutly bent upon maintaining and 
 extending. Indeed, that was what they had crossed 
 the ocean for. Under these circumstances thev de- 
 veloped a kind of government which we may describe 
 in the present tense, for its methods are pretty much 
 the same to-day that they were two centuries ago. 
 
 In a New England township the people directly 
 govern themselves ; the government is the people, or, 
 to speak with entire precision, it is all the male inhab- 
 itants of one-and-twenty years of age and upwards. 
 The people tax themselves. Once each year, usually 
 in March but sometimes as early as February or as 
 late as Aj)ril, a " town-meeting '* is held, at Thetown- 
 which all the grown men of the township are "^®^<^'°g- 
 expected to be present and to vote, while any one may 
 introduce motions or take part in the discussion. In 
 early times there was a fine for non-attendance, but 
 that is no longer the case ,' It is supposed that a due re- 
 gard to his own interests will induce every man to come. 
 
 The town-meeting is held in the town-house, but at 
 first it used to be held in the church, which was thus 
 a " meeting-house " for civil as weU as ecclesiastical 
 purposes. At the town-meeting measures relating to 
 the administration of town affairs are discussed and 
 adopted or rejected ; appropriations are made for the 
 public expenses of the town, or in other words the 
 1 Compare the Scottish " laird." 
 
20 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 amount of the town taxes for the year is determined ; 
 and town officers are elected for tlie year. Let us first 
 enumerate these officers. 
 
 The principal executive magistrates of the town are 
 the selectmen. They are three, five, seven, or nine in 
 number, according to the size of the town and the 
 amount of public business to be transacted. The odd 
 number insures a majority decision in case of any 
 difference of opinion among them. They have the 
 
 general management of the public business. 
 
 They issue warrants for the holding of town- 
 meetings, and they can call such a meeting at any 
 time during the year when there seems to be need for 
 it, but the warrant must always specify the subjects 
 which are to be discussed and acted on at the meeting. 
 The selectmen also lay out highways, grant licenses, 
 and impanel jurors ; they may act as health officers 
 and issue orders regarding sewerage, the abatement of 
 nuisances, or the isolation of contagious diseases ; in 
 many cases they act as assessors of taxes, and as over- 
 seers of the poor. They are the proper persons to 
 listen to complaints if anything goes wrong in the 
 town. In county matters and state matters they speak 
 for the town, and if it is a party to a law-suit they 
 represent it in court ; for the New England town is a 
 legal corporation, and as such can hold property, and 
 sue and be sued. In a certain sense the selectmen 
 may be said to be " the government " of the town 
 during the intervals between the town-meetings. 
 
 An officer no less important than the selectmen is 
 the town-clerk. He keeps the record of all votes 
 
 passed in the town-meetings. He also re- 
 
 Town-clerk. *- „ tt it 
 
 cords the names ot candidates and the num- 
 ber of votes for each in the election of state and 
 county officers. He records the births, marriages, 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 21 
 
 and deaths in tlie township, and issues certificates to 
 persons who declare an intention of marriage. He 
 likewise keeps on record accurate descriptions of the 
 position and bounds of public roads ; and, in short, 
 has general charge of all matters of town-record. 
 
 Every town has also its treasurer, who receives and 
 takes care of the money coming in from the rj^^^j^, 
 taxpayers, or whatever money belongs to ^^^^^^^er. 
 the town. Out of this money he pays the public ex- 
 penses. He must keep a strict account of his receipts 
 and payments, and make a report of them each year. 
 
 Every town has one or more constables, who serve 
 warrants from the selectmen and writs from 
 
 , , rni ••11 Constables. 
 
 the law courts, iney pursue criminals and 
 take them to jail. They summon jurors. In many 
 towns they serve as collectors of taxes, but in many 
 other towns a special officer is chosen for that pur- 
 pose. When a person fails to pay his taxes, after a 
 specified time the collector has authority to seize upon 
 his property and sell it at auction, paying the tax and 
 costs out of the proceeds of the sale, and handing 
 over the balance to the owner. In some cases, where 
 no property can be found and there is reason to be- 
 lieve that the delinquent is not acting in good faith, 
 he can be arrested and kept in prison until the tax 
 and costs are paid, or until he is released by the 
 proper legal methods. 
 
 Where the duties of the selectmen are likely to be 
 too numerous, the town may choose three or Assessors of 
 more assessors of taxes to prepare the tax oveSee?fof 
 lists ; and three or more overseers of the *^® p°°^* 
 poor, to regulate the management of the village alms- 
 house and confer with other towns upon such ques- 
 tions as often arise concerning the settlement and 
 maintenance of homeless paupers. 
 
22 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Every town has its school committee. In 1647 the 
 legislatiu'e of Massachusetts enacted a law with the 
 following preamble : " It being one chief project of 
 Public ^'3^t old deluder, Satan, to keep men from 
 
 schools. ^Q knowledge of the Scriptures, as in for- 
 mer times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so 
 in these latter times by persuading from the use of 
 tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning 
 of the original might be clouded and corrupted with 
 false glosses of deceivers ; to the end that learning 
 may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, 
 in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our 
 endeavours ; " it was therefore ordered that every 
 township containing fifty families or householders 
 should forthwith set up a school in which children 
 might be taught to read and write, and that every 
 township containing one hundred families or house- 
 holders should set up a school in which boys might be 
 fitted for entering Harvard College. Even before this 
 statute, several towns, as for instance Roxbury and 
 Dedham, had begun to appropriate money for free 
 schools ; and these were the beginnings of a system 
 of public education which has come to be adopted 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 The school committee exercises powers of such a 
 School character as to make it a body of great im- 
 
 committees. portaucc. The term of service of the mem<. 
 bers is three years, one third being chosen annually. 
 The number of members must therefore be some mul- 
 tiple of three. The slow change in the membership 
 of the board insures that a large proportion of the 
 members shall always be familiar with the duties of 
 the place. The school committee must visit all the 
 public schools at least once a month, and make a re- 
 port to the town every year. It is for them to decide 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 23 
 
 what text-books are to be used. Tbey examine can- 
 didates for the position of teacher and issue certifi- 
 cates to those whom they select. The certificate is 
 issued in duplicate, and one copy is handed to the 
 selectmen as a warrant that the teacher is entitled to 
 receive a salary. Teachers are appointed for a term 
 of one year, but where their work is satisfactory the 
 appointments are usually renewed year after year. A 
 recent act in Massachusetts permits the appointment 
 of teachers to serve during good behaviour, but few 
 boards have as yet availed themselves of this law. If 
 the amount of work to be done seems to require it, 
 the committee appoints a superintendent of schools. 
 He is a sort of lieutenant of the school committee, and 
 under its general direction carries on the detailed 
 work of supervision. 
 
 Other town officers are the surveyors of highways, 
 who are responsible for keeping the roads and bridges 
 in repair ; field - drivers and pound-keepers ; fence- 
 viewers ; surveyors of lumber, measurers of wood, 
 and sealers of weights and measures. 
 
 The field-driver takes stray animals to the pound, 
 and then notifies their owner ; or if he does 
 
 , 1 • 1 1 1 Field-drivers 
 
 not know who is the owner he posts a de- and pound- 
 
 scription of the animals in some such place 
 
 as the village store or tavern, or has it published in 
 
 the nearest country newspaper. Meanwhile the strays 
 
 are duly fed by the pound-keeper, who does not let 
 
 them out of his custody until all expenses have been 
 
 paid. 
 
 If the owners of contiguous farms, gardens, or 
 fields get into a dispute about their partition fences 
 or waljs, they may apply to one of the fence- ^ence- 
 viewers, of whom each town has at least ^i®^^"- 
 two. The fence-viewer decides the matter, and charges 
 
24 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 a small fee for his services. Where it is necessary he 
 may order suitable walls or fences to be built. 
 
 The surveyors of lumber measure and mark lumber 
 offered for sale. The measurers of wood do the same 
 other fo^ firewood. The sealers test the correct- 
 
 officera. hq^q of wcights and measures used in trade, 
 and tradesmen are not allowed to use weights and 
 measures that have not been thus officially examined 
 and sealed. Measurers and sealers may be appointed 
 by the selectmen. 
 
 Such are the officers always to be found in the Mas- 
 sachusetts town, except where the duties of some of 
 them are discharged by the selectmen. Of these offi- 
 cers, the selectmen, town-clerk, treasurer, constable, 
 school committee, and assessors must be elected by 
 ballot at the annual town-meeting. 
 
 When this meeting is to be called the selectmen 
 issue a warrant for the purpose, specifying the time 
 and place of meeting and the nature of the business 
 to be transacted. The constable posts copies of the 
 warrant in divers conspicuous places not less than a 
 week before the time appointed. Then, after 
 
 Calling the . ^^ ' 
 
 town-meet- making a note upon the warrant that he has 
 duly served it, he hands it over to the town- 
 clerk. On the appointed day, when the people have 
 assembled, the town-clerk calls the meeting to order 
 and reads the warrant. The meeting then proceeds 
 to choose by ballot its presiding officer, or " modera- 
 tor," and business goes on in accordance with parlia- 
 mentary customs pretty generally recognized among 
 all people who speak English. 
 
 At this meeting the amount of money to be raised 
 by taxation for town purposes is determined. But, as 
 we shall see, every inhabitant of a town lives not only 
 under a town government, but also under a county 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 25 
 
 government and a state government, and all these gov- 
 ernments have to be supported by taxation. 
 
 ^ ^ *' Town, coun- 
 
 In Massachusetts the state and the county ty, and 
 make use of the machinery of the town 
 government in order to assess and collect their taxes. 
 The total amounts to be raised are equitably divided 
 among the several towns and cities, so that each town 
 pays its proportionate share. Each year, therefore, 
 the town assessors know that a certain amount of 
 money must be raised from the taxpayers of their 
 town, — partly for the town, partly for the county, 
 partly for the state, — and for the general convenience 
 they usually assess it upon the taxpayers all at once. 
 The amounts raised for the state and county are usu- 
 ally very much smaller than the amount raised for 
 the town. As these amounts are all raised in the 
 town and by town officers, we shall find it convenient 
 to sum up in this place what we have to say about the 
 way in which taxes are raised. Bear in mind that we 
 are still considering the New England system, and 
 our illustration is taken from the practice in Massa- 
 chusetts. But the general principles of taxation are 
 so similar in the different states that, although we 
 may now and then have to point to differences of 
 detail, we shall not need to go over the whole subject 
 again. We have now to observe how and upon whom 
 the taxes are assessed. 
 
 They are assessed partly upon persons, but chiefly 
 upon property, and property is divisible into real 
 estate and personal estate. The tax assessed 
 
 •nil 1 PoU-tax. 
 
 upon persons is called the poll-tax, and can- 
 not exceed the sum of two dollars upon every male cit- 
 izen over twenty years old. In cases of extreme pov- 
 erty the assessors may remit the poll-tax. 
 
 As to real estate, there are in every town some 
 
26 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 lands and buildings which, for reasons of public pol- 
 Keai-estate icj, are exempted from paying taxes ; as, for 
 taxes. example, churches, graveyards, and tombs; 
 
 many charitable inst;itutions, including universities 
 and colleges ; and public buildings which belong to 
 the state or to the United States. All lands and 
 buildings, except such as are exempt by law, must 
 pay taxes. ^ 
 
 Personal property includes pretty much everything 
 that one can own except lands and buildings, — pretty 
 much everything that can be moved or ^ car- 
 personai ricd about froui one place to another. It 
 thus includes ready money, stocks and bonds, 
 ships and wagons, furniture, pictures, and books. It 
 also includes the amount of debts due to a person in 
 excess of the amount that he owes ; also the income 
 from his employment, whether in the shape of profits 
 from business or a fixed salary. 
 
 Some personal property is exempted from taxation ; 
 as, for example, household furniture to the amount of 
 f 1,000 in value, and income from employment to the 
 extent of $2,000. The obvious intent of this exemp- 
 tion is to prevent taxation from bearing too hard upon 
 persons of small means ; and for a similar reason the 
 tools of farmers and mechanics are exempted.^ 
 
 The date at which property is annually reckoned 
 for assessment is in Massachusetts the first day of 
 May, The poll-tax is assessed upon each person in 
 the town or city where he has his legal habitation on 
 _ that day ; and as a g^eneral rule the taxes 
 
 When and i • i 
 
 where taxes upon liis pcrsoual property are assessed to 
 
 are assessed. . . J^ ■"■ _^ 
 
 him m the same place. J3ut taxes upon 
 lands or buildings are assessed in the city or town 
 
 ^ United States bonds are also especially exempted from tax- 
 &tioQ. 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 27 
 
 where they are situated, and to the person, wherever 
 he lives, who is the owner of them on the first day of 
 May. Thus a man who lives in the Berkshire moun- 
 tains, say for example in the town of Lanesborough, 
 will pay his poll-tax to that town. For his personal 
 property, whether it be bonds of a railroad in Col- 
 orado, or shares in a bank in New York, or costly 
 pictures in his house at Lanesborough, he will like- 
 wise pay taxes to Lanesborough. So for the house in 
 which he lives, and the land upon which it stands, he 
 pays taxes to that same town. But if he owns at the 
 same time a house in Boston, he pays taxes for it to 
 Boston, and if he owns a block of shops in Chicago 
 he pays taxes for the same to Chicago. It is very apt 
 to be the case that the rate of taxation is higher in 
 large cities than in villages ; and accordingly it often 
 happens that wealthy inhabitants of cities, who own 
 houses in some country town, move into them before 
 the first of May, and otherwise comport themselves as 
 legal residents of the country town, in order that their 
 personal property may be assessed there rather tlian 
 in the city. 
 
 About the first of May the assessors call upon the 
 inhabitants of their town to render a true statement 
 as to their property. The most approved form is for 
 the assessors to send by mail to each taxable inhabitant 
 a printed list of questions, with blank spaces which 
 he is to fiU with written answers. The questions relate 
 to every kind of property, and when the 
 person addressed returns the list to the as- 
 sessors he must make oath that to the best of his 
 knowledge and belief his answers are true. He thus 
 becomes liable to the penalties for perjury if he can be 
 proved to have sworn falsely. A reasonable time — 
 usually six or eight weeks — is allowed for the list to 
 
28 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 be returned to the assessors. If any one fails to 
 return his list by the specified time, the assessors must 
 make their own estimate of the probable amount of 
 his property. If their estimate is too high, he may 
 petition the assessors to have the error corrected, but 
 in many cases it may prove troublesome to effect this. 
 Observe here an important difference between the 
 imposition of taxes upon real estate and upon personal 
 property. Houses and lands cannot run away or be 
 tucked out of sight. Their value, too, is something 
 of which the assessors can very likely judge as well 
 as the owner. Deception is therefore ex- 
 
 C heating , •*■ 
 
 the govern- trcmclv difficult, and taxation for real estate 
 
 ment. .... 
 
 IS pretty fairly distributed among the differ- 
 ent owners. With regard to personal estate it is very 
 different. It is comparatively easy to conceal one's 
 ownership of some kinds of personal property, or to 
 understate one's income. Hence the temptation to 
 lessen the burden of the tax bill by making false 
 statements is considerable, and doubtless a good deal 
 of deception is practised. There are many people 
 who are too honest to cheat individuals, but still con- 
 sider it a venial sin to cheat the government. 
 
 After the assessors have obtained all their returns 
 they can calculate the total value of the taxable prop- 
 erty in the town ; and knowing the amount of the tax 
 to be raised, it is easy to calculate the rate at which the 
 The rate of ^^^ ^^ *^ ^^ asscsscd. In most parts of the 
 taxation. United States a rate of one and a half per 
 cent, or $15 tax on each il,(W)0 worth of property, 
 would be regarded as moderate ; three per cent would 
 be regarded as excessively high. At the lower of 
 these rates a man worth 150,000 would pay 1750 for 
 his yearly taxes. The annual income of $50,000, in- 
 vested on good security, is hardly more than $2,500. 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 29 
 
 Obviously $750 is a large sum to subtract from such 
 an income. 
 
 In point of fact, however, tbe tax is seldom quite as 
 heavy as this. It is not easy to tell exactly how much 
 a man is worth, and accordingly assessors, not wish- 
 ing to be too disagreeable in the discharge of their 
 duties, have naturally fallen into a way of giving the 
 lower valuation the benefit of the doubt, until in many 
 places a custom has grown up of regularly undervaiua. 
 undervaluing property for purposes of taxa- ^^^^' 
 tion. Very much as liquid measures have gradually 
 shrunk until it takes five quart bottles to hold a gal- 
 lon, so there has been a shrinkage of valuations until 
 it has become common to tax a man for only three 
 fourths or perhaps two thirds of what his property is 
 worth in the market. This makes the rate higher, to 
 be sure, but the individual taxpayer nevertheless 
 seems to feel relieved by it. Allowing for this under- 
 valuation, we may say that a man worth §50,000 com- 
 monly pays not less than $500 for his yearly taxes, or 
 about one fifth of the annual income of the property. 
 We thus begin to see what a heavy burden ^he burden 
 taxes are, and how essential to good govern- ""^ taxation. 
 ment it is that citizens should know what their money 
 goes for, and should be able to exert some effective 
 control over the public expenditures. Where the rate 
 of taxation in a town rises to a very high point, such 
 as two and a half or three per cent, the prosperity of 
 the town is apt to be seriously crippled. Traders and 
 manufacturers move away to other towns, or those 
 who would otherwise come to the town in question 
 stay away, because they cannot afford to use up aU 
 their profits in paying taxes. If such a state of things 
 is long kept up, the spirit of enterprise is weakened, 
 the place shows signs of untidiness and want of thrift, 
 
30 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 and neighbouring towns, once perhaps far behind it 
 in growth, by and by shoot ahead of it and take away 
 its business. 
 
 Within its proper sphere, government by town- 
 meeting is the form of government most effectively 
 under watch and control. Everything is done in the 
 full daylight of publicity. The specific objects for 
 which public money is to be appropriated are dis- 
 cussed in the presence of everybody, and any one who 
 disapproves of any of these objects, or of the way in 
 which it is proposed to obtain it, has an opportunity 
 to declare his opinions. Under this form of govern- 
 ment people are not so liable to bewildering delusions 
 as under other forms. I refer especially to the delu- 
 sion that '* the Government " is a sort of mysterious 
 
 power, possessed of a magic inexhaustible 
 fund " deiu- fuud of Wealth, and able to do all manner 
 
 of things for the benefit of " the People." 
 Some such notion as this, more often implied than 
 expressed, is very common, and it is inexpressibly dear 
 to demagogues. It is the prolific root from which 
 springs that luxuriant crop of humbug upon which 
 political tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn. 
 In point of fact no such government, armed with a 
 magic fund of its own, has ever existed upon the earth. 
 No government has ever yet used any money for pub« 
 lie purposes which it did not first take from its own 
 people, — - unless when it may have plundered it from 
 some other people in victorious warfare. 
 
 The inhabitant of a New England town is per« 
 petually reminded that " the Government " is " the 
 People." Although he may think loosely about the 
 government of his state or the still more remote gov- 
 ernment at Washington, he is kept pretty close to 
 the facts where local affairs are concerned, and in 
 this there is a political training of no small value. 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP. 31 
 
 In tlie kind of discussion which it provokes, in the 
 necessity of facing argument with argument Educational 
 and of keeping one's temper under control, tJ^^-meet?^ 
 the town-meeting is the best political train- ^^' 
 ing school in existence. Its educational value is far 
 higher than that of the newspaper, which, in spite of 
 its many merits as a diffuser of information, is very 
 apt to do its best to bemuddle and sophisticate plain 
 facts. The period when town-meetings were most im- 
 portant from the wide scope of their transactions was 
 the period of earnest and sometimes stormy discussion 
 that ushered in our Revolutionary war. Country 
 towns were then of more importance relatively than 
 now ; one country town — Boston — was at the same 
 time a great political centre ; and its meetings were pre- 
 sided over and addressed by men of commanding abil- 
 ity, among whom Samuel Adams, " the man of the 
 town-meeting," ^ was foremost. In those days great 
 principles of government were discussed with a wealth 
 of knowledge and stated with masterly skill in town- 
 meeting. 
 
 The town-meeting is to a very limited extent a leg- 
 islative body ; it can make sundry regulations for the 
 management of its local affairs. Such regulations are 
 known by a very ancient name, " by-laws." 
 By is an Old Norse word meaning " town," 
 and it appears in the names of such towns as Derby 
 and Whitby in the part of England overrun by the 
 Danes in the ninth and tenth centuries. By-laws are 
 town laws.2 
 
 ^ The phrase is Professor Hosmer's : see his Samuel AdamSf 
 the Man of the Town Meeting, in "Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies," 
 vol. 11. no. iv.; also his Samuel Adams, in "American States- 
 men " series, Boston, 1885. 
 
 ^ In modern usage the rules and regulations of clubs, learned 
 societies, and other associations, are also called by-laws. 
 
32 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 In the selectmen and various special officers the 
 town has an executive department ; and here let us 
 observe that, while these officials are kept strictly ac- 
 countable to the people, they are intrusted with very 
 considerable authority. Things are not so arranged 
 
 that an officer can plead that he has failed 
 responsibu- in his duty from lack of power. There is 
 
 ample power, joined with complete responsi- 
 bility. This is especially to be noticed in the case of 
 the selectmen. They must often be called upon to 
 exercise a wide discretion in what they do, yet this ex- 
 cites no serious popular distrust or jealousy. The an- 
 nual election affords an easy means of dropping an 
 unsatisfactory officer. But in practice nothing has 
 been more common than for the same persons to be 
 reelected as selectmen or constables or town-clerks for 
 year after year, as long as they are able or willing to 
 serve. The notion that there is anything peculiarly 
 American or democratic in what is known as " rota- 
 tion in office " is therefore not sustained by the prac- 
 tice of the New England cown, which is the most com- 
 plete democracy in the world. It is the most perfect 
 exhibition of what President Lincoln called " govern- 
 ment of the people by the people and for the peo- 
 ple." 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What reason exists for beginning the study of government 
 
 with that of the New England township ? 
 
 2. Give the origin of the township in New England according 
 
 to the following analysis : — 
 a. Settlement in groups. 
 h. The chief reason for coming to New England. 
 
 c. The leaders of the groups. 
 
 d. The favouring action of the Massachusetts government. 
 
 e. Small farms. 
 
 f. Defence against the Indians. 
 
 g. The limits of a township. 
 
 h. The village within the township. 
 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP 33 
 
 3. What was the social standing of the first settlers ? 
 
 4. What training had they received in self-government ? 
 
 5. Who do the governing in a New England township ? 
 
 6. Give an account of the town-meeting in accordance with the 
 
 followmg analysis : — 
 a. The name of the meeting. 
 &. The time for holding it. 
 
 c. The place for holding it. 
 
 d. The persons who take part in it. 
 
 e. The sort of business done in it. 
 
 7. Give an account of the selectmen % — 
 a. Their number. 
 
 h. The reason for an odd number. 
 c. Their duties. 
 . 8. When public schools were established by Massachusetts in 
 1647, what reasons were assigned for the law ? 
 9. What classes or grades of schools were then established ? 
 
 10. What are the duties of the Massachusetts school committee ? 
 
 1 1 . What is the term of service of teachers in that state ? 
 
 12. What are the duties of the following officers ? — 
 
 a. Field-drivers. 
 
 b. Pound-keepers. 
 
 c. Fence-viewers. 
 
 d. Surveyors of lumher. 
 
 e. Measurers of wood. 
 
 f. Sealers of weights and measures. 
 
 13. What are the duties of the following officers? — 
 a. The town-clerk. 
 
 &. The treasurer. 
 
 c. Constables. 
 
 d. Assessors. 
 
 e. Overseers of the poor. 
 
 14. Describe a warrant for a town-meeting. 
 
 15. For what other purposes than those of the town are taxes 
 
 raised ? 
 160 Explain the following : — 
 a. The poll-tax. 
 
 6. The tax on personal property. 
 c. The tax on real estate. 
 17. What kinds of real estate are exempted from taxation, and 
 
 why ? 
 180 What kinds of personal property are exempted, and why ? 
 
34 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 19. Where must the several kinds of taxes be assessed and 
 
 paid ? Illustrate. 
 
 20. If a person changes his residence from one town in the state 
 
 to another before May 1, what consequences about taxes 
 might follow ? 
 31. How do the assessors ascertain the property for which one 
 should be taxed ? 
 
 22. What difficulties beset the taxation of personal property ? 
 
 23. Mention a common practice in assigning values to property. 
 
 What is the effect on the tax-rate ? Illustrate. 
 
 24. How do high taxes operate as a burden ? 
 
 25. Describe a delusion from which people who directly govern 
 
 themselves are practically free. 
 
 26. What is the educational value of the town-meeting ? 
 
 27. What are by-laws ? Explain the phrase. 
 
 28. What of the power and responsibility of selectmen ? 
 
 § 2e Origin of the Township. 
 
 It was said above that government by town-meet- 
 ing is in principle the oldest form of government 
 Town-meet- known in the world. The student of ancient 
 Greec^and historj is familiar with the comitia of the 
 Rome. Romans and the ecclesia of the Greeks. 
 
 These were popular assemblies, held in those soft cli- 
 mates in the open air, usually in the market-place, — 
 the Roman forum, the Greek agora. The govern- 
 ment carried on in them was a more or less qualified 
 democracy. In the palmy days of Athens it was a 
 pure democracy. The assemblies which in the Athe- 
 nian market-place declared war against Syracuse, or 
 condemned Socrates to death, were quite like New 
 England town-meetings, except that they exercised 
 greater powers because there was no state government 
 above them. 
 
 The principle of the town-meeting, however, is 
 older than Athens or Rome. Long before streets 
 were built or fields fenced in, men wandered about the 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 35 
 
 earth hunting for food in family parties, somewhat as 
 lions do in South Africa. Such family groups were 
 what we call clans^ and so far as is known 
 they were the earliest form in which civil so- 
 ciety appeared on the earth. Among all wandering 
 or partially settled tribes the clan is to be found, and 
 there are ample opportunities for studying it among 
 our Indians in North America. The clan usually has 
 a chief or head-man, useful mainly as a leader in war- 
 time ; its civil government, crude and disorderly 
 enough, is in principle a pure democracy. 
 
 When our ancestors first became acquainted with 
 American Indians, the most advanced tribes lived 
 partly by hunting and fishing, but partly also by rais- 
 ing Indian corn and pumpkins. They had begun to 
 live in wigwams grouped together in small villages 
 and surrounded by strong rows of palisades for de- 
 fence. Now what these red men were doing our ov/n 
 fair-haired ancestors in northern and central Europe 
 had been doing some twenty centuries earlier. The 
 Scandinavians and Germans, when first known in his- 
 tory, had made considerable progress in exchanging a 
 wandering for a settled mode of life. When the clan, 
 instead of moving from place to place, fixed upon 
 some spot for a permanent residence, a village grew 
 up there, surrounded by a belt of waste land, or some- 
 what later by a stockaded wall. The belt of land was 
 called a marh^ and the wall was called a 
 
 - . „ 1 1 • 1 1 ^^® mark 
 
 tun.^ Aiterwards the inclosed space came to and the 
 be known sometimes as the mark^ sometimes 
 as the tun or town. In England the latter name pre- 
 vailed. The inhabitants of a mark or town were a 
 stationary clan. It was customary to call them by the 
 clan name, as for example " the Beorings "or " the 
 ^ Pronounced -' toon." 
 
36 THE TOWNSHIP, 
 
 Cressings ; " then the town would be called Barring' 
 ton^ " town of the Beorings," or Cressingham^ " home 
 of the Cressmgs." Town names of this sort, with 
 which the map of England is thickly studded, point 
 us back to a time when the town was supposed to be 
 the stationary home of a clan. 
 
 The Old English town had its tungemot^ or town- 
 meeting, in which " by-laws " were made and other 
 important business transacted. The principal officers 
 
 were the " reeve " or head-man, the '* bea- 
 Eiigiish die " or messenger, and the " tithing-man " 
 
 or petty constable. These officers seem at 
 first to have been elected by the people, but after a 
 while, as great lordships grew up, usurping jurisdic- 
 tion over the land, the lord's steward and bailiff came 
 to supersede the reeve and beadle. After the Norman 
 Conquest the townships, thus brought under the sway 
 of great lords, came to be generally known by the 
 French name of manors or " dwelling places." Much 
 might be said about this change, but here it i^ enough 
 for us to bear in mind that a manor was essentially 
 a township in which the chief executive officers were 
 
 directly responsible to the lord rather than 
 
 The manoro i T t 
 
 to the people, it would be wrong, however, 
 to suppose that the manors entirely lost their self- 
 government. Even the ancient town-meeting survived 
 in them, in a fragmentary way, in several interesting 
 assemblies, of which the most interesting were the 
 court leet^ for the election of certain officers and the 
 trial of petty offences, and the court haron^ which was 
 much like a town-meeting. 
 
 Still more of the old self-government would doubt- 
 less have survived in the institutions of the 
 
 The parish. • <« • i i i • ^ i e 
 
 manor if it had not been provided tor m 
 another way. The ^jaHsA was older than the manor. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 87 
 
 After tlie English had been converted to Christianity- 
 local churches were gradually set up all over the coun- 
 try, and districts called parishes were assigned for the 
 ministrations of the priests. Now a parish generally 
 coincided in area with a township, or sometimes with 
 a group of two or three townships. In the old heathen 
 times each town seems to have had its sacred place or 
 shrine consecrated to some local deity, and it was a 
 favourite policy with the Roman missionary priests 
 to purify the old shrine and turn it into a church. In 
 this way the township at the same time naturally be- 
 came the parish. 
 
 As we find it in later times, both before and since 
 the founding of English colonies in North America, 
 the township in Eno^land is likely to be both 
 
 \ P '' Township, 
 
 a manor and a parish, ij or some purposes manor, and 
 
 I » 7 , ^ parish. 
 
 it IS the one, tor some purposes it is the 
 other. The townsfolk may be regarded as a group of 
 tenants of the lord's manor., or as a group of parish- 
 ioners of the local church. In the latter aspect the 
 parish retained much of the self-government of the 
 ancient town. The business with which the lord was 
 entitled to meddle was strictly limited, and all other 
 business was transacted in the " vestry-meeting," 
 which was practically the old town-meeting ^^6 vestry- 
 under a new name. In the course of the ™®^^"^s- 
 thirteenth century we find that the parish had acquired 
 the right of taxing itself for church purposes. Money 
 needed for the church was supplied in the form of 
 " church-rates " voted by the ratepayers themselves in 
 the vestry-meeting, so called because it was originally 
 held in a room of the church in which vestments were 
 kept. 
 
 The officers of the parish were the constable, the 
 
38 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 parish and vestry clerks,^ the beadle,^ the " waywar 
 Parish offl. dcns " or surveyors of highways, the "hay- 
 cerso wards " or fence-viewers, the " common 
 
 drivers," the collectors of taxes, and at the beginning 
 of the seventeenth century overseers of the poor were 
 added. There were also churchwardens, usually two 
 for each parish. Their duties were primarily to take 
 care of the church property, assess the rates, and call 
 the vestry-meetings. They also acted as overseers of 
 the poor, and thus in several ways remind one of the 
 selectmen of New England. The parish officers were 
 all elected by the ratepayers assembled in vestry- 
 meeting, except the common driver and hay ward, who 
 were elected by the same ratepayers assembled in 
 court leet. Besides electing parish officers and grant- 
 ing the rates, the vestry-meeting could enact by-laws ; 
 and all ratepayers had an equal voice in its deliber- 
 ations. 
 
 During the last two centuries the constitution of 
 the English parish has undergone some modifications 
 which need not here concern us. The Puritans who 
 settled in New England had grown up under such 
 parish government as is here described, and 
 tion from thcy wcrc uscd to hearing the parish called, 
 
 England to • i c 
 
 New Eng- ou sou)^ occasious and tor some purposes, a 
 
 township. If we remember now that the 
 
 earliest New England towns were founded by church 
 
 congregations, led by their pastors, we can see how 
 
 ^ Of these two officers the vestry clerk is the counterpart of 
 the New England town-clerk. , 
 
 2 Originally a messenger or crier, the beadle came to assume 
 some of the functions of the tithing-man or petty constable, 
 such as keeping order in church, punishing petty offenders, wait- 
 ing on the clergyman, etc. In New England towns there were 
 formerly officers called tithing-men, who kept order in church, 
 arrested tipplers, loafers, and Sabbath-breakers, etc. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 39 
 
 town government in New England originated. It was 
 simply the English parish government brought into a 
 new country and adapted to the new situation. Part 
 of this new situation consisted in the fact that the 
 lords of the manor were left behind. There was no 
 longer any occasion to distinguish between the town- 
 ship as a manor and the township as a parish ; and so, 
 as the three names had all lived on together, side by 
 side, in England, it was now the oldest and most gen- 
 erally descriptive name, "township," that survived, 
 and has come into use throughout a great part of the 
 United States. The townsfolk went on making by- 
 laws, voting supplies of public money, and electing 
 their magistrates in America, after the fashion with 
 which they had for ages been familiar in England. 
 Some of their offices and customs were of hoary an- 
 tiquity. If age gives respectability, the office of con- 
 stable may vie with that of king ; and if the annual 
 town-meeting is usually held in the month of March, 
 it is because in days of old, long before Magna Charta 
 was thought of, the rules and regulations for the vil- 
 lage husbandry were discussed and adopted in time 
 for the spring planting. 
 
 To complete our sketch of the origin of the New 
 England town, one point should here be briefly men- 
 tioned in anticipation of what will have to be said 
 hereafter ; but it is a point of so much importance 
 that we need not mind a little repetition in stating it. 
 
 We have seen what a great part taxation plays in 
 the business of government, and we shall presently 
 have to treat of county, state, and federal Buiwingup 
 governments, all of them wider in their ^^^^^^° 
 sphere than the town government. In the course of 
 history, as nations have gradually been built up, these 
 wider governments have been apt to absorb or sup- 
 
40 THE TOWNSHIP, 
 
 plant and crush the narrower governments, such as 
 the parish or township ; and this process has too often 
 been destructive to political freedom. Such a result 
 is, of course, disastrous to everybody ; and if it were 
 unavoidable, it would be better that great national 
 governments need never be formed. But it is not un- 
 avoidable. There is one way of escaping it, and that 
 is to give the little government of the town some real 
 share in making up the great government of the state. 
 That is not an easy thing to do, as is shown by the 
 fact that most peoples have failed in the attempt. The 
 people who speak the English language have been the 
 most successful, and the device by which they have 
 Representa- ovcrcomc the difficulty is Representation. 
 tion. rJ^^^ towu scuds to the wider government a 
 
 delegation of persons who can represent the town and 
 its people. They can speak for the town, and have a 
 voice in the framing of laws and imposition of taxes 
 by the wider government. 
 
 In English townships there has been from time 
 
 immemorial a system of representation. Long before 
 
 Alfred's time there were " shire-motes," or 
 
 Shire-motes. 
 
 what were at ter wards called county meet- 
 ings, and to these each town sent its reeve and " four 
 discreet men " as representatives. Thus to a certain 
 extent the wishes of the townsfolk could be brought 
 to bear upon county affairs. By and by this method 
 was applied on a much wider scale. It was applied to 
 the whole kingdom, so that the people of all its towns 
 and parishes succeeded in securing a representation of 
 their interests in an elective national council or House 
 of Commons. This great work was accomplished in 
 Earl Simon's ^^^ thirteenth century by Simon de Mont- 
 Parhament. £qj.^^ Earl of Lciccstcr, and was completed 
 by Edward I. Simon's parliament, the first in which 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 41 
 
 the Commons were fully represented, was assembled 
 in 1265 ; and tlie date of Edward's parliament, which 
 has been called the Model Parliament, was 1295. 
 These dates have as much interest for Americans as 
 for Englishmen, because they mark the first definite 
 establishment of that grand system of representative 
 government which we are still carrying on at our vari- 
 ous state capitals and at Washington. For its humble 
 beginnings we have to look back to the " reeve and 
 four " sent by the ancient townships to the county 
 meetings. 
 
 The English township or parish was thus at an early 
 period the " unit of representation " in the govern- 
 ment of the county. It was also a district for the as- 
 sessment and collection of the national taxes ; 
 
 , . , ,, , T , Township as 
 
 m each parish the assessment was made by unit of rep- 
 
 1 1 f 1 1 1 , resentation. 
 
 a board oi assessors chosen by popular vote. 
 These essential points reappear in the early history 
 of New England. The township was not only a self- 
 governing body, but it was the " unit of representa- 
 tion " in the colonial legislature, or " General Court ; '* 
 and the assessment of taxes, whether for town pur- 
 poses or for state purposes, was made by assessors 
 elected by the townsfolk. In its beginnings and fun- 
 damentals our political Hberty did not originate upon 
 American soil, but was brought hither by our fore- 
 fathers the first settlers. They brought their political 
 institutions with them as naturally as they brought 
 their language and their social customs. 
 
 Observe now that the township is to be regarded in 
 two lights. It must be considered not only in itself, 
 but as part of a greater whole. We began by de- 
 scribing it as a self-governing body, but in order to 
 complete our sketch we were obliged to speak of it as 
 a body which has a share in the government of the 
 
42 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 state and the nation. The latter aspect is as impor- 
 tant as the former. If the people of a town had only 
 the power of managing their local affairs, without the 
 power of taking part in the management of national 
 affairs, their political freedom would be far from com- 
 plete. In Russia, for example, the larger part of the 
 vast population is resident in village communities which 
 have to a considerable extent the power of managing 
 their local affairs. Such a village community is called 
 a mir. and like the Ensrlish township it is 
 vuiage com- lineally descended from the stationary clan, 
 
 munity ; not ^^ fi-r» • -iii • 
 
 represented 1 he pcople oi tlic Kussiau mir hold meetings 
 tionai gov- in which they elect sundry local officers, dis- 
 
 ernment. ., iii rii • i 
 
 tribute the burden ot local taxation, make 
 regulations concerning local husbandry and police, 
 and transact other business which need not here con- 
 cern us. But they have no share in the national 
 government, and are obliged to obey laws which they 
 have no voice in making, and pay taxes assessed upon 
 them without their consent ; and accordingly we say 
 with truth that the Russian people do not possess 
 political freedom. One reason for this has doubtless 
 been that in times past the Russian territory was the 
 great frontier battle-ground between civilized Europe 
 and the wild hordes of western Asia, and the people 
 who lived for ages on that turbulent frontier were 
 subjected to altogether too much conquest. They 
 have tasted too little of civil government and too much 
 of military government, ■ — a pennyworth of whole- 
 some bread to an intolerable deal of sack. The early 
 English, in their snug little corner of the world, 
 belted by salt sea, were able to develop their civil 
 government with less destructive interference. They 
 made a sound and healthful beginning when they made 
 the township the " unit of representation " for the 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 43 
 
 county. Then the township, besides managing its 
 own affairs, began to take part in the management of 
 wider affairs. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 I c Show that the principle of government by town - meeting 
 was known 
 a. In ancient Greece and Rome. 
 J. Earlier still in primitive society 
 
 c. Among the American Indians. 
 
 d. Among the old Scandinavians and Germans. 
 
 2. Distinguish between the mark and the tun. Illustrate the 
 
 English use of the latter name. 
 
 3. Give an account of the following : — 
 
 a. The English township and its officers before the Conquest. 
 h. The changes due to the Conquest. 
 
 c. The survival of self-government in the manor. 
 
 d. The parish and its relation to the township. 
 
 4. Contrast the township as a manor with the township as a par- 
 
 ish in respect to government. 
 
 5. Describe the parish government under the following heads : — 
 a. The vestry-meeting. 
 
 h. Taxation. 
 
 c. The officers of the parish. 
 
 d. The persons entitled to vote. 
 
 6. Show how town government in New England grew out of 
 
 parish government in Old England. What features were 
 retained and what were given up ? 
 
 7. Show the antiquity of some details of town government. 
 
 8. What is the object of representation ? 
 
 9. What were the shire-motes of Alfred's time ? 
 
 lOo What was the origin of the English House of Commons ? 
 
 11. Why should Americans be interested in this English body ? 
 
 12. What essential points of the English township reappear in 
 
 New England ? 
 
 1 3. In what two aspects must the township now be regarded ? 
 
 14. Show how in Russia the township presents one of these as- 
 
 pects but lacks the other. 
 
 15. What political result follows from the lack of representation 
 
 in the Russian township ? 
 
 16. Mention one probable reason why England succeeded where 
 
 Russia failed ? 
 
44 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 1. Obtain the following documents : — 
 a, A town warrant. 
 
 h. A town report. 
 
 c. A tax bill, a permit, a certificate, or any town paper that 
 
 has or may have an official signature. 
 
 d. A report of the school committee. 
 
 If you live in a city, send to the clerk of a neighbouring 
 town for a warrant, inclosing a stamp for the reply. City 
 documents will answer most of the purposes of this exer- 
 cise. 
 
 Make any of the foregoing documents the basis of a report. 
 
 2. Give an account of the following : — 
 
 a. The various kinds of taxes raised in your town, the amount 
 
 of each kind, the valuation, the rate, the proposed use 
 
 of the money, etc. 
 Z). The work of any department of the town government for 
 
 a year, as, for example, that of the overseers of the 
 
 poor. 
 c. Any pressing need of your town, public sentiment towards 
 
 it, the probable cost of satisfying it, the obstacles in 
 
 the way of meeting it, etc. 
 
 3. A good way to arouse interest in the subject of town gov- 
 
 ernment is to organize the class as a town-meeting, and 
 let it discuss live local questions in accordance with arti- 
 cles in a warrant. For helpful details attend a town- 
 meeting, read the record of some meeting, consult some 
 person familiar with town proceedings, or study the Gen- 
 eral Statutes. 
 
 To insure a discussion, it may be necessary at the outset for 
 the teacher to assign to the several pupils single points to 
 be expanded and presented in order. 
 
 There is an advantage in the teacher's serving as moderator. 
 He may, as teacher, pause to give such directions and 
 explanations as may be helpful to young citizens. 
 
 The pupils should be held up to the more obvious require- 
 ments of parliamentary law, and shown how to use its 
 rules to accomplish various purposes. 
 4' Has the state a right to direct the education of its youth ? 
 If the state has such a right, are there any limits to the 
 exercise of it ? Does the right to direct the education of 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 45 
 
 its youth carry with it the right to abolish private 
 schools ? 
 
 5. Is it wise to assist private educational institutions with pub- 
 
 lic funds ? 
 
 6. Ought teachers, if approved, to be appointed for one year 
 
 only, or during good behaviour ? 
 
 7. What classes of officers in a town should serve during good 
 
 behaviour ? What classes may be frequently changed 
 without injury to the public ? 
 
 8. Compare the school committee in your own state (if it is not 
 
 Massachusetts) with that in Massachusetts. 
 
 9. Illustrate from personal knowledge the difference betwecD 
 
 real estate and personal property. 
 
 10. A loans B $1000. May A be taxed for the $1000 ? Why ? 
 
 May B be taxed for the $1000 ? Why ? Is it right to 
 tax both for $1000 ? Suppose B with the money buys 
 goods of C. Is it right to tax the three for $1000 
 each ? 
 
 11. A taxpayer worth $100,000 in personal property makes no 
 
 return to the assessors. In their ignorance the assessors 
 tax him for $50,000 only, and the tax is paid without 
 question. Does the taxpayer act honourably ? 
 
 12. What difficulties beset the work of the assessors ? 
 
 13. Would anything be gained by exempting personal property 
 
 from taxation ? If so, what ? Would anything be lost ? 
 If so, what ? 
 
 14. Does any one absolutely escape taxation ? 
 
 15. Does the poll-tax payer pay, in any sense, more than his poll- 
 
 tax ? 
 
 16. Are there any taxes that people pay without seeming to know 
 
 it ? If so, what ? (See below, chap. viii. § 8.). 
 17' Have we clans to-day among ourselves ? (Think of family 
 reunions, people of the same name in a community, de- 
 scendants of early settlers, etc.). What important dif- 
 ferences exist between these modern so-called clans and 
 the ancient ones ? 
 
 1 8. What is a " clannish " spirit ? Is it a good spirit or a bad 
 
 one ? Is it ever the same as patriotism ? 
 
 19. Look up the meaning of ham, ivick, and stead. Think of 
 
 towns whose names contain these words ; also of towns 
 whose names contain the word tun or ton or town. 
 
 20. Give an account of the tithing-man in early New England. 
 
46 THE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 21. In what sense is the word " parish " commonly used in the 
 
 United States ? Is the parish the same as the church ? 
 Has it any limits of territory ? 
 
 22. In Massachusetts, clergymen were formerly paid out of the 
 
 taxes of the township. How did this come about ? In 
 this practice was there a union or a separation of church 
 and state ? 
 
 23. Ministers are not now supported by taxation in the United 
 
 States. What important change in the parish idea does 
 this fact indicate ? Is it a change for the better ? 
 
 24. Are women who do not vote represented in town govern- 
 
 ment ? 
 
 25. Are boys and girls represented in town government ? 
 
 26. Is there anybody in a town who is not represented in its gov- 
 
 ernment ? 
 
 27. How are citizens of a town represented in state govern- 
 
 ment ? 
 
 28. How are citizens of a town represented in the national gov- 
 
 ernment ? 
 
 29. Imagine a situation in which the ballot of a single voter in 
 
 a town might affect the action of the national govern- 
 ment. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTK 
 
 § 1. The New England Township. There is a good ac- 
 count in Martin's Text Book on Civil Government in the United 
 States. N. Y. & Chicago, 1875. 
 
 § 2. Origin of the Township. Here the Johns Hopkins 
 University Studies in Historical and Political Science, edited by 
 Dr. Herbert Adams, are of great value. Note especially series 
 I. no. i. E. A. Freeman, Introduction to American Institutional 
 History ; L, ii. iv. viii. ix.-x. H. B. Adams, The Germanic Origin 
 of New England Towns, Saxon Tithing-Men in America, Norman 
 Constables in America, Village Communities of Cape Ann and Sa- 
 lem ; II., X. Edward Channing, Town and County Government in 
 the English Colonies of North America ; IV., xi.-xii. Melville 
 Egleston, The Land System of the New England Colonies ; VII., 
 vii.-ix. C. M. Andrews, The River Towns of Connecticut. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP. 4T 
 
 See also Howard's Local Constitutional History of the United 
 States, vol. i. " Township, Hundred, and Shire," Baltimore, 
 1889, a work of extraordinary merit. 
 
 The great book on local self-government in England is Toul- 
 min Smith's The Parish, 2d ed., London, 1859. For the an- 
 cient history of the township, see Gomme's Primitive Folk-Moots, 
 London, 1880 ; Gomme's Village Community, London, 1890 ; 
 Seebohm's English Village Community, London, 1883 ; Nasse's 
 Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages, London, 1872 ; La- 
 veleye's Primitive Property, hondon, 1878; Phear's Aryan Village 
 in India and Ceylon, London, 1880; Hearn (of the University of 
 Melbourne, Australia), The Aryan Household, London & Mel- 
 bourne, 1879 ; and the following works of Sir Henry Maine : 
 Ancient Law, London, 1861; Village Communities in the East and 
 West, London, 1871; Early History of Institutions, hondon, 187 5; 
 Early Law and Custom, London, 1883. All of Maine's works 
 are republished in New York. See also my American Political 
 Ideas, N. Y., 1885. 
 
 Gomme's Literature of Local Institutions, London, 1886, con- 
 tains an extensive bibliography of the subject, with valuable crifc» 
 ical notes and comments. 
 
CHAPTER ni. 
 
 THE COUNTT. 
 
 § 1. The County in its Beginnings. 
 
 It is now time for us to treat of the county, and we 
 may as well begin by considering its origin. In treat- 
 ing of the township we began by sketching it in its 
 fullest development, as seen in New England. With 
 the county we shall find it helpful to pursue a differ- 
 ent method and start at the beginning. 
 
 If we look at the maps of the states which make up 
 our Union, we see that they are all divided into coun- 
 ties (except that in Louisiana the corresponding divi- 
 sions are named parishes). The map of England 
 shows that country as similarly divided into coun- 
 ties. 
 
 If we ask why this is so, some people will tell us 
 that it is convenient, for purposes of admin- 
 we have istratiou, to havc a state, or a kingdom, di- 
 vided into areas that are larger than single 
 towns. There is much truth in this. It is convenient. 
 If it were not so, counties would not have survived, so 
 as to make a part of our modern maps. Neverthe- 
 less, this is not the historic reason why we have the 
 particular kind of subdivisions known as counties. 
 We have them because our fathers and grandfathers 
 'had them ; and thus, if we would find out the true 
 reason, we may as well go back to the ancient times 
 
THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. 49 
 
 when our forefathers were establishing themselves in 
 England. 
 
 We have seen how the clan of our barbarous ances- 
 tors, when it became stationary, was established as the 
 town or township. But in those early times clans were 
 generally united more or less closely into tribes. 
 Among all primitive or barbarous races of men, so far 
 as we can make out, society is organized in ^lans and 
 tribes, and each tribe is made up of a num- *"^^^" 
 ber of clans or family groups. Now when our Eng- 
 lish forefathers conquered Britain they settled there, as 
 clans and also as tribes. The clans became townships, 
 and the tribes became shires or counties ; that is to 
 say, the names were applied first to the people and 
 afterwards to the land they occupied. A few of tlie 
 oldest county names in England still show this plainly. 
 ^ssex, Middlesex^ and Sussex were originally " East 
 Saxons," " Middle Saxons," and '' South Saxons ; " 
 and on the eastern coast two tribes of Angles were 
 distinguished as " North folk " and " South folk," or 
 Norfolk and Suffolh. When you look on the map 
 and see the town of IchlingTiam in the county of Suf- 
 folk^ it means that this place was once known as the 
 " home " of the " Icklings " or " children of Ickel," a 
 clan which formed part of the tribe of " South folk." 
 
 In those days there was no such thing as a King- 
 dom of Ensfland ; there were only these 
 
 P ' . . . -^ The English 
 
 ffroups of tribes livmo^ side by side. Each nation, uke 
 tribe had its leader, whose title was ealdor- can, grew 
 man^ or " elder man. After a while, as union of 
 
 . . -. . . -, small states. 
 
 some tribes increased m size and power, 
 their ealdormen took the title of kings. The little king- 
 doms coincided sometimes with a single shire, some- 
 
 ^ The pronunciatioE- was probably something like ydwl-dor- 
 man. 
 
60 THE COUNTY, 
 
 times with two or more shires. Thus there was a king^ 
 dom of Kent, and the North and South Folk were 
 combined in a kingdom of East Anglia. In course of 
 time numbers of shires combined into larger king- 
 doms, such as Northumbria, Mercia, and the West 
 Saxons ; and finally the king of the West Saxons 
 became king of all England, and the several shires 
 became subordinate parts or " shares " of the kingdom. 
 In England, therefore, the shires are older than the 
 nation. The shires were not made by dividing the 
 nation, but the nation was made by uniting the shires. 
 The English nation, like the American, grew out of 
 the union of little states that had once been independ- 
 ent of one another, but had many interests in com- 
 mon. For not less than three hundred years after all 
 England had been united under one king, these shires 
 retained their self-government almost as completely as 
 the several states of the American Union.^ A few 
 words about their government will not be wasted, for 
 they will help to throw light upon some things that 
 still form a part of our political and social life. 
 
 The shire was governed by the shire-mote (i. e. 
 
 "meeting"), which was a representative 
 
 eaidorman,' bodv. Lords of lauds, including^ abbots and 
 
 and sheriff. . "^ , * 
 
 priors, attended it, as well as the reeve and 
 four selected men from each township. There were 
 thus the germs of both the kind of representation that 
 is seen in the House of Lords and the much more per- 
 fect kind that is seen in the House of Commons. Af- 
 ter a while, as cities and boroughs grew in importance, 
 they sent representative burghers to the shire-mote. 
 There were two presiding officers ; one was the eaidor- 
 man, who was now appointed by the king ; the other 
 was the shire-reeve (i. e. " sheriff "), who was still 
 elected by the people and generally held office for life. 
 ^ Chalmers, Local Government, p. 90. 
 
THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. 51 
 
 This shire-mote was both a legislative body and a 
 court of justice. It not only made laws for the shire, 
 but it tried civil and criminal causes. After the Nor- 
 man Conquest some changes occurred. The shire now 
 began to be called by the French name "county," 
 because of its analogy to the small pieces of territory 
 on the Continent that were governed by " counts." ^ 
 The shire-mote became known as the county ^he county 
 court, but cases coming before it were tried ^°^^^' 
 by the king's justices in eyre, or circuit judges, who 
 went about from county to county to preside over 
 the judicial work. The office of ealdorman became 
 extinct. The sheriff was no longer elected by the 
 people for life, but appointed by the king for the term 
 of one year. This kept him strictly responsible to 
 the king. It was the sheriff's duty to see that the 
 county's share of the national taxes was duly col- 
 lected and paid over to the national treasury. The 
 sheriff also summoned juries and enforced the judg- 
 ments of the courts, and if he met with resistance in 
 so doing he was authorized to call out a force of men, 
 known as the posse comitatus (i. e. "power of the 
 county "), and overcome all opposition. Another county 
 officer was the coroner^ or crowner^ so 
 called because originally (in Alfred's time) 
 he was appointed by the king, and was especially the 
 crown officer in the county. Since the time of Ed- 
 ward I., however, coroners have been elected by the 
 people. Originally coroners held small courts of in- 
 quiry upon cases of wreckage, destructive fires, or 
 sudden death, but in course of time their jurisdiction 
 became confined to the last-named class of cases. If 
 
 ^ Originally comites, or " companions " of the king. 
 2 This form of the word, sometimes supposed to be a vulgar- 
 ism, is as correct as the other. See Skeat, Etym. Diet., s. v. ■ 
 
52 THE COUNTY. 
 
 a death occurred under circumstances in any way mys- 
 terious or likely to awaken suspicion, it was the business 
 of the coroner, assisted by not less than twelve jurors 
 (i. e. "sworn men "), to hold an inquest for the pur- 
 pose of ascertaining the cause of death. The coroner 
 could compel the attendance of witnesses and order a 
 medical examination of the body, and if there were 
 sufficient evidence to charge any person with murder 
 or manslaughter, the coroner could have such person 
 arrested and committed for trial. 
 
 Another important county officer was the justice of 
 Justices of ^^^ peace. Originally six were appointed by 
 the peace. ^^ crown in each county, but in later times 
 any number might be appointed. The office was 
 created by a series of statutes in the reign of Edward 
 III., in order to put a stop to the brigandage which 
 still flourished in England ; it was a common practice 
 for robbers to seize persons and hold them for ransom.^ 
 By the last of these statutes, in 1362, the justices of 
 the peace in each county were to hold a court four 
 times in the year. The powers of this court, which 
 came to be known as the Quarter Sessions, were from 
 time to time increased by act of parliament, until it quite 
 The Quarter Supplanted the old county court. In modern 
 Sessions. timcs the Quarter Sessions has become an 
 administrative body quite as much as a court. The 
 justices, who receive no salary, hold office for life, or 
 during good behaviour. They appoint the chief con- 
 stable of the county, who appoints the police. They 
 also take part in the supervision of highways and 
 bridges, asylums and prisons. Since the reign of 
 Henry VIII., the English county has had an officer 
 The lord- kuown as the lord-lieutenant, who was once 
 Ueutenant. leader of the county militia, but whose func- 
 
 ^ Longman's Life and Times of Edward ILL, vol. i. p. 301. 
 
THE COUNTY IN ITS BEGINNINGS. 53 
 
 tions to-day are those of keeper of tlie records and 
 principal justice of the peace. 
 
 During the past five hundred years the English 
 county has gradually sunk from a self-governing com- 
 munity into an administrative district ; and in recent 
 times its boundaries have been so crossed and cris- 
 crossed with those of other administrative areas, such 
 as those of school-boards, sanitary boards, etc., that 
 very little of the old county is left in recognizable 
 shape. Most of this change has been effected since 
 the Tudor period. The first English settlers in Amer- 
 ica were familiar with the county as a district for the 
 administration of justice, and they brought Beginnings 
 with them coroners, sheriffs, and quarter chuSts*" 
 sessions. In 1635 the General Court of Mas- ^°^^^^^- 
 sachusetts appointed four towns — Boston, Cam- 
 bridge, Salem, and Ipswich — as places where courts 
 should be held quarterly. In 1643 the colony, which 
 then included as much of New Hampshire as was set- 
 tled, was divided into four " shires," — Suffolk, Essex, 
 Middlesex, and Norfolk, the latter lying then to the 
 northward and including the New Hampshire towns. 
 The militia was then organized, perhaps without con- 
 sciousness of the analogy, after a very old English 
 fashion ; the militia of each town formed a company, 
 and the companies of the shire formed a regiment. 
 The county was organized from the beginning as a 
 judicial district, with its court-house, jail, and sheriff. 
 After 1697 the court, held by the justices of the peace, 
 was called the Court of General Sessions. It could 
 try criminal causes not involving the penalty of death 
 or banishment, and civil causes in which the value at 
 stake was less than forty shillings. It also had con- 
 trol over highways going from town to town ; and it 
 apportioned the county taxes among the several towns. 
 
54 THE COUNTY. 
 
 The justices and sheriff were appointed by the gov- 
 ernor, as in England by the king. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Why do we have counties in the United States ? Contrast 
 
 the popular reason with the historic. 
 
 2. What relation did the tribe hold to the clan among our an- 
 
 cestors ? 
 
 3. In time what did the clans and the tribes severally become ? 
 
 4. Show how old county names in England throw light on the 
 
 county development. 
 
 5. Trace the growth of the English nation in accordance with 
 
 the following outline : — 
 a. Each tribe and its leader. 
 h. A powerful tribe and its leader. 
 
 c. The relation of a little kingdom to the shire. 
 
 d. The final union under one king. 
 
 e. The relative ages of the shire and the nation. 
 
 6. Give an account (1) of the shire-mote, (2) of the two kinds 
 
 of representation in it, (3) of its presiding officers, and 
 (4) of its two kinds of duties. 
 
 7. Let the pupil make written analyses or outlines of the fol- 
 
 lowing topics, to be used by him in presenting the topics 
 orally, or to be passed in to the teacher : — 
 
 a. What changes took place in the government of the shire 
 after the Norman Conquest ? 
 
 h. Trace the development of the coroner's office. 
 
 c. Give an account of the justices of the peace and the courts 
 
 held by them. 
 
 d. Show what applications the English settlers in Massachu- 
 
 setts made of their knowledge of the English county. 
 
 § 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts, 
 The modern caunty system of Massachusetts may 
 now be very briefly described. The county, like the 
 town, is a corporation ; it can hold property and sue or 
 be sued. It builds the court-house and jail, and keeps 
 them in repair. The town in which these buildings 
 are placed is called, as in England, the shire town. 
 In each county there are three commissioners, 
 
com- 
 missioners. 
 
 MODERN COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS. 55 
 
 elected by the people. Their term of service is three 
 years, and one goes out each year. These commis- 
 sioners represent the county in law-suits, as the select- 
 men represent the town. They " apportion the county 
 county taxes among the towns ; " " lay out, 
 alter, and discontinue highways within the county;" 
 " have charge of houses of correction ; " and erect 
 and keep in repair the county buildings.^ 
 
 The revenues of the county are derived partly from 
 taxation and partly from the payment of fines and 
 costs in the courts. These revenues are re- county 
 ceived and disbursed by the county treasurer, *^®»s»^^er- 
 who is elected by the people for a term of three years. 
 
 The Superior Court of the state holds at least two 
 sessions annually in each county, and tries civil and 
 criminal causes. There is also in each county a pro- 
 bate court with jurisdiction over all matters 
 relating to wills, administration of estates, 
 and appointment of guardians ; it also acts as a court 
 of insolvency. The custody of wills and documents 
 relating to the business of this court is in the hands 
 of an officer known as the register of probate, who is 
 elected by the people for a term of five years. 
 
 To preserve the records of all land-titles and trans- 
 fers of land within the county, all deeds and mort- 
 erag'es are reeristered in an office in the shire 
 
 ° ° . , . , , Shire town 
 
 town, usually withm or attached to the court- and court- 
 house. The register of deeds is an officer 
 elected by the people for a term of three years. In 
 counties where there is much business there may be 
 more than one. 
 
 Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor 
 for a term of seven years, and the appoint- justices of 
 ment may be renewed. Their functions have *^® ^®*°®' 
 ^ Martin's Civil Government, p. 197. 
 
66 THE COUNTY. 
 
 been greatly curtailed, and now amount to little more 
 than administering oaths, and in some cases issuing 
 warrants and taking bail. They may join persons in 
 marriage, and, when specially commissioned as " trial 
 justices," have criminal jurisdiction over sundry petty 
 offences. 
 
 The sheriff is elected by the people for a term of 
 
 three years. He may appoint deputies, for whom he 
 
 is responsible, to assist him in his work. He must 
 
 attend all county courts, and the meetings of the 
 
 county commissioners whenever required. 
 
 The sheriff. ... 
 
 He must inflict, either personally or by dep- 
 uty, the sentence of the court, whether it be fine, im- 
 prisonment, or death. He is responsible for the preser- 
 vation of the peace within the countj^, and to this end 
 must pursue criminals and may arrest disorderly per- 
 sons. If he meets with resistance he may call out 
 the posse comitatus ; if the resistance grows into 
 insurrection he may apply to the governor and obtain 
 the aid of the state militia ; if the insurrection proves 
 too formidable to be thus dealt with, the governor 
 may in his behalf apply to the president of the United 
 States for aid from the regular army. In this way 
 the force that may be drawn upon, if necessary, for 
 the suppression of disorder in a single locality, is 
 practically unlimited and irresistible. 
 
 We have now obtained a clear outline view of the 
 township and county in themselves and in their rela- 
 tion to one another, with an occasional glimpse of their 
 relation to the state ; in so far, at least, as such a 
 view can be gained from a reference to the history of 
 England and of Massachusetts. We must next trace 
 the development of local government in other parts of 
 the United States ; and in doing so we can advance 
 at somewhat quicker pace, not because our subject 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 57 
 
 becomes in any wise less important or less interesting, 
 but because we have already marked out the ground 
 and said tilings of general application which will not 
 need to be said over again. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 Give an account of the modern county in Massachusetts under 
 the following heads : — 
 
 1 . The county a corporation. 
 
 2. The county commissioners and their duties. 
 
 3. The county treasurer and his duties. 
 
 4. The courts held in a county. 
 
 5. The shire town and the court-house. 
 
 6. The register of deeds and his duties. 
 
 7. Justices of the peace and trial justices. 
 
 8. The sheriff and his duties. 
 
 9. The force at the sheriff's disposal to suppress disorder. 
 
 § 3. The Old Virginia County, 
 
 By common consent of historians, the two most dis- 
 tinctive and most characteristic lines of development 
 which English forms of government have followed, in 
 propagating themselves throughout the United States, 
 are the two lines that have led through New England 
 on the one hand and through Virginia on the other. 
 We have seen what shape local government assumed 
 in New England ; let us now observe what shape it 
 assumed in the Old Dominion. 
 
 The first point to be noticed in the early settlement 
 of Virginia is that people did not live so near together 
 as in New England. This was because tobacco, culti- 
 vated on large estates, was a source of wealth. To- 
 bacco drew settlers to Virginia as in later 
 days ffold drew settlers to California and sparsely 
 
 settled. 
 
 Australia. They came not in organized 
 groups or congregations, but as a multitude of indi- 
 viduals. Land was granted to individuals, and some- 
 
58 THE COUNTY. 
 
 times these grants were of enormous extent. " John 
 Boiling, who died in 1757, left an estate of 40,000 
 acres, and this is not mentioned as an extraordinary 
 amount of land for one man to own." ^ From an 
 early period it was customary to keep these great 
 estates together by entailing them, and this continued 
 until entails were abolished in 1776 through the influ- 
 ence of Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 A glance at the map of Virginia shows to what a 
 remarkable degree it is intersected by navigable rivers. 
 This fact made it possible for plantations, even at a 
 Absence of long distance from the coast, to have each 
 towns. '^g Q^j^ private wharf, where a ship from 
 
 England could unload its cargo of tools, cloth, or 
 furniture, and receive a cargo of tobacco in return. 
 As the planters were thus supplied with most of the 
 necessaries of life, there was no occasion for the kind 
 of trade that builds up towns. Even in compara- 
 tively recent times the development of town life in 
 Virginia has been very slow. In 1880, out of 246 
 cities and towns in the United States with a popula- 
 tion exceeding 10,000, there were only six in Virginia. 
 
 The cultivation of tobacco upon large estates caused 
 a great demand for cheap labour, and this was supplied 
 partly by bringing nsgro slaves from Africa, partly 
 by bringing criminals from English jails. The latter 
 were sold into slavery for a limited term of 
 *^^^^* years, and were known as " indentured white 
 servants." So great was the demand for labour that 
 it became customary to kidnap poor friendless wretches 
 on the streets of seaport towns in England and ship 
 them off to Virginia to be sold into servitude. At 
 first these white servants were more numerous than 
 
 ^ Edward Channing, " Town and County Government," in 
 Johns Hopkins University Studies^ vol. ii. p. 467. 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 5^ 
 
 the negroes, but before the end of the seventeenth 
 century the blacks had come to be much the more nu- 
 merous. 
 
 In this rural community the owners of plantations 
 came from the same classes of society as the settlers 
 of New England ; they were for the most part country 
 squires and yeomen. But while in New Enoj- 
 
 ■*■ '' IP* Social posi- 
 
 land there was no lower class of society tionof set- 
 
 •^ tiers. 
 
 sharply marked off from the upper, on the 
 other hand in Virginia there was an insurmountable 
 distinction between the owners of plantations and the 
 so-called " mean whites " or " white trash." This 
 class was originally formed of men and women who 
 had been indentured white servants, and was increased 
 by such shiftless people as now and then found their 
 way to the colony, but could not win estates or ob- 
 tain social recognition. With such a sharp division 
 between classes, an aristocratic type of society was 
 developed in Virginia as naturally as a democratic 
 type was developed in New England. 
 
 In Virginia there were no town-meetings. The dis- 
 tances between plantations cooperated with the dis- 
 tinction between classes to prevent the growth of such 
 an institution. The English parish, with its Virginia par- 
 churchwardens and vestry and clerk, was re- ^®^®^' 
 produced in Virginia under the same name, but with 
 some noteworthy peculiarities. If the whole body of 
 ratepayers had assembled in vestry meeting, to enact 
 by-laws and assess taxes, the course of development 
 would have been like that of the New England town- 
 meeting. But instead of this the vestry, which exer- 
 cised the chief authority in the parish, was composed 
 of twelve chosen men. This was not government by a 
 primary assembly, it was representative government. 
 At first the twelve vestrymen were elected by the peo- 
 
60 THE COUNTY. 
 
 pie of the parish, and thus resembled the selectmen 
 of New England ; but after a while " they obtained 
 
 the power of filling vacancies in their own 
 a close number," so that they became what is called 
 
 a ^' close corporation," and the people had 
 nothing to do with choosing them. Strictly speaking, 
 that was not representative government ; it was a step 
 on the road that leads towards oligarchical or despotic 
 government. 
 
 It was the vestry, thus constituted, that apportioned 
 the parish taxes, appointed the churchwardens, pre- 
 Powers of scutcd the minister for induction into office, 
 the vestry. ^^^ acted as ovcrsccrs of the poor. The 
 minister presided in all vestry meetings. His salary 
 was paid in tobacco, and in 1696 it was fixed by law 
 at 16,000 pounds of tobacco yearly. In many parishes 
 the churchwardens were the collectors of the parish 
 taxes. The other officers, such as the sexton and the 
 parish clerk, were appointed either by the minister or 
 by the vestry. 
 
 With the local government thus administered, we 
 see that the larger part of the people had little di- 
 rectly to do. Nevertheless in these small neighbour- 
 hoods government was in full sight of the people. Its 
 proceedings went on in broad daylight and were sus- 
 tained by public sentiment. As Jefferson said, " The 
 vestrymen are usually the most discreet farmers, so 
 distributed through the parish that every part of it 
 may be under the immediate eye of some one of them. 
 They are well acquainted wdth the details and economy 
 of private life, and they find sufficient inducements to 
 execute their charge well, in their philanthropy, in the 
 approbation of their neighbours, and the distinction 
 which that gives them." ^ 
 
 ^ See Howard, Local Constitutional History of the United States, 
 vol. i. p. 122. 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 61 
 
 The difference, however, between the New England 
 township and the Virginia parish, in respect of self- 
 government, was striking enough. We have now to 
 note a further difference. In New England, as we 
 have seen, the township was the unit of representation 
 in the colonial legislature ; but in Virginia the parish 
 was not the unit of representation. The county was 
 that unit. In the colonial legislature of Vir- The county 
 ginia the representatives sat not for parishes, of^repres?i- 
 but for counties. The difference is very sig- *^*^°'^' 
 nificant. As the political life of New England was 
 in a manner built up out of the political life of the 
 towns, so the political life of Virginia was built up 
 out of the political life of the counties. This was 
 partly because the vast plantations were not grouped 
 about a compact village nucleus like the small farms 
 at the North, and partly because there was not in Vir- 
 ginia that Puritan theory of the church according to 
 which each congregation is a self-governing democ- 
 racy. The conditions which made the New England 
 town-meeting were absent. The only alternative was 
 some kind of representative government, and for this 
 the county was a small enough area. The county in 
 Virginia was much smaller than in Massachusetts or 
 Connecticut. In a few instances the county consisted 
 of only a single parish ; in some cases it was divided 
 into two parishes, but oftener into three or more. 
 
 In Virginia, as in England and in New England, 
 the county was an area for the administration of justice. 
 There were usuaUv in each county eight ius- 
 
 •^ . 1 The county 
 
 tices of the peace, and their court was the court was 
 
 ri • • "r' virtually a 
 
 counterpart of the Quarter Sessions m Eng- close corpo- 
 land. They were appointed by the governor, 
 but it was customary for them to nominate candidates 
 for the governor to appoint, so that practically the 
 
62 THE COUNTY, 
 
 court filled its own vacancies and was a close corpora- 
 tion, like the parish vestry. Such an arrangement 
 tended to keep the general supervision and control of 
 things in the hands of a few families. 
 
 This county court usually met as often as once a 
 month in some convenient spot answering to the shire 
 town of England or New England. More often than 
 not the place originally consisted of the court-house 
 and very little else, and was named accordingly from 
 the name of the county, as Hanover Court House or 
 Fairfax Court House ; and the small shire towns that 
 have grown up in such spots often retain these names 
 The county *^ *^® prcscut day. Such names occur com- 
 cqI°^ monly in Virginia, West Virginia, and South 
 
 House. Carolina, very rarely in Kentucky, North 
 
 Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, and perhaps occasionally 
 elsewhere.^ Their number has diminished from the 
 tendency to omit the phrase " Court House," leaving 
 the name of the county for that of the shire town, as 
 for example in Culpeper, Va. In New England the 
 process of naming has been just the reverse ; as in 
 Hartford County, Conn., or Worcester County, Mass., 
 which have taken their names from the shire towns. 
 In this, as in so many cases, whole chapters of history 
 are wrapped up in geographical names.^ 
 
 The county court in Virginia had jurisdiction in 
 criminal actions not involving peril of life or limb, 
 and in civil suits where the sum at stake exceeded 
 
 1 In Mitchell's Atlas, 1883, the number of cases is in Ya. 38, 
 W. Va. 13, S. C. 16, N. C. 2, Ala. 1, Ky. 1, Ohio, 1. 
 
 2 A few of the oldest Virginia counties, organized as such in 
 1634, had arisen from the spreading and thinning of single set- 
 tlements originally intended to be cities and named accordingly. 
 Hence the curious names (at first sight unintelligible) of " James 
 City County," and « Charles City County." 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 63 
 
 twenty-five shillings. Smaller suits could be tried by 
 a single justice. The court also had charge powers of 
 of the probate and administration of wills, ^^^^^o^^^^^- 
 The court appointed its own clerk, who kept the 
 county records. It superintended the construction and 
 repair of bridges and highways, and for this purpose 
 divided the county into " precincts," and appointed 
 annually for each precinct a highway surveyor. The 
 court also seems to have appointed constables, one for 
 each precinct. The justices could themselves act as 
 coroners, but annually two or more coroners for each 
 parish were appointed by the governor. As we have 
 seen that the parish taxes — so much for salaries of 
 minister and clerk, so much for care of church build- 
 ings, so much for relief of the poor, etc. — were com- 
 puted and assessed by the vestry ; so the county taxes, 
 for care of court-house and jail, roads and bridges, 
 coroner's fees, and allowances to the representatives 
 sent to the colonial legislature, were computed and 
 assessed by the county court. The general taxes for 
 the colony were estimated by a committee of the legis- 
 lature, as well as the county's share of the colony 
 tax. The taxes for the county, and sometimes the 
 taxes for the parish also, were collected by the sheriff. 
 They were usually paid, not in money, but in tobacco : 
 and the sheriff was the custodian of this „^ ^ .„ 
 
 The sheriff. 
 
 tobacco, responsible for its proper disposal. 
 The sheriff was thus not only the officer for executing 
 the judgments of the court, but he was also county 
 treasurer and collector, and thus exercised powers al- 
 most as great as those of the sheriff in England in the 
 twelfth century. He also presided over elections for 
 representatives to the legislature. It is interesting to 
 observe how this very important officer was chosen. 
 " Each year the court presented the names of three of 
 
64 THE COUNTY. 
 
 its members to the governor, who appointed one, gen- 
 erally the senior justice, to be the sheriff of the county 
 for the ensuing year." ^ Here again we see this close 
 corporation, the county court, keeping the control of 
 things within its own hands. 
 
 One other important county officer needs to be men- 
 tioned. We have seen that in early New England 
 each town had its train-band or company of militia, 
 and that the companies in each county united to form 
 the county regiment. In Virginia it was just the other 
 way. Each county raised a certain number of troops, 
 and because it was not convenient for the men to go 
 many miles from home in assembling for purposes of 
 drill, the county was subdivided into military districts, 
 each with its company, according to rules laid down 
 by the governor. The military command in each 
 The county couuty was vcstcd in the county lieutenant, 
 ueutenaat. ^-^ officer auswcriug in many respects to the 
 lord lieutenant of the English shire at that period. 
 Usually he was a member of the governor's council, 
 and as such exercised sundry judicial functions. He 
 bore the honorary title of " colonel," and was to some 
 extent regarded as the governor's deputy ; but in later 
 times his duties were confined entirely to military 
 matters.^ 
 
 If now we sum up the contrasts between local gov- 
 ernment in Virginia and that in New England, we 
 observe : — 
 
 1. That in New England the management of local 
 affairs was mostly in the hands of town officers, the 
 
 ^ Edward Channing, op. cit. p. 478. 
 
 2 For an excellent account of local government in Virginia 
 before the Revolution, see Howard, Local Const. Hist, of the U. 
 S., vol. i. pp. 388-407 ; also Edward Ingle in Johns Hopkins 
 Univ. Studies, III., ii.-iii. 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 66 
 
 county being superadded for certain purposes, cLiefly 
 judicial ; while in Virginia the management was chiefly 
 in the hands of county officers, though certain func- 
 tions, chiefly ecclesiastical, were reserved to the parish. 
 
 2. That in New England the local magistrates were 
 almost always, with the exception of justices, chosen 
 by the people ; while in Virginia, though some of 
 them were nominally appointed by the governor, yet 
 in practice they generally contrived to appoint them- 
 selves — in other words the local boards practically 
 filled their own vacancies and were self -perpetuating. 
 
 These differences are striking and profound. There 
 can be no doubt that, as Thomas Jefferson clearly 
 saw, in the long run the interests of political liberty 
 are much safer under the New England system than 
 under the Virginia system. Jefferson said, Jefferson's 
 " Those wards, called townships in New Eng- tTwiTip^ 
 land, are the vital principle of their govern- go^e™^®^*- 
 ments, and have proved themselves the wisest inven- 
 tion ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect 
 exercise of self-government, and for its preservation.^ 
 . . . As Cato, then, concluded every speech with the 
 words Carthago delenda est, so do I every opinion 
 with the injunction: 'Divide the counties into 
 wards! '"2 
 
 We must, however, avoid the mistake of making 
 too much of this contrast. As already hinted, in 
 those rural societies where people generally knew one 
 another, its effects were not so far-reaching as they 
 would be in the more complicated society of to-day. 
 Even though Virginia had not the town-meeting, " it 
 had its familiar court-day," which " was a «court- 
 holiday for all the country-side, especially in ^^^'' 
 the fail and spring. From all directions came in the 
 
 ^ Jefferson's Works, vii. la ^ ja,, yi. 544. 
 
66 THE COUNTY. 
 
 people on horseback, in wagons, and afoot. On the 
 court-house green assembled, in indiscriminate confu- 
 sion, people of all classes, — the hunter from the back- 
 woods, the owner of a few acres, the grand proprietor, 
 and the grinning, heedless negro. Old debts were set- 
 tled, and new ones made ; there were auctions, trans- 
 fers of property, and, if election times were near, 
 stump-speaking." ^ 
 
 For seventy years or more before the Declaration of 
 Independence the matters of general public concern, 
 about which stump speeches were made on Virginia 
 court-days, were very similar to those that were dis- 
 cussed in Massachusetts town-meetings when represen- 
 tatives were to be chosen for the legislature. Such 
 questions generally related to some real or alleged 
 encroachment upon popular liberties by the royal gov- 
 ernor, who, being appointed and sent from beyond sea, 
 was apt to have ideas and purposes of his own that 
 conflicted with those of the people. This perpetual 
 antagonism to the governor, who represented British 
 imperial interference with American local self-govern- 
 ment, was an excellent schooling in political liberty, 
 alike for Virginia and for Massachusetts. When the 
 stress of the Revolution came, these two leading colo- 
 nies cordially supported each other, and their political 
 characteristics were reflected in the kind of achieve- 
 ments for which each was especially distinguished. 
 The Virginia system, concentrating the administration 
 of local affairs in the hands of a few county families, 
 was eminently favourable for developing 
 lific in great skilful and vifforous leadei'ship. And while 
 
 leaders. . , , , 
 
 in the history of Massachusetts during the 
 Revolution we are chiefly impressed with the wonderful 
 degree in which the mass of the people exhibited the 
 ^ Ingle, loc. di. 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 67 
 
 kind of political training that nothing in the world ex» 
 cept the habit of parliamentary discussion can impart ; 
 on the other hand, Virginia at that time gave us — 
 in Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Madison, and Mar- 
 shall, to mention no others — such a group of consum- 
 mate leaders as the world has seldom seen equalled. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Why was Virginia more sparsely settled than Massachusetts ? 
 
 2. Why was it that towns were built up more slowly in Virginia 
 
 than in Massachusetts ? 
 
 3. How was the great demand for labour in Virginia met ? 
 
 4. What distinction of classes naturally arose ? 
 
 5. Contrast the type of society thus developed in Virginia with 
 
 that developed in New England. 
 
 6. Compare the Virginia parish in its earlier government with 
 
 the English parish from which it was naturally copied. 
 
 7. Show how the vestry became a close corporation. 
 
 8. Who were usually chosen as vestrymen, and what were their 
 
 powers ? 
 
 9. Compare Virginia's unit of representation in the colonial 
 
 legislature with that of Massachusetts, and give the rea- 
 son for the difference. 
 
 10. Describe the county court, showing in particular how it be- 
 
 came a close corporation. 
 
 11. Bring out some of the history wrapped up in the names of 
 
 county seats. 
 
 12. What were the chief powers of the county court ? 
 
 13. Describe the assessment of the various taxes. 
 
 14. What were the sheriff's duties ? 
 
 15. Describe the organization and command of the militia in 
 
 each county. 
 
 16. Sum up the differences between local government in Virginia 
 
 and that in New England (1) as to the management of 
 local affairs and (2) as to the choice of local officers. 
 
 17. What did Jefferson think of the principle of township gov- 
 
 ernment ? 
 
 18. What was the equivalent in Virginia of the New England 
 
 town-meeting ? 
 
 19. What was the value of this frequent assembling ? 
 
 20. What schooling in political liberty before the Revolution did 
 
 Virginia and Massachusetts alike have ? 
 
68 THE COUNTY. 
 
 21. What was an impressive feature of the New England 
 
 system ? 
 
 22. What was an impressive feature of the Virginia system ? 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 1. How many counties are there in your state ? 
 
 2. Name and place them if the number is small. 
 
 3. In what county do you live ? 
 
 4. Give its dimensions. Are they satisfactory ? Why ? 
 
 5. Give its boundaries. 
 
 6. Is there anything interesting in the meaning or origin of its 
 
 name ? 
 
 7. How many towns and cities does it contain ? 
 
 8. What is the county seat ? Is it conveniently situated ? Rea- 
 
 sons for thinking so ? 
 
 9. If convenient, visit any county building, note the uses to 
 
 which it is put, and report such facts as may be thus 
 found out. 
 
 10. Obtain a deed, no matter how old, and answer these ques- 
 
 tions about it ; — 
 a. Is it recorded ? If so, where ? 
 h. Would it be easy for you to find the record ? 
 
 c. Why should such a record be kept ? 
 
 d. What officer has charge of such records ? 
 
 e. What sort of work must he and his assistants do ? 
 
 f. The place of such records is called what ? 
 
 g. What sort of facilities for the public should such a place 
 
 have ? What safety precautions should be observed 
 
 there ? 
 
 Ji. Why should the county keep such records rather than the 
 
 city or the town ? » 
 
 t. Is there a record of the deed by which the preceding owner 
 
 came into possession of the property ? 
 /. What sort of title did the first owner have ? Is there 
 any record of it ? Was the first owner Indian or Euro- 
 pean? 
 (The teacher might obtain a deed and base a class exercise 
 upon it. It is easy with a deed for a text to lead pupils to see 
 the common-sense basis of an important county institution, and 
 thereafter to give very sensible views as to what it should be, 
 even if it is not fully known what it is.) 
 
 1 1 . Is there a local court for your town or city ? 
 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 69 
 
 12. How do its cases compare in magnitude with those tried at 
 
 the county seat ? 
 
 13. If a man steals and is prosecuted, who becomes the plaintiff ? 
 
 14. If a man owes and is sued for debt, who becomes the plain- 
 
 tiff? 
 
 15. What is a criminal action ? 
 
 16. What is a civil action ? 
 
 17. What is the result to the defendant in the former case, if he 
 
 is convicted ? 
 
 18. What is the result to the defendant in the latter case, if the 
 
 decision is against him ? 
 
 19. Is lying a crime or a sin? May it ever become a crime ? 
 
 20. Are courts of any service to the vast numbers who are never 
 
 brought before them ? Why ? 
 
 21. May good citizens always keep out of the courts if they 
 
 choose ? Is it their duty always to keep out of them ? 
 
 22. Is there any aversion among people that you know to being 
 
 brought before the courts ? Why ? 
 
 23. What is the purpose of a jail ? Is this purpose realized in 
 
 fact? 
 
 24. Should a disturbance of a serious nature break out in your 
 
 town, whose immediate duty would it be to quell it ? 
 Suppose this duty should prove too difficult to perform, 
 then what ? 
 
 25. What is the attitude of good citizenship towards officers who 
 
 are trying to enforce the laws ? What is the attitude of 
 good citizenship if the laws are not satisfactory or if the 
 officers are indiscreet in enforcing them ? 
 
 26. Suppose a man of property dies and leaves a will, what trou- 
 
 bles are possible about the disposal of his property ? Sup- 
 pose he leaves no will, what troubles are possible ? 
 ^ Whose duty is it to exercise control over such matters 
 and hold people up to legal and honourable conduct in 
 them? 
 
 27. What is an executor ? What is an administrator ? 
 
 28. If parents die, whose duty is it to care for their children ? 
 
 If property is left to such children, are they free to use 
 it as they please ? What has the county to do with such 
 cases ? 
 
 29. How much does your town or city contribute towards county 
 
 expenses ? How does this amount compare with that 
 raised by other towns in the county ? 
 
70 THE COUNTY. 
 
 30. Give the organization of your county government. 
 
 31. Would it be better for the towns to do themselves the work 
 
 now done for them by the county ? 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 § 1. The County in its Beginnings. This subject is 
 treated in connection with the township in several of the books 
 above mentioned. See especially Howard, Local Const. Hist. 
 
 § 2. The Modern County in Massachusetts. There is 
 a good account in Martin's Text Book above mentioned. 
 
 § 3. The Old Virginia County. The best account is in 
 J. H. U. Studies, III., ii.-iii. Edward Ingle, Virginia Local In- 
 stitutions. 
 
 In dealing with the questions on page 69, both teachers and 
 pupils will find Dole's Talks about Law (Boston, 1887) extremely 
 valuable and helpful. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 § 1. Various Local Systems. 
 
 We have now completed our outline sketch of town 
 and county government as illustrated in New England 
 on the one hand and in Virginia on the other. There 
 are some important points in the early history of local 
 government in other portions of the original thirteen 
 states, to which we must next call attention ; and then 
 we shall be prepared to understand the manner in 
 which our great western country has been organized 
 under civil government. We must first say something 
 about South Carolina and Maryland. 
 
 South Carolina was settled from half a century to a 
 century later than Massachusetts and Vir- 
 
 . . /. . . Parishes 
 
 ffinia, and by two distinct streams of immi- in south 
 
 o ^1 J Carolina. 
 
 gration. The lowlands near the coast were 
 settled by Englishmen and by French Huguenots, but 
 the form of government was purely English. There 
 were parishes, as in Virginia, but popular election 
 played a greater part in them. The vestrymen were 
 elected yearly by all the taxpayers of the parish. 
 The minister was also elected by his people, and after 
 1719 each parish sent its representatives to the colo- 
 nial legislature, though in a few instances two par- 
 ishes were joined together for the purpose of choosing 
 representatives. The system was thus more demo* 
 
72 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 cratic than in Virginia ; and in this connection it is 
 worth while to observe that parochial libraries and 
 free schools were established as early as 1712, much 
 earlier than in Virginia. 
 
 During the first half of the eighteenth century a 
 very different stream of immigration, coming mostly 
 along the slope of the AUeghanies from Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania, and consisting in great part of Ger- 
 mans, Scotch Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish, peopled 
 the upland western regions of South Carolina. For 
 some time this territory had scarcely any civil organi- 
 zation. It was a kind of " wild West." There were 
 as yet no counties in the colony. There was just one 
 The back slicriff for the whole colony, who " held his 
 country. officc by patent from the crown." ^ A court 
 sat in Charleston, but the arm of justice was hardly 
 long enough to reach offenders in the mountains. " To 
 punish a horse-thief or prosecute a debtor one was 
 sometimes compelled to travel a distance of several 
 hundred miles, and be subjected to all the dangers and 
 delays incident to a wild country." When people 
 cannot get justice in what in civilized countries is the 
 regular way, they will get it in some irregular way. 
 So these mountaineers began to form themselves into 
 bands known as " regulators," quite like the " vigi- 
 lance committees " formed for the same purposes in 
 California a hundred years later. For thieves and 
 murderers the " regulators " provided a speedy trial, 
 and the nearest tree served as a gallows. 
 
 In order to put a stop to this lynch law, the legisla- 
 ture in 1768 divided the back country into districts, 
 _ , each with its sheriff and court-house, and the 
 
 The dis- ••111 
 
 trictsys- ]udges wcrc sent on circuit through these 
 districts. The upland region with its dis- 
 ^ B. J. Ramage, in Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, I., xii. 
 
VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS. 73 
 
 tricts was thus very differently organized from the 
 lowland region with its parishes, and the effect was for 
 a while almost like dividing South Carolina into two 
 states. At first the districts were not allowed to 
 choose their own sheriffs, but in course of time they 
 acquired this privilege. It was difficult to apportion 
 the representation in the state legislature so as to bal- 
 ance evenly the districts in the west against the par- 
 ishes in the east, and accordingly there was much 
 dissatisfaction, especially in the west which did not 
 get its fair share. In 1786 the capital was moved 
 from Charleston to Columbia as a concession to the 
 back country, and in 1808 a kind of compromise was 
 effected, in such wise that the uplands secured a per- 
 manent majority in the house of representatives, while 
 the lowlands retained control of the senate. The two 
 sections had each its separate state treasurer, and this 
 kind of double government lasted until the Civil 
 War. 
 
 At the close of the war " the parishes were abol- 
 ished and the district system was extended to the low 
 country." But soon afterward, by the new ^he mod- 
 constitution of 1868, the districts were abol- SoK^ 
 ished and the state was divided into 34 coun- ^°"^*y- 
 ties, each of which sends one senator to the state sen- 
 ate, while they send representatives in proportion to 
 their population. In each county the people elect 
 three county commissioners, a school commissioner, a 
 sheriff, a judge of probate, a clerk, and a coroner. In 
 one respect the South Carolina county is quite pe- 
 culiar : it has no organization for judicial purposes. 
 " The counties, like their institutional predecessor the 
 district, are grouped into judicial circuits, and a judge 
 is elected by the legislature for each circuit. Trial 
 justices are appointed by the governor for a term of 
 two years." 
 
74 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 This system, like the simple county system every- 
 where, is a representative system ; the people take no 
 direct part in the management of affairs. In one re- 
 spect it seems obviously to need amendment. In states 
 where county government has grown up naturally, 
 after the Virginia fashion, the county is apt to be 
 much smaller than in states where it is simply a dis- 
 trict embracing several township governments. Thus 
 the average size of a county in Massachusetts is 557 
 square miles, and in Connecticut 594 square miles ; 
 but in Virginia it is only 383 and in Kentucky 307 
 square miles. In South Carolina, however, where the 
 county did not grow up of itself, but has been en- 
 acted, so to speak, by a kind of afterthought, it has 
 been made too large altogether. The average area of 
 the county in South Carolina is about 1,000 square 
 
 miles. Some counties are much larger. Col- 
 ties are too leton county in 1890 could hold the whole 
 
 state of Rhode Island, with 600 square miles 
 to spare. Such an area is much too extensive for local 
 self-government. Its different portions are too far 
 apart to understand each other's local wants, or to act 
 efficiently toward supplying them ; and roads, bridges, 
 and free schools suffer accordingly. An unsuccessful 
 attempt has been made to reduce the size of the coun- 
 ties. But what seems perhaps more likely to happen 
 is the practical division of the counties into school dis- 
 tricts, and the gradual development of these school 
 districts into something like self-governing townships. 
 To this very interesting point we shall again have 
 occasion to refer. 
 
 We come now to Maryland. The early history of 
 local institutions in this state is a fascinating subject 
 of study. None of the American colonies had a 
 more distinctive character of its own, or reproduced 
 
VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS. 75 
 
 old English usages in a more curious fashion. There 
 was much in colonial Maryland, with its lords of the 
 manor, its bailiffs and seneschals, its courts baron and 
 courts leet, to remind one of the England of the thir- 
 teenth century. But of these ancient institutions, 
 long since extinct, there is but one that needs to be 
 mentioned in the present connection. In Maryland 
 the earliest form of civil community was called, not a 
 parish or township, but a hundred. This The hundred 
 curious designation is often met with in "^ Maryland. 
 English history, and the institution which it describes, 
 though now almost everywhere extinct, was once 
 almost universal among men. Ifc will be remembered 
 that the oldest form of civil society, which is still to 
 be found among some barbarous races, was that in 
 which families were organized into clans and clans 
 into tribes ; and we saw that among our forefathers 
 in England the dwelling-place of the clan became the 
 township, and the home of the tribe became the shire 
 or county. Now, in nearly all primitive societies that 
 have been studied, we fina a group that is larger than 
 the clan but smaller than the tribe, — or, in other 
 words, intermediate between clan and tribe. Scholars 
 usually call this group by its Greek name, 
 phratry^ or " brotherhood," for it was known eriioods, and 
 long ago that in ancient Greece clans were 
 grouped into brotherhoods and brotherhoods into 
 tribes. Among uncivilized people all over the world 
 we find this kind of grouping. For example, a tribe 
 of North American Indians is regularly made up of 
 phratries, and the phratries are made up of clans ; 
 and, strange as it might at first seem, a good many 
 half -under stood features of early Greek and Roman 
 society have had much light thrown upon them from 
 the study of the usages of Cherokees and Mohawks. 
 
76 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 Wherever men have been placed, the problem of form-* 
 ing civil society has been in its main outlines the same ; 
 and in its earlier stages it has been approached in 
 pretty much the same way by all. 
 
 The ancient Romans had the brotherhood, and 
 called it a curia. The Roman people were organized 
 in clans, curies, and tribes. But for military purposes 
 the curia was called a century^ because it furnished a 
 quota of one hundred men to the army. The word 
 century originally meant a company of a hundred 
 Oricrin of the "^©n, and it was only by a figure of speech 
 hundred. ^j^^^ '^ afterward came to mean a period of 
 a hundred years. Now among all Germanic peoples, 
 including the English, the brotherhood seems to have 
 been called the hundred. Our English forefathers 
 seem to have been organized, like other barbarians, in 
 clans, brotherhoods, and tribes ; and the brotherhood 
 was in some way connected with the furnishing a hun- 
 dred warriors to the host. In the tenth century we 
 find England covered with small districts known as 
 hundreds. Several townships together made a hun- 
 dred, and several hundreds together made a shire. 
 The hundred was chiefly notable as the smallest area 
 for the administration of justice. The hundred court 
 The hundred ^^^ ^ representative body, composed of the 
 court. lords of lands or their stewards, with the 
 
 reeve and four selected men and the parish priest from 
 each township. There was a chief magistrate for the 
 hundred, known originally as the hundredman, but 
 after the Norman conquest as the high constable. 
 
 By the thirteenth century the importance of the 
 hundred had much diminished. The need for any 
 such body, intermediate between township Decay of the 
 and county, ceased to be felt, and the func- ^^^<^^^<^- 
 tions of the hundred were gradually absorbed by the 
 
VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS. 77 
 
 county. Almost every wliere in England, by tlie reign 
 of Elizabeth, the hundred had fallen into decay. It 
 is curious that its name and some of its peculiarities 
 should have been brought to America, and should in 
 one state have remained to the present day. Some of 
 the early settlements in Virginia were called hun- 
 dreds, but they were practically nothing more than 
 parishes, and the name soon became obsolete, except 
 upon the map, where we still see, for example, Ber- 
 muda Hundred. But in Maryland the hundred flour- 
 ished and became the political unit, like the township 
 in New England. The hundred was the militia dis- 
 trict, and the district for the assessment of taxes. In 
 the earliest times it was also the representative dis- 
 trict ; delegates to the colonial leorislature sat „ , ^ 
 
 ' ° , .11 Hundred- 
 
 for hundreds. But in 1654 this was chano^ed, meetings in 
 
 ^. Maryland. 
 
 and representatives were elected by counties. 
 The officers of the Maryland hundred were the high 
 constable, the commander of militia, the tobacco- 
 viewer, the overseer of roads, and the assessor of taxes. 
 The last-mentioned officer was elected by the people, 
 the others were all appointed by the governor. The 
 hundred had also its assembly of all the people, which 
 was in many respects like the New England town- 
 meeting. These hundred-meetings enacted by-laws, 
 levied taxes, appointed committees, and often exhib- 
 ited a vigorous political life. But after the Bevolu- 
 tion they fell into disuse, and in 1824 the hundred 
 became extinct in Maryland ; its organization was 
 swallowed up in that of the county. 
 
 In Delaware, however, the hundred remains to this 
 day. There it is simply an imperfectly developed 
 township, but its relations with the county. The hundred 
 as they have stood with but little change i^»«i^^*'^«- 
 since 1743, are very interesting. Each hundred used 
 
78 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 to choose its own assessor of taxes, and every year in 
 the month of November the assessors from all the 
 hundreds used to meet in the county court-house, along 
 with three or more justices of the peace and eight 
 grand jurors, and assess the taxes for the ensuing 
 year. A month later they assembled again, to hear 
 complaints from persons who considered themselves 
 overtaxed ; and having disposed of this business, they 
 proceeded to appoint collectors, one for each hundred. 
 This county assembly was known as the " court of 
 levy and appeal," or more briefly as the levy court. 
 It appointed the county treasurer, the road 
 court, or commissioucrs, and the overseers of the 
 
 representa- -irr(\n ^ i 
 
 ttive county poor. femcc 1793 the levy court has been 
 
 assembly. ^ i /. . i • • 
 
 composed ot special commissioners chosen 
 ty popular vote, but its essential character has not 
 been altered. As a thoroughly representative body, 
 it reminds one of the county courts of the Plantagenet 
 period. 
 
 We next come to the great middle colonies, Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York. The most noteworthy feature 
 
 of local government in Pennsylvania was the 
 Pennsyiva- general election of county officers by popular 
 
 vote. The county was the unit of represen- 
 tation in the colonial legislature, and on election days 
 the people of the county elected at the same time their 
 sheriffs, coroners, assessors, and county commissioners. 
 In this respect Pennsylvania furnished a model which 
 has been followed by most of the states since the Rev- 
 olution, as regards the county governments. It is also 
 to be noted that before the Revolution, as Pennsyl- 
 vania increased in population, the townships began to 
 participate in the work of government, each township 
 choosing its overseers of the poor, highway surveyors, 
 and inspectors of elections.^ 
 
 ^ Town-meetings were not quite unknown in Pennsylvania j 
 
VARIOUS LOCAL SYSTEMS. 79 
 
 New York had from tlie very beginning the rudi- 
 ments of an excellent system of local self-government. 
 The Dutch villages had their assemblies, which under 
 the English rule were developed into town- 
 meetings, though with less ample powers ingsmNew 
 than those of New England. The govern- 
 ing body of the New York town consisted of the con- 
 stable and eight overseers, who answered in most 
 respects to the selectmen of New England. Four of 
 the overseers were elected each year in town-meeting, 
 and one of the retiring overseers was at the same 
 time elected constable. In course of time the elec- 
 tive offices came to include assessors and collectors, 
 town clerk, highway surveyors, fence- viewers, pound- 
 masters, and overseers of the poor. At first the town- 
 meetings seem to have been held only for the election 
 of officers, but they acquired to a limited extent the 
 power of levying taxes and enacting by-laws. In 1703 
 a law was passed requiring each town to elect yearly 
 an officer to be known as the " supervisor," 
 
 ■^ . The county 
 
 whose duty was " to compute, ascertain, ex- board of su- 
 
 . T n 1 • pervisors. 
 
 amine, oversee, and allow the contingent, 
 publick, and necessary charges " of the county.^ For 
 this purpose the supervisors met once a year at the 
 county town. The principle was the same as that of 
 the levy court in Delaware. This board of supervis- 
 ors was a strictly representative government, and 
 formed a strong contrast to the close corporation by 
 which county affairs were administered in Virginia. 
 The New York system is of especial interest, because 
 it has powerfully influenced the development of local 
 institutions throughout the Northwest. 
 
 see W. P. Holcomb, " Pennsylvania Boroughs," J. H. U. Studies^ 
 IV., iv. 
 
 2 Howard, Local Const. Hist, i- 111. 
 
80 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Describe the early local government of eastern South Caro- 
 
 lina. 
 
 2. Describe the early local government of western South Caro- 
 
 lina. 
 
 3. Explain the difference. 
 
 4. What effort was made in 1768 to put a stop to lynch law ? 
 
 5. What difficulties arose from the attempted adjustment of 
 
 1768? 
 
 6. What compromises were made between the two sections 
 
 down to the time of the Civil War ? 
 
 7. What changes have been made in local government since the 
 
 Civil War ? 
 
 8. Mention a peculiarity of the South Carolina county. 
 
 9. Compare its size with that of counties in other states. 
 
 10. What disadvantage is due to this great size ? 
 
 11. What was the earliest form of civil community in Maryland, 
 
 and from what source did it come ? 
 
 12. Trace the development of the hundred in accordance with 
 
 the following outline : — 
 
 a. Intermediate groups between clans and tribes. 
 
 b. Illustrations from Greece and the North American In- 
 
 dians. 
 
 c. The Roman century and the German hundred. 
 
 13. Describe the English hundred in the tenth century. 
 
 14. Describe the hundred court. 
 
 15. Describe the Maryland hundred and its decay. 
 
 16. What is the relation of the Delaware hundred to the county ? 
 
 17. Describe the Delaware levy court. 
 
 18. What were the prominent features of the Pennsylvania 
 
 county ? 
 
 19. Compare the town-meetings of New York with those of New 
 
 England. 
 
 20. What was the government of the New York county ? 
 
 21. How did this government compare with that of the Virginia 
 
 county ? 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 81 
 
 § 2. Settlement of the Public Domain. 
 The westward movement of population in tlie United 
 States has for the most part followed the parallels of 
 latitude. Thus Virginians and North Carolinians, 
 crossing the Alleghanies, settled Kentucky and Tennes- 
 see ; thus peoj)le from New England filled up the cen- 
 tral and northern parts of New York, and 
 
 HT- 1 • 1 ^HT- • Westward 
 
 passed on mto Michigan and Wisconsin; movement of 
 thus Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois received 
 many settlers from New York and Pennsylvania. In 
 the early times when Kentucky was settled, the pio- 
 neer would select a piece of land wherever he liked, 
 and after having a rude survey made, and the limits 
 marked by " blazing " the trees with a hatchet, the sur- 
 vey would be put on record in the state land-ofhce. So 
 little care was taken that " half a dozen patents would 
 sometimes be given for the same tract. Pieces of 
 land, of all shapes and sizes, lay between the patents. 
 . . . Such a system naturally begat no end of litiga- 
 tion, and there remain in Kentucky curious vestiges 
 of it " to this day.^ 
 
 In order to avoid such confusion in the settlement 
 of the territory north of the Ohio river. Congress 
 passed the land-ordinance of 1785, which was based 
 chiefly upon the suggestions of Thomas Jefferson, and 
 laid the foundation of our simple and excellent system 
 for surveying national lands. According to this sys- 
 tem as gradually perfected, the government survey- 
 ors first mark out a north and south line which is 
 called the principal meridian. Twenty- Method of 
 four such meridians have been established. thrpuWK; 
 The first was the dividing line between Ohio ^^^^^' 
 and Indiana ; the last one runs through Oregon a lit- 
 1 Hinsdale, Old Northwest, p. 261. 
 
82 
 
 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 tie to the west of Portland. On each side of the prin- 
 cipal meridian there are marked off subordinate me- 
 ridians called range lines, six miles apart, and num- 
 bered east and west from their principal.^ Then a 
 true parallel of latitude is drawn, crossing these merid- 
 ians at right angles. It is called the base li?ie, or 
 standard parallel. Eleven such base lines, for exam- 
 ple, run across the great state of Oregon. Finally, 
 on each side of the base line are drawn subordinate 
 parallels called toionshij) lines, six miles apart, and 
 numbered north and south from their base line. By 
 
 1 The following is a diagram of the first principal meridian, 
 and of the base line running across southern Michigan. A B is 
 the principal meridian ; C D is the base line. The figures on 
 the base line mark the range lines ; the figures on the principal 
 meridian mark the township lines. E is township 4 north in range 
 5 east ; F is township 5 south in range 4 west ; G is township 3 
 north in range 3 west. 
 
 A 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 G 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 E 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 tamm 
 P 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 '1 
 
 As the intervals between meridians diminish as we go north- 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 83 
 
 these range lines and township lines the whole land is 
 thus divided into townships iust six miles ^ 
 
 ■^ '' Origin of 
 
 square, and the townships are all numbered, western 
 Take, for example, the township of Deerfield 
 in Michigan. That is the fourth township north of the 
 base line, and it is in the fifth range east of the first 
 principal meridian. It would be called township num- 
 ber 4 north range 5 east, and was so called before it 
 was settled and received a name. Evidently one must 
 go 24 miles from the principal meridian, or 18 miles 
 from the base line, in order to enter this township. 
 It is all as simple as the numbering of streets in 
 Philadelphia.^ # 
 
 ward, it is sometimes necessary to introduce a correction line, 
 the nature of which will be seen from the following diagram: — 
 
 Correction Line. 
 
 Base Line. 
 
 Diagram of Correction Line. 
 
 ■^ In Philadelphia the streets for the most part cross each other 
 at right angles and at equal distances, so that the city is laid out 
 like a checkerboard. The parallel streets running in one direc- 
 t-ion have names, often taken from trees. Market Street is the 
 
84 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 If now we look at Livingston County, in which this 
 township of Deerfield is situated, we observe that the 
 county is made up of sixteen townships, in four rows 
 of four; and the next county, Washtenaw, is made 
 up of twenty townships, in five rows of four. Maps 
 of our Western states are thus apt to have somewhat of 
 and of West- ^ checkerboard aspect, not unlike the won- 
 em counties, (jg^f^i couutry which Alicc visitcd after she 
 had gone through the looking-glass. Square townships 
 are apt to make square or rectangular counties, and the 
 state, too, is likely to acquire a more symmetrical shape. 
 
 central street from which the others are reckoned in both direc- 
 tions according to the couplet 
 
 "Market, Arch, Race, and Vine, 
 Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, and Pine," etc. 
 
 The cross streets are not named but numbered, as First, Second, 
 etc. The houses on one side of the street have odd numbers 
 and on the other side even numbers, as is the general custom in 
 the United States. With each new block a new century of num- 
 bers begins, although there are seldom more than forty real 
 numbers in a block. For example, the corner house on Market 
 Street, just above Fifteenth, is 1501 Market Street. At some- 
 where about 1535 or 1539 you come to Sixteenth Street; then there 
 is a break in the numbering, and the next corner house is 1601. 
 So in going along a numbered street, say Fifteenth, from Mar- 
 ket, the first number will be 1 ; after passing Arch, 101 ; after 
 passing Race, 201, etc. With this system a very slight famil- 
 iarity with the city enables one to find his way to any house, and 
 to estimate the length of time needful for reaching it. St. Louis 
 and some other large cities have adopted the Philadelphia plan, 
 the convenience of which is as great as its monotony. In Wash- 
 ington the streets running in one direction are lettered A, B, C, 
 etc., and the cross streets are numbered ; and upon the checker- 
 board plan is superposed another plan in which broad avenues 
 radiate in various directions from the Capitol, and a few other 
 centres. These avenues cut through the square system of streets 
 in all directions, so that instead of the dull checkerboard monotr 
 ony there is an almost endless variety of magnificent vistas. 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 85 
 
 Nothing could be more unlike the jagged, irregular 
 shape of counties in Virginia or townships in Massa- 
 chusetts, which grew up just as it happened. The 
 contrast is similar to that between Chicago, with its 
 straight streets crossing at right angles, and Boston, 
 or London, with their labyrinths of crooked lanes. 
 For picturesqueness the advantage is entirely with the 
 irregular city, but for practical convenience it is quite 
 the other way. So wdth our western lands the sim- 
 plicity and regularity of the system have made it a 
 marvel of convenience for the settlers, and doubtless 
 have had much to do with the rapidity with which 
 civil governments have been built up in the West. 
 " This fact," says a recent writer, " will be appreciated 
 by those who know from experience the ease and cer- 
 tainty with which the pioneer on the great plains of 
 Kansas, Nebraska, or Dakota is enabled to select his 
 homestead or ' locate his claim ' unaided by the expen- 
 sive skill of the surveyor."^ 
 
 There was more in it than this, however. There was 
 a germ of organization planted in these western town- 
 ships, which must be noted as of great importance. 
 Each township, being six miles in length and six 
 miles in breadth, was divided into thirty-six numbered 
 sections, each containing just one square mile, or 640 
 acres. Each section, moreover, was divided into 16 
 tracts of 40 acres each, and sales to settlers 
 
 , Some effects 
 
 were and are grenerally made by tracts at the of the 
 
 -.,,,, T^ system. 
 
 rate of a dollar and a quarter per acre, i^or 
 fifty dollars a man may buy forty acres of unsettled 
 land, provided he will actually go and settle upon it, 
 and this has proved to be a very effective inducement 
 for enterprising young men to "go West." Many a 
 tract thus bought for fifty dollars has turned out to 
 * Howard, Local Const Hist, of U. S., vol, i. p. 139. 
 
86 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 be a soil upon which princely fortunes have grown. 
 A tract of forty acres represents to-day in Chicago or 
 Minneapolis an amount of wealth difficult for the im- 
 agination to grasp. 
 
 But in each of these townships there was at least 
 
 one section which was set apart for a special purpose. 
 
 This was usually the sixteenth section, nearly in the 
 
 centre of the township ; and sometimes the 
 
 fcionforpub- thirtv-sixtli scctiou, in the southeast corner, 
 
 lie schools. , ^ __, 
 
 was also reserved, ihese reservations were 
 for the support of public schools. Whatever money 
 was earned, by selling the land or otherwise, in these 
 sections, was to be devoted to school purposes. This 
 was a most remarkable provision. No other nation 
 has ever made a gift for schools on so magnificent a 
 scale. We have good reason for taking pride in such 
 a liberal provision. But we ought not to forget that 
 all national gifts really involve taxation, and this is no 
 exception to the rule, although in this case it is not a 
 taking of money, but a keeping of it back. The na- 
 tional government says to the local government, what- 
 ever revenues may come from that section of 640 
 acres, be they great or small, be it a spot in a rural 
 grazing district, or a spot in some crowded city, are 
 not to go into the pockets of individual men and wo- 
 men, but are to be reserved for public purposes. This 
 is a case of disguised taxation, and may serve to re- 
 mind us of what was said some time ago, that a gov- 
 ernment cannot give anything without in one way or 
 another depriving individuals of its equivalent. No 
 man can sit on a camp-stool and by any amount of 
 tugging at that camp-stool lift himself over a fence. 
 Whatever is given comes from somewhere, and what, 
 ever is given by governments comes from the people. 
 This reservation of one square mile in every town- 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 87 
 
 sMp for purposes of education has already most pro- 
 foundly influenced the development of local intwsreser- 
 government in our western states, and in the werelhe^^^* 
 near future its effects are likely to become township 
 still deeper and wider. To mark out a town- government. 
 ship on the map may mean very little, but when once 
 you create in that township some institution that 
 needs to be cared for, you have made a long stride 
 toward inaugurating township government. When a 
 state, as for instance Illinois, grows up after the 
 method just described, what can be more natural than 
 for it to make the township a body corporate for 
 school purposes, and to authorize its inhabitants to 
 elect school officers and tax themselves, so far as may 
 be necessary, for the support of the schools ? But 
 the school-house, in the centre of the township, is soon 
 found to be useful for many purposes. It is conven- 
 ient to go there to vote for state officers or for con- 
 gressmen and president, and so the school township 
 becomes an election district. Having once estab- 
 lished such a centre, it is almost inevitable that it 
 should sooner or later be made to serve sundry other 
 purposes, and become an area for the election of con 
 stables, justices of the peace, highway surveyors, and 
 overseers of the poor. In this way a vigorous town- 
 ship government tends to grow up about the school- 
 house as a nucleus, somewhat as in early New England 
 it grew up about the church. 
 
 This tendency may be observed in almost all the 
 western states and territories, even to the Pacific coast. 
 When the western country was first settled, represen- 
 tative county government prevailed almost At first the 
 everywhere. This was partly because the tem"p?e-^^" 
 earliest settlers of the West came in mucl; "^*^^^^* 
 greater numbers from the middle and southern sta,tes 
 
88 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 than from New England. It was also partly because, 
 so long as the country was thinly settled, the number 
 of people in a township was very small, and it was not 
 easy to have a government smaller than that of the 
 county. It was something, however, that the little 
 squares on the map, by grouping which the counties 
 were made, were already called townships. There is 
 much in a name. It was still more important that 
 these townships were only six miles square ; for that 
 made it sure that, in due course of time, when popula- 
 tion should have become dense enough, they would be 
 convenient areas for establishing township govern- 
 ment. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What feature is conspicuous in the westward movement of 
 
 population in the United States ? 
 
 2. "What looseness characterized early surveys in Kentucky ? 
 
 3. What led to the passage of the land ordinance of 1785 ? 
 
 4. Give the leading features of the government survey of west- 
 
 ern lands : — 
 a. The principal meridians. 
 h. The range lines. 
 
 c. The base lines. 
 
 d. The township lines. 
 
 5. Illustrate the application of the system in the case of a town. 
 
 6. Contrast in shape western townships and counties with corre- 
 
 sponding divisions in Massachusetts and Virginia. 
 
 7. Contrast them in convenience and in picturesqueness. 
 
 8. What had the convenience of the government system to do 
 
 with the settlement of the West ? 
 
 9. Wha*^^ were the divisions of the township, and what disposi- 
 
 tion was made of them ? 
 
 10. What important reservations were made in the townships ? 
 
 1 1 . Show how these reservations involved a kind of taxation. 
 
 12. What profound influence has the reservation for schools ex- 
 
 erted upon local government ? 
 
 13. Why did the county system prevail at first ? 
 
TOWNSHIP^COUNTY SYSTEM. 89 
 
 § 3. ITie Representative ToionsJiip- County System 
 
 in the West. 
 
 The first western state to adopt the town-meeting 
 was Michigan, where the great majority of the set- 
 tlers had come from New England, or from 
 central New York, which was a kind of west- meeting in 
 ward extension of New England.^ Coun- 
 ties were established in Michigan Territory in 1805, 
 and townships were first incorporated in 1825. This 
 was twelve years before Michigan became a state. At 
 first the powers of the town-meeting were narrowly 
 limited. It elected the town and county officers, but 
 its power of appropriating money seems to have been 
 restricted to the purpose of extirpating noxious ani- 
 mals and weeds. In 1827, however, it was author- 
 ized to raise money for the support of schools, and 
 since then its powers have steadily increased, until 
 now they approach those of the town-meeting in Mas- 
 sachusetts. 
 
 The history of Illinois presents an extremely inter- 
 esting example of rivalry and conflict between the 
 town system of New England and the county settlement 
 system of the South. Observe that this «f ™"oi«- 
 great state is so long that, while the parallel of lati- 
 tude starting from its northern boundary runs through 
 Marblehead in Massachusetts, the parallel through its 
 southernmost point, at Cairo, runs a little south of 
 Petersburg in Virginia. In 1818, when Illinois 
 framed its state government and was admitted to the 
 Union, its population was chiefly in the southern half, 
 
 ^ " Of the 496 members of the Michigan Pioneer Association 
 in 1881, 407 are from these sections " [New England and New 
 York]. Bemis, Local Government in MicMgan and the North- 
 west, J. H. U. Studies, I., V. 
 
90 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 and composerl for the most part of pioneers from Vir- 
 ginia and Virginia's daughter-state Kentucky. These 
 men brought with them the old Virginia county sys- 
 tem, but with the very great difference that the county 
 officers were not appointed by the governor, or allowed 
 to be a self -perpetuating board, but were elected by the 
 people of the county. This was a true advance in 
 the democratic direction, but an essential defect of the 
 southern system remained in the absence of any kind 
 of local meeting for the discussion of public affairs 
 and the enactment of local laws. 
 
 By the famous Ordinance of 1787, to which we 
 shall again have occasion to refer, negro slavery had 
 been forever prohibited to the north of the Ohio river, 
 Effects of s^ that, in spite of the wishes of her early 
 nanc^of" scttlcrs, Illiuois was obliged to enter the 
 1787. Union as a free state. But in 1820 Mis- 
 
 souri was admitted as a slave state, and this turned 
 the stream of southern migration aside from Illinois 
 to Missouri. These emigrants, to whom slaveholding 
 was a mark of social distinction, preferred to go where 
 they could own slaves. About the same time settlers 
 from New England and New York, moving along the 
 southern border of Michigan and the northern borders 
 of Ohio and Indiana, began pouring into the northern 
 part of Illinois. These new-comers did not find the 
 representative county system adequate for their needs, 
 and they demanded township government. A memora- 
 ble political struggle ensued between the northern 
 and southern halves of the state, ending in 1848 with 
 the adoption of a new constitution. It was provided 
 " that the legislature should enact a general law for 
 the political organization of townships, under which 
 any county might act whenever a majority of its voters 
 should so determine." ^ This was introducing the 
 
 ^ Shaw, Local Government in Illinois, J. H. U. Studies, I., iii. 
 
TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM. 91 
 
 principle of local option, and in accordance therewith 
 township governments with town-meetings were at 
 once introduced in the northern counties of the state, 
 while the southern counties kept on in the old way. 
 Now comes the most interesting part of the story. 
 The two systems being thus brought into immediate 
 contact in the same state, with free choice between 
 them left to the people, the northern system has slowly 
 but steadily supplanted the southern system, until at 
 the present day only one fifth part of the counties in 
 Illinois remain without township government. 
 
 This example shows the intense vitality of the 
 township system. It is the kind of government that 
 people are sure to prefer when they have intense vi- 
 once tried it under favourable conditions. Swnship*^^ 
 In the West the hostile conditions against ^y^^^^- 
 which it has to contend are either the recent existence 
 of negro slavery and the ingrained prejudice in favour 
 of the Virginia method, as in Missouri ; or simply the 
 sparseness of population, as in Nebraska. Time will 
 evidently remove the latter obstacle, and probably the 
 former also. It is very significant that in Missouri, 
 which began so lately as 1879 to erect township gov- 
 ernments under a local option law similar to that of 
 Illinois, the process has already extended over about 
 one sixth part of the state ; and in Nebraska, where 
 the same process began in 1883, it has covered nearly 
 one third of the organized counties of the state. 
 
 The principle of local option as to government has 
 been carried still farther in Minnesota and Dakota. 
 The method just described may be called county op- 
 county option ; the question is decided by a Jo^shfp 
 majority vote of the people of the county, ^'p*''^"- 
 But in Minnesota in 1878 it was enacted that as soon 
 as any one of the little square townships in that state 
 
92 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 should contain as many as twenty-five legal voters, it 
 might petition the board of county commissioners and 
 obtain a township organization, even though the ad- 
 jacent townships in the same county should remain 
 under county government only. Five years later the 
 same provision was adopted by Dakota, and under it 
 township government is steadily spreading. 
 
 Two distinct grades of township government are to 
 
 be observed in the states west of the Alleghanies ; the 
 
 one has the town-meetins^ for deliberative 
 
 Grades of i i i t r\^ • 
 
 township purposes, the other has not. In Ohio and 
 
 government, t-. t«ii-ii-i i« 
 
 Indiana, which derived their local institu- 
 tions largely from Pennsylvania, there is no such 
 town-meeting, the administrative offices are more or 
 less concentrated in a board of trustees, and the town 
 is quite subordinate to the county. The principal 
 features of this system have been reproduced in Iowa, 
 Missouri, and Kansas. 
 
 The other system was that which we have seen be- 
 ginning in Michigan, under the influence of New 
 York and New England. Here the town-meeting, 
 with legislative powers, is always present. The most 
 noticeable feature of the Michigan system is the rela- 
 tion between township and county, which was taken 
 from New York. The county board is composed of the 
 supervisors of the several townships, and thus repre- 
 sents the townships. It is the same in Illinois. It is 
 held by some writers that this is the most perfect 
 form of local government,^ but on the other hand the 
 objection is made that county boards thus constituted 
 are too large.^ We have seen that in the states in 
 question there are not less than 16, and sometimes 
 more than 20, townships in each county. In a board 
 
 ^ Howard, Local Const. Hist., passim. 
 
 ^ Bemis, Local Government in Michigan, J. H. U. Studies, I., v. 
 
, TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM. 93 
 
 of 16 or 20 members it is hard to fasten responsi- 
 bility upon anybody in particular ; and thus it be- 
 comes possible to have " combinations," and to indulge 
 in that exchange of favours known as " log-rolling," 
 which is one of the besetting sins of all large repre- 
 sentative bodies. Kesponsibility is more concentrated 
 in the smaller county boards of Massachusetts, Wis- 
 consin, and Minnesota. 
 
 It is one signal merit of the peaceful and untram- 
 melled way in which American institutions have 
 grown up, the widest possible scope being allowed to 
 individual and local preferences, that differ- 
 ent states adopt different methods of attain- result of the 
 insc the ffreat end at which all are aiminsr in centraiiza- 
 
 ° ° T y^ r. tioninthe 
 
 common, — good government. Une part oi united 
 our vast country can profit by the experi- 
 ence of other parts, and if any system or method thus 
 comes to prevail everywhere in the long run, it is 
 likely to be by reason of its intrinsic excellence. Our 
 country affords an admirable field for the study of the 
 general principles which lie at the foundations of uni- 
 versal history. Governments, large and small, are 
 growing up all about us, and in such wise that we can 
 watch the processes of growth, and learn lessons which, 
 after making due allowances for difference of circum- 
 stance, are very helpful in the study of other times 
 and countries. 
 
 The general tendency toward the spread of township 
 government in the more recently settled parts of the 
 United States is unmistakable, and I have already re- 
 marked upon the influence of the public school sys- 
 tem in aiding this tendency. The school district, as a 
 preparation for the self-governing township, is already 
 exerting its influence in Colorado, Nevada, California, 
 Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washing- 
 ton. 
 
94 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 Something similar is going on in the southern states, 
 as already hinted in the case of South Carolina. Lo- 
 cal taxation for school purposes has also been estab- 
 lished in Kentucky and Tennessee, in both Virginias, 
 and elsewhere. There has thus begun a most natural 
 and wholesome movement, which might easily be 
 checked, with disastrous results, by the injudicious 
 appropriation of national revenue for the 
 
 Township .Tf. , ,, t« 
 
 government aid of southcm schools. It IS to be hoped 
 
 is germinat- 
 
 inginthe that throusfhout the southern states, as for- 
 
 South. 1 • TIT- 1 • 1 ir. -11 
 
 merly m Michigan, the seli-governing school 
 district may prepare the way for the self-governing 
 township, with its deliberative town-meeting. Such a 
 growth must needs be slow, inasmuch as it requires 
 long political training on the part of the negroes and 
 the lower classes of white people ; but it is along 
 such a line of development that such political training 
 can best be acquired ; and in no, other way is complete 
 harmony between the two races so likely to be secured. 
 Dr. Edward Bemis, who in a profoundly interesting 
 essay -^ has called attention to this function of the 
 school district as a stage in the evolution of the town- 
 ship, remarks also upon the fact that " it is in the local 
 Woman suf- government of the school district that woman 
 frage. suffrage is being tried." In several states 
 
 women may vote for school committees, or may be 
 elected to school committees, or to sundry adminis- 
 trative school offices. At present (1898) there are 
 not less than twenty-two states in which women have 
 school suffrage. In Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Wy- 
 oming women have full suffrage, voting at municipal, 
 state, and national elections. In Kansas they have 
 
 ^ Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest, J. H. U. 
 Studies, I., V. 
 
TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM. 95 
 
 municipal suffrage, in Iowa bond suffrage, and in 
 Louisiana tax-paying women can vote on questions 
 submitted to tax-payers as such. In England, it may 
 be observed, unmarried women and widows who pay 
 taxes vote not only on school matters, but generally in 
 the local elections of vestries, boroughs, and poor-law 
 unions. In the new Parish Councils Bill this muni- 
 cipal suffrage is extended to married women. In the 
 Isle of Man women vote for members of Parliament. 
 In South Australia they have full suffrage, and in 
 1893 they were endowed with full rights of suffrage 
 in New Zealand. 
 
 The historical reason wby the suffrage has so gen- 
 erally been restricted to men is perhaps to be sought 
 in the conditions under which voting originated. In 
 primeval times voting was probably adopted as a sub- 
 stitute for fighting. The smaller and presumably 
 weaker party yielded to the larger without an actual 
 trial of physical strength; heads were counted in- 
 stead of being broken. Accordingly it wa» only the 
 warriors who became voters. The restriction of polit- 
 ical activity to men has also probably been empha- 
 sized by the fact that all the higher civilizations have 
 passed through a well-defined patriarchal stage of 
 society in which each household was represented by 
 its oldest warrior. From present indications it would 
 seem that under the conditions of modern industrial 
 society the arrangements that have so long subsisted 
 are likely to be very essentially altered. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Describe the origin and development of the town-meeting in 
 
 Michigan. 
 
 2. Describe the settling of southern Illinois. 
 
 3. Describe the settling of northern Illinois. 
 
96 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 4. What difference in thought and feeling existed between these 
 
 sections ? 
 
 5. What systems of local government came into rivalry in Illi- 
 
 nois, and why ? 
 
 6. What compromise between them was put into the state con- 
 
 stitution ? 
 
 7. Which system, the town or the county, has shown the greater 
 
 vitality, and why ? 
 
 8. What obstacles has the town system to work against ? 
 
 9. Show how the principle of local option in government has 
 
 been applied in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Da- 
 kota. 
 
 10. What two grades of town government exist west of the 
 
 Alleghanies ? 
 
 11. What objection exists to large county boards of govern- 
 
 ment ? 
 
 12. Why is our country an excellent field for the study of the 
 
 principles of government ? 
 
 13. What unmistakable tendency in the case of township govern- 
 
 ment is noticeable ? 
 
 14. Speak of township government in the South. 
 
 15. What part have women in the affairs of the school district 
 
 in many states ? 
 
 16. What is*the historical reason why suffrage has been restricted 
 
 to men ? 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 It may need to be repeated (see page 12) that it is not expected 
 that each pupil shall answer a,ll the miscellaneous questions put, or 
 respond to all the suggestions made in this book. Indeed, the 
 teacher may be pardoned if now and then he finds it difficult 
 himself to answer a question, — particularly if it is framed to 
 provoke thought rather than lead to a conclusion, or if it is bet- 
 ter fitted for some other community or part of the country than 
 that in which he lives. Let him therefore divide the questions 
 among his pupils, or assign to them selected questions. In cases 
 that call for special knowledge, let the topics go to pupils who 
 may have exceptional facilities for information at home. 
 
 The important point is not so much the settlement of all the 
 questions proposed as it is the encouragement of the inquiring 
 and thinking- spirit on the part of the pupil. 
 
TOWNSHIP-COUNTY SYSTEM. 97 
 
 1. What impression do you get from this chapter about the hold 
 
 of town government upon popular favour ? 
 
 2. What do you regard as the best features of town govern- 
 
 ment ? 
 
 3. Is there any tendency anywhere to divide towns into smaller 
 
 towns ? If it exists, illustrate and explain it. 
 
 4" Is there any tendency anywhere to unite towns into larger 
 towns or into cities ? If it exists, illustrate and explain it. 
 
 5o In every town-meeting there are leaders, — usually men of 
 character, ability, and means. Do you understand that 
 these men practically have their own way in town affairs, 
 — that the voters as a whole do but little more than fall 
 in with the wishes and plans of their leaders? Or is 
 there considerable independence in thought and action on 
 the side of the voters ? 
 
 6. Can a town do what it pleases, or is it limited in its action ? 
 
 If limited, by whom or by what is it restricted, and where 
 are the restrictions recorded ? (Consult the Statutes.) 
 
 7. Why should the majority rule in town-meeting ? Suggest, 
 
 if possible, a better way. 
 
 8. Is it, on the whole, wise that the vote of the poor man shall 
 
 count as much as that of the rich, the vote of the igno- 
 rant as much as that of the intelligent, the vote of the 
 unprincipled as much as that of the high-toned ? 
 
 9. Have the poor, the ignorant, or the unprincipled any inter- 
 
 ests to be regarded in government ? 
 
 10. Is the single vote a man casts the full measure of his influ- 
 
 ence and power in the town-meeting ? 
 
 1 1 . What are the objections to a suffrage restricted by property 
 
 and intellectual qualifications ? To a suffrage unre- 
 stricted by such qualifications ? 
 
 12. Do women vote in your town ? If so, give some account of 
 
 their voting and of the success or popularity of the plan. 
 
 1 3. Is lynch law ever justifiable ? 
 
 14. Ought those who resort to lynch law to be punished ? If 
 
 so, for what ? 
 
 15. Compare the condition or government of a community where 
 
 lynch law is resorted to with the condition or government 
 of a community where it is unknown. 
 
 16. May the citizen who is not an officer of the law interfere (1) 
 
 to stop the fighting of boys in the public streets, (2) to 
 capture a thief who i& plying his trade, (3) to defend a 
 
98 TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY. 
 
 person who is brutally assaulted ? Is there anything like 
 lynch law in such interference ? Where does the citizen's 
 duty begin and end in such cases ? 
 
 17. How came the United States to own the public domain or 
 
 any part of it? (Consult my Critical Period of Amer, 
 Hist., pp. 187-207.) 
 
 18. How does this domain get into the possession of individuals ? 
 
 19. Is it right for the United States to give any part of it away ? 
 
 If right, under what conditions is it right ? If wrong, 
 under what conditions is it wrong ? 
 
 20. What is the " homestead act " of the United States, and what 
 
 is its object ? 
 
 21. Can perfect squares of the same size be laid out with the 
 
 range and township lines of the public surveys ? Are all 
 the sections of a township of the same size ? Explain. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 § 1. Various Local Systems. — /. H. U. Studies, I., vi., 
 Edward Ingle, Parish Institutions of Maryland ; L, vii., John 
 Johnson, Old Maryland Manors ; I., xii., B. J. Ramage, Local 
 Government and Free Schools in South Carolina ; III., v.-vii., L. 
 W. Wilhelm, Local Institutions of Maryland j TV., i., Irving El- 
 ting, Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River. 
 
 § 2. Settlement of the Public Domain. — /. H. U. 
 Studies, III., i., H. B. Adams, Maryland's Influence upon Land 
 Cessions to the United States ; IV., vii.-ix., Shoshuke Sato, His- 
 tory of the Land Question in the United States. 
 
 § 3. The Representative Township-County System. — 
 J. H. U. Studies, I., iii., Albert Shaw, Local Government in Illi- 
 nois ; I., v., Edward Bemis, Local Government in Michigan and the 
 Northwest; II., vii., Jesse Macy, Institutional Beginnings in a 
 Western State (Iowa'). For further illustration of one set of 
 institutions supervening upon another, see also V., v.-vi., J. G. 
 Bourinot, Local Government in Canada ; VIII., iii., D. E. Spen- 
 cer, Local Government in Wisconsin. 
 
CHAPTER V, 
 
 THE CITY. 
 
 § 1. Direct and Indirect Government, 
 
 In the foregoing survey of local institutions and 
 their growth, we have had occasion to compare and 
 sometimes to contrast two different methods 
 of pfovernment as exemplified on the one foregoing 
 hand in the township and on the other hand 
 in the county. In the former we have direct govern- 
 ment by a primary assembly,^ the town-meeting ; in 
 the latter we have indirect government by a represen- 
 tative board. If the county board, as in colonial Vir- 
 ginia, perpetuates itself, or is appointed otherwise than 
 by popular vote, it is not strictly a representative 
 board, in the modern sense of the phrase ; the govern- 
 ment is a kind of oligarchy. If, as in colonial Penn- 
 sylvania, and in the United States generally to-day, 
 the county board consists of office-rs elected by the 
 people, the county government is a representative 
 democracy. The township government, on the other 
 hand, as exemplified in New England and in the 
 northwestern states which have adopted it, is a pure 
 democracy. The latter, as we have observed, has one 
 signal advantage over all other kinds of government, 
 
 ^ A primary assembly is one in which the members attend of 
 their own right, without having been elected to it ; a representa- 
 tive assembly is composed of elected delegates. 
 
 __ I nfC 
 
100 THE CITY. 
 
 in so far as it tends to make every man feel that tlie 
 business of government is part of his own business, 
 and that where he has a stake in the management of 
 public affairs he has also a voice. When people have 
 got into the habit of leaving local affairs to be man- 
 aged by representative boards, their active interest in 
 local affairs is liable to be somewhat weakened, as all 
 energies in this world are weakened, from want of 
 exercise. When some fit subject of complaint is 
 brought up, the individual is too apt to feel that it is 
 none of his business to furnish a remedy, let the 
 proper officers look after it. He can vote at elec- 
 tions, which is a power ; he can perhaps make a stir in 
 the newspapers, which is also a power ; but personal 
 participation in town-meeting is likewise a power, the 
 necessary loss of which, as we pass to wider spheres 
 of government, is unquestionably to be regretted. 
 
 Nevertheless the loss is inevitable. A primary 
 assembly of all the inhabitants of a county, for pur- 
 poses of local government, is out of the question. 
 Direct gov- There must be representative government, 
 posSS™a ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ purpose the county system, an 
 county. inheritance from the ancient English shire, 
 has furnished the needful machinery. Our county 
 government is near enough to the people to be kept in 
 general from gross abuses of power. There are many 
 points which can be much better decided in small rep- 
 resentative bodies than in large miscellaneous meetings. 
 The responsibility of our local boards has been fairly 
 well preserved. The county system has had no mean 
 share in keeping alive the spirit of local independence 
 and self-government among our people. As regards 
 efficiency of administration, it has achieved commend- 
 able success, except in the matter of rural highways ; 
 and if our roads are worse than those of any other 
 
DIRECT AND INDIRECT GOVERNMENT. 101 
 
 civilized country, tliat is due not so much to imperfect 
 administrative methods as to other causes, — such as 
 the sparseness of population, the fierce extremes of 
 sunshine and frost, and the fact that since this huge 
 country began to be reclaimed from the wilderness, 
 the average voter, who has not travelled in Europe, 
 knows no more about good roads than he knows about 
 the temples of Psestum or the pictures of Tintoretto, 
 and therefore does not realize what demands he may 
 reasonably make. 
 
 This last consideration applies in some degree, no 
 doubt, to the ill-paved and filthy streets which are the 
 first things to arrest one's attention in most of our 
 great cities. It is time for us now to consider briefly 
 our general system of city government, in its origin 
 and in some of its most important features. 
 
 Representative government in counties is necessi- 
 tated by the extent of territory covered ; in cities it 
 is necessitated by the multitude of people. When the 
 town comes to have a very laro^e population, 
 
 .^ T 1 • n . -Ill The Boston 
 
 it becomes physically impossible to nave town-meet- 
 town-meetings. No way could be devised 
 by which all the taxpayers of the city of New York 
 could be assembled for discussion. In 1820 the pop- 
 ulation of Boston was about 40,000, of whom rather 
 more than 7,000 were voters qualified to attend the 
 town-meetings. Consequently " when a town-meeting 
 was held on any exciting subject in Faneuil Hall, 
 those only who obtained places near the moderator 
 could even hear the discussion. A few busy or in- 
 terested individuals easily obtained the management 
 of the most important affairs in an assembly in which 
 the greater number could have neither voice nor hear- 
 ing. When the subject was not generally exciting, 
 town-meetings were usually composed of the select- 
 
102 THE CITY. 
 
 men, the town officers, and thirty or forty inhabitants. 
 Those who thus came were for the most part drawn 
 to it from some official duty or private interest, which, 
 when performed or attained, they generally troubled 
 themselves but little, or not at all, about the other 
 business of the meeting." ^ 
 
 Under these circumstances it was found necessary 
 in 1822 to drop the town - meeting altogether and 
 devise a new form of government for Boston. After 
 various plans had been suggested and discussed, it 
 was decided that the new government should be vested 
 in a Mayor ; a select council of eight persons to be called 
 the Board of Aldermen ; and a Common Council of 
 forty-eight persons, four from each of twelve wards into 
 which the city was to be divided. All these officials 
 were to be elected by the people. At the same time 
 the official name " Town of Boston " was changed to 
 " City of Boston." 
 
 There is more or less of history involved in these 
 offices and designations, to which we may devote a few 
 Distinctions words of explanation. In New England 
 townsTnd local usagc there is an ambiguity in the word 
 cities. it town." As an official designation it means 
 
 the inhabitants of a township considered as a commu- 
 nity or corporate body. In common parlance it often 
 means the patch of land constituting the township on 
 the map, as when we say that Squire Brown's elm is 
 " the biggest tree in town." But it still oftener means 
 a collection of streets, houses, and families too large 
 to be called a village, but without the municipal gov- 
 ernment that characterizes a city. Sometimes it is 
 used ^9ar excellence for a city, as when an inhabitant 
 of Cambridge, itself a large suburban city, speaks of 
 going to Boston as going " into town." But such 
 ^ Quincy's Municipal History of Boston^ p. 28. 
 
DIRECT AND INDIRECT GOVERNMENT, 108 
 
 cases are of course mere survivals from the time wlien 
 the suburb was a village. In American usage gener- 
 ally the town is something between village and city, a 
 kind of inferior or incomplete city. The image which 
 it calls up in the mind is of something urban and not 
 rural. This agrees substantially with the usage in 
 European history, where " town " ordinarily means a 
 walled town or city as contrasted with a village. In 
 England the word is used either in this general sense, 
 or more specifically as signifying an inferior city, as 
 in America. But the thing which the town lacks, as 
 compared with the complete city, is very different in 
 America from what it is in England. In America it 
 is municipal government — with mayor, aldermen, and 
 common council — which must be added to the town 
 in order to make it a city. In England the town may 
 (and usually does) have this municipal government ; 
 but it is not distinguished by the Latin name " city " 
 unless it has a cathedral and a bishop. Or in other 
 words the English city is, or has been, the capital of 
 a diocese. Other towns in England are distinguished 
 as " boroughs," an old Teutonic word which was orig- 
 inally applied to towns as fortified places.^ The vo- 
 ting inhabitants of an English city are called " citi- 
 zens ; " those of a borough are called " burgesses." 
 Thus the official corporate designation of Cambridge 
 is "the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Cam- 
 bridge ; " but Oxford is the seat of a bishopric, and 
 its corporate designation is " the mayor, aldermen, and 
 citizens of Oxford." 
 
 ^ The word appears in many town names, such as Edin- 
 lurgh, Scarborough, Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds ; and on the 
 Continent, as Hamburg, Cherbourg, Burgos, etc. In Connecticut, 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, the name " borough " 
 is applied to a certain class of municipalities with some of the 
 powers of cities. 
 
104 THE CITY. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What is the essential difference between township govern- 
 
 ment and county government ? 
 
 2. What is the distinct advantage of the former ? 
 
 3. Why is direct government impossible in the county ? 
 
 4. Speak of the degree of efficiency in county government. 
 
 5. Why is direct government impossible in a city ? 
 
 6. What difficulties in direct government were experienced in 
 
 Boston in 1820 and many years preceding ? 
 
 7. What remedy for these difficulties was adopted ? 
 
 8. Show how the word "town" is used to indicate 
 a. The land of a township. 
 
 l. A somewhat large collection of streets, houses, and fam- 
 ilies. 
 c. And even, in some instances, a city. 
 
 9. What is the town commonly understood to be in American 
 
 usage ? 
 
 10. What is the difference in the United States between a town 
 
 and a city ? 
 
 11. What is the difference in England between a town and a 
 
 city? 
 
 12. Distinguish between citizens and burgesses in England. 
 
 § 2. Origin of English Boroughs and Cities. 
 
 What, then, was the origin of the English borough 
 
 or city ? In the days when Roman legions occupied 
 
 for a long: time certain military stations in 
 
 "Chesters.'» -r, . . * , . , 
 
 Britain, their camps were apt to become 
 centres of trade and thus to grow into cities. Such 
 places were generally known as casters or chesterSj 
 from the Latin castra, " camp," and there are many 
 of them on the map of England to-day. But these 
 were exceptional cases. As a rule the origin of the 
 borough was as purely English as its name. We have 
 seen that the town was originally the dwelling-place 
 Coalescence ^^ ^ Stationary clan, surrounded by palisades 
 TntoSified ^^ ^J ^ dcusc quicksct hedge. Now where 
 boroughs. g^^]^ small cucloscd places were thinly scat- 
 tered about they developed simply into villages. But 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. 105 
 
 where, through the development of trade or any other 
 cause, a good many of them grew up close together 
 within a narrow compass, they gradually coalesced into 
 a kind of compound town ; and with the greater pop- 
 ulation and greater wealth, there was naturally more 
 elaborate and permanent fortification than that of the 
 palisaded village. There were massive walls and 
 frowning turrets, and the place came to be called a 
 fortress or " borough." The borough, then, " was sim- 
 ply several townships packed tightly together ; a hun- 
 dred smaller in extent and thicker in population than 
 other hundreds." ^ 
 
 From this compact and composite character of the 
 borough came several important results. We have 
 seen that the hundred was the smallest area 
 
 1 • • • c • • rrM borough 
 
 for the admmistration of lustice. The town- as a hun. 
 ship was m many respects seK-governmg, 
 but it did not have its court, any more than the New 
 England township of the present day has its court. 
 The lowest court was that of the hundred, but as the 
 borough was equivalent to a hundred it soon came to 
 have its own court. And although much obscurity 
 still surrounds the early history of municipal govern- 
 ment in England, it is probable that this court was a 
 representative board, like any other hundred court, 
 and that the relation of the borough to its constituent 
 townships resembled the relation of the modern city 
 to its constituent wards. 
 
 But now as certain boroughs grew larger and an- 
 nexed outlying townships, or acquired adjacent terri- 
 tory which presently became covered with The borough 
 streets and houses, their constitution became ^® ^ county* 
 still more complex. The borough came to embrace 
 
 ^ Freeman, Norman Conquest, vol. v. p. 466. For a descrip* 
 fcion of the hundred, see above, pp. 75-80. 
 
106 THE CITY. 
 
 several closely packed hundreds, and thus became 
 analogous to a shire. In this way it gained for itself 
 a sheriff and the equivalent of a county court. For 
 example, under the charter granted by Henry I. in 
 1101, London was expressly recognized as a county 
 by itself. Its burgesses could elect their own chief 
 magistrate, who was called the port-reeve, inasmuch 
 as London is a seaport ; in some other towns he was 
 called the borough-reeve. He was at once the chief 
 executive officer and the chief judge. The burgesses 
 could also elect their sheriff, although in all rural 
 counties Henry's father, William the Conqueror, had 
 lately deprived the people of this privilege and ap- 
 pointed the sheriffs himself. London had its rep- 
 resentative board, or council, which was the equiva- 
 lent of a county court. Each ward, moreover, had its 
 own representative board, which was the equivalent of 
 a hundred court. " Within the wards, or hundreds, 
 the burgesses were grouped together in township, par- 
 ish, or manor. . . . Into the civic organization of 
 London, to whose special privileges all lesser cities 
 were ever striving to attain, the elements of local ad- 
 ministration embodied in the township, the hundred, 
 and the shire thus entered as component parts." ^ 
 Constitutionally, therefore, London was a little world 
 in itself, and in a less degree the same was true of 
 other cities and boroughs which afterwards obtained 
 the same kind of organization, as for example, York 
 and Newcastle, Lincoln and Norwich, Southampton 
 and Bristol. 
 
 In such boroughs or cities all classes of society 
 were brou^fht into close contact, — barons 
 
 The guilds. i , . i 
 
 and knights, priests and monks, merchants 
 
 ^ Hannis Taylor, Origin and Growth of the English Constiivr 
 tiarif vol. i. p. 458. 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. 107 
 
 and craftsmen, free labourers and serfs. But trades 
 and manufactures, wMch always liad so much to do 
 with the growth of the city, acquired the chief power 
 and the control of the government. From an early 
 period tradesmen and artisans found it worth while 
 to form themselves into guilds or brotherhoods, in 
 order to protect their persons and property against 
 insult and robbery at the hands of great lords and 
 their lawless military retainers. Thus there came to 
 be guilds, or " worshipful companies," of grocers, fish- 
 mongers, butchers, weavers, tailors, ironmongers, car- 
 penters, saddlers, armourers, needle-makers, etc. In 
 large towns there was a tendency among such trade 
 guilds to combine in a " united brotherhood," or 
 "town guild," and this organization at length ac- 
 quired full control of the city government. In Lon- 
 don this process was completed in the course of the 
 thirteenth century. To obtain the full privileges of 
 citizenship one had to be enrolled in a guild. The 
 guild hall became the city hall. The aldermen^ or 
 head men of sundry guilds, became the head Mayor, aider- 
 men of the several wards. There was a ^mon"^ 
 representative board, or common council^ councu. 
 elected by the citizens. The aldermen and common 
 council held their meetings in the Guildhall, and 
 over these meetings presided the chief magistrate, or 
 port-reeve, who by this time, in accordance with the 
 fashion then prevailing, had assumed the French title 
 of mayor. As London had come to be a little world 
 in itself, so this city government reproduced on a small 
 scale the national government ; the mayor answering 
 to the king, the aristocratic board of aldermen to the 
 House of Lords, and the democratic common council 
 to the House of Commons. A still more suggestive 
 comparison, perhaps, would be between the aldermen 
 
108 THE CITY, 
 
 and our federal Senate, since the aldermen represented 
 wards, while the common council represented the 
 citizens. 
 
 The constitution thus perfected in the city of Lon- 
 don 1 six hundred years ago has remained to this day 
 The city of without csscutial chaugc. The voters are 
 Loudon. enrolled members of companies which rep- 
 resent the ancient guilds. Each year they choose 
 one of the aldermen to be lord mayor. Within the 
 city he has precedence next to the sovereign and be- 
 fore the royal family ; elsewhere he ranks as an earl, 
 thus indicating the equivalence of the city to a county, 
 and with like significance he is lord lieutenant of the 
 city and justice of the peace. The twenty-six alder- 
 men, one for each ward, are elected by the people, 
 such as are entitled to vote for members of parlia- 
 ment ; they are justices of the peace. The common 
 councilmen, 206 in number, are also elected by the 
 people, and their legislative power within the city is 
 practically supreme ; parliament does not think of 
 overruling it. And the city government thus con- 
 stituted is one of the most clean-handed and efficient 
 in the world.^ 
 
 The development of other English cities and bor- 
 oughs was so far like that of London that merchant 
 guilds generally obtained control, and government by 
 mayor, aldermen, and common council came to be the 
 
 ^ The city of London extends east and west from the Tower 
 to Temple Bar, and north and south from Finshury to the 
 Thames, with a population of not more than 100,000, and is but 
 a small part of the enormous metropolitan area now known as 
 London, which is a circle of twelve miles radius in every direc- 
 tion from its centre at Charing Cross, with a population of more 
 than 5,000,000. This vast area is an agglomeration of many par- 
 ishes, manors, etc., and has no municipal government in common. 
 
 * Loftie, History of London, vol. i. p. 446. 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. 109 
 
 prevailing type. Having also their own judges and 
 sheriffs, and not being obliged to go out- English 
 side of their own walls to obtain justice, to b^j^^arks ' 
 enforce contracts and punish crime, their ^^^^y- 
 efficiency as independent self-governing bodies was 
 great, and in many a troubled time they served as 
 staunch bulwarks of English liberty. The strength 
 of their turreted walls was more than supplemented 
 by the length of their purses, and such immunity 
 from the encroachments of lords and king as they 
 could not otherwise win, they contrived to buy. Ar- 
 bitrary taxation they generally escaped by compounding 
 with the royal exchequer in a fixed sum or quit-rent, 
 known as the firma hiirgi. We have observed the 
 especial privilege which Henry I. confirmed to Lon- 
 don, of electing its own sheriff. London had been 
 prompt in recognizing his title to the crown, and such 
 support, in days when the succession was not well 
 regulated, no prudent king could afford to pass by 
 without some substantial acknowledgment. It was 
 never safe for any king to trespass upon the liberties 
 of London, and through the worst times that city has 
 remained a true republic with liberal republican sen- 
 timents. If George III. could have been guided by 
 the advice of London, as expressed by its great alder- 
 man Beckford, the American colonies would not have 
 been driven into rebellion. 
 
 The most signal part played by the English bor- 
 oughs and cities, in securing English freedom, dates 
 from the thirteenth century, when the nation was 
 vaguely struggling for representative government on 
 a national scale, as a means of curbing the power of 
 the crown. In that memorable struggle, the issue of 
 which to some extent prefigured the shape that the gov- 
 ernment of the United States was to take five hundred 
 
110 THE CITY. 
 
 years afterward, the cities and borouglis supported 
 Simon de Simon de Montfort, the leader of the pop- 
 ^Tthf * ular party and one of the foremost among 
 cities. j^Q heroes and martyrs of English liberty. 
 
 Accordingly on the morrow of his decisive victory at 
 Lewes in 1264, when for the moment he stood master 
 of England, as Cromwell stood four centuries later, 
 Simon called a parliament to settle the affairs of the 
 kingdom, and to this parliament he invited, along with 
 the lords who came by hereditary custom, not only 
 two elected representatives from each rural county, 
 but also two elected representatives from each city and 
 borough. In this parliament, which met in 1265, 
 the combination of rural with urban representatives 
 brought all parts of England together in a grand 
 representative body, the House of Commons, with 
 interests in common ; and thus the people presently 
 gained power enough to defeat all attempts to estab- 
 lish irresponsible government, such as we call despot- 
 ism, on the part of the crown. 
 
 If we look at the later history of English cities and 
 
 boroughs, it appears that, in spite of the splendid 
 
 work which they did for the English people at large, 
 
 they did not always succeed in preserving their own 
 
 liberties unimpaired. London, indeed, has 
 
 Oligarchical , • . • i •. i . . i 
 
 abuses in alwavs maintained its character as a truly rep- 
 
 English *^ . , -. -r> . -ni t i 
 
 cities (cir. rcscntativc republic. 13ut m many Lnglisa 
 cities, during the Tudor and Stuart periods, 
 the mayor and aldermen contrived to dispense with 
 popular election, and thus to become close corporations 
 or self -perpetuating oligarchical bodies. There was a 
 notable tendency toward this sort of irresponsible 
 government in the reign of James I., and the Puri- 
 tans who came to the shores of Massachusetts Bay 
 were inspired with a feeling of revolt against such 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. Ill 
 
 methods. This doubtless lent an emphasis to the 
 mood in which they proceeded to organize themselves 
 into free seK-governing townships. The oligarchical 
 abuses in English cities and boroughs remained until 
 they were swept away by the great Municipal Eeform 
 Act of 1835. 
 
 The first city governments established in America 
 were framed in conscious imitation of the correspond- 
 ing institutions in England. The oldest city govern- 
 ment in the United States is that of New York. Shortly 
 after the town was taken from the Dutch in 1664, the 
 new governor, Colonel Nichols, put an end to its 
 Dutch form of government, and appointed a mayor, 
 five aldermen, and a sheriff. These officers Government 
 appointed inferior officers, such as consta- ofN^wYOTk 
 bles, and little or nothing was left to popular CI686-1821). 
 election. But in 1686, under Governor Dongan, New 
 York was regularly incorporated and chartered as a 
 city. Its constitution bore an especially close resem- 
 blance to that of Norwich, then the third city in Eng- 
 land in size and importance. The city of New York 
 was divided into six wards. The governing corpora- 
 tion consisted of the mayor, the recorder, the town- 
 clerk, six aldermen, and six assistants. All the land 
 not taken up by individual owners was granted as public 
 land to the corporation, which in return paid into the 
 British exchequer one beaver-skin yearly. This was 
 a survival of the old quit-rent or jirma hurgi} The 
 city was made a county, and thus had its court, its 
 sheriff and coroner, and its high constable. Other 
 officers were the chamberlain or treasurer, seven infe- 
 rior constables, a sergeant-at-arms, and a clerk of the 
 market, who inspected weights and measures, and pun- 
 
 ^ Jameson, " The Municipal Government of New York," 
 Mag. Amer. Hist., vol. viii. p. 609. 
 
112 THE CITY. 
 
 ished delinquencies in tlie use of them. The principal 
 judge was the recorder, who, as we have just seen, 
 was one of the corporation. The aldermen, assist- 
 ants, and constables were elected annually by the 
 people ; but the mayor and sheriff were appointed by 
 the governor. The recorder, town-clerk, and clerk of 
 the market were to be appointed by the king, but in 
 case the king neglected to act, these appointments 
 also were made by the governor. The high consta- 
 ble was appointed by the mayor, the treasurer by 
 the mayor, aldermen, and assistants, who seem to 
 have answered to the ordinary common council. The 
 mayor, recorder, and aldermen, without the assistants, 
 were a judicial body, and held a weekly court of com- 
 mon pleas. When the assistants were added, the 
 whole became a legislative body empowered to enact 
 by-laws. 
 
 Although this charter granted very imperfect powers 
 of self-government, the people contrived to live under 
 it for a hundred and thirty-five years, until 1821. 
 Before the Revolution their petitions succeeded in ob- 
 taining only a few unimportant amendments.^ When 
 the British army captured the city in September, 1776, 
 it was forthwith placed under martial law, and so re- 
 mained until the army departed in November, 1783. 
 During those seven years New York was not altogether 
 a comfortable place in which to live. After 1783 the 
 city government remained as before, except that the 
 state of New York assumed the control formerly ex- 
 ercised by the British crown. Mayor and recorder, 
 town-clerk and sheriff, were now appointed by a coun- 
 cil of appointment consisting of the governor and 
 four senators. This did not work well, and the con- 
 stitution of 1821 gave to the people the power of 
 
 ^ Especially in the so-called Montgomerie charter of 1730. 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. 118 
 
 choosing their sheriff and town-clerk, while the mayor 
 was to be elected by the common council. Nothing 
 but the appointment of the recorder remained in the 
 hands of the governor. Thus nearly forty years after 
 the close of the War of Independence the city of 
 New York acquired self-government as complete as 
 that of the city of London. In 1857, as we shall see, 
 this self-government was greatly curtailed, with re- 
 sults more or less disastrous. 
 
 The next city governments to be organized in the 
 American colonies, after that of New York, were 
 those of Philadelphia, incorporated in 1701, and An- 
 napolis, incorporated in 1708. These govern- city govern- 
 ments were framed after the wretched pat- pSadeiphia 
 tern then so common in England. In both (i'^oi-i^89). 
 cases the mayor, the recorder, the aldermen, and the 
 common council constituted a close self-electing cor- 
 poration. The resulting abuses were not so great as 
 in England, probably because the cities were so small. 
 But in course of time, especially in Philadelphia 
 as it increased in population, the viciousness of the 
 system was abundantly illustrated. As the people 
 could not elect the governing corporation or any of its 
 members, they very naturally and reasonably dis- 
 trusted it, and through the legislature they contrived 
 so to limit its powers of taxation that it was really 
 unable to keep the streets in repair, to light them at 
 night, or to support an adequate police force. An 
 attempt was made to supply such wants by creating 
 divers independent boards of commissioners, one for 
 paving and draining, another for street-lamps and 
 watchmen, a third for town-pumps, and so on. In this 
 way responsibility got so minutely parcelled out and 
 scattered, and there was so much jealousy and wrang- 
 ling between the different boards and the corporation. 
 
114 THE CITY. 
 
 that the result was chaos. The public money was 
 habitually wasted and occasionally embezzled, and 
 there was general dissatisfaction. In 1789 the close 
 corporation was abolished, and thereafter the aldermen 
 and common council were elected by the citizens, the 
 mayor was chosen by the aldermen out of their own 
 number, and the recorder was appointed by the mayor 
 and aldermen. Thus Philadelphia obtained a repre- 
 sentative government. 
 
 These instances of New York and Philadelphia 
 ^sufficiently illustrate the beginnings of city govern- 
 ment in the United States. In each case the system 
 was copied from England at a time when city govern- 
 ment in England was sadly demoralized. What was 
 copied was not the free republic of London, with its 
 noble traditions of civic honour and sagacious public 
 spirit, but the imperfect republics or oligarchies into 
 which the lesser English boroughs were sinking, amid 
 the foul political intrigues and corruption which char- 
 acterized the Stuart period. The government of 
 American cities in our own time is admitted on all 
 Traditions hauds to bc far from satisfactory. It is in- 
 ernmen/^^' tcrcstiug to obscrvc that the cities which had 
 lacking. municipal government before the Revolu- 
 tion, though they have always had their full share of 
 able and high-minded citizens, do not possess even the 
 tradition of good government. And the difficulty, in 
 those colonial times, was plainly want of adequate 
 self-government, want of responsibility on the part of 
 the public servants toward their employers the people. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 I, What was the origin of the casters and chesters that are found 
 in England to-day ? 
 
 2o Trace the development of the English borough until it be- 
 came a kind of hundred. 
 
ENGLISH BOROUGHS AND CITIES. 115 
 
 3. Compare this borough with the hundred in the administra- 
 
 tion of justice. 
 
 4. Trace the further development of the borough in cases in 
 
 which it became a county. 
 
 5. Illustrate this development with London, showing how the 
 
 elements of the township, the hundred, and the shire gov- 
 ernment enter into its civic organization. 
 
 6. Explain the origin and the objects of the various guilds. 
 
 7. Speak of the " town guild " under the following heads : — 
 a. Its composition and power. 
 
 h. Its relation to citizenship. 
 
 c. Its place of meeting. 
 
 d. The aldermen. 
 
 e. The common council. 
 
 f. The chief magistrate. 
 
 8. Compare the government of London with that of Great 
 
 Britain or of the United States. 
 
 9. Give some account of the lord mayor, the aldermen, and 
 
 the councilmen of London. 
 
 10. Distinguish between London the city and London the me- 
 
 tropolis. 
 
 11. Show how the English cities and boroughs became bulwarks 
 
 of liberty by (1) their facilities for obtaining justice, (2) 
 the strength of their walls, and (3) the length of their 
 purses. 
 
 12. Contrast the power of London with that of the throne. / 
 
 13. What notable advance in government was made under the 
 
 leadership of Simon de Montfort ? 
 
 14. What abuses crept into the government of many of the 
 
 English cities ? 
 
 15. What was the Puritan attitude towards such abuses ? 
 
 16. Give an account of the government of New York city % — 
 a. The charter of 1686. 
 
 h. The governing corporation. 
 
 c. The public land. 
 
 d. The city's privileges as a county. 
 
 e. Officers by election and by appointment. 
 
 f. Judicial functions. 
 
 g. Martial law. 
 
 h. The charter of 1821. 
 
 17. Give an account of the government of Philadelphia : — 
 a. The governments after which it was patterned. 
 
116 THE CITY. 
 
 * 
 
 h. The viciousness of the system adopted. 
 
 c. The legislative interference that was thus provoked. 
 
 d. The division of responsibility and the results of such 
 
 division. 
 
 e. The nature of the changes made in 1789. 
 
 1 8. Why are the traditions of good government lacking in the 
 older American cities ? 
 
 § 3. The Government of Cities in the United States, 
 
 At the present day American municipal govern- 
 ments are for tlie most part constructed on the same 
 general plan, though with many variations in detail. 
 Several fea- There is an executive department, with the 
 dtyyvera-"^ mayor at its head. The mayor is elected 
 ments. ^yj the votcrs of the city, and holds office 
 
 generally for one year, but sometimes for two or 
 three years, and in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and 
 " Greater New York " even for four years. Under 
 the mayor are various heads of departments, — street 
 commissioners, assessors, overseers of the poor, etc., 
 — sometimes elected by the citizens, sometimes ap- 
 pointed by the mayor or the city council. This city 
 council is a legislative body, usually consisting of two 
 chambers, the aldermen and the common council, 
 elected by the citizens ; but in many small cities, and 
 a few of the largest, such as Chicago and San Fran- 
 cisco, there is but one such chamber. Then there are 
 city judges, sometimes appointed by the governor of 
 the state, to serve for life or during good behaviour, 
 but usually elected by the citizens for short terms. 
 
 All appropriations of money for city purposes are 
 made by the city council ; and as a general rule this 
 council has some control over the heads of executive 
 departments, which it exercises through committees. 
 Thus there may be a committee upon streets, upon 
 public buildings, upon parks or almshouses or what- 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 117 
 
 ever the municipal government is concerned with. 
 The head of a department is more or less dependent 
 upon his committee, and in practice this is found to 
 divide and weaken responsibility. The heads of de- 
 partments are apt to be independent of one another, 
 and to owe no allegiance in common to any one. 
 The mayor, when he appoints them, usually does so 
 subject to the approval of the city council or of one 
 branch of it. The mayor is usually not a member of 
 the city council, but can veto its enactments, which 
 however can be passed over his veto by a two thirds 
 majority. 
 
 City governments thus constituted are something 
 like state governments in miniature. The relation 
 of the mayor to the city council is somewhat like that 
 of the governor to the state legislature, and of the 
 president to the national congress. In theory ^^^ ^^ ^^^ 
 nothing could well be more republican, or seemtowork 
 more unlike such city governments as those 
 of New York and Philadelphia before the Kevolution. 
 Yet in practice it does not seem to work well. New 
 York and Philadelphia seem to have heard as many 
 complaints in the nineteenth century as in the eigh- 
 teenth, and the same kind of complaints, — of exces» 
 sive taxation, public money wasted or embezzled, ill- 
 paved and dirty streets, inefficient police, and so on 
 to the end of the chapter. In most of our large cities 
 similar evils have been witnessed, and in too many of 
 the smaller ones the trouble seems to be the same in 
 kind, only less in degree. Our republican government, 
 which, after making all due allowances, seems to work 
 remarkably well in rural districts, and in the states, 
 and in the nation, has certainly been far less success- 
 ful as applied to cities. Accordingly our cities have 
 come to furnish topics for reflection to which writers 
 
118 THE CITY. 
 
 and orators fond of boasting the unapproachable ex- 
 cellence of American institutions do not like to allude. 
 Fifty years ago we were wont to speak of civil govern- 
 ment in the United States as if it had dropped from 
 heaven or had been specially created by some kind of 
 miracle upon American soil ; and we were apt to think 
 that in mere republican forms there was some kind 
 of mystic virtue which made them a panacea for all 
 political evils. Our later experience with cities has 
 rudely disturbed this too confident frame of mind. 
 It has furnished facts which do not seem to fit our 
 self-complacent theory, so that now our writers and 
 speakers are inclined to vent their spleen upon the 
 unhappy cities, perhaps too unreservedly. We hear 
 them called " foul sinks of corruption " and " plague 
 spots on our body politic." Yet in all probability our 
 cities are destined to increase in number and to grow 
 larger and larger ; so that perhaps it is just as well to 
 consider them calmly, as presenting problems which 
 had not been thought of when our general theory of 
 government was first worked out a hundred years ago, 
 but which, after we have been sufficiently taught by 
 experience, we may hope to succeed in solving, just 
 as we have heretofore succeeded in other things. A 
 general discussion of the subject does not fall within 
 the province ,of this brief historical sketch. But our 
 account would be very incomplete if we were to stop 
 short of mentioning some of the recent attempts that 
 have been made toward reconstructing our theories of 
 city government and improving its practical working. 
 And first, let us point out a few of the pecul- 
 
 Some diffl- ... ^ . 
 
 cuities to be lar difficulties of the problem, that we may 
 see why we might have been expected, up to 
 the present time, to have been less successful in man- 
 aging our great cities than in managing our rural 
 communities, and our states, and our nation. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 119 
 
 In the first place, the problem is comparatively new 
 and has taken us unawares. At the time of Wash- 
 ington's inauguration to the presidency there were no 
 large cities in the United States. Philadelphia had 
 a population of 42,000 ; New York had R^pid 
 33,000; Boston, which came next, with i'^^La 
 18,000, was . not yet a city. Then came ^^*^®^' 
 Baltimore, with 13,000 ; while Brooklyn was a village 
 of 1,600 souls. Now these cities have a population 
 of nearly 6,000,000, or much more than that of the 
 United States in 1789. And consider how rapidly 
 new cities have been added to the list. One hardly 
 needs to mention the most striking cases, such as Chi- 
 cago, with 4,000 inhabitants in 1840, and more than 
 1,500,000 in 1898 ; or Denver, with its miles of hand- 
 some streets and shops, and not one native inhabitant 
 who has reached his thirtieth birthday. Such facts 
 are summed up in the general statement that, whereas 
 in 1790 the population of the United States was 
 scarcely 4,000,000, and out of each 100 inhabitants 
 only 3 dwelt in cities and the other 97 in rural jjlaces ; 
 on the other hand in 1880, when the population was 
 more than 50,000,000, out of each 100 inhabitants 23 
 dwelt in cities and 77 in rural places. But duly to 
 appreciate the rapidity of this growth of cities, we 
 must observe that most of it has been subsequent to 
 1840. In 1790 there were six towns in the United 
 States that might be ranked as cities from their size, 
 though to get this number we must include Boston. 
 In 1800 the number was the same. By 1810 the 
 number had risen from 6 to 11 ; by 1820 it had 
 reached 13 ; by 1830 this thirteen had doubled and 
 become 26 ; and in 1840 there were 44 cities al- 
 together. The urban population increased from 
 210,873 in 1800 to 1,453,994 in 1840. But be- 
 
120 THE CITY. 
 
 tween 1840 and 1880 the number of new cities which 
 came into existence was 242, and the urban popula- 
 tion increased to 11,318,547. Nothing like this was 
 ever knoAvn before in any part of the world, and per- 
 haps it is not strange that such a tremendous develop- 
 ment did not find our methods of government fully 
 prepared to deal with it. 
 
 This rapidity of growth has entailed some impor- 
 tant consequences. In the first place it obliges the 
 Some conse- ^^^J *^ Hiakc great outlays of money in order 
 thfs^rapi? to g^t immediate results. Public works 
 growth. must be undertaken with a view to quick- 
 ness rather than thoroughness. Pavements, sewers, 
 and reservoirs of some sort must be had at once, even 
 if inadequately planned and imperfectly constructed ; 
 and so, before a great while, the work must be done 
 over again. Such conditions of imperative haste in- 
 crease the temptations to dishonesty as well as the 
 liability to errors of judgment on the part of the men 
 who administer the public funds.^ Then the rapid 
 growth of a city, especially of a new city, requiring the 
 immediate construction of a certain amount of public 
 works, almost necessitates the borrowing of money, 
 and debt means heavy taxes. It is like the case of 
 a young man who, in order to secure a home for his' 
 quickly growing family, buys a house under a heavy 
 mortgage. Twice a year there comes in a great bill 
 for interest, and in order to meet it he must econo- 
 mize in his table or now and then deny himself a new 
 suit of clothes. So if a city has to tax heavily to pay 
 
 ^ This and some of the following considerations have been 
 ably set forth and illustrated by Hon. Seth Low, president of 
 Columbia College, and lately mayor of Brooklyn, in an address 
 at Johns Hopkins University, published in J. H. U, Studies, 
 Supplementary Notes, no. 4. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 121 
 
 its debts, it must cut down its current expenses some- 
 where, and the results are sure to be visible in more 
 or less untidiness and inefficiency. Mr. Low tells us 
 that " very few of our American cities have yet paid 
 in full the cost of their original water-works." Lastly, 
 much wastefulness results from want of foresight. It 
 is not easy to predict how a city will grow, or the na- 
 ture of its needs a few years hence. Moreover, even 
 when it is easy enough to predict a result, it is not 
 easy to secure practical foresight on the part of a city 
 council elected for the current year. Its 
 
 » . 1 » T . Want of 
 
 members are afraid of making taxes too practical 
 
 , . foresight. 
 
 heavy this year, and considerations of ten 
 years hence are apt to be dismissed as " visionary." 
 It is always hard for us to realize how terribly soon 
 ten years hence will be here. The habit of doing 
 things by halves has been often commented on (and, 
 perhaps, even more by our own writers than by for- 
 eigners) as especially noticeable in America. It has 
 doubtless been fostered by the conditions which in so 
 many cases have made it absolutely necessary to adopt 
 temporary makeshifts. These conditions have pro- 
 duced a certain habit of mind. 
 
 Let us now observe that as cities increase in size 
 the amount of government that is necessary tends in 
 some respects to increase. Wherever there „ 
 
 ■•■ ^ ^ Growth in 
 
 is a crowd there is likely to be some need of complexity 
 
 *' of govern- 
 
 rules and reg^ulations. In the country a mentin 
 
 ^^ ^ *' cities. 
 
 man may build his house pretty much as he 
 pleases ; but in the city he may be forbidden to build 
 it of wood, and perhaps even the thickness of the 
 party walls or the position of the chimneys may come 
 in for some supervision on the part of the govern- 
 ment. For further precaution against spreading fires, 
 the city has an organized force of men, with costly 
 
122 THE CITY. 
 
 engines, engine-houses, and stables. In the country 
 a board of health has comparatively little to do ; in 
 the city it is often confronted with difficult sanitary 
 problems Which call for highly paid professional skill 
 on the part of physicians and chemists, architects and 
 plumbers, masons and engineers. So, too, the water 
 supply of a great city is likely to be a complicated 
 business, and the police force may well need as much 
 management as a small army. In short, with a city, 
 increase in size is sure to involve increase in complex- 
 ity of organization, and this means a vast increase in 
 the number of officials for doing the work and of de- 
 tails to be superintended. For example, let us enu- 
 merate the executive department and officers of the 
 city of Boston at the present time. 
 
 There are three street commissioners with power to 
 lay out streets and assess damages thereby occasioned. 
 These are elected by the people. The following offi- 
 cers are appointed by the mayor, with the con- 
 officers in currence of the aldermen : a superintendent 
 of streets, an inspector of buildings, three 
 commissioners each for the fire and health departments, 
 four overseers of the poor, besides a board of nine 
 directors for the management of almshouses, houses of 
 correction, lunatic hospital, etc. ; a city hospital board 
 of five members, five trustees of the public library, 
 three commissioners each for parks and water-works ; 
 five chief assessors, to estimate the value of property 
 and assess city, county, and state taxes ; a city collec- 
 tor, a superintendent of public buildings, five trus- 
 tees of Mount Hope Cemetery, six sinking fund com- 
 missioners, two record commissioners, three registrars 
 of voters, a registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, 
 a city treasurer, city auditor, city solicitor, corporation 
 counsel, city architect, city surveyor, superintendent of 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 128 
 
 Faneuil Hall Market, superintendent of street lights, 
 superintendent of sewers, superintendent of printing, 
 superintendent of bridges, five directors of ferries, 
 harbour master and ten assistants, water registrar, in- 
 spector of provisions, inspector of milk and vinegar, 
 a sealer and four deputy sealers of weights and meas- 
 ures, an inspector of lime, three inspectors of petro- 
 leum, fifteen inspectors of pressed hay, a culler of 
 hoops and staves, three fence-viewers, ten field-drivers 
 and pound-keepers, three surveyors of marble, nine 
 superintendents of hay scales, four measurers of upper 
 leather, fifteen measurers of wood and bark, twenty 
 measurers of grain, three weighers of beef, thirty- 
 eight weighers of coal, five weighers of boilers and 
 heavy machinery, four weighers of ballast and lighters, 
 ninety-two undertakers, 150 constables, 968 election 
 officers and their deputies. A few of these officials 
 serve without pay, some are paid by salaries fixed by 
 the council, some by fees. Besides these there is a 
 clerk of the common council elected by that body, and 
 also the city clerk, city messenger, and clerk of com- 
 mittees, in whose election both branches of the city 
 council concur. The school committee, of twenty- 
 four members, elected by the people, is distinct from 
 the rest of the city government, and so is the board of 
 police, composed of three commissioners appointed by 
 the state executive.^ 
 
 This long list may serve to give some idea of the 
 mere quantity of administrative work re- how city 
 quired in a large city. Obviously under comeTSTe 
 such circumstances city government must be- ^ ^^y^tery. 
 come more or less of a mystery to the great mass of cit- 
 izens. They cannot watch its operations as the inhab- 
 
 ^ Bugbee, " The City Government of Boston," /. H. U. Studies, 
 V..m. 
 
124 THE CITY. 
 
 itants of a small village can watch the proceedings of 
 their township and county governments. Much work 
 must go on which cannot even be intelligently crit- 
 icised without such special knowledge as it would be 
 idle to expect in the average voter, or perhaps in any 
 voter. It becomes exceedingly difficult for the tax- 
 payer to understand just what his money goes for, or 
 how far the city expenses might reasonably be reduced 5 
 and it becomes correspondingly easy for municipal cor- 
 ruption to start and acquire a considerable headway 
 before it can be detected and checked. 
 
 In some respects city government is harder to watch 
 
 intelligently than the government of the state or of 
 
 the nation. For these wider governments are to some 
 
 extent limited to work of general supervi- 
 
 In some re- . . . 
 
 spectsitia siou. As Compared with the city, they are 
 
 more of a ^ ^ ^ j ^ j 
 
 mystery morc concemcd with the establishment and 
 
 than state 
 
 and national enforcement of certain s^eneral principles, 
 
 government. , . , . , 
 
 and less with the administration of endlessly 
 complicated details. I do not mean to be understood 
 as saying that there is not plenty of intricate detail 
 about state and national governments. I am only 
 comparing one thing with another, and it seems to me 
 that one chief difficulty with city government is the 
 bewildering vastness and multifariousness of the de- 
 tails with which it is concerned. The modern city 
 has come to be a huge corporation for carrying on a 
 huge business with many branches, most of which call 
 for special aptitude and training. 
 
 As these points have gradually forced themselves 
 upon public attention there has been a tendency in many 
 The mayor ^f our large citics toward remodelling their 
 too^Tttie^'^ governments on new principles. The most 
 power. noticeable feature of this tendency is the 
 
 increase in the powers of the mayor. A hundred 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 125 
 
 years ago our legislators and constitution-makers were 
 much afraid of what was called the " one-man power." 
 In nearly all the colonies a chronic quarrel had been 
 kept up between the governors appointed by the king 
 and the legislators elected by the people, and this had 
 made the " one-man power " very unpopular. Besides, 
 it was something that had been unpopular in ancient 
 Greece and Rome, and it was thought to be essentially 
 unrepublican in principle. Accordingly our great- 
 grandfathers preferred to entrust executive powers to 
 committees rather than to single individuals ; and when 
 they assigned an important office to an individual they 
 usually took pains to curtail its power and influence. 
 This disposition was visible in our early attempts to 
 organize city governments like little republics. First, 
 in the board of aldermen and the common council we 
 had a two-chambered legislature. Then, lest the mayor 
 should become dangerous, the veto power was at first 
 generally withheld from him, and his appointments of 
 executive officers needed to be confirmed by at least 
 one branch of the city council. These executive offi- 
 cers, moreover, as already observed, were subject to 
 more or less control or oversight from committees of 
 the city council. 
 
 Now this system, in depriving the mayor of power, 
 deprived him of responsibility, and left the responsi- 
 bility nowhere in particular. In making ap- scattering 
 pointments the mayor and council would eSn^of^re- 
 come to some sort of compromise with each ^po^sibiuty. 
 other and exchange favours. Perhaps for private 
 reasons incompetent or dishonest officers would get 
 appointed, and if the citizens ventured to complain 
 the mayor would say that he appointed as good men 
 as the council could be induced to confirm, and the 
 council would declare their willingness to confirm 
 
126 THE CITY. 
 
 good appointments if tlie mayor could only be per- 
 suaded to make them. 
 
 Then the want of subordination of the different 
 executive departments made it impossible to secure 
 unity of administration or to carry out any consistent 
 and generally intelligible policy. Between the vari- 
 ous executive officers and visiting committees there 
 was apt to be a more or less extensive interchange of 
 favours, or what is called "log-rolling ; " and sums of 
 money would be voted by the council only thus to 
 leak away in undertakings the propriety or necessity 
 of which was perhaps hard to determine. There was 
 no responsible head who could be quickly and sharply 
 called to account. Each official's hands were so tied 
 that whatever went wrong he could declare that it was 
 not his fault. The confusion was enhanced by the 
 practice of giving executive work to committees or 
 Committees l^oards instead of single officers. Benjamin 
 forSecutive Franklin used to say, If you wish to be sure 
 purposes. ^j^^^ ^ thing is done, go and do it yourself. 
 Human experience certainly proves that this is the 
 only absolutely safe way. The next best way is to 
 send some competent person to do it for you ; and if 
 there is no one competent to be had, you do the next 
 best thing and entrust the work to the least incompe- 
 tent person you can find. If you entrust it to a com- 
 mittee your prospect of getting it done is diminished, 
 and it grows less if you enlarge your committee. By 
 the time you have got a group of committees, inde- 
 pendent of one another and working at cross pur- 
 poses, you have got Dickens's famous Circumlocution 
 Office, where the great object in life was " how not to 
 do it." 
 
 Amid the general dissatisfaction over the extrava* 
 gance and inefficiency of our city governments, peO' 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 127 
 
 pie's attention was first drawn to the rapid and alarm- 
 ing increase of city indebtedness in various increase of 
 parts of the country. A heavy debt may ^'^^y'lebts. 
 ruin a city as surely as an individual, for it raises the 
 rate of taxation, and thus, as was above pointed out, it 
 tends to frighten people and capital away from the city. 
 At first it was sought to curb the recklessness of city 
 councils in incurring lavish expenditures by giving 
 the mayor a veto power. Laws were also passed lim- 
 iting the amount of debt which a city would be allowed 
 to incur under any circumstances. Clothing the 
 mayor with the veto power is now seen to have been a 
 wise step ; and arbitrary limitation of the amount of 
 debt, though a clumsy expedient, is confessedly a 
 necessary one. But beyond this, it was in some in- 
 stances attempted to take the manaerement 
 
 ^ „ . , . J. Attempt to 
 
 of some departments of city busmess out of cure the 
 
 ■*- . ^ . - evil by state 
 
 the hands of the city and put them into the mterfer- 
 
 T ence ; expe- 
 
 hands of the state leo^islature. The most nenceof 
 
 c 1 • • TWT AT- 1 • New York. 
 
 notable instance of this was m New York m 
 1857. The results, there and elsewhere, have been 
 generally regarded as unsatisfactory. After a trial of 
 thirty years the experience of New York has proved 
 that a state legislature is not competent to take proper 
 care of the government of cities. Its members do not 
 know enough about the details of each locality, and con- 
 sequently local affairs are left to the representatives 
 from each locality, with " log-rolling " as the inevita- 
 ble result. A man fresh from his farm on the edge 
 of the Adirondacks knows nothing about the problems 
 pertaining to electric wires in Broadway, or to rapid 
 transit between Harlem and the Battery; and his 
 consent to desired legislation on such points can very 
 likely be obtained only by favouring some measure 
 which he thinks will improve the value of his farm, or 
 
128 THE CITY. 
 
 perhaps by helping him to debauch the civil service 
 by getting some neighbour appointed to a position for 
 which he is not qualified. All this is made worse by the 
 fact that the members of a state government are gen- 
 erally less governed by a sense of responsibility toward 
 the citizens of a particular city than even the worst 
 local government that can be set up in such a city.^ 
 
 Moreover, even if legislatures were otherwise com- 
 petent to manage the local affairs of cities, they have 
 not time enough, amid the pressure of other duties, 
 to do justice to such matters. In 1870 the number 
 of acts passed by the New York legislature was 808. 
 Of these, 212, or more than one fourth of the whole, 
 related to cities and villages. The 808 acts, when 
 printed, filled about 2,000 octavo pages ; and of these 
 the 212 acts filled more than 1,500 pages. This illus- 
 trates what I said above about the vast quantity of 
 details which have to be regulated in municipal gov- 
 ernment. Here we have more than three fourths of 
 the volume of state-legislation devoted to local af- 
 fairs ; and it hardly need be added that a great part 
 of these enactments were worse than worthless because 
 
 ^ It is not intended to deny that there may be instances in 
 which the state government may advantageously participate in 
 the government of cities. It may be urged that, in the case of 
 great cities, like New York or Boston, many people who are not 
 residents either do business in the city or have vast business in- 
 terests there, and thus may be as deeply interested in its welfare 
 as any of the voters. It may also be said that state provisions 
 for city government do not always work badly. There are many 
 competent judges who approve of the appointment of police 
 commissioners by the executive of Massachusetts. There are 
 generally two sides to a question ; and to push a doctrine to ex- 
 tremes is to make oneself a doctrinaire rather than a wise citi- 
 zen. But experience clearly shows that in all doubtful cases it is 
 safer to let the balance incline in favour of local self-government 
 than the other way. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 129 
 
 they were made hastily and without due consideration, 
 — though not always, perhaps, without what lawyers 
 call a consideration.^ 
 
 The experience of New York thus proved that state 
 intervention and special legislation did not mend mat- 
 ters. It did not prevent the shameful rule of the 
 Tweed Eins^ from 1868 to 1871, when a „ ,„. 
 
 ° . Tweed Ring 
 
 small band of conspirators got themselves '^^New 
 elected or appointed to the principal city 
 offices, and, having had their own corrupt creatures 
 chosen judges of the city courts, proceeded to rob the 
 taxpayers at their leisure. By the time they were 
 discovered and brought to justice, their stealings 
 amounted to many millions of dollars, and the rate of 
 taxation had risen to more than two per cent. 
 
 The discovery of these wholesale robberies, and of 
 other villainies on a smaller scale in other cities, has 
 led to much discussion of the problems of municipal 
 government, and to many attempts at practical re- 
 
 ^ Nothing could be further from my thought than to cast any 
 special imputation upon the New York legislature, which is 
 probably a fair average specimen of law-making bodies. The 
 theory of legislative bodies, as laid down in text-books, is that 
 they are assembled for the purpose of enacting laws for the 
 welfare of the community in general. In point of fact they 
 seldom rise to such a lofty height of disinterestedness. Legisla- 
 tion is usually a mad scramble in which the final result, be it 
 good or bad, gets evolved out of compromises and bargains 
 among a swarm of clashing local and personal interests. The 
 " consideration " may be anything from log-rolling to bribery. 
 In American legislatures it is to be hoped that downright brib- 
 ery is rare. As for log-rolling, or exchange of favours, there 
 are many phases of it in which that which may be perfectly in- 
 nocent shades off by almost imperceptible degrees into that 
 which is unseemly or dishonourable or even criminal ; and it is 
 in this hazy region that Satan likes to set his traps for the un- 
 wary pilgrim. 
 
130 THE CITY. 
 
 form. The present is especially a period of experi- 
 Newexperi- Hieiits, jet in these experiments perhaps a 
 ments. general drift of opinion may be discerned. 
 
 People seem to be coming to regard cities more as if 
 they were huge business corporations than as if they 
 were little republics^ The lesson has been learned 
 that in executive matters too much limitation of 
 power entails destruction of responsibility ; the " ring " 
 is now more dreaded than the " one-man power ; " and 
 there is accordingly a manifest tendency to assail the 
 evil by concentrating power and responsibility in the 
 mayor. 
 
 The first great city to adopt this method was Brook- 
 lyn. ^ In the first place the city council was simplified 
 
 and made a one-chambered council consist- 
 New govern- 
 ment of ijip. of nineteen aldermen. Besides this 
 
 Brooklyn. <=> 
 
 council of aldermen, the people elect only 
 three city officers, — the mayor, comptroller, and 
 auditor. The comptroller is the principal finance 
 officer and book-keeper of the city ; and the auditor 
 must approve bills against the city, whether great or 
 small, before they can be paid. The mayor appoints, 
 without confirmation by the council, all executive 
 heads of departments ; and these executive heads are 
 individuals, not boards. Thus there is a single police 
 commissioner, a single fire commissioner, a single 
 health commissioner, and so on ; and each of these 
 heads appoints his own subordinates ; " so that the 
 principle of defined responsibility permeates the city 
 government from top to bottom." ^ In a few cases, 
 where the work to be done is rather discretionary 
 than executive in character, it is intrusted to a board ; 
 thus there is a board of assessors, a board of educa- 
 
 1 When Brooklyn was a municipality within itself, and before 
 its consolidation with New York. 
 
 2 Seth Low on " Municipal Government," in Bryce's Amer- 
 ican Commonwealth, vol. i. p. 626. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 131 
 
 tion, and a board of elections. These are all ap- 
 pointed by the mayor, but for terms not coinciding 
 with his own ; " so that, in most cases, no mayor 
 would appoint the whole of any such board unless he 
 were to be twice elected by the people.'' But the 
 executive officers are appointed by the mayor for 
 terms coincident with his own, that is for two yearSo 
 " The mayor is elected at the general election in No- 
 vember; he takes office on the first of January fol- 
 lowing, and for one month the great departments of 
 the city are carried on for him by the appointees of 
 his predecessor. On the first of February it becomes 
 his duty to appoint his own heads of departments," 
 and thus " each incoming mayor has the opportunity 
 to make an administration in all its parts in sympathy 
 with himself." 
 
 With all these immense executive powers entrusted 
 to the mayor, however, he does not hold the purse- 
 strings. He is a member of a board of estimate, of 
 which the other four members are the comptroller and 
 auditor, with the county treasurer and supervisor. 
 This board recommends the amounts to be raised by 
 taxation for the ensuing year. These estimates are 
 then laid before the council of aldermen, who may 
 cut down single items as they see fit, but have not the 
 power to increase any item. The mayor must see to 
 it that the administrative work of the year does not 
 use up more money than is thus allowed him. 
 
 This Brooklyn system has great merits. It ensures 
 unity of administration, it encourages promptness and 
 economy, it locates and defines responsibility, and it is 
 so simple that everybody can understand it. The peo- 
 ple, having but few officers to elect, are more go^e of its 
 likely to know something about them. Es- ™®"*^- 
 pecially since everybody understands that the success 
 
132 THE CITY. 
 
 of the government depends upon the character of the 
 mayor, extraordinary pains are taken to secure good 
 mayors ; and the increased interest in city politics is 
 shown by the fact that in Brooklyn more people vote 
 for mayor than for governor or for president. Fifty 
 years ago such a reduction in the number of elective 
 officers would have greatly shocked all good Ameri- 
 cans. But in point of fact, while in small townships 
 where everybody knows everybody popular control is 
 best ensured by electing all public officers, it is very 
 different in great cities where it is impossible that the 
 voters in general should know much about the quali- 
 fications of a long list of candidates. In such cases 
 citizens are apt to vote blindly for names about which 
 they know nothing except that they occur on a He- 
 publican or a Democratic ticket ; although, if the ob- 
 ject of a municipal election is simply to secure aB 
 upright and efficient municipal government, to elect 
 a city magistrate because he is a Republican or a 
 Democrat is about as sensible as to elect him because 
 he believes in homoeopathy or has a taste for chrysan- 
 themums.^ To vote for candidates whom one has 
 
 ^ Of course from the point of view of the party politician, it 
 is quite different. Each party has its elaborate "machine " foi 
 electing state and national officers ; and in order to be kept at 
 its maximum of efficiency the machine must be kept at work on 
 all occasions, whether such occasions are properly concerned 
 with differences in party politics or not. To the party politician 
 it of course makes a great difference whether a city magistrate 
 is a Republican or a Democrat. To him even the political com- 
 plexion of his mail-carrier is a matter of importance. But these 
 illustrations only show that party politics may be carried to ex- 
 tremes that are inconsistent with the best interests of the com- 
 munity. Once in a while it becomes necessary to teach party 
 organizations to know their place, and to remind them that they 
 are not the lords and masters but the servants and instruments 
 of the people. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 138 
 
 never heard of is not to insure popular control, but 
 to endanger it. It is much better to vote for one 
 man whose reputation we know, and then to hold 
 him strictly responsible for the appointments he 
 makes. The Brooklyn system seems to be a step to- 
 ward lifting city government out of the mire of party 
 politics. 
 
 This system went into operation in Brooklyn in 
 January, 1882, and seems to have given general satis- 
 faction. Since then changes in a similar direction, 
 though with variations in detail, have been made in 
 other cities, and notably in Philadelphia. 
 
 In speaking of the difficulties which beset city gov- 
 ernment in the United States, mention is often (and 
 perhaps too exclusively) made of the great mass of 
 ignorant voters, chiefly foreigners without experience 
 in self-government, with no comprehension of Ameri- 
 can principles and traditions, and with little Notion that 
 or no property to suffer from excessive taxa- ought to^be 
 tion. Such people will naturally have slight ^^^tricted. 
 compunctions about voting away other people's money ; 
 indeed, they are apt to think that " the Government " 
 has got Aladdin's lamp hidden away somewhere in a 
 burglar-proof safe, and could do pretty much every- 
 thing that is wanted, if it only would. In the hands 
 of demagogues such people may be dangerous, they 
 are supposed to be especially accessible to humbug 
 and bribes, and their votes have no doubt been used 
 to sustain and perpetuate most flagrant abuses. We 
 often hear it said that the only way to get good gov- 
 ernment is to deprive such people of their votes and 
 limit the suffrage to persons who have some property 
 at stake. Such a measure has been seriously recom- 
 mended in New York, but it is generally felt to be 
 impossible without a revolution. 
 
134 THE CITY. 
 
 Perhaps, after all, it may not be so desirable as it 
 
 seems. The ignorant vote has done a great deal of 
 
 harm, but not all the harm. In 1878 it was 
 
 ofPennsyi- reported by the Pennsylvania Municipal 
 
 vania Muni- . . . 
 
 cipai Com- Commission, " as a remarkable but notorious 
 fact, that the accumulations of debt in Philar 
 delphia and other cities of the state have been due, 
 not to a non-property-holding, irresponsible element 
 among the electors, but to the desire for speculation 
 among the property-owners themselves. Large tracts 
 of land outside the built-up portion of the city have 
 been purchased, combinations made among men of 
 wealth, and councils besieged until they have been 
 driven into making appropriations to open and im- 
 prove streets and avenues, largely in advance of the 
 real necessities of the city. Extraordinary as the 
 statement may seem at first, the experience of the 
 past shows clearly that frequently property-owners 
 need more protection against themselves than against 
 the non-property-holding class." ^ This is a statement 
 of profound significance, and should be duly pondered 
 by advocates of a restricted suffrage. 
 
 It should also be borne in mind that, while ignorant 
 
 and needy voters, led by unscrupulous demagogues, 
 
 are capable of doing much harm with their votes, it 
 
 ^ is by no means clear that the evil would be 
 
 Dangers of a *' 
 
 restricted rcmovcd bv depriving; them of the suffrage. 
 
 suffrage. . ^ x o ^ o 
 
 It IS very unsafe to have in any community 
 a large class of people who feel that political rights 
 or privileges are withheld from them by other people 
 who are their superiors in wealth or knowledge. 
 Such poor people are apt to have exaggerated ideas 
 of what a vote can do ; very likely they think it is be* 
 
 ^ AUinson and Penrose, Philadelphia^ 1681-1887 ; a History 
 of Municipal Development, p. 278. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 135 
 
 cause they do not have votes that they are poor ; thus 
 they are ready to entertain revolutionary or anarchical 
 ideas, and are likely to be more dangerous material 
 in the hands of demagogues than if they were allowed 
 to vote. Universal suffrage has its evils, but it un- 
 doubtedly acts as a safety-valve. The only cure for 
 the evils which come from ignorance and shiftlessness 
 is the abolition of ignorance and shiftlessness ; and 
 this is slow work. Church and school here find 
 enough to keep them busy ; but the vote itself, even 
 if often misused, is a powerful educator ; and we need 
 not regret that the restriction of the suffrage has come 
 to be practically impossible. 
 
 The purification of our city governments will never 
 be completed until they are entirely divorced from 
 national party politics. The connection opens a lim- 
 itless field for " log-rolling," and rivets upon cities 
 the " spoils system," which is always and everywhere 
 incompatible with good government. It is Baneful 
 worthy of note that the degradation of so Sxingdty 
 many English boroughs and cities during ^ationar'*^ 
 the Tudor and Stuart periods was chiefly p''^^^^^^- 
 due to the encroachment of national politics upon 
 municipal politics. Because the borough returned 
 members to the House of Commons, it became worth 
 while for the crown to intrigue with the municipal 
 government, with the ultimate object ox influencing 
 parliamentary elections. The melancholy history of 
 the consequent dickering and dealing, jobbery and 
 robbery, down to 1835, when the great Municipal 
 Corporations Act swept it all away, may be read with 
 profit by all Americans.^ It was the city of London 
 only, whose power and independence had kept it free 
 
 ^ See Parliamentary Reports, 1835, "Municipal Corporations 
 Commission ; " also Sir Erskine May, Const. Hist., vol. ii. chap. xv. 
 
136 THE CITY. 
 
 from complications with national politics, that avoided 
 the abuses elsewhere prevalent, so that it was excepted 
 from the provisions of the Act of 1835, and still re- 
 tains its ancient constitution. 
 
 In the United States the entanglement of municipal 
 with national politics has begun to be regarded as 
 mischievous and possibly dangerous, and attempts 
 have in some cases been made toward checking it by 
 changing the days of election, so that municipal offi- 
 cers may not be chosen at the same time with presi- 
 dential electors. Such a change is desirable, but to 
 obtain a thoroughly satisfactory result, it will be 
 necessary to destroy the "spoils system" root and 
 branch, and to adopt effective measures of ballot re- 
 form. To these topics I shall recur when treating of 
 our national government. But first we shall have to 
 consider the development of our several states. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 Give an account of city government in the United States, 
 under the following heads : — 
 
 1. The American city : — 
 a. The mayor. 
 
 h. The heads of departments. 
 
 c. The city council. 
 
 d. The judges. 
 
 e. Appropriations. 
 
 f. The power of committees. 
 
 2. The practical workings of city governments : — 
 
 a. The contrast they show between theory and practice. 
 h. Various complaints urged against city governments. 
 c. Their effect upon the old-time confidence in the perfection 
 of our institutions. 
 
 3. The growth of American cities : — 
 
 a. The cities of Washington's time and those of to-day. 
 
 6. The population of cities in 1790 and their population to# 
 
 day. 
 c. City growth since 1840. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES, 137 
 
 4. Some consequences of rapid city growth : — 
 
 a. The pressure to construct public works. 
 
 b. The incurring of heavy debts. 
 
 c. The wastefubiess due to a lack of foresight. 
 
 d. The increase in government due to the complexity of a 
 
 city. 
 
 e. An illustration of this complexity in Boston. 
 
 /. The consequent mystery that enshrouds much of city gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 5. Some evils due to the fear of a "one-man" power : — 
 a. The objection to such power a century ago. 
 
 h. Restrictions imposed upon the mayor's power. 
 
 c. The division and weakening of responsibility. 
 
 d. The lack of unity in the administration of business. 
 
 e. The inefficiency of committees for executive purposes. 
 
 f. The alarming increase in city debts. 
 
 6. Attempts to remedy some of the evils of city government : — 
 a. The power of veto granted to the mayor. 
 
 h.^ The limitation of city indebtedness. 
 c. State control of some city departments. 
 
 7. Difficulties inherent in state control of cities : — 
 a. Lack of familiarity with city affairs. 
 
 h. The tendency to "log-rolling." 
 
 c. Lack of time due to the pressure of state affairs. 
 
 d. The failure of state control as shown in the rule of the 
 
 Tweed ring. 
 
 8. The government of the city of Brooklyn : — 
 
 a. The elevation of the " one-man " power above that of 
 
 the "ringf." 
 h. Officers elected by the people. 
 
 c. Officers appointed by the mayor. 
 
 d. The principle of well-defined responsibility. 
 
 e. The appointment of certain boards by the mayor. 
 
 f. The holding of the purse-strings. 
 
 g. The inadequacy of the township elective system in a city 
 
 like Brooklyn. 
 
 9. Restriction of the suffrage : — 
 
 a. The dangers from large masses of ignorant voters. 
 5. The responsibility for the debt of Philadelphia and other 
 cities. 
 
 c. The dangers from large classes who feel that political 
 
 rights are denied them. 
 
 d. Suffrage as a " safety-valve." 
 
138 THE CITY. 
 
 lo. The mixture of city politics with those of the state or nation : — 
 a. The degradation of the English borough. 
 h. The exemption of London from the Municipal Corporations 
 Act. 
 
 c. The importance of separate days for municipal elections. 
 
 d. The importance of abolishing the " spoils system." 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 (Chiefly for pupils who live in cities.) 
 
 1. When was your city organized ? 
 
 2. Give some account of its growth, its size, and its present 
 
 population. How many wards has it ? Give their boun- 
 daries. In which ward do you live ? 
 
 3. Examine its charter, and report a few of its leading provi- 
 
 sions. 
 
 4. What description of government in this chapter comes nearest 
 
 to that of your city ? 
 
 5. Consider the suggestions about the study of town government 
 
 (pp. 43, 44), and act upon such of them as are applica- 
 ble to city government. 
 
 6. What is the general impression about the purity of your city 
 
 government ? (Consult several citizens and report what 
 you find out.) 
 
 7. What important caution should be observed about vague 
 
 rumours of inefticiency or corruption ? 
 
 8. What are the evidences of a sound financial condition in a 
 
 city? 
 
 9. Is the financial condition of your city sound ? 
 
 10. When debts are incurred, are provisions made at the same 
 
 time for meeting them when due ? 
 
 11. What are " sinking funds " ? 
 
 i2o What wants has a city that a town is free from ? 
 
 13. Describe your system of public water works, making an 
 
 analj sis of important points that may be presented. 
 
 14. Do the same for your park system or any other system that 
 
 involves a long time for its completion as well as a great 
 outlay. 
 
 15. Are the principles of civil service reform recognized in your 
 
 city ? If so, to what extent ? Do they need to be ex- 
 tended further ? 
 
 16. Describe the parties that contended for the supremacy in 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 139 
 
 your last city election and tell what questions were at is- 
 sue between them. 
 
 17. What great corporations exert an influence in your city af- 
 
 fairs ? Is such-influence bad because it is great ? What 
 is a possible danger from such influence ? 
 
 18. In view of the vast number and range of city interests, what 
 
 is the most that the average citizen can reasonably be 
 asked to know and to do about them ? What things is 
 it indispensable for him to know and to do if he is to con- 
 tribute to good government ? 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 §1. Direct and Indirect Government. — The transition 
 from direct to indirect government, as illustrated in the gradual 
 development of a township into a city, may be profitably studied 
 in Quincy's Municipal History of Boston, Boston, 1852 ; and in 
 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, vol. iii. pp. 189-302, Bos- 
 ton, 1881. 
 
 § 2. Origin of English Boroughs and Cities. — See 
 Loftie's History of London, 2 vols., London, 1883 ; Toulmin 
 Smith's English Gilds, with Introduction by Lujo Brentano, Lon- 
 don, 1870 ; and the histories of the English Constitution, espe- 
 cially those of Gneist, Stubbs, Taswell-Langmead, and Hannis 
 Taylor. 
 
 § 3. Government of Cities in the United States. — 
 /. H. U, Studies, III., xi.-xii., J. A. Porter, Th^ City of Wash- 
 ington ; IV., iv., W. P. Holcomb, Pennsylvania Boroughs ; IV., x., 
 C. H. Levermore, Town and City Government of New Haven j 
 v., i.-ii., Allinson and Penrose, City Government of Philadelphia ; 
 v., iii., J. M. Bugbee, The City Government of Boston ; V., iv., 
 M. S. Snow, The City Government of St. Louis ; VII., ii.-iii., B. 
 Moses, Establishment of Municipal Government in Sa7i Francisco ; 
 VIL, iv., W. W. Howe, Mwiicipal History of New Orleans ; also 
 Supplementary Notes, No. 4, Seth Low, The Problem of City Gov- 
 ernment (compare No. 1, Albert Shaw, Municipal Government in 
 England). See, also, the supplementary volumes published at 
 Baltimore, — Levermore's Republic of New Haven, 1886, Allin- 
 son and Penrose's Philadelphia, 1681-1887 : a History of Muni- 
 cipal Development, 1887. 
 
CHAPTER YL 
 
 THE STATE. 
 
 § 1. The Colonial Governments. 
 
 In the year 1600 Spain was the only European na- 
 tion which had obtained a foothold upon the part of 
 North America now comprised within the 
 Spain to the United Statcs. Spain claimed the whole 
 
 possession , ^ i(»iini» 
 
 of North continent on the strength oi the bulls oi 
 1493 and 1494, in which Pope Alexander 
 VI. granted her all countries to be discovered to the 
 west of a certain meridian which happens to pass a 
 little to the east of Newfoundland. From their first 
 centre in the West Indies the Spaniards had made a 
 lodgment in Florida, at St. Augustine, in 1565 ; and 
 from Mexico they had in 1605 founded Santa Fe, in 
 what is now the territory of New Mexico. 
 
 France and England, however, paid little heed to the 
 claim of Spain. France had her own claim to 
 
 Claims of , ^ p t 
 
 France and North Amcrica, bascd on the voyages of dis- 
 covery made by Verrazano in 1524 and Car- 
 tier in 1534, in the course of which New York harbour 
 had been visited and the St. Lawrence partly explored. 
 England had a still earlier claim, based on the dis- 
 covery of the North American continent in 1497 by 
 John Cabot. It presently became apparent that to 
 make such claims of any value, discovery must be 
 followed up by occupation of the country. Attempts 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 141 
 
 at colonization had been made by French Protestants 
 in Florida in 1562-65, and by the English in North 
 Carolina in 1584-87, but both attempts had failed 
 miserably. Throughout the sixteenth century French 
 and English sailors kept visiting the Newfoundland 
 fisheries, and by the end of the century the French and 
 English governments had their attention definitely 
 turned to the founding of colonies in North America. 
 In 1606 two great joint-stock companies were 
 formed in England for the purpose of planting such 
 colonies. One of these companies had its head- 
 quarters at London, and was called the Lon- rphe London 
 don Company ; the other had its headquar- outh^co'iSl 
 ters at the seaport of Plymouth, in Devon- p^"^®^* 
 shire, and was called the Plymouth Company. To 
 the London Company the king granted the coast of 
 North America from 34° to 38° north latitude ; that 
 is, about from Cape Fear to the mouth of the Rappa- 
 hannock. To the Plymouth Company he granted 
 the coast from 41° to 45° ; that is, about from the 
 mouth of the Hudson to the eastern extremity of 
 Maine. These grants were to go in straight strips or 
 zones across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to 
 the Pacific. Almost nothing was then known about 
 American geography; the distance from ocean to 
 ocean across Mexico was not so very great, and peo- 
 ple did not realize that further north it was quite a 
 different thing. As to the middle strip, starting from 
 the coast between the Rappahannock and the Hudson, 
 it was open to the two companies, with the under- 
 standing that neither was to plant a colony within 
 100 miles of any settlement already begun by the 
 other. This meant practically that it was likely to 
 be controlled by whichever company should first come 
 into the field with a flourishing colony. Accordingly 
 
142 THE STATE. 
 
 both companies made haste and sent out settlers in 
 1607, the one to the James Kiver, the other to the 
 Kennebec. The first enterprise, after much suffering, 
 resulted in the founding of Virginia ; the second ended 
 in disaster, and it was not until 1620 that the Pil- 
 grims from Leyden made the beginnings of a per- 
 manent settlement upon the territory of the Plymouth 
 Company. 
 
 These two companies were at first organized under 
 
 a single charter. Each was to be governed by a 
 
 council in England appointed by the king, and these 
 
 councils were to appoint councils of thirteen to reside 
 
 in the colonies, with powers practically un- 
 
 Theircom- , i i i i • i 
 
 monchar- limited. JN evcrtheless the kmsf covenanted 
 
 ter. ... 
 
 with his colonists as follows : " Also we do, 
 for us, our heirs and successors, declare by these 
 presents that all and every the persons, being our 
 subjects, which shall go and inhabit within the said 
 colony and plantation, and every their children and 
 posterity, which shall happen to be born within any 
 of the limits thereof, shall have and enjoy all liber- 
 ties, franchises, and immunities of free denizens and 
 natural subjects within any of our other dominions, 
 to all intents and purposes as if they had been abid- 
 ing and born within this our realm of England, or in 
 any other of our dominions." This principle, that 
 British subjects born in America should be entitled 
 to the same political freedom as if born in England, 
 was one upon which the colonists always insisted, and 
 it was the repeated and persistent attempts of George 
 III. to infringe it that led the American colonies to 
 revolt and declare themselves independent of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Both the companies founded in 1606 were short- 
 lived. In 1620 the Plymouth Company got a new 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 143 
 
 charter, wliich made it independent of the London 
 Company. In 1624 the king, James I., quarrelled 
 with the London Company, brousf.ht suit 
 
 , , . , -. Dissolution 
 
 asrainst it m court, and obtauied trom the of the two 
 
 ~ -n . . companies. 
 
 subservient judges a decree annullmg its 
 charter. In 1635 the reorganized Plymouth Com- 
 pany surrendered its charter to Charles I. in pursu- 
 ance of a bargain which need not here concern us.^ 
 But the creation of these short-lived companies left an 
 abiding impression upon the map of North America 
 and upon the organization of civil government in the 
 United States. Let us observe what was „ , 
 
 , . 1 • 1 Settlement 
 
 done with the three strips or zones into which of the three 
 
 . -*• zones. 
 
 the country was divided : the northern or 
 New England zone, assigned to the Plymouth Com- 
 pany ; the southern or Virginia zone, assigned to the 
 London Company ; and the central zone, for which 
 the two companies were, so to speak, to run a race. 
 
 In the northern zone the colonies of Plymouth and 
 Massachusetts Bay were founded by emigration from 
 England between 1620 and 1630 ; and then in 1633- 
 38 Connecticut, Providence, and Rhode Island were 
 founded by emio^ration from Massachusetts. 
 
 »/ o j^ The 
 
 Presently, in 1643, Providence and Rhode northern 
 
 11 M .1. zone. 
 
 Island voluntarily united into one common- 
 wealth ; and in 1662 New Haven, originally founded in 
 1637 by emigration from England, was annexed to 
 Connecticut by Charles II. Certain towns along the 
 northeast coast, founded under royal grants to individ- 
 ual proprietors, were for some time practically a part 
 of Massachusetts, but in 1679 a part of this region 
 was erected by Charles II. into the royal province of 
 New Hampshire. The remainder, under the name of 
 Maine, was in 1692 confirmed to Massachusetts, to 
 ^ See my Beginnings of New England, p. 112. 
 
144 THE STATE. 
 
 which Plymouth was at the same time annexed. Thus, 
 before the Revolution, four of the original thirteen 
 states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
 and New Hampshire — had been constituted in the 
 northern zone. 
 
 In 1663 Charles II. cut off the southern part of 
 
 Virginia, the area covering the present states of North 
 
 and South Carolina and Georgia, and it was formed 
 
 into a new province called Carolina. In 
 
 2. The 
 
 southern 1729 the two groups of settlements which 
 had grown up along its coast were defini- 
 tively separated into North and South Carolina ; and in 
 1732 the frontier portion toward Florida was organ- 
 ized into the colony of Georgia. Thus four of the 
 original thirteen states — Virginia, the two Carolinas, 
 and Georgia — were constituted in the southern zone. 
 
 To this group some writers add Maryland, founded 
 in 1632, because its territory had been claimed by the 
 London Company; but the earliest settlements in 
 Maryland, its principal towns, and almost the whole 
 of its territory, come north of latitude 38° and within 
 the middle zone. 
 
 Between the years 1614 and 1621 the Dutch founded 
 their colony of New Netherland upon the territory in- 
 cluded between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, or, 
 3 Tjjg j^i^. as they quite naturally called them, the North 
 die zone. ^^^ South. rivcrs. They pushed their out- 
 posts up the Hudson as far as the site of Albany, 
 thus intruding far into the northern zone. In 1638 
 Sweden planted a small colony upon the west side of 
 Delaware Bay, but in 1655 it was surrendered to the 
 Dutch. Then in 1664 the English took New Nether- 
 land from the Dutch, and Charles II. granted the 
 province to his brother, the Duke of York. The duke 
 proceeded to grant part of it to his friends, Berkeley 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 145 
 
 and Carteret, and thus marked off the new colony of 
 New Jersey. In 1681 the region west of New Jersey 
 was granted to William Penn, and in the following 
 year Penn bought from the Duke of York the small 
 piece of territory upon which the Swedes had planted 
 their colony. Delaware thus became an appendage 
 to Penn's greater colony, but was never merged in it. 
 Thus five of the original thirteen states — Maryland, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware 
 — were constituted in the middle zone. 
 
 As we have already observed, the westward move- 
 ment of population in the United States has largely 
 followed the parallels of latitude, and thus the charac- 
 teristics of these three original strips or zones have, 
 with more or less modification, extended westward. 
 The men of New England, with their Portland and 
 Salem reproduced more than 3000 miles distant in the 
 state of Oregon, and within 100 miles of the Pacific 
 Ocean, may be said in a certain sense to have realized 
 literally the substance of King James's grant to the 
 Plymouth Company. It will be noticed that the kinds 
 of local government described in our earlier chapters 
 are characteristic respectively of the three original 
 zones : the township system being exemplified chiefly 
 in the northern zone, the county system in the south- 
 ern zone, and the mixed township-county system in 
 the central zone. 
 
 The London and Plymouth companies did not perish 
 until after state governments had been organized in 
 the colonies already founded upon their territories. 
 In 1619 the colonists of Virginia, with the aid of the 
 more liberal spirits in the London Company, 
 
 T J. , , . House of 
 
 secured tor themselves a representative Burgesses in 
 government. To the governor and his coun- 
 cil, appointed in England, there was added a general 
 
146 THE STATE. 
 
 assembly composed of two burgesses from eacb " plan- 
 tation," ^ elected by the inhabitants. This assembly, 
 the first legislative body that ever sat in America, met 
 on the 30th of July, 1619, in the choir of the rude 
 church at Jamestown. The dignity of the burgesses 
 was preserved, as in the House of Commons, by sit- 
 ting with their hats on ; and after offering prayer, 
 and taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy, they 
 proceeded to enact a number of laws relating to pub- 
 lic worship, to agriculture, and to intercourse with the 
 Indians, Curiously enough, so confident was the be- 
 lief of the settlers that they were founding towns, that 
 they called their representatives "burgesses," and down 
 to 1776 the assembly continued to be known as the 
 House of " Burgesses," although towns refused to grow 
 in Virginia, and soon after counties were organized in 
 1634 the burgesses sat for counties. Such were the 
 beginnings of representative government in Virginia. 
 The government of Massachusetts is descended from 
 the Dorchester Company formed in England in 1623, 
 for the ostensible purpose of trading in furs and timber 
 and catching fish on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. 
 After a disastrous beginning this company was dis- 
 solved, but only to be immediately reorganized on a 
 greater scale. In 1628 a grant of the land between the 
 
 Charles and Merrimack rivers was obtained 
 Massachu- from the Plymouth Company ; and in 1629 a 
 
 charter was obtained from Charles I. So 
 many men from the east of England had joined in the 
 
 ^ The word " plantation " is here used, not in its later and 
 ordinary sense, as the estate belonging to an individual planter, 
 but in an earlier sense. In this early usage it was equivalent to 
 " settlement." It was used in New England as well as in Vir- 
 ginia ; thus Salem was spoken of by the court of assistants in 
 1629 as " New England's Plantation." 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 147 
 
 enterprise that it could no longer be fitly called a Dor- 
 chester Company. The new name was significantly 
 taken from the New World. The charter created a cor- 
 poration under the style of the Governor and Company 
 of Massachusetts Bay in New England. The freemen 
 of the Company were to hold a meeting four times a 
 year ; and they were empowered to choose a governor, 
 a deputy governor, and a council of eighteen assistants, 
 who were to hold their meetings each month. They 
 could administer oaths of supremacy and allegiance, 
 raise troops for the defence of their possessions, admit 
 new associates into the Company, and make regulations 
 for the management of their business, with the vague 
 and weak proviso that in order to be valid their enact- 
 ment must in no wise contravene the laws of England. 
 Nothing was said as to the place where the Company 
 should hold its meetings, and accordingly after a few 
 months the Company transferred itself and its charter 
 to New England, in order that it might carry out its 
 intentions with as little interference as possible on the 
 part of the crown. 
 
 Whether this transfer of the charter was legally 
 justifiable or not is a question which has been much 
 debated, but with which we need not here vex our- 
 selves. The lawyers of the Company were shrewd 
 enough to know that a loosely-drawn instrument may 
 be made to admit of great liberty of action. Under 
 the guise of a mere trading corporation the Puritan 
 leaders deliberately intended to found a civil com- 
 monwealth in accordance with their own theories of 
 government. 
 
 After their arrival in Massachusetts, their numbers 
 increased so rapidly that it became impossible to have 
 a primary assembly of all the freemen, and so a rep- 
 resentative assembly was devised after the model of 
 
148 THE STATE. 
 
 the Old English county court. The representatives 
 sat for townships, and were called deputies. At 
 first they sat in the same chamber with the 
 of Massa- assistauts, but in 1644 the legislative body 
 General' was divided into two chambers, the depu- 
 ties forming the lower house, while the upper 
 was composed of the assistants, who were some- 
 times called magistrates. In elections the candidates 
 for the upper house were put in nomination by the 
 General Court and voted on by the freemen. In gen- 
 eral the assistants represented the common or central 
 power of the colony, while the deputies represented 
 the interests of popular self-government. The former 
 was comparatively an aristocratic and the latter a 
 democratic body, and there were frequent disputes 
 between the two. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the governing b|pdy thus 
 constituted was at once a legislative and a judicial 
 body, like the English county court which served as 
 its model. Inferior courts were organized at an early 
 date in Massachusetts, but the highest judicial tribu- 
 nal was the legislature, which was known as the Gen- 
 eral Court. It still bears this name to-day, though it 
 long ago ceased to exercise judicial functions. 
 
 Now as the freemen of Massachusetts directly chose 
 their governor and deputy-governor, as well as their 
 chamber of deputies, and also took part in choosing 
 their council of assistants, their government was vir- 
 tually that of an independent republic. The crown 
 could interpose no effective check upon its proceed- 
 ings except by threatening to annul its charter and 
 send over a viceroy who might be backed up, if need 
 be, by military force. Such threats were sometimes 
 openly made, but oftener hinted at. They served to 
 make the Massachusetts government somewhat wary 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 149 
 
 and circumspect, but they did not prevent it from 
 pursuing a very independent policy in many respects, 
 as when, for example, it persisted in allowing none 
 but members of the Congregational church to vote. 
 This measure, by which it was intended to preserve the 
 Puritan policy unchanged, was extremely distasteful 
 to the British government. At length in 1684 the 
 Massachusetts charter was annulled, an attempt was 
 made to suppress town-meetings, and the colony was 
 placed under a military viceroy. Sir Edmund Andros. 
 After a brief period of despotic rule, the Revolution 
 in Ens^land worked a chanoje. In 1692 Mas- 
 
 , . -, , . T « New charter 
 
 sachusetts received a new charter, quite dif- of Massa- 
 
 chusetts. 
 
 ferent from the old one. The people were 
 allowed to elect representatives to the General Court, 
 as before, but the governor and lieutenant-governor 
 were appointed by the crown, and all acts of the legis- 
 lature were to be sent to England for royal approval. 
 The general government of Massachusetts was thus, 
 except for its possession of a charter, made similar 
 to that of Virginia. 
 
 The governments of Connecticut and Rhode Island 
 were constructed upon the same general plan as the 
 first government of Massachusetts. Gov- . ^ 
 
 ^ , , Connecticut 
 
 ernors, councils, and assemblies were elected and Rhode 
 
 Island. 
 
 by the people. These governments were 
 made by the settlers themselves, after they had come 
 out from Massachusetts ; and through a very singular 
 combination of circumstances,^ they were confirmed 
 by charters granted by Charles II. in 1662, soon after 
 his return from exile. So thoroughly republican were 
 these governments that they remained without change 
 until 1818 in Connecticut and until 1842 in Rhode 
 Island. 
 
 ^ See my Beginnings of New England, pp. 192-196. 
 
150 THE STATE. 
 
 We thus observe two kinds of state government in 
 the American colonies. In both kinds the people 
 choose a representative legislative assembly ; but in 
 the one kind they also choose their governor, while in 
 the other kind the governor is appointed by the crown. 
 We have now to observe a third kind. 
 
 After the downfall of the two great companies 
 founded in 1606, the crown had a way of 
 
 Counties it • c • i • 
 
 palatine in haudino^ ovcr to its f ricuds extensive tracts 
 
 England. ^ . . 
 
 of land in America. In 1632 a charter 
 granted by Charles I. to Cecilius Calvert, Lord Balti- 
 more, founded the palatinate colony of Maryland. To 
 understand the nature of this charter, we must observe 
 that among the counties of England there were three 
 whose rulers from an early time were allowed special 
 privileges. Because Cheshire and Durham bordered 
 upon the hostile countries, Wales and Scotland, and 
 needed to be ever on the alert, their rulers, the earls 
 of Chester and the bishops of Durham, were clothed 
 with almost royal powers of command, and similar 
 powers were afterwards granted through favouritism 
 to the dukes of Lancaster. The three counties were 
 called counties palatine (i. e. " palace counties "). 
 Before 1600 the earldom of Chester and the duchy of 
 Lancaster had been absorbed by the crown, but the 
 bishopric of Durham remained the type of an almost 
 independent state, and the colony palatine of Mary- 
 charter of land was modelled after it. The charter of 
 Maryland. Maryland conferred upon Lord Baltimore 
 the most extensive privileges ever bestowed by the 
 British crown upon any subject. He " was made 
 absolute lord of the land and water within his bound- 
 aries, could erect towns, cities, and ports, make war 
 or peace, call the whole fighting population to arms 
 and declare martial law, levy tolls and duties, estab- 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 151 
 
 Jish courts of justice, appoint judges, magistrates, 
 and other civil officers, execute the laws, and pardon 
 offenders. He could erect manors, with courts-baron 
 and courts-leet, and confer titles and dignities, so that 
 they differed from those of England. He could make 
 laws with the assent of the freemen of the province, 
 and, in cases of emergency, ordinances not impairing 
 life, limb, or property, without their assent. He could 
 found churches and chapels, have them consecrated 
 according to the ecclesiastical laws of England, and 
 appoint the incumbents." ^ For his territory and 
 these royal powers Lord Baltimore was to send over 
 to the palace at Windsor a tribute of two Indian 
 arrows yearly, and to reserve for the king one fifth 
 part of such gold and silver as he might happen to 
 get by mining. *' The king furthermore bound him- 
 self and his successors to lay no taxes, customs, sub- 
 sidies, or contributions whatever upon the people of 
 the province, and in case of any such demand being 
 made, the charter expressly declared that this clause 
 might be pleaded as a discharge in full." Maryland 
 was thus almost an independent state. Baltimore's 
 title was Lord Proprietary of Maryland, and his title 
 and powers were made hereditary in his family, so 
 that he was virtually a feudal king. His rule, how- 
 ever, was effectually limited. The government of 
 Maryland was carried on by a governor and a two- 
 chambered legislature. The governor and the mem- 
 bers of the upper house of the legislature were ap- 
 pointed by the lord proprietary, but the lower house 
 of the legislature was elected, here as elsewhere, by 
 the people ; and in accordance with time-honoured 
 English custom all taxation must originate in the 
 lower house, which represented the people. 
 
 ^ Browne's Maryland: the History of a Palatinate, p. 19. 
 
162 THE STATE. 
 
 Half a century after the founding of Maryland, 
 similar tliough somewhat less extensive proprietary 
 
 powers were granted by Charles II. to Wil- 
 Pennsyi- Ham Penu, and under them the colony of 
 
 Pennsylvania was founded and Delaware 
 was purchased. Pennsylvania and Delaware had each 
 its house of representatives elected by the people; 
 but there was only one governor and council for the 
 two colonies. The governor and council were ap- 
 pointed by the lord proprietary, and as the council 
 confined itself to advising the governor and did not 
 take part in legislation, there was no upper house. 
 The legislature was one-chambered. The office of 
 lord proprietary was hereditary in the Penn family. 
 For about eighty years the Penns and Calverts 
 quarrelled, like true sovereigns, about the boundary- 
 line between their principalities, until in 1763 the 
 matter was finally settled. A line was agreed upon. 
 Mason and ^^^ *^® survcy was made by two distin- 
 Dixon'aiine. g^ishcd mathematicians, Charles Mason and 
 Jeremiah Dixon. The line ran westward 244 miles 
 from the Delaware River, and every fifth milestone 
 was engraved with the arms of Penn on the one side 
 and those of Calvert on the other. In later times, 
 after all the states north of Maryland had abolished 
 slavery. Mason and Dixon's line became famous as 
 the boundary between slave states and free states. 
 
 At first there were other proprietary colonies be- 
 sides those just mentioned, but in course of time the 
 
 rights or powers of their lords proprietary 
 prietarygov- wcrc rcsumcd by the crown. When New 
 
 Netherland was conquered from the Dutch 
 it was granted to the duke of York as lord proprie- 
 tary ; but after one-and-twenty years the duke as- 
 cended the throne as James II., and so the part of 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 163 
 
 the colony which he had kept became the royal prov- 
 ince of New York. The part which he had sold to 
 Berkeley and Carteret remained for a while the pro- 
 prietary colony of New Jersey, sometimes under one 
 government, sometimes divided between two ; but the- 
 rule of the lords proprietary was very unpopular, and 
 in 1702 their rights were surrendered to the crown. 
 The Carolinas and Georgia were also at first proprie- 
 tary colonies, but after a while they willingly came 
 under the direct sway of the crown. In general the 
 proprietary governments were unpopular because the 
 lords proprietary, who usually lived in England and 
 visited their colonies but seldom, were apt to regard 
 their colonies simply as sources of personal income. 
 This was not the case with William Penn, or the 
 earlier Calverts, or with James Oglethorpe, the illus- 
 trious founder of Georgia ; but it was too often the 
 case. So long as the lord's rents, fees, and other 
 emoluments were duly collected, he troubled himself 
 very little as to what went on in the colony. If that 
 had been all, the colony would have troubled itself 
 very little about him. But the governor appointed 
 by this absentee master was liable to be more devoted 
 to his interests than to those of the people, and the 
 civil service was seriously damaged by worthless 
 favourites sent over from England for whom the gov- 
 ernor was expected to find some office that would pay 
 them a salary. On the whole, it seemed less unsatis- 
 factory to have the governors appointed by the crown; 
 and so before the Revolutionary War all the pro- 
 prietary governments had fallen, except those of the 
 Penns and the Calverts, which doubtless survived be- 
 cause they were the best organized and best admin- 
 istered. 
 
 There were thus at the time of the Revolutionary 
 
154 THE STATE. 
 
 War three forms of state government in the Ameri- 
 ...^ . can colonies. There were, firsL the Republi- 
 
 At the tune . , . ^ J ^ jr 
 
 of the Revo- can colonies, in which the srovernors were 
 
 lution there • t-» t 
 
 were three elcctcd bv the pcople, as m Rhode Island and 
 
 forma of / 7 i -r» 
 
 colonial gov- Connccticut I secoTidly. the Proprietary colo- 
 
 ernment: 1. . . , . , , . 
 
 Republican, nics, m which the governors were appointed 
 tary, 3. bj hereditary proprietors, as in Maryland, 
 Pennsylvania, and Delaware ; thirdly^ the 
 Royal colonies,^ in which the governors were appointed 
 by the crown, as in Georgia, the two Carolinas, Vir- 
 ginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New 
 Hampshire. It is customary to distinguish the Repub- 
 lican colonies as Charter colonies, but that is not an 
 accurate distinction, inasmuch as the Proprietary colo- 
 nies also had charters. And among the Royal colonies, 
 Massachusetts, having been originally a republic, still 
 had a charter in which her rights were so defined as to 
 place her in a somewhat different position from the 
 other Royal colonies ; so that Prof. Alexander John- 
 ston, with some reason, puts her in a class by herself 
 as a Semi-royal colony. 
 
 These differences, it will be observed, related to the 
 character and method of filling the governor's office. 
 In the Republican colonies the governor naturally 
 represented the interests of the people, in the Pro- 
 inau three p^ietary colouics he was the agent of the 
 wa^arep-^ Pcuus or the Calvcrts, in the Royal colonies 
 aSembiyr ^^ ^as the agent of the king. All the thir- 
 TouM im-"^ teen colonies alike had a legislative assem- 
 pose taxes, j^jy elected by the people. The basis of rep- 
 resentation might be different in different colonies, as 
 
 ^ Or, as they were sometimes called, Royal provinces. In the 
 history of Massachusetts many writers distinguish the period 
 before 1692 as the colonial period, and the period 1692 to 1774 
 as the provincial period. 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 155 
 
 we have seen that in Massachusetts the delegates rep- 
 resented townships, whereas in Virginia they repre- 
 sented counties ; but in all alike the assembly was a 
 truly representative body, and in all alike it was the 
 body that controlled the expenditure of public money- 
 These representative assemblies arose spontaneously 
 because the founders of the American colonies were 
 Enoflishmen used from time immemorial to tax them- 
 selves and govern themselves. As they had been 
 wont to vote for representatives in England, instead 
 of leaving things to be controlled by the king, so now 
 they voted for representatives in Maryland or New 
 York, instead of leaving things to be controlled by 
 the governor. The spontaneousness of all this is 
 quaintly and forcibly expressed by the great Tory his- 
 torian Hutchinson, who tells us that in the year 1619 a 
 house of burgesses hrohe out in Virginia ! as if it had 
 been the mumps, or original sin, or any of those things 
 that people cannot help having. 
 
 This representative assembly was the lower house 
 in the colonial legislatures. The governor always had 
 a council to advise with him and assist him in his execu- 
 tive duties, in imitation of the kinar's privy 
 
 ^ ' ^ ox./ rpjjg govern- 
 
 council in England. But in nearly all the or's council 
 
 ° ^ , "^ was a kind 
 
 colonies this council took part in the work of upper 
 
 -*- house. 
 
 of legislation, and thus sat as an upper 
 house, with more or less power of reviewing and 
 amending the acts of the assembly. In Pennsylvania, 
 as already observed, the council refrained from this 
 legislative work, and so, until some years after the 
 Eevolution, the Pennsylvania legislature was one- 
 chambered. The members of the council were ap- 
 pointed in different ways, sometimes by the king or 
 the lord proprietary, or, as in Massachusetts, by the 
 outgoing legislature, or, as in Connecticut, they were 
 elected by the people. 
 
156 THE STATE. 
 
 Thus all the colonies had a government framed 
 after the model to which the people had been accus- 
 The colonial tomed in England. It was like the English 
 waTSTthe system in miniature, the governor answering 
 ^S^mm-' *^ *^^® king, and the legislature, usually two- 
 lature. chambered, answering to parliament. And 
 
 as quarrels between king and parliament were not un- 
 common, so quarrels between governor and legislature 
 were very frequent indeed, except in Connecticut and 
 Rhode Island. The royal governors, representing 
 British imperial ideas rather than American ideas, 
 were sure to come into conflict with the popular assem- 
 blies, and sometimes became the objects of bitter 
 popular hatred. The disputes were apt to be con- 
 cerned with questions in which taxation was involved, 
 such as the salaries of crown officers, the appropri- 
 ations for war with the Indians, and so on. Such 
 disputes bred more or less popular discontent, but 
 the struggle did not become flagrant so long as the 
 British parliament refrained from meddling with it. 
 
 The Americans never regarded parliament as pos- 
 sessing any rightful authority over their internal af- 
 fairs. When the earliest colonies were founded, it 
 TheAmer- was the general theory that the American 
 Ldmittldthe wilderness was part of the king's private 
 of^paSa-^ domain and not subject to the control of 
 ^^^^'' parliament. This theory lived on in Amer- 
 
 ica, but died out in England. On the one hand the 
 Americans had their own legislatures, which stood to 
 them in the place of parliament. The authority of 
 parliament was derived from the fact that it was a 
 representative body, but it did not represent Amer- 
 icans. Accordingly the Americans held that the re- 
 lation of each American colony to Great Britain was 
 like the relation between England and Scotland in 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 157 
 
 tlie seventeenth century. England and Scotland tlien 
 had the same king, but separate parliaments, and the 
 English parliament could not make laws for Scotland. 
 Such is the connection between Sweden and Norway 
 at the present day ; they have the same king, but 
 each country legislates for itself. So the American 
 colonists held that Virginia, for example, and Great 
 Britain had the same king, but each its independent 
 legislature ; and so with the other colonies, — there 
 were thirteen parliaments in America, each as sover- 
 eign within its own sphere as the parliament at West- 
 minster, and the latter had no more right to tax the 
 people of Massachusetts than the Massachusetts legis- 
 lature had to tax the people of Virginia. 
 
 In one respect, however, the Americans did admit 
 that parliament had a general right of supervision 
 over all parts of the British empire. Mari- except in the 
 time commerce seemed to be as much the mfSt?me"°^ 
 affair of one part of the empire as another, commerce. 
 and it seemed right that it should be regulated by the 
 central parliament at Westminster. Accordingly the 
 Americans did not resist custom-house taxes as long 
 as they seemed to be imposed for purely commercial 
 purposes ; but they were quick to resist direct taxa- 
 tion, and custom-house taxes likewise, as soon as these 
 began to form a part of schemes for extending the 
 authority of parliament over the colonies. 
 
 In England, on the other hand, this theory that the 
 Americans were subiect to the kinsr's au- 
 
 T . 1 1 <» T In England 
 
 tnority but not to that or parliament natu- there grew 
 rally became unintelligible after the king oryofthe 
 himself had become virtually subject to par- premacy of 
 liament. The Stuart kings might call them- 
 selves kings by the grace of God, but since 1688 the sov- 
 ereigns of Great Britain owe their seat upon the throne 
 
158 THE STATE, 
 
 to an act of parliament. To suppose that the king's 
 American subjects were not amenable to the authority 
 of parliament seemed like supposing that a stream 
 could rise higher than its source. Besides, after 1700 
 the British erppire began to expand in all parts of the 
 world, and the business of parliament became more 
 and more imperial. It could make laws for the East 
 India Company ; why not, then, for the Company of 
 Massachusetts Bay ? 
 
 Thus the American theory of the situation was 
 irreconcilable with the British theory, and when par- 
 liament in 1765, with no unfriendly purpose, began 
 laying taxes upon the Americans, thus invading the 
 province of the colonial legislatures, the Americans 
 refused to submit. The ensuing quarrel might doubt- 
 Conflict be- ^^^^ havc bccu peacefully adjusted, had not 
 BrSh^and ^^^ ^^^^-t Grcorge III., happened to be enter- 
 ican^hST taining political schemes which were threat- 
 cipitateyby' Gucd with ruiu if the Americans should get 
 George HI. ^ fg^'j, bearing for their side of the case.^ 
 Thus political intrigue came in to make the situation 
 hopeless. When a state of things arises, with which 
 men's established methods of civil government are in- 
 competent to deal, men fall back upon the primitive 
 method which was in vogue before civil government 
 began to exist. They fight it out ; and so we had our 
 Revolutionary War, and became separated politically 
 from Great Britain. It is worthy of note, in this 
 connection, that the last act of parliament, which 
 brought matters to a crisis, was the so-called Regulat- 
 ing Act of April, 1774, the purpose of which was to 
 change the government of Massachusetts. This act 
 provided that members of the council should be ap- 
 
 ^ See my War of Independence, pp. 58-64, 69-71 (Riverside 
 Library for Young People) . 
 
THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 159 
 
 pointed by the royal governor, that they should be paid 
 by the crown and thus be kept subservient to it, 
 that the principal executive and judicial officers should 
 be likewise paid by the crown, and that town-meetings 
 should be prohibited except for the sole purpose of 
 electing town officers. Other unwarrantable acts were 
 passed at the same time, but this was the worst. 
 Troops were sent over to aid in enforcing this act, the 
 people of Massachusetts refused to recognize its valid- 
 ity, and out of this political situation came the battles 
 of Lexington and Bunker Hill. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Various claims to North America : — 
 a. Spanish. 
 
 h. English. 
 c. French. 
 
 2. What was needed to make such claims of any value ? 
 
 3. The London and Plymouth companies : — 
 
 a. The time and purpose of their organization. 
 h. The grant to the London Company. 
 
 c. The grant to the Plymouth Company. 
 
 d. The magnitude of the zones granted. 
 
 e. The peculiar provisions for the intermediate zone. 
 
 f. First attempts at settlement. 
 
 4. To what important principle of the common charter of these 
 
 two companies did the colonists persistently cling ? 
 
 5. The influence of these short-lived companies upon the settle- 
 
 ment and government of the United States : — 
 a. A review of the zones and their assignment. 
 h. The states of the northern zone and their origin. 
 
 c. The states of the southern zone and their origin. 
 
 d. The states of the middle zone and their origin. 
 
 e. The influence of the movement of population on local 
 
 government in each zone. 
 
 6. Early state government in Virginia : — 
 
 a. The part appointed and the part elected. 
 h. The first legislative body in America, 
 c. The dignity of its miembers. 
 
160 THE STATE. 
 
 d. The reason for the name " House of Burgesses." 
 
 7. Early state government in Massachusetts : — 
 
 a. The Dorchester Company. 
 
 b. The government provided for the Company of Massachu- 
 
 setts Bay by its charter. 
 
 c. The real purpose of the Puritan leaders 
 
 d. The change from the primary assembly of freemen to the 
 
 representative assembly. 
 
 e. The division of this assembly into two houses, with a com- 
 
 parison of the houses. 
 /. The reason for the name " General Court." 
 g. The loss of the charter and the causes that led to it. 
 h. The new charter as compared with the old. 
 
 8. Compare the early governments of Connecticut and Rhode 
 
 Island with the first government of Massachusetts. 
 
 9. What two kinds of state government have thus far been 
 
 observed ? 
 
 10. Early state government in Maryland : — 
 
 a. The favouritism of the crown as shown in land grants. 
 
 b. The palatine counties of England. 
 
 c. The bishopric of Durham the model of the colony of 
 
 Maryland. 
 
 d. The extraordinary privileges granted Lord Baltimore. 
 
 e. The tribute to be paid in return. 
 /. The ruler a feudal king. 
 
 g. Limitations of the ruler's power. 
 
 1 1 . Early state government in Pennsylvania and Delaware : — 
 
 a. The powers of Penn as compared with those of Calvert. 
 
 b. One governor and council. 
 
 c. The legislature of each colony. 
 
 d. The quarrels of the Penns and Calverts. 
 
 e. Mason and Dixon's line. 
 
 12. What other proprietary governments were organized, and 
 
 what was their fate ? 
 
 13. Why were proprietary governments unpopular ? (Note the 
 
 exceptions, however.) 
 
 1 4. Classify and define the forms of colonial government in ex- 
 
 istence at the beginning of the Revolution. 
 
 15. Show that these forms differed chiefly in respect to the gov- 
 
 ernor's office. 
 
 16. A representative assembly in each of the thirteen colo* 
 
 nies : — 
 
THE TRANSITION. 161 
 
 a. The basis of representation. 
 
 b. The control of the public money. 
 
 c. The spontaneousness of the representative assembly. 
 
 17. The governor's council : — 
 a. The custom in England. 
 
 &. The council as an upper house. 
 c. The council in Pennsylvania. 
 
 18. Compare the colonial systems with the British (1) in organ- 
 
 ization and (2) in the nature of their political quarrels. 
 
 19. What was the American theory of the relation of each col- 
 
 ony to the British parliament ? 
 
 20. What was the American attitude towards maritime regula- 
 
 tions ? 
 
 21. What was the British theory of the relation of the Ameri- 
 
 can colonies to parliament ? 
 
 22. How was the Revolutionary War brought on ? 
 
 23. Describe the last act of parliament that brought matters to a 
 
 crisis. 
 
 § 2. The Transition from Colonial to State Gov- 
 
 eriiments. 
 During the earlier part of the Revolutionary War 
 most of the states had some kind of provisional gov- 
 ernment. The case of Massachusetts may serve as an 
 illustration. There, as in the other colonies, the gov- 
 ernor had the power of dissolving the assem- Dissolution 
 bly. This was like the king's power of dis- bL^^and' 
 solving parliament in the days of the Stuarts, pa^^iiao^ents. 
 It was then a dangerous power. In modern England 
 there is nothing dangerous in a dissolution of parlia- 
 ment ; on the contrary, it is a useful device for ascer- 
 taining the wishes of the people, for a new House of 
 Commons must be elected immediately. But in old 
 times the king would turn his parliament out of doors, 
 and as long as he could beg, borrow, or steal enough 
 money to carry on government according to his own 
 notions, he would not order a new election. Fortu- 
 nately such periods were not very long. The latest 
 
162 THE STATE. 
 
 instance was in the reign of Charles I., who got on 
 without a parliament from 1629 to 1640.^ In the 
 American colonies the dissolution of the assembly by 
 the governor was not especially dangerous, but it 
 sometimes made mischief by delaying needed legisla- 
 tion. During the few years preceding the Revolu- 
 tion, the assemblies were so often dissolved that it 
 became necessary for the people to devise some new 
 way of getting their representatives together to act 
 for the colony. In Massachusetts this end was at- 
 tained by the famous " Committees of Correspondence." 
 
 No one could deny that town-meetings were 
 of corre- legal, or that the people of one township 
 
 had a right to ask advice from the people of 
 another township. Accordingly each township ap- 
 pointed a committee to correspond or confer with 
 committees from other townships. This system was 
 put into operation by Samuel Adams in 1772, and for 
 the next two years the popular resistance to the crown 
 was organized by these committees. For example, 
 before the tea was thrown into Boston harbour, the 
 Boston committee sought and received advice from 
 every township in Massachusetts, and the treatment 
 of the tea-ships was from first to last directed by the 
 committees of Boston and five neighbour towns. 
 
 In 1774 a further step was taken. As parliament 
 had overthrown the old government, and sent over 
 General Gage as military governor, to put its new sys- 
 tem into operation, the people defied and ignored 
 Gage, and the townships elected delegates to meet 
 
 ^ The kings of France contrived to get along without a rep- 
 resentative assembly from 1614 to 1789, and during this long 
 period abuses so multiplied that the meeting of the States-Gen- 
 eral in 1789 precipitated the great revolution which overthrew 
 the monarchy. 
 
THE TRANSITION. 163 
 
 together in what was called a " Provincial Congress." 
 The president of this congress was the chief provincial 
 executive officer of the commonwealth, and ^o^s^^ss. 
 there was a small executive council, known as the 
 " Committee of Safety." 
 
 This provisional government lasted about a year. In 
 the summer of 1775 the people went further. They 
 fell back upon their charter and proceeded to carry on 
 their government as it had been carried on before 
 1774, except that the governor was left out altogether. 
 The people in town-meeting elected their representa- 
 tives to a general assembly, as of old, and this assembly 
 chose a council of twenty-eight members to sit as an 
 upper house. The president of the council was the fore- 
 most executive officer of the commonwealth, but he had 
 not the powers of a governor. He was no more the 
 governor than the president of our federal senate is 
 the president of the United States. The powers of the 
 governor were really vested in the council, which was 
 an executive as well as a legislative body, and the 
 president was its chairman. Indeed, the title 
 
 . , , ^ , , Provisional 
 
 " president " is simply the Latin for " chair- govem- 
 
 . . ments ; 
 
 man," he who " presides " or " sits before" "govern- 
 
 , ors " and 
 
 an assembly. In 1775 it was a more mod- "presi- • 
 
 •^ dents." 
 
 est title than "governor," and had not the 
 smack of semi-royalty which lingered about the lat- 
 ter. Governors had made so much trouble that people 
 were distrustful of the office, and at first it was 
 thought that the council would be quite sufficient for 
 the executive work that was to be done. Several of 
 the states thus organized their governments with a 
 council at the head instead of a governor ; and hence 
 in reading about that period one often comes across 
 the title " president," somewhat loosely used as if 
 equivalent to governor. Thus in 1787 we find Benja- 
 
164 THE STATE, 
 
 min Franklin called "president of Pennsylvania,'* 
 meaning "president of the council of Pennsylvania." 
 But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory and 
 did not last long. It soon appeared that for executive 
 work one man is better than a group of men. In 
 Massachusetts, in 1780, the old charter was replaced 
 by a new written constitution, under which was formed 
 the state government which, with some emendations in 
 detail, has continued to the present day. Before the 
 end of the eighteenth century all the states except 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island, which had always 
 been practically independent, thus remodelled their 
 governments. 
 
 These changes, however, were very conservative. 
 The old form of government was closely followed. 
 First there was the governor, elected in some states 
 by the legislature, in others by the people. Then 
 there was the two-chambered legislature, of which the 
 lower house was the same institution after the Revolu- 
 
 originof ^i^^ ^^^* ^^ -^^^ been before. The upper 
 the Senates. j^Q^gg^ qj. couucil, was retained, but in a 
 somewhat altered form. The Americans had been 
 used to having the acts of their popular assemblies 
 reviewed by a council, and so they retained this revi- 
 sory body as an upper house. But the fashion of 
 copying names and titles from the ancient Roman re- 
 public was then prevalent, and accordingly the upper 
 house was called a Senate. There was a higher prop- 
 erty qualification for senators than for representatives, 
 and generally their terms of service were longer. In 
 some states they were chosen by the people, in others by 
 the lower house. In Maryland they werie chosen by 
 a special college of electors, an arrangement which 
 was copied in our federal government in the election 
 of the president of the United States. In most of the 
 
THE TRANSITION. 165 
 
 states there was a lieutenant-governor, as there had 
 been in the colonial period, to serve in case of the 
 governor's death or incapacity ; ordinarily the lieuten* 
 ant-governor presided over the senate. 
 
 Thus our state governments came to be repetitions 
 on a small scale of the king, lords, and commons of 
 England. The governor answered to the king, with 
 his dignity very much curtailed by election for a short 
 period. The senate answered to the House of Lords 
 except in being a representative and not a hereditary 
 body. It was supposed to represent more especially 
 that part of the community which was possessed of 
 most wealth and consideration ; . and in several states 
 the senators were apportioned with some reference to 
 the amount of taxes paid by different parts of the 
 state.^ When New York made its senate a supreme 
 court of appeal, it was in deliberate imitation of the 
 House of Lords. On the other hand, the House of 
 Representatives answered to the House of Commons 
 as it used to be in the days when its power was really 
 limited by that of the upper house and the 
 
 4 1 1 T^TT Likenesses 
 
 kins:. At the present day the Enerlish and difEer- 
 
 TT p r^ • iiT encesbe- 
 
 House of Commons is a supreme body. In tween Brit- 
 case of a serious difference with the House American 
 of Lords, the upper house must yield, or 
 else new peers will be created in sufficient number to 
 reverse its vote ; and the lords always yield before this 
 point is reached. So, too, though the veto power of 
 the sovereign has never been explicitly abolished, it 
 has not been exercised since 1707, and would not now 
 be tolerated for a moment. In America there is no 
 such supreme body. The bill passed by the lower 
 house may be thrown out by the upper house, or if it 
 passes both it may be vetoed by the governor ; and 
 ^ See my Critical Period of American History, p. 68. 
 
166 THE STATE. 
 
 unless the bill can again pass both houses by more 
 than a simple majority, the veto will stand. In most 
 of the states a two-thirds vote in the affirmative is 
 required. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. The dissolution of assemblies and parUaraents : — 
 
 a. The governor's power over the assembly in the colonies. 
 h. The king's power over parliament in England. 
 
 c. The danger of dissolution in the time of the Stuarts. 
 
 d. The safety of dissolution in modern England. 
 
 e. The frequency of dissolution before the Revolution. 
 
 2. Representation of the people in the provisional government 
 
 of Massachusetts : — 
 a. The committees of correspondence. 
 h. Their function, with an illustration from the " tea-ships." 
 
 c. The provincial congress. 
 
 d. The committee of safety. 
 
 e. The return to the two-chambered legislature of the char- 
 
 ter. 
 
 3. Executive powers in the provisional government of Massachu- 
 
 setts ; — 
 a. The foremost executive officer. 
 h. Where the power of governor was really vested. 
 
 c. Why the name of president was preferred to that of gov- 
 
 ernor. 
 
 d. The example of Massachusetts followed elsewhere. 
 
 e. The end of provisional government in 1780. 
 
 4. The council transformed to a senate : — 
 
 a. The principle of reviewing the acts of the popular as- 
 sembly. 
 h. The borrowing of Roman names. 
 
 c. The qualifications and service of senators. 
 
 d. The lieutenant-governor. 
 
 5. Our state governments patterned after the government of 
 
 England : — 
 a. The governor and the king. 
 h. The Senate and the Plouse of Lords. 
 
 c. The House of Representatives and the House of Commons, 
 d Some differences between the British system and the 
 
 American. 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 167 
 
 § 3. The State Governments. 
 
 During the present century our state governments 
 have undergone more or less revision, chiefly in the 
 way of abolishing property qualifications for office, 
 making the suffrage universal, and electing officers 
 that were formerly appointed. Only in Delaware 
 does there still remain a property qualification for 
 senators. There is no longer any distinction in 
 principle between the upper and lower Later modi- 
 houses of the legislature. Both represent fi^^^^i*^^- 
 population, the usual difference being that the senate 
 consists of fewer members who represent larger dis- 
 tricts. Usually, too, the term of the representatives 
 is two years, and the whole house is elected at the 
 same time, while the term of senators is four years, 
 and half the number are elected every two years. 
 This system of two-chambered legislatures is prob- 
 ably retained chiefly through a spirit of conserva- 
 tism, because it is what we are used to. But it no 
 doubt has real advantages in checking hasty legis- 
 lation. People are always wanting to have laws made 
 about all sorts of things, and in nine cases out of ten 
 their laws would be pernicious laws ; so that it is well 
 not to have legislation made too easy. 
 
 The suffrage by which the legislature is elected is 
 almost universal. It is given in all the states to all 
 male citizens who have reached the age of one-and- 
 twenty. In many it is given also to denizens of for- 
 eign birth who have declared an intention of becom- 
 ing citizens. In some it is given without further 
 specification to every male inhabitant of voting age. 
 Residence in the state for some period, vary- ^he suf- 
 ing from three months to two years and a ^^^^®' 
 half, is also generally required ; sometimes a certain 
 
168 THE STATE. 
 
 length of residence in the county, the town, or even 
 in the voting precinct, is prescribed. In many of the 
 states it is necessary to have paid one's poll-tax. 
 There is no longer any property qualification, though 
 there was until recently in Rhode Island. Criminals, 
 idiots, and lunatics are excluded from the suffrage. 
 Some states also exclude duellists and men who bet 
 on elections. Connecticut and Massachusetts shut 
 out persons who are unable to read. In no other 
 country has access to citizenship and the suffrage been 
 made so easy. 
 
 A peculiar feature of American governments, and 
 something which it is hard for Europeans 
 between leg- to Understand, is the almost complete sepa- 
 theexecu- ration between the executive and the legis- 
 lative departments. In European countries 
 the great executive officers are either members of the 
 legislature, or at all events have the right to be present 
 at its meetings and take part in its discussions ; and 
 as they generally have some definite policy by which 
 they are to stand or fall, they are wont to initiate legis- 
 lation and to guide the course of the discussion. But 
 in America the legislatures, having no such central 
 points about which to rally their forces, carry on their 
 work in an aimless, rambling sort of way, through the 
 agency of many standing committees. When a mea- 
 sure is proposed it is referred to one of the committees 
 for examination before the house will have anything 
 to do with it. Such a preliminary examination is of 
 course necessary where there is a vast amount of legis- 
 lative work going on. But the private and discon- 
 nected way in which our committee work is done 
 tends to prevent full and instructive discussion in the 
 house, to make the mass of legislation, always chaotic 
 enough, somewhat more chaotic, and to facilitate the 
 various evil devices of lobbying and log-rolling. 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS, 169 
 
 In pointing out this inconvenience attendant upon 
 the American plan of separating the executive and 
 legislative departments, I must not be understood as 
 advocating the European plan as preferable for this 
 country. The evils that inevitably flow from any 
 fundamental change in the institutions of a country 
 are apt to be much more serious than the evils which 
 the change is intended to remove. Political govern- 
 ment is like a plant ; a little watering and pruning do 
 very well for it, but the less its roots are fooled with, 
 the better. In the American system of government 
 the independence of the executive department, with 
 reference to the legislative, is fundamental ; and on 
 the whole it is eminently desirable. One of the most 
 serious of the dangers which beset democratic govern- 
 ment, especially where it is conducted on a great scale, 
 is the danger that the majority for the time being will 
 use its power tyrannically and unscrupulously, as it is 
 always tempted to do. Against such unbridled democ- 
 racy we have striven to guard ourselves by various 
 constitutional checks and balances. Our written con= 
 stitutions and our Supreme Court are important safe- 
 guards, as will be shown below. The independence 
 of our executives is another important safeguard. 
 But if our executive departments were mere com- 
 mittees of the legislature — like the English cabinet, 
 for example — this independence could not possibly 
 be maintained ; and the loss of it would doubtless 
 entail upon us evils far greater than those which 
 now flow from want of leadership in our legislatures.^ 
 
 ^ In two admirable essays on ''Cabinet Responsibility and the 
 Constitution," and "Democracy and the Constitution," Mr. 
 Lawrence Lowell has convincinsrlv argued that the American 
 system is best adapted to the circumstances of this country. 
 Lowell, Essays on Government, pp. 20-117, Boston, 1890. 
 
170 TKE STATE, 
 
 We must remember that government is necessarily a 
 cumbrous affair, however conducted. 
 
 The only occasion on which the governor is a part 
 of the legislature is when he signs or vetoes a bill. 
 The state Then he is virtually in himself a third house. 
 executive, j^g ^^ exccutivc officcr the governor is far 
 less powerful than in the colonial times. We shall 
 see the reason of this after we have enumerated some 
 of the principal offices in the executive department. 
 There is always a secretary of state, whose main duty 
 is to make and keep the records of state transactions. 
 There is always a state treasurer, and usually a state 
 auditor or comptroller to examine the public accounts 
 and issue the warrants without which the treasurer 
 cannot pay out a penny of the state's money. There 
 is almost always an attorney-general, to appear for 
 the state in the supreme court in all cases in which 
 the state is a party, and in all prosecutions for capital 
 offences. He also exercises some superintendence 
 over the district attorneys, and acts as legal adviser 
 to the governors and the legislature. There is also in 
 many states a superintendent of education ; and in 
 some there are boards of education, of health, of 
 lunacy and charity, bureaux of agriculture, commis- 
 sioners of prisons, of railroads, of mines, of harbours, 
 of immigration, and so on. Sometimes such boards 
 are appointed by the governor, but such officers as 
 the secretary of state, the treasurer, auditor, and at- 
 torney-general are, in almost all the states, elected by 
 the people. They are not responsible to the governor, 
 but to the people who elect them. They are not sub- 
 ordinate to the governor, but are rather his colleagues. 
 Strictly speaking, the governor is not the head of the 
 executive department, but a member of it. The exec- 
 utive department is parcelled out in several pieces? 
 and his is one of the pieces. 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 171 
 
 Tlie ordinary functions of tlie governor are four in 
 number. 1. He sends a message to the legislature, 
 at the beginning of each session, recommend- ^j^g 
 ing such measures as he would like to see tSLTrVAdl 
 embodied in legislation. 2. He is com- [gSu^e/T 
 mander-in-chief of the state militia, and as of^Se"*^^^ 
 such can assist the sheriff of a county in "^i^tia. 
 putting down a riot, or the President of the United 
 States, in the event of a war. On such occasions the 
 governor may become a personage of immense impor- 
 tance, as, for example, in our Civil War, when Pres- 
 ident Lincoln's demands for troops met with such 
 prompt response from the men who will be known to 
 history as the great " war governors." 3. The gov- 
 ernor is invested with the royal prerogative 
 of pardoning; criminals, or commutino; the rogativeof 
 
 r ^ ■> O pardon. 
 
 sentences pronounced upon them by the 
 courts. This power belongs to kings in accordance 
 with the old feudal notion that the king was the 
 source or fountain of justice. When properly used 
 it affords an opportunity for rectifying some injustice 
 for which the ordinary machinery of the law could 
 not provide, or for making such allowances for extraor- 
 dinary circumstances as the court could not properly 
 consider. In our country it is too often improperly 
 used to enable the worst criminals to escape due 
 punishment, just because it is a disagreeable duty to 
 hang them. Such misplaced clemency is pleasant for 
 the murderers, but it makes life less secure for honest 
 men and women, and in the less civilized regions of 
 our country it encourages lynch law. 4. In all the 
 states except Rhode Island, Delaware, Ohio, and 
 North Carolina, the governor has a veto upon the acts 
 of the legislature, as above explained ; and in ordinary 
 times this power, which is not executive but legisla- 
 
172 THE STATE. 
 
 live, is probably the governor's most important and 
 considerable power. In thirteen of the states the gov- 
 ernor can veto particular items in a bill for the appro- 
 4.Vetopow. pi^iation of public money, while at the same 
 ®^' time he approves the rest of the bill. This 
 
 is a most important safeguard against corruption, be- 
 cause where the governor does not have this power 
 it is possible to make appropriations for unworthy 
 or scandalous purposes along with appropriations for 
 matters of absolute necessity, and then to lump them 
 all together in the same bill, so that the governor 
 must either accept the bad along with the good or re- 
 ject the good along with the bad. It is a great gain 
 when the governor can select the items and veto some 
 while approving others. In such matters the gov- 
 ernor is often more honest and discreet than the legis- 
 lature, if for no other reason, because he is one man, 
 and responsibility can be fixed upon him more clearly 
 than upon two or three hundred. 
 
 Such, in brief outline, is the framework of the 
 American state governments. But our account would 
 be very incomplete without some mention of three 
 points, all of them especially characteristic of the 
 American state, and likely to be overlooked or misun- 
 derstood by Europeans. 
 
 Firsts while we have rapidly built up one of the 
 
 greatest empires yet seen upon the earth, we have left 
 
 our self-2:overnment substantially unimpaired 
 
 In building . ^ rrti . . i • r> i • 
 
 the state, m the process. This is exemplified m two 
 
 the local ■*■ , , i • ^ i 
 
 self-govern- waVs : first, m the relationship oi the state 
 
 mentwas . i • i n • 
 
 left unim- to its towQS and couiities, and, secondly, m 
 its relationship to the federal government. 
 Over the township and county governments the state 
 exercises a general supervision ; indeed, it clothes 
 them with their authority. Townships and counties 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 173 
 
 have no sovereignty ; the state, on the other hand, 
 has many elements of sovereignty, but it does not use 
 them to obliterate or unduly restrict the control of the 
 townships and counties over their own administrative 
 work. It leaves the local governments to administer 
 themselves. As a rule there is only just enough state 
 supervision to harmonize the working of so many local 
 administrations. Such a system of government comes 
 as near as possible toward making all American citi- 
 zens participate actively in the management of public 
 affairs. It generates and nourishes a public spirit 
 and a universal acquaintance with matters of public 
 interest such as has probably never before been seen 
 in any great country. Public spirit of equal or greater 
 intensity may have been witnessed in small and highly 
 educated communities, such as ancient Athens or me- 
 diaeval Florence, but in the United States it is diffused 
 over an area equal to the whole of Europe. Among 
 the leading countries of the world England is the one 
 which comes nearest to the United States in the gen- 
 eral diffusion of enlightened public spirit and political 
 capacity throughout all classes of society. 
 
 A very notable contrast to the self-government which 
 has produced such admirable results is to be seen in 
 France, and as contrasts are often instructive, let me 
 mention one or two features of the French government. 
 There is nothing like the irregularity and spontaneity 
 there that we have observed in our survey of the 
 United States. Everything is symmetrical. France 
 is divided into eighty-nine departments^ most instructive 
 of them larger than the state of Delaware, Sh'^^^* 
 some of them nearly as large as Connecticut, ^^^'^°®- 
 and the administration of one department is exactly 
 like that of all the others. The chief officer of the de- 
 partment is the prefect, who is appointed by the minister 
 
174 THE STATE, 
 
 of the interior at Paris. The prefect is treasurer, re- 
 cruiting officer, school superintendent, all in one, and 
 he appoints nearly all inferior officers. The department 
 has a council, elected by universal suffrage, but it has 
 no power of assessing taxes. The central legislature in 
 Paris decides for it how much money it shall use and. 
 how it shall raise it. The department council is not 
 even allowed to express its views on political matters ; 
 it can only attend to purely local details of adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 The smallest civil division in France is the com- 
 mune^ which may be either rural or urban. The 
 commune has a municipal council which elects a 
 mayor ; but when once elected the mayor becomes di- 
 rectly responsible to the prefect of the department, 
 and through him to the minister of the interior. If 
 these greater officers do not like what the mayor does, 
 they can overrule his acts or even suspend him from 
 office ; or upon their complaint the President of the 
 Kepublic can remove him. 
 
 Thus in France people do not manage their own 
 
 affairs, but they are managed for them by a hierarchy 
 
 of officials with its head at Paris. This sys' 
 
 111 Fl'HTlPA 
 
 whether it is tcm was dcviscd bv the Constituent Assembly 
 
 nominally a , - rrf\f\ i i • ■^ i 
 
 despotic em- m 1790 and wrous'ht mto completeness by 
 public at the Napolcou in 1800. The men who devised it 
 
 top, there is . irrrv/\ 
 
 scarcely any m 1790 actually supposed that they were in- 
 
 sell-govern- . *^ /» -• * ^ c -t 
 
 mentatthe auguratiug a systcm ot political ireedom (!), 
 Hence gov- and unQucstionably it was a vast improve- 
 
 ernment ^ "^ ,.,. 
 
 there rests mcut upou the wrctchcd system which it 
 
 on an inse- ,_ i»ia 
 
 cure foun- supplautcd ; but as contrasted with Amer- 
 
 dation. . it t. • • ♦•Tpr>i 
 
 ican methods and institutions, it is difficult 
 to call it anything else than a highly centralized des- 
 potism. It has gone on without essential change 
 through all the revolutions which have overtaken 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS, 175 
 
 France since 1800. The people have from time to 
 time overthrown an unpopular government at Paris, 
 but they have never assumed the direct control of 
 their own affairs. 
 
 Hence it is commonly remarked that while the 
 general intelligence of the French people is very 
 high, their intelligence in political matters is, com- 
 paratively speaking, very low. Some persons try to 
 explain this by a reference to peculiarities of race. 
 But if we Americans were to set about giving to the 
 state governments things to do that had better be 
 done by counties and towns, and giving the federal 
 government things to do that had better be done by 
 the states, it would not take many generations to 
 dull the keen edge of our political capacity. We 
 should lose it as inevitably as the most consum- 
 mate of pianists will lose his facility if he stops prac- 
 tising. It is therefore a fact of cardinal importance 
 that in the United States the local governments of 
 township, county, and city are left to administer them- 
 selves instead of being administered by a great bureau 
 with its head at the state capital. In a political society 
 thus constituted from the beginning it has proved pos- 
 sible to build up our Federal Union, in which the 
 states, while for certain purposes indissolubly united, 
 at the same time for many other purposes retain their 
 self-government intact. As in the case of other aggre- 
 gates, the nature of the American political aggregate 
 has been determined by the nature of its political 
 units. 
 
 Secondly, let us observe how great are the func- 
 tions retained by our states under the conditions of 
 our Federal Union. The powers granted to our fed- 
 eral government, such as the control over interna^. 
 tional questions, war and peace, the military forces, 
 
176 THE STATE. 
 
 tlie coinage, patents and copyrights, and the regula* 
 tion of commerce between the states and with 
 the func- foreign countries, — all these are powers re- 
 tained by lating to matters that affect all the states, 
 the Amer- but could not be rcgulatcd harmoniously by 
 the separate action of the states. In order 
 the more completely to debar the states from meddling 
 with such matters, they are expressly prohibited from 
 entering into agreements with each other or with a 
 foreign power; they cannot engage in war, save in 
 case of actual invasion or such imminent danger as 
 admits of no delay ; without consent of Congress they 
 cannot keep a military or naval force in time of peace, 
 or impose custom-house duties. Besides all this they 
 are prohibited from granting titles of nobility, coining 
 money, emitting bills of credit, making anything but 
 gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts, 
 passing bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, or laws 
 impairing the obligation of contracts. The force of 
 these latter restrictions will be explained hereafter. 
 Such are the limitations of sovereignty imposed upon 
 the states within the Federal Union. 
 
 " Compared with the vast prerogatives of the state 
 legislatures, these limitations seem small enough. All 
 the civil and religious rights of our citizens depend 
 upon state legislation ; the education of the people is 
 in the care of the states ; with them rests the regula- 
 tion of the suffrage ; they prescribe the rules of mar- 
 riage, the legal relations of husband and wife, of par- 
 ent and child ; they determine the powers of masters 
 over servants and the whole law of principal and agent, 
 which is so vital a matter in all business transactions ; 
 they regulate partnership, debt and credit, insurance ; 
 they constitute all corporations, both private and mu- 
 nicipal, except such as specially fulfill the financial Qt 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 177 
 
 other specific functions of the federal government; 
 they control the possession, distribution, and use of 
 property, the exercise of trades, and all contract rela- 
 tions ; and they formulate and administer all criminal 
 law, except only that which concerns crimes com~ 
 mitted against the United States, on the high seas, 
 or against the law of nations. Space would fail in 
 which to enumerate the particulars of this vast range 
 of power ; to detail its parts would be to catalogue all 
 social and business relationships, to examine all the 
 foundations of law and order." ^ 
 
 This enumeration, by Mr. Woodrow Wilson, is so 
 much to the point that I content myself with transcrib- 
 ing it. A very remarkable illustration of mustration 
 the preponderant part played by state law En^isrSs- 
 in America is given by Mr. Wilson, in pur- ^^^'^' 
 suance of the suggestion of Mr. Franklin Jameson.^ 
 Consider the most important subjects of legislation in 
 England during the present century, the subjects 
 which make up almost the entire constitutional history 
 of England for eighty years. These subjects are 
 " Catholic emancipation, parliamentary reform, the 
 abolition of slavery, the amendment of the poor-laws, 
 the reform of municipal corporations, the repeal of 
 the corn laws, the admission of Jews to parliament, 
 the disestablishment erf the Irish church, the altera- 
 tion of the Irish land laws, the establishment of na- 
 tional education, the introduction of the ballot, and 
 the reform of the criminal law." In the United States 
 only two of these twelve great subjects could be dealt 
 with by the federal government: the repeal of the 
 
 ^ Woodrow Wilson, The State: Elements of Historical and 
 Practical Politics, p. 437. 
 
 2 Jameson, " The Study of the Constitutional and Political 
 History of the States." /. K U. Studies, IV., v. 
 
178 THE STATE. 
 
 corn laws, as being a question of national revenue and 
 custom-house duties, and the abolition of slavery, by 
 virtue of a constitutional amendment embodying some 
 of the results of our Civil War. All the other ques- 
 tions enumerated would have to be dealt with by our 
 state governments ; and before the war that was the 
 case with the slavery question also. A more vivid 
 illustration could not be asked for. 
 
 How complete is the circle of points in which the 
 state touches the life of the American citizen, we may 
 see in the fact that our state courts make a 
 ence of the complctc judiciary system, from top to bot- 
 tom independent of the federal courts. An 
 appeal may be carried from a state court to a federal 
 court in cases which are found to involve points of 
 federal law, or in suits arising between citizens of dif- 
 ferent states, or where foreign ambassadors are con- 
 cerned. Except for such cases the state courts make 
 up a complete judiciary world of their own, quite out- 
 side the sphere of the United States courts. 
 
 We have already had something to say about courts, 
 in connection with those primitive areas for the ad- 
 ministration of justice, the hundred and the county. 
 In our states there are generally four grades of courts. 
 There are, first, the justices of the 'peaee^ with juris- 
 diction over " petty police offences and civil suits for 
 trifling sums." They also conduct preliminary hearings 
 in cases where persons are accused of serious crimes, and 
 when the evidence seems to warrant it they may com- 
 mit the accused person for trial before a higher court. 
 The mayor's court in a city usually has jurisdiction sim- 
 ilar to that of justices of the peace. Secondly, there 
 are county and tnunici'pal courts^ which hear appeals 
 from justices of the peace and from mayor's courts, 
 and have original jurisdiction over a more important 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 179 
 
 grade of civil and criminal cases. Thirdly, there are 
 superior courts^ having^ orisrinal iurisdiction 
 
 ^ _ . o o J Constitution 
 
 over the most important cases and over wider of the state 
 
 111 courts. 
 
 areas ot country, so that they do not con- 
 fine their sessions to one place, but move about from 
 place to place, like the English justices in eyre. 
 Cases are carried up, on appeal, from the lower to the 
 superior court. Fourthly, there is in every state a 
 sujyreiDie courts which generally has no original juris- 
 diction, but only hears appeals from the decisions of 
 the other courts. In New York there is a " supremest " 
 court, styled the court of a'pjyeals^ which has the power 
 of revising sundry judgments of the supreme court ; 
 and there is something similar in New Jersey, Illinois, 
 Kentucky, and Louisiana.^ 
 
 In the thirteen colonies the judges were appointed 
 by the governor, with or without the consent of the 
 council, and they held office during life or good be- 
 haviour. Among the changes made in our state con- 
 stitutions since the Revolution, there have been few 
 more important than those which have affected the 
 position of the judges. In most of the states they are 
 now elected by the people for a term of years, some- 
 times as short as two years. There is a growing feel- 
 ing that this change was a mistake. It seems to have 
 lowered the general character of the judiciary. The 
 change was made by reasoning from analogy : it was 
 supposed that in a free country all offices 
 
 ^ ^ II' 1 c Elective and 
 
 ought to be elective and for short terms, appointive 
 But the case of a judge is not really analo- 
 gous to that of executive officers, like mayors and 
 governors and presidents. The history of popular 
 liberty is much older than the history of the United 
 States, and it would be difficult to point to an in- 
 1 Wilson, TJie State, pp. 509-513, 
 
180 THE STATE. 
 
 stance in which popular liberty has ever suffered from 
 the life tenure of judges. On the contrary, the judge 
 ought to be as independent as possible of all transient 
 phases of popular sentiment, and American experience 
 during the past century seems to teach us that in the 
 few states where the appointing of judges during life 
 or good behaviour has prevailed, the administration 
 of justice has been better than in the states where the 
 judges have been elected for specified terms. Since 
 1869 there has been a marked tendency toward 
 lengthening the terms of elected judges, and in several 
 states there has been a return to the old method of 
 appointing judges by the governor, subject to confir- 
 mation by the senate.^ It is one of the excellent fea- 
 tures of our system of federal government, that the 
 several states can thus try experiments each for itself 
 and learn by comparison of results. When things are 
 all trimmed down to a dead level of uniformity by the 
 central power, as in France, a prolific source of valu- 
 able experiences is cut off and shut up. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Modifications of state government during the present cen- 
 
 tury : — 
 a. Property qualifications for office. 
 
 h. The distinctioH between the upper and the lower house. 
 c. The advantage in retaining a two-chambered legislature. 
 
 2. The suffrage : — 
 
 a. The persons to whom it is granted. 
 
 h. The qualifications established. 
 
 c. The persons excluded from its exercise. 
 
 3. The separation of the executive and legislative depart- 
 
 ments : — 
 a. The relation of the great executive officers to legislation 
 
 in Europe. 
 h. The work of legislation in the United States. 
 ^ For details, see the admirable monograph of Henry Hitch- 
 cock, American State Constitutions, p. 53, 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 181 
 
 c The most serious of the dangers that beset democratic 
 
 government. 
 d. Important safeguards against such a danger. 
 
 4. The state executive : — 
 
 a. The governor as a part of the legislature. 
 
 h. Officers always belonging to executive departments. 
 
 c. Officers frequently belonging to executive departments. 
 
 d. The relation of the governor to other elected executive 
 
 officers. 
 
 5. The ordinary functions of the governor : — 
 a. Advising the legislature. 
 
 h. Commanding the militia. 
 
 c. Pardoning criminals or commuting their sentences. 
 
 d. Vetoing acts of the legislature. 
 
 6. Why is the power to veto particular items in a bill appro- 
 
 priating public money an important safeguard against 
 corruption ? 
 
 7. Local self-government in the United States left unim- 
 
 paired : — 
 a. The extent of state supervision of towns and counties. 
 h. The spirit thus developed in American citizens. 
 
 8. A lesson from the symmetry of the French government : — 
 a. The departments and their administration. 
 
 h. The prefect and his duties. 
 
 c. The department council and its sphere of action. 
 
 d. The commune. 
 
 e. The French system contrasted with the American. 
 
 f. A common view of the political intelligence of the French. 
 
 g. The probable effect of excessive state control upon the 
 
 political intelligence of Americans. 
 
 9. The greatness of the functions retained by the states under 
 
 the federal government : — 
 a. Powers granted to the government of the United States. 
 h. The reason for granting such powers. 
 
 c. The powers denied to the states. 
 
 d. The reason for such prohibitions. 
 
 e. The vast range of powers exercised by the states. 
 
 f. The most important subjects of legislation in England for 
 
 the past eighty years. 
 
 g. The governments, state or national, to which these twelve 
 
 subjects would have fallen in the United States. 
 10. Speak of the independence of the state courts. 
 
182 THE STATE. 
 
 11. In what cases only may matters be transferred from them to 
 
 a federal court ? 
 
 12. The constitution of the state courts : — 
 
 a. Justices of the peace ; the mayor's court. 
 &. County and municipal courts. 
 
 c. The superior courts. 
 
 d. The supreme court. 
 
 e. Still higher courts in certain states. 
 
 13. The selection of judges and their terms of service : — 
 a. In the thirteen colonies. 
 
 h. In most of the states since the Revolution. 
 
 c. The reasons for a life tenure. 
 
 d. The tendency since 1869. 
 
 14. Mention a conspicuous advantage of our system of govern- 
 
 ment over the French. 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 I. Was there ever a charter government in your state ? If so, 
 where is the charter at the present time ? What is its 
 present value ? Try to see it, if possible. (Pupils of 
 Boston and vicinity, for example, may examine in the 
 office of the secretary of state, at the state house, the 
 charter of King Charles (1629) and that of William and 
 and Mary (1692). 
 
 3. When was your state organized under its present govern- 
 ment ? If it is not one of the original thirteen, what 
 was its history previous to organization ; that is, who 
 owned it and controlled it, and how came it to become a 
 state ? 
 
 3. What are the qualifications for voting in your state ? 
 
 4. What are the arguments in favour of an educational qualifica- 
 
 tion for voters (as, for example, the ability to read the 
 Constitution of the United States) ? What reasons 
 might be urged against such qualifications ? 
 
 5. Who is the governor of your state ? What political party 
 
 supported him for the position? For what ability or 
 eminent service was he selected ? 
 
 60 Give illustrations of the governor's exercise of the four func- 
 tions of advising, vetoing, pardoning, and commanding 
 (consult the newspapers while the legislature is in session). 
 
 7. Mention some things done by the governor that are not in* 
 eluded in the enumeration of his functions in the text. 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS, 183 
 
 8. Visit, if practicable, the State House. Observe the various 
 
 offices, and consider the general nature of the business 
 done there. Attend a session of the Senate or the House 
 of Representatives. Obtain some " orders of the day." 
 
 9. If the legislature is in session, follow its proceedings in the 
 
 newspapers. What important measures are under dis- 
 cussion ? On what sort of questions are party lines 
 pretty sharply drawn ? On what sort of questions are 
 party distinctions ignored ? 
 
 10. Consult the book of general or public statutes, and report on 
 
 the following points : — 
 a. The magnitude of the volume. 
 h. Does it contain all the laws ? If not, what are omitted ? 
 
 c. Give some of the topics dealt with. 
 
 d. Where are the laws to be found that have been made 
 
 since the printing of the volume ? 
 
 e. Are the originals of the laws in the volume ? If not, 
 
 where are they and in what shape ? 
 
 11. Is everybody expected to know all the laws ? 
 
 1 2. Does ignorance of the law excuse one for violating it ? 
 
 13. Suppose people desire the legislature to pass some law, as, 
 
 for example, a law requiring towns and cities to provide 
 flags for school-houses, how is the attention of the legisla- 
 ture secured ? What are the various stages through 
 which the bill must pass before it can become a law ? 
 Why should there be so many stages ? 
 
 14. Give illustrations of the exercise of federal government, 
 
 state government, and local government, in your own 
 town or city. Of which government do you observe the 
 most signs ? Of which do you observe the fewest signs ? 
 Of which government do the officers seem most sensitive 
 to local opinion ? 
 1$. Are the sessions of the legislature in your state annual or 
 biennial ? What is the argument for each system ? 
 
 For answers to numbers 16-, 17, 18, and 19, consult the public 
 statutes, a lawyer, or some intelligent business man. A fair 
 idea of the successive steps in the courts may be obtained from 
 a good unabridged dictionary by looking up the technical terms 
 employed in these questions. 
 
 16. What is the difference between a civil action and a criminal ? 
 a. In respect to the object to be gained in each ? 
 
184 THE STATE. 
 
 b. In respect to the party that is the plaintiff ? 
 
 c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case 
 
 goes against him ? 
 
 1 7. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action 
 
 that is tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider 
 (1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) 
 the recognizance, (5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, 
 (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, (9) the arguments, (10) 
 the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and its 
 enforcement. What is an appeal ? — This procedure 
 seems cumbrous, but it is founded in common sense. 
 What one of the foregoing steps, for example, would you 
 omit ? Why ? 
 
 18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is 
 
 tried with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun 
 in a lower court where the first five stages are the same 
 as in number 17. Then follow (6) the examination of 
 witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to appear 
 before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the 
 complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or 
 county attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of 
 the grand jury upon the indictment, (11) the challenging 
 of jurors before the trial, (12) the arraignment, (13) the 
 plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) the 
 charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sen- 
 tence, with its penalty and the enforcement of it. What 
 are " exceptions ? " — Why should there be a jury in the 
 higher court when there is none in the lower ? What is 
 the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing 
 steps ? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish 
 crime ? Why should an accused person receive so much 
 consideration ? 
 
 19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. 
 
 Consider (1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the sum- 
 mons to the defendant, (4) the return, (5) the pleading, 
 (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) the judgment 
 or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution. — If the 
 action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides 
 the question at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in 
 points of law. 
 
 20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and 
 
 acquitted, has he any redress ? 
 
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS. 185 
 
 21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your 
 
 community ? 
 
 22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and 
 
 property in your community ? 
 
 23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a 
 
 law and the enforcement of that law ? If so, what is it ? 
 
 24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 
 
 177 may be taken as a special topic. Consult any mod- 
 ern history of England. 
 
 25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for 
 
 the citizen, — an acquaintance with the principles and de- 
 tails of government and law, or a law-abiding and law- 
 supporting spirit ? What reasons have you for your opin- 
 ion ? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with 
 those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce 
 it ? (Suppose a case in which you do not approve the 
 law, and then answer.) 
 
 26. May you ever become an officer of the law ? Would you as 
 
 a citizen be justified in withholding from an officer that 
 obedience and moral support which you as an officer 
 might justly demand from every citizen ? 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 The State. — For the founding of the several colonies, their 
 charters, etc., the student may profitably consult the learned 
 monographs in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of 
 America, 8 vols., Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite 
 full in details, is given in Lodge's Short History of the English 
 Colonies in America, N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account 
 of the revision and transformation of the colonial governments 
 in Bancroft's History of the United States, final edition, N. Y., 
 1886, vol. V. pp. 111-125. 
 
 The series of " American Commonwealths," edited by H. E. 
 Scudder, and published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be 
 found helpful. The following have been published : Johnston, 
 Connecticut : a Study of a Commomuealth-Democracy, 1887 ; 
 Roberts, New York : the Planting and Growth of the Empire 
 State, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, Maryland: the History of a Palati- 
 
186 THE ST ATM. 
 
 nate, 2d ed., 1884 ; Cooke, Virginia : a History of the People^ 
 1883 ; Shaler, Kentucky : a Pioneer Commonwealth, 1884 ; King, 
 Ohio .* First Fruits of the Ordinance ofllSlf 1888 ; Dunn, Indiana : 
 a Redemption from Slavery, 1888 ; Cooley, Michigan : a History oj 
 Governments, 1885 ; Carr, Missouri : a Bone of Contention, 1888 ; 
 Spring, Kansas : the Prelude to the War for the Union, 1885 ; 
 Koyce, California: a Study of American Character, 1886 ; Bar- 
 rows, Oregon : the Struggle for Possession, 1883. 
 
 In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is 
 advised to consult Dole's Talks about Law: a Popular Statement 
 of What our Law is and How it is Administered, Boston, 1887. 
 This book deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive 
 way it gives an account of such facts and principles of law as 
 ought to be familiarly understood by every man and woman. 
 
CHAPTEE Vn. 
 
 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Toward the close of the preceding chapter ^ I spot© 
 of three points especially characteristic of the American 
 state, and I went on to mention two of them. The 
 third point which I had in mind is so remarkable and 
 important as to require a chapter all to itself. In the 
 American state the legislature is not supreme, j^the 
 but has limits to its authority prescribed by f^S?Se is 
 a written document, known as the Constitu- abwlthe 
 tion ; and if the legislature happens to pass legislature. 
 a law which violates the constitution, then whenever 
 a specific case happens to arise in which this statute 
 is involved, it can be brought before the courts, and 
 the decision of the court, if adverse to the statute, 
 annuls it and renders it of no effect. The impor- 
 tance of this feature of civil government in the United 
 States can hardly be overrated. It marks a momentous 
 advance in civilization, and it is especially interesting 
 as being peculiarly American. Almost everything 
 else in our fundamental institutions was brought by 
 our forefathers in a more or less highly developed 
 condition from England ; but the development of the 
 written constitution, with the consequent relation of 
 the courts to the law-making power, has gone on en« 
 tirely upon American soil. 
 
 ^ See above, p. 172, 
 
IBS WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The germs of the written constitution existed a 
 great while ago. Perhaps it would not be easy to say 
 just when they began to exist. It was formerly sup- 
 posed by such profound thinkers as Locke and such 
 Germs of the persuasive writers as Rousseau, that when 
 writt?n*con- t^^ fi^s* ^^^ came together to live in civil 
 stitution. society, they made a sort of contract with 
 one another as to what laws they would have, what 
 beliefs they would entertain, what customs they would 
 sanction, and so forth. This theory of the Social 
 Contract was once famous, and exerted a notable in- 
 fluence on political history, and it is still interesting 
 in the same way that spinning-wheels and wooden 
 frigates and powdered wigs are interesting ; but we 
 now know that men lived in civil society, with com- 
 plicated laws and customs and creeds, for many 
 thousand years before the notion had ever entered 
 anybody's head that things could be regulated by 
 contract. That notion we owe chiefly to the ancient 
 ourindebt- Romaus, and it took them several centuries 
 aucfent^Ro^^ to comprchcnd the idea and put it into prac- 
 mans. ^j^^^ -yy^ ^^^ them a debt of gratitude for 
 
 it. The custom of regulating business and politics 
 and the affairs of life generally by voluntary but 
 binding agreements is something without which we 
 moderns would not think life worth living. It was 
 after the Roman world — that is to say, Christendom, 
 for in the Middle Ages the two terms were synony- 
 mous — had become thoroughly familiar with the 
 idea of contract, that the practice grew up of grant- 
 ing written charters to towns, or monasteries, or other 
 corporate bodies. The charter of a mediaeval town 
 was a kind of written contract by which the town ob- 
 tained certain specified immunities or privileges from 
 the sovereign or from a great feudal lord, in exchange 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 189 
 
 for some specified service which often took the form 
 of a money payment. It was common enough for a 
 town to buy liberty for hard cash, just as a Mediaeval 
 man might buy a farm. The word charter ^'^^^^^^s. 
 originally meant simply a paper or written document, 
 and it was often applied to deeds for the transfer of 
 real estate. In contracts of such importance papers 
 or parchment documents were drawn up and carefully 
 preserved as irrefragable evidences of the transaction. 
 And so, in quite significant phrase the towns zealously 
 guarded their charters as the "title-deeds of their 
 liberties." 
 
 After a while the word charter was applied in Eng- 
 land to a particular document which speci 
 
 . . . . The " G-reat 
 
 fied certain important concessions forcibly charter" 
 wrung by the people from a most unwilling 
 sovereign. This document was called Magna Gharta^ 
 or the " Great Charter," signed at Runnymede, June 
 15, 1215, by John, king of England. After the king 
 had signed it and gone away to his room, he rolled 
 in a mad fury on the floor, screaming curses, and 
 gnawing sticks and straw in the impotence of his 
 wrath.^ Perhaps it would be straining words to call 
 a transaction in which the consent was so one-sided 
 a "contract," but the idea of Magna Charta was 
 derived from that of the town charters with which 
 people were already familiar. Thus a charter came 
 to mean " a grant made by the sovereign either to the 
 whole people or to a portion of them, securing to 
 them the enjoyment of certain rights." Now in legal 
 usage " a charter differs from a constitution in this, 
 that the former is granted by the sovereign, while the 
 latter is established by the people themselves: both 
 are the fundamental law of the land." ^ The distinc- 
 
 ^ Green, Hist, of the English People^ vol. i. p. 248. 
 * Boiivier^ Law Dictionary , 12th ed., vol. i. p. 259, 
 
190 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 tion is admirably expressed, but in history it is not 
 always easy to make it. Magna Charta was in form a 
 grant by the sovereign, but it was really drawn up by 
 the barons, who in a certain sense represented the 
 English people ; and established by the people after a 
 long struggle which was only in its first stages in 
 John's time. To some extent it partook of the nature 
 of a written constitution. 
 
 Let us now observe what happened early in 1689, 
 after James II. had fled from England. On January 
 28th parliament declared the throne vacant. Parlia- 
 ment then drew up the "Declaration of Rights," a 
 document very similar in purport to the first eight 
 amendments to our Federal Constitution, and on the 
 13th of February the two houses offered the crown to 
 William and Mary on condition of their accepting 
 this declaration of the " true, ancient, and indubitable 
 rights of the people of this realm." The crown hav- 
 ing been accepted on these terms, parliament in the 
 f oUowino' December enacted the famous " BiH 
 
 The'*Billof ^ -^. , ^ ,,,.,. , , . 
 
 Rights" of Kights, which simply put their previous 
 declaration into the form of a declaratory 
 statute. The Bill of Rights was not — even in form 
 — a grant from a sovereign ; it was an instrument 
 framed by the representatives of the people, and with- 
 out promising to respect it William and Mary could 
 no more have mounted the throne than a president 
 of the United States could be inducted into office if 
 he were to refuse to take the prescribed oath of alle- 
 giance to the Federal Constitution. The Bill of Rights 
 was therefore, strictly speaking, a piece of written con« 
 stitution ; it was a constitution as far as it went. 
 
 The seventeenth century, the age when the build- 
 ers of American commonwealths were coming from 
 England, was especially notable in England for two 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 191 
 
 things. One was the rapid growth of modern com- 
 mercial occupations and habits, the other was the tem- 
 porary overthrow of monarchy, soon followed by the 
 final subjection of the crown to parliament. Accord- 
 ingly the sphere of contract and the sphere of popular 
 sovereignty were enlarged in men's minds, and the 
 notion of a written constitution first began to find ex- 
 pression. The " Instrument of Government " which 
 in 1653 created the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell 
 was substantially a written constitution, but it ema- 
 nated from a questionable authority and was not rati- 
 fied. It was drawn up by a council of army officers ; 
 and " it broke down because the first parliament sum- 
 moned under it refused to acknowledge its binding 
 force." ^ The dissolution of this parliament accord- 
 ingly left Oliver absolute dictator. In 1656, when 
 it seemed so necessary to decide what sort of Foreshadow- 
 government the dictatorship of Cromwell Americam 
 was to prepare the way for, Sir Harry Vane H!?ry"v^e 
 proposed that a national conveyition should ^^^^^)' 
 be called for drawing up a written constitution.^ The 
 way in which he stated his case showed that he had in 
 him a prophetic foreshadowing of the American idea 
 as it was realized in 1787. But Yane's ideas were 
 too far in advance of his age to be realized then in 
 England. Older ideas, to which men were more ac- 
 customed, determined the course of events there, and 
 it was left for Americans to create a government by 
 means of a written constitution. And when Amer- 
 
 ^ Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution^ 
 p. Ix. 
 
 2 See Hosmer's Young Sir Henry Vane, pp. 432-444, — one of 
 the best books ever written for the reader who wishes to under- 
 stand the state of mind among the English people in the crisis 
 when they laid the foundations of the United States, 
 
192 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 ican statesmen did so, they did it without any refer- 
 ence to Sir Harry Vane. His relation to the subject 
 has been discovered only in later days, but I mention 
 him here in illustration of the way in which great in- 
 stitutions grow. They take shape when they express 
 the opinions and wishes of a multitude of persons; 
 but it often happens that one or two men of remark- 
 able foresight had thought of them long beforehand. 
 
 In America the first attempts at written constitu- 
 tions were in the fullest sense made by the people, 
 and not through representatives but directly. In the 
 Mayflower's cabin, before the Pilgrims had landed on 
 Plymouth rock, they subscribed their names to a com- 
 pact in which they agreed to constitute them- 
 
 The May- ^ . i i t • ,» i 
 
 flower com- sclvcs luto a " Dody politic, and to enact 
 
 pact (1620). , '^ ^ 
 
 such laws as might be deemed best for the 
 colony they were about to establish ; and they prom- 
 ised " all due submission and obedience " to such 
 laws. Such a compact is of course too vague to be 
 called a constitution. Properly speaking, a written 
 constitution is a document which defines the character 
 and powers of the government to which its framers 
 are willing to entrust themselves. Almost any kind 
 of civil government might have been framed under 
 the Mayflower compact, but the document is none the 
 less interesting as an indication of the temper of the 
 men who subscribed their names to it. 
 
 The first written constitution known to history was 
 that by which the republic of Connecticut was organ- 
 ized in 1639. At first the affairs of the Connecticut 
 settlements had been directed by a commission ap- 
 pointed by the General Court of Massachusetts, but 
 on the 14th of January, 1639, all the freemen of the 
 three river towns — Windsor, Hartford, and Wethers- 
 field — assembled at Hartford, and drew up a written 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 193 
 
 constitution, consisting of eleven articles, in which 
 the frame of government then and there _ , 
 
 . . . rr, . The "Fun- 
 
 adopted was distinctly described. This docu- dameutai 
 
 ment, known as the " Fundamental Orders of po^^fcticut 
 
 .rN • ■% (1639). 
 
 Connecticut," created the government under 
 which the people of Connecticut lived for nearly two 
 centuries before they deemed it necessary to amend 
 it. The charter granted to Connecticut by Charles 
 II. in 1662 was simply a royal recognition of the gov- 
 ernment actually in operation since the adoption of 
 the Fundamental Orders. 
 
 In those colonies which had charters these docu- 
 ments served, to a certain extent, the purposes of a 
 written constitution. They limited the legislative 
 powers of the colonial assemblies. The question 
 sometimes came up as to whether some stat- 
 
 •* , Germinal 
 
 ute made by the assembly was not m excess development 
 
 •^ •^ of the colo- 
 
 of the powers conferred by the charter, mai charter 
 
 •■- ^ "^ ^ , toward the 
 
 This question usually arose in connection modem state 
 
 •*• , "^ -\ 1 constitution. 
 
 with some particular law case, and thus came 
 before the courts for settlement, — first before the 
 courts of the colony; afterwards it might sometimes 
 be carried on appeal before the Privy Council in Eng- 
 land. If the court decided that the statute was in 
 transgression of the charter, the statute was thereby 
 annulled.^ The colonial legislature, therefore, was 
 not a supreme body, even within the colony ; its au- 
 thority was restricted by the terms of the charter. 
 Thus the Americans, for more than a century before 
 the Kevolution, were familiarized with the idea of a 
 legislature as a representative body acting within cer- 
 tain limits prescribed by a written document. They 
 had no knowledge or experience of a supreme legis- 
 lative body, such as the House of Commons has be- 
 ^ Bryce, American Commonwealth, vol. i. pp. 243, 415. 
 
194 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 come since the founders of American states left Eng- 
 land. At the time of the Revolution, when the sev- 
 eral states framed new governments, they simply put 
 a written constitution into the position of supremacy 
 formerly occupied by the charter. Instead of a docu- 
 ment expressed in terms of a royal grant, they adopted 
 a document expressed in terms of a popular edict. To 
 this the legislature must conform ; and people were 
 already somewhat familiar with the method of testing 
 the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter 
 brought before the courts. The mental habit thus 
 generated was probably more important than any 
 other single circumstance in enabling our Federal 
 Union to be formed. Without it, indeed, it would 
 have been impossible to form a durable union. 
 
 Before pursuing this subject, we may observe that 
 
 American state constitutions have altered very much 
 
 in character since the first part of the present 
 
 Abnormal ^ *■ ■•■ 
 
 development ccnturv. The earlier constitutions were con- 
 
 of the state '' 
 
 constitution, fined to a general outline of the orsranization 
 
 encroachmg *-" ° 
 
 upon the of the sfovernment. They did not undertake 
 
 provmce of *^ *' ^ 
 
 the legisia- to make the laws, but to prescribe the condi- 
 
 *'"''®' • 1 I'll • 
 
 tions under which laws might be made and 
 
 executed. Recent state constitutions enter more and 
 more boldly upon the general work of legislation. For 
 example, in some states they specify what kinds of prop- 
 erty shall be exempt from seizure for debt, they make 
 regulations as to railroad freight-charges, they prescribe 
 sundry details of practice in the courts, or they forbid 
 the sale of intoxicating liquors. Until recently such 
 subjects would have been left to the legislatures, no 
 one would have thought of putting them into a consti- 
 tution. The motive in so doing is a wish to put cer- 
 tain laws into such a shape that it will be difficult to 
 repeal them. What a legislature sees fit to enact this 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 195 
 
 year it may see fit to repeal next year. But amending 
 a state constitution is a slow and cumbrous process. 
 An amendment may be originated in the legislature, 
 where it must secure more than a mere majority — 
 perhaps a three fi.f ths or two thirds vote — in order to 
 pass ; in some states it must be adopted by two suc« 
 cessive legislatures, perhaps by two thirds of one and 
 three fourths of the next ; in some states not more 
 than one amendment can be brought before the same 
 legislature ; in some it is provided that amendments 
 must not be submitted to the people oftener than once 
 in five years ; and so on. After the amendment has 
 at length made its way through the legislature, it must 
 be ratified by a vote of the people at the next general 
 election. Another way to get a constitution amended 
 is to call a convention for that purpose. In order to 
 call a convention, it is usually necessary to obtain a 
 two thirds vote in the legislature ; but in some states 
 " the legislature is required at stated intervals to sub- 
 mit to the people the question of holding such a con- 
 vention, as in New Hampshire every seven years •. in 
 Iowa, every ten years; in Michigan, every sixteen 
 years ; in New York, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia, 
 every twenty years." ^ A convention is a represen- 
 tative body elected by the people to meet at some 
 specified time and place for some specified purpose, 
 and its existence ends with the accomplishment of that 
 purpose. It is in this occasional character that the con- 
 vention differs from an ordinary legislative assembly. 
 With such elaborate checks against hasty action, it 
 is to be presumed that if a law can be once embodied 
 in a state constitution, it will be likely to have some 
 permanence. Moreover, a direct vote by the peo- 
 
 ^ See Henry Hitchcock's admirable monograph, American 
 State Constitutions y p. 19. 
 
196 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS, 
 
 pie gives a weightier sanction to a law than a vote 
 in the legislature. There is also, no doubt, a disposi- 
 tion to distrust legislatures and in some measure do 
 their work for them by direct popular enactment. 
 For such reasons some recent state constitutions have 
 come ahuost to resemble bodies of statutes. Mr. 
 Woodrow Wilson suggestively compares this kind of 
 popular legislation with the Swiss practice 
 known as the Referendum ; in most of the " Referen- 
 Swiss cantons an important act of the legis- 
 lature does not acquire the force of law until it has 
 been referred to the people and voted on by them. 
 " The objections to the referendum^'' says Mr. Wilson, 
 " are, of course, that it assumes a discriminating judg- 
 ment and a fulness of information on the part of the 
 people touching questions of public policy which they 
 do not often possess, and that it lowers the sense of re- 
 sponsibility on the part of legislators." ^ Another se- 
 rious objection to our recent practice is that it tends to 
 confuse the very valuable distinction between a consti- 
 tution and a body of statutes, to necessitate a frequent 
 revision of constitutions, and to increase the cumbrous- 
 ness of law-making. It would, however, be premature 
 at the present time to pronounce confidently upon a 
 practice of such recent origin. It is clear that its 
 tendency is extremely democratic, and that it implies 
 a high standard of general intelligence and independ- 
 ence among the people. If the evils of the practice 
 are found to outweigh its benefits, it will doubtless 
 fall into disfavour. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 What is to be said with regard to the following topics ? 
 I. A power above the legislature : — 
 a. The constitution. 
 
 1 Wilson, The State, p. 490. 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 19T 
 
 h. The relation of the courts to laws that violate the coasti- 
 tution. 
 
 c. The importance of this relation. 
 
 d. The American origin of the written constitution, 
 2. The germs of the idea of a written constitution : — 
 
 a. The theory of a "social contract." 
 h. The objection to this theory. 
 c. Koman origin of the idea of contract. 
 3 Mediseval charters : — 
 a. The charter of a town. 
 h. The word charter. 
 
 c. Magna Charta. 
 
 d. The difference between a charter and a constitution. 
 
 e. The form of Magna Charta as contrasted with its essen- 
 
 tial nature. 
 
 4. Documents somewhat resembling written constitutions : — 
 a. The Declaration of Rights. 
 
 h. The Bill of Rights. 
 
 5. The foreshadowing of the American idea of written consti- 
 
 tutions : — 
 
 a. Two conditions especially notable in England in the sev- 
 enteenth century. 
 
 h. The influence of these conditions on popular views of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 c. The " Instrument of Government." 
 
 d. Sir Harry Vane's proposition. 
 
 e. Why allude to Vane's scheme when nothing came of it ? 
 60 Early suggestions of written constitutions in America : — 
 
 a. The compact on the Mayflower. 
 
 h. Wherein the compact fell short of a written constitution. 
 
 c. The "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." 
 
 7. The development of the colonial charter into a written con- 
 
 stitution : — 
 a. The limitation of the powers of colonial assemblies. 
 h. The decision of questions relating to the trangression of a 
 charter by a colonial legislature. 
 
 c. The colonial assembly as contrasted with the House of 
 
 Commons. 
 
 d. The difference between the written constitution and the 
 
 charter for which it was substituted. 
 
 e. The readiness of the people to adopt written constitutions. 
 
 8. The extensive development of the written constitution in 
 
 some states • — 
 
198 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 a. The simplicity of the earlier constitutions. 
 
 b. Illustrations of the legislative tendencies of later consfci* 
 
 tutions. 
 
 c. The motive for such extension of a constitution. 
 
 d. The difficulty of amending a constitution. 
 
 e. The legislative method of amendment. 
 /. The convention method of amendment. 
 
 g. The presumed advantage of embodying laws in the eonsti* 
 
 tution. 
 k A comparison with the Swiss Referendum. 
 i. Objections to the Swiss Referendum. 
 J. Other objections to the practice of putting laws into the 
 
 constitution. 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 1. Do you belong to any society that has a constitution ? Has 
 
 the society rules apart from the constitution ? Which 
 may be changed the more readily ? Whj not put all the 
 rules into the constitution ? 
 
 2. Read the constitution of your state in part or in full. Give 
 
 some account of its principal divisions, of the topics it 
 deals with, and its magnitude or fulness. Are there any 
 amendments ? If so, mention two or three, and give the 
 reasons for their adoption. Is there any declaration of 
 rights in it ? If so, what are some of the rights declared, 
 and whose are they said to be ? 
 
 3. Where is the original of your state constitution kept ? What 
 
 sort of looking document do you suppose it to be ? 
 Where would you look for a copy of it ? If a question 
 arises in any court about the interpretation of the consti- 
 tution, must the original be produced to settle the wording 
 of the document ? 
 
 4. Has any effort been made in your state to put into the con- 
 
 stitution matters that have previously been subjects of leg- 
 islative action ? If so, give an account of the effort, and 
 the public attitude towards it. 
 
 5. Which is preferable, — a constitution that commands the 
 
 approval of the people as a whole or that which has the 
 support of a dominant political party only ? 
 
 6. Suppose it is your personal conviction that a law is unconsti- 
 
 tutional, may you disregard it ? What consequences 
 might ensue from such disregard ? 
 
WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 199 
 
 7. May people lionestly and amicably differ about the interpre- 
 
 tation of the constitution or of a law, in a particular 
 case ? If important interests are dependent on the inter- 
 pretation, how can the true one be found out ? Does a 
 lawyer's opinion settle the interpretation ? What value 
 has such an opinion ? Where must people go for au- 
 thoritative and final interpretations of the laws? Can 
 they get such interpretations by simply asking for them ? 
 
 8. The constitution of New Hampshire provides that when the 
 
 governor cannot discharge the duties of his office, the 
 president of the senate shall assume them. During the 
 severe sickness of a governor recently, the president of 
 the senate hesitated to act in his stead ; it was not clear that 
 the situation was grave enough to warrant such a course. 
 Accordingly the attorney-general of the state brought an 
 action against the president of the senate for not doing 
 his duty ; the court considered the situation, decided 
 against the president of the senate, and ordered him to 
 become acting governor. Why was this suit necessary ? 
 Was it 'conducted in a hostile spirit ? Wherein did the 
 decision help the state ? Wherein did it help the de- 
 fendant ? Wherein may it possibly prove helpful in the 
 future history of the state ? 
 
 9. Mention particular things that the governor, the legislature, 
 
 and the judiciary of your state have done or may do. 
 
 Then find the section or clause or wording in your state 
 
 constitution that gives authority for each of these things. 
 
 For example, read the particular part that authorizes your 
 
 legislature : — 
 a. To incorporate a. city. 
 h. To compel children to attend school. 
 
 c. To buy uniforms for a regiment of soldiers. 
 
 d. To establish a death penalty. « 
 
 e. To send a committee abroad to study a system of water- 
 
 works. 
 
 10. Trace the authority of a school-teacher, a policeman, a select- 
 
 man, a mayor, or of any public officer, back to some part 
 of your constitution. 
 
 11. Mention any parts of your constitution that seem general 
 
 and somewhat indefinite, and that admit, therefore, of 
 much freedom in interpretation. 
 
 1 2. Show how the people are, in one aspect, subordinate to the 
 
 constitution ; in another, superior to it. 
 
200 WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 Written Constitutions. — Very little has been written oi 
 published with reference to the history of the development of 
 the idea of a written constitution. The student will find some 
 suggestive hints in Hannis Taylor's Origin and Growth of the 
 English Constitution, vol. i., Boston, 1889. See Henry Hitchcock's 
 American State Constitutions ; a Study of their Growth, N. Y., 1887, 
 a learned and valuable essay. See also /. H. U. Studies, I., xi., 
 Alexander Johnston, The Genesis of a New England State {Con- 
 necticut) ; III., ix.-x., Horace Davis, American Constitutions ; also 
 Preston's Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1863, 
 N. Y., 1886 ; Stubbs, Select Charters and other Illustrations of 
 English Constitutional History, Oxford, 1870 ; Gardiner's Consti- 
 tutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, Oxford, 1888. 
 
 1 
 
r 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 § 1. Origin of the Federal Union, 
 
 Having now sketclied the origin and nature of 
 written constitutions, we are prepared to understand 
 how by means of such a document the government of 
 our Federal Union was called into existence. We 
 have already described so much of the civil govern- 
 ment in operation in the United States that this ' ac- 
 count can be made much more concise than if we had 
 started at the top instead of the bottom and begun 
 to portray our national government before saying a 
 word about states and counties and towns. Bit by bit 
 the general theory of American self-government has 
 already been set before the reader. We have now to 
 observe, in conclusion, what a magnificent piece of 
 constructive work has been performed in accordance 
 with that general theory. We have to observe the 
 building up of a vast empire out of strictly self -gov- 
 erning elements. 
 
 There was always one important circumstance in 
 favour of the union of the thirteen American colonies 
 into a federal nation. The inhabitants were English in- 
 all substantially one people. It is true that aiuh??oiS^ 
 in some of the colonies there were a good °^^®* 
 many persons not of English ancestry, but the Eng- 
 lish type absorbed and assimilated everything else. 
 
202 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 All spoke the English language, all had English insti- 
 tutions. Except the development of the written con- 
 stitution, every bit of civil government described in 
 the preceding pages came to America directly from 
 England, and not a bit of it from any other country, 
 unless by being first filtered through England. Our 
 institutions were as English as our speech. It was 
 therefore comparatively easy for people in one colony 
 to understand people in another, not only as to their 
 words but as to their political ideas. Moreover, dur-i 
 ing the first half of the eighteenth century, the com- j 
 mon danger from the aggressive French enemy on the\ 
 north and west went far toward awakening in the 
 thirteen colonies a common interest. And after the 
 French enemy had been removed, the assertion by 
 parliament of its alleged right to tax the Americans 
 threatened all the thirteen legislatures at once, and 
 thus in fact drove the colonies into a kind of federal 
 union. 
 
 Confederations among states have generally owed 
 their origin, in the first instance, to military necessi- 
 ties. The earliest league in America, among white 
 The New people at least, was the confederacy of New 
 SSSfracy England colonies formed in 1643, chiefly for 
 (1643-84). (defence against the Indians. It was finally 
 dissolved amid the troubles of 1684, when the first 
 government of Massachusetts was overthrown. Along 
 the Atlantic coast the northern and the southern col- 
 onies were for some time distinct groups, separated 
 by the unsettled portion of the central zone. The 
 settlement of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1681, filled 
 this gap and made the colonies continuous from the 
 French frontier of Canada to the Spanish frontier of 
 Florida. The danger from France began to be clearly 
 apprehended after 1689, and in 1698 one of the 
 
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL UNION. 203 
 
 earliest plans of union was proposed by William 
 Penn. In 1754, just as tlie final struggle with France 
 was about to begin, tbere came Franklin's famous 
 plan for a permanent federal union ; and tbis plan 
 was laid before a congress assembled at Albany con- 
 Albany for renewing the alliances with the ^®^^ ^^^^*^' 
 Six Nations.^ Only seven colonies were represented 
 in this congress. Observe the word " congress." If 
 it had been a legislative body it would more likely 
 have been called a " parliament." But of course it 
 was nothing of the sort. It was a diplomatic body, 
 composed of delegates representing state governments, 
 like European congresses, — like the Congress of 
 Berlin, for example, which tried to adjust the Eastern 
 Question in 1878. Eleven years after the „ 
 
 ^ '' , stamp Act 
 
 Albany Congress, upon the news that parlia- congress 
 ment had passed the Stamp Act, a congress 
 of nine colonies assembled at New York in October, 
 1765, to take action thereon. 
 
 Nine years elapsed without another congress. Mean- 
 while the political excitement, with occasional lulls, went 
 on increasing, and some sort of cooperation between the 
 colonial governments became habitual. In 1768, after 
 parliament had passed the Townshend revenue acts, 
 there was no congress, but Massachusetts sent a circu- 
 lar letter to the other colonies, inviting them to co- 
 operate in measures of resistance, and the committees 
 other colonies responded favourably. In gjondlncs 
 1772, as we have seen, committees of corre- ^^'^^2-75). 
 spondence between the towns of Massachusetts acted 
 as a sort of provisional government for the common- 
 wealth. In 1773 Dabney Carr, of Virginia, enlarged 
 
 1 Franklin's plan was afterward submitted to the several leg- 
 islatures of the colonies, and was everywhere rejected because 
 the need for union was nowhere strongly felt by the people. 
 
204 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 upon this idea, and committees of correspondence were 
 forthwith instituted between the several colonies. 
 Thus the habit of acting in concert began to be 
 formed. In 1774, after parliament had passed an act 
 overthrowing the government of Massachusetts, along 
 with other offensive measures, a congress assembled 
 in September at Philadelphia, the city most centrally 
 situated as well as the largest. If the remonstrances 
 adopted at this cong^ress had been heeded by 
 
 Continental tV,*.! t iir 
 
 Congress tlic Britisli govcmment, and peace had fol- 
 lowed, this congress would probably have 
 been as temporary an affair as its predecessors ; people 
 would probably have waited until overtaken by some 
 other emergency. But inasmuch as war followed, the 
 congress assembled again in May, 1775, and there- 
 after became practically a permanent institution until 
 it died of old age with the year 1788. 
 
 This congress was called " continental " to distin- 
 guish it from the " provincial congresses " held in 
 several of the colonies at about the same time. The 
 thirteen colonies were indeed but a narrow strip on 
 the edge of a vast and in large part unexplored conti- 
 nent, but the word " continental" was convenient for 
 distinguishing between the whole confederacy and its 
 several members. 
 
 The Continental Congress began to exercise a cer- 
 tain amount of directive authority from the time of 
 its first meeting in 1774. Such authority as it had 
 arose simply from the fact that it represented an 
 agreement on the part of the several governments to 
 pursue a certain line of policy. It was a 
 states were diplomatic and executive, but scarcely yet 
 
 never at any * ^ , ' . 
 
 time sover- a Icsfislative body. Nevertheless it was the 
 
 eign states. . . i i i . <• • i 
 
 Visible symbol of a kind of union between 
 the states. There never was a time when any one 
 
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL UNION. 205 
 
 of the original states exercised singly the full pow- 
 ers of sovereignty. Not one of them was ever a small 
 sovereign state like Denmark or Portugal. As they 
 acted together under the common direction of the Brit- 
 ish government in ITSOg the year of Quebec, so they 
 acted together under the common direction of that 
 revolutionary body, the Continental Congress, in 1775, 
 the year of Bunker Hill. In that year a " continental 
 army " was organized in the name of the " United 
 Colonies." In the following year, when independence 
 was declared, it was done by the concerted action of 
 all the colonies ; and at the same time a committee 
 was appointed by Congress to draw up a written con- 
 stitution. This constitution, known as the 
 
 The Articles 
 
 " Articles of Confederation," was submitted of confed- 
 
 r^ • 1 p -i nrrrr i eration. 
 
 to Congress m the autumn oi 1777, and was 
 
 sent to the several states to be ratified. A unanimous 
 
 ratification was necessary, and it was not until March 
 
 1781, that unanimity was secured and the articles 
 
 adopted. 
 
 Meanwhile the Revolutionary War had advanced 
 into its last stages, having been carried on from the 
 outset under the general direction of the Continental 
 Congress. When reading about this period of our 
 history, the student must be careful not to be misled 
 by the name " congress " into reasoning as if there 
 were any resemblance whatever between that body 
 and the congress which was created by our Federal 
 Constitution. The Continental Congress was not the 
 parent of our Federal Congress ; the former died 
 without o:ffspring, and the latter had a very different 
 origin, as we shall soon see. The former simply be- 
 queathed to the latter a name, that was all. 
 , The Continental Congress was an assembly of dele- 
 gates from the thirteen states, which from 1774 to 
 
206 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 1783 held its sessions at Philadelpliia.^ It owned 
 Nature and ^^ federal property, not even the house in 
 contSe^ntai^ which it assembled, and after it had been 
 Congress. tumed out of doors by a mob of drunken 
 soldiers in June, 1783, it flitted about from place to 
 place, sitting now at Trenton, now at Annapolis, and 
 finally at New York.^ Each state sent to it as many 
 delegates as it chose, though after the adoption of the 
 articles no state could send less than two or more than 
 seven. Each state had one vote, and it took nine 
 votes, or two thirds of the whole, to carry any meas- 
 ure of importance. One of the delegates was chosen 
 president or chairman of the congress, and this posi- 
 tion was one of great dignity and considerable influ- 
 ence, but it was not essentially different from the posi- 
 tion of any of the other delegates. There were no 
 distinct executive officers. Important executive mat- 
 ters were at first assigned to committees, such as the 
 Finance Committee and the Board of War, though at 
 the most trying time the finance committee was a com- 
 mittee of one, in the person of Robert Morris, who was 
 commonly called the Financier. The work of the 
 finance committee was chiefly trying to solve the prob- 
 lem of paying bills without spending money, for there 
 was seldom any money to spend. Congress could not ll^ 
 tax the people or recruit the army. When it wanted 
 money or troops, it could only ask the state govern- 
 ments for them ; and generally it got from a fifth to 
 a fourth part of the troops needed, but of money a far 
 
 ^ Except for a few days in December, 1776, when it fled to 
 Baltimore ; and again from September, 1777, to June, 1778, 
 when Philadelphia was in possession of the British ; during that 
 interval Congress held its meetings at York in Pennsylvania. 
 
 2 See my Critical Period of American History^ pp. 112, 271, 
 306. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL UNION. 207 
 
 smaller proportion. Sometimes it borrowed money 
 from Holland or France, but often its only resource 
 was to issue paper promises to pay, or the so-called 
 Continental paper money. Tliere were no federal 
 courts,^ nor marshals to execute federal decrees. Con- 
 gress might issue orders, but it had no means of com- 
 pelling obedience. 
 
 The Continental Congress was therefore not in the 
 full sense a sovereign body. A government is not 
 really a government until it can impose taxes and thus 
 command the money needful for keeping it j^ ^^g ^^^ 
 in existence. Nevertheless the Congress ex- dow^d^^th 
 ercised some of the most indisputable func- sovereignty. 
 tions of sovereignty. " It declared the independence 
 of the United States ; it contracted an offensive and 
 defensive alliance with France ; it raised and organ- 
 ized a Continental army ; it borrowed large sums of 
 money, and pledged what the lenders understood to 
 be the national credit for their repayment ; it issued 
 an inconvertible paper currency, granted letters of 
 marque, and built a navy." ^ Finally it ratified a 
 treaty of peace with Great Britain. So that the Con- 
 gress was really, in many respects, and in the eyes of 
 the world at large, a sovereign body. Time soon 
 showed that the continued exercise of such powers 
 was not compatible with the absence of the power to 
 tax the people. In truth the situation of the Conti- 
 nental Congress was an illogical situation. In the ef- 
 fort of throwing off the sovereignty of Great Britain, 
 the people of these states were constructing a federal 
 union faster than they realized. Their theory of the 
 
 ^ Except the "Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture," for an 
 admirable account of which see Jameson's Essays in the Consti- 
 tutional History of the United States, pp. 1-45. 
 
 * Critical Period^ p. 93. 
 
208 THE FEDERAL UNION', 
 
 situation did not keep pace with the facts, and their 
 first attempt to embody their theory, in the Articles 
 of Confederation, was not unnaturally a failure. 
 
 At first the powers of the Congress were vague. 
 They were what are called " implied war powers ; " 
 that is to say, the Congress had a war with Great 
 Britain on its hands, and must be supposed to have 
 power to do whatever was necessary to bring the war 
 to a successful conclusion. At first, too, when it had 
 only begun to issue paper money, there was a momen- 
 tary feeling of prosperity. Military success added to 
 its appearance of strength, and the reputation of the 
 Congress reached its highwater mark early in 1778, 
 after the capture of Burgoyne's army and the mak- 
 ing of the alliance with France. After that time, 
 with the weary prolonging of the war, the increase of 
 Decline of ^^^ public debt, and the collapse of the pa- 
 nenS'con- P®^* currcucy, its reputation steadily declined. 
 gress. There was also much work to be done in re- 
 
 organizing the state governments, and this kept at 
 home in the state legislatures many of the ablest men 
 who would otherwise have been sent to the Congress. 
 Thus in point of intellectual capacity the latter body 
 was distinctly inferior in 1783 to what it had been 
 when first assembled nine years earlier. 
 
 The arrival of peace did not help the Congress, but 
 made matters worse. When the absolute necessity of 
 presenting a united front to the common enemy was 
 removed, the weakness of the union was shown in 
 many ways that were alarming. The sentiment of 
 union was weak. In spite of the community in lan- 
 guage and institutions, which was so favourable to 
 union, the people of the several states had many local 
 prejudices which tended to destroy the union in its in- 
 fancy. A man was quicker to remember that he waa 
 
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL UNION. 209 
 
 a New Yorker or a Massachusetts man than that he 
 was an American and a citizen of the United States. 
 Neighbouring states levied custom-house duties against 
 one another, or refused to admit into their Anarchical 
 markets each other's produce, or had quar- tendencies. 
 rels about boundaries which went to the verge of war. 
 Things grew worse every year until by the autumn 
 of 1786, when the Congress was quite bankrupt and 
 most of the states nearly so, when threats of secession 
 were heard both in New England and in the South, 
 when there were riots in several states and Massachu- 
 setts was engaged in suppressing armed rebellion, 
 when people in Europe were beginning to ask whether 
 we were more likely to be seized upon by France or 
 reconquered piecemeal by Great Britain, it came to be 
 thought necessary to make some kind of a change. 
 
 Men were most unwillingly brought to this conclu- 
 sion, because they were used to their state assemblies 
 and not afraid of them, but they were afraid of in- 
 creasing the powers of any government superior to the 
 states, lest they should thus create an unmanageable 
 tyranny. They believed that even anarchy, though a 
 dreadful evil, is not so dreadful as despotism, and for 
 this view there is much to be said. After no end of 
 trouble a convention was at length got together at 
 Philadelphia in May, 1787, and after four months of 
 w ork with closed doors, it was able to offer 
 
 The Federal 
 
 to the country the new Federal Constitution, convention 
 Both in its character and in the work which 
 it did, this Federal Convention, over which Washing- 
 ton presided, and of which Franklin, Madison, and 
 Hamilton were members, was one of the most remark- 
 able deliberative bodies known to history. 
 
 We have seen that the fundamental weakness of 
 the Continental Congress lay in the fact that it could 
 
210 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 not tax the people. Hence although it could for a 
 time exert other high functions of sovereignty, it could 
 only do so while money was supplied to it from other 
 sources than taxation ; from contributions made by 
 the states in answer to its " requisitions," from foreign 
 loans, and from a paper currency. But such resources 
 could not last long. It was like a man's trying to live 
 upon his own promissory notes and upon gifts and un- 
 secured loans from his friends. When the supply of 
 money was exhausted, the Congress soon found that 
 it could no longer comport itself as a sovereign power ; 
 it could not preserve order at home, and the situation 
 abroad may be illustrated by the fact that George III. 
 kept garrisons in several of our northwestern frontier 
 towns and would not send a minister to the United 
 States. This example shows that, among the sov- 
 ereign powers of a government, the power of taxation 
 is the fundamental one upon which all the others de- 
 pend. Nothing can go on without money. 
 
 But the people of the several states would never 
 consent to grant the power of taxation to such a body 
 as the Continental Congress, in which they were not 
 represented. The Congress was not a legislature, but 
 a diplomatic body ; it did not represent the people, 
 but the state governments ; and a large state like 
 Pennsylvania had no more weight in it than a little 
 state like Delaware. If there was to be any central 
 assembly for the whole union, endowed with the 
 power of taxation, it must be an assembly represent- 
 ing the American people just as the assembly of a 
 single state represented the people of the state. 
 
 As soon as this point became clear, it was seen to 
 be necessary to throw the Articles of Confederation 
 overboard, and construct a new national government. 
 As was said above, our Federal Congress is not de« 
 
ORIGIN OF THE FEDERAL UNION. 211 
 
 scended from the Continental Congress. Its parent- 
 age is to be sought in the state legislatures. Our 
 federal government was constructed after the general 
 model of the state governments, with some points 
 copied from British usages, and some points that were 
 original and new. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What are the reasons for reserving the Constitution of the 
 
 United States for the concluding chapter ? 
 
 2. Circumstances that favoured union of the colonies : — 
 a. The origin of their inhabitants. 
 
 1). All the details of their civil government. 
 
 c. The ease with which they understood one another. 
 
 d. Their common dangers, two in particular. 
 
 3. Earlier unions among the colonies : — 
 
 a. The New England Confederacy, — its time, purpose, and 
 
 duration. 
 h. The French danger, and plans to meet it. 
 
 c. The Albany Congress, — its nature and immediate purpose. 
 
 d. The Stamp Act Congress. 
 
 4. Committees of correspondence : — 
 
 a. The circular letter of Massachusetts in 1768. 
 h. Town committees of correspondence in Massachusetts in 
 1772. 
 
 c. Colonial committees of correspondence in 1773. 
 
 d. The habit established through these committeeso 
 
 5. The Continental Congress : — 
 
 a. The immediate causes that led to it. 
 h. How it might have been temporary. 
 
 c. How it became permanent. 
 
 d. Its date, place of meeting, and duration. 
 
 e. Why " continental " as distinguished from " provincial ? " 
 
 f. The nature and extent of its authority. 
 
 g. The states represented in it never fully sovereign. 
 60 Give an account of the " Articles of Confederation." 
 
 7. Distinguish between the Continental Congress and the 
 
 Federal. 
 
 8. The powers of the Continental Congress : — 
 a. Its homelessness and wandering. 
 
 h. Its delegates and their voting power. 
 
212 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 c. Its presiding officer. 
 
 d. Its management of executive matters. 
 
 e. The finance committee and its problems, 
 
 f. The raising of money. 
 
 g. The compelling of obedience. 
 
 9. The Continental Congress not a sovereign body : — 
 a. The nature of real government. 
 
 h. Some functions of sovereignty exercised by the Congress. 
 c. The situation illogical. 
 
 10. Explain the " implied war powers " of the Congress. 
 
 11. When was the Congress at the height of its reputation, and 
 
 why ? 
 
 12. Explain the decline in its reputation from 1778 to 1783. 
 
 13. The alarming weakness of the union after 1783 : — 
 a. The effect of peace upon the union. 
 
 h. Local prejudices. 
 
 c. State antagonisms. 
 
 d. The gloomy outlook in 1786. 
 
 14. The Federal Convention in 1787 : — 
 
 a. The reluctance to make the change that was felt to be 
 
 needed, 
 h. Some facts about the Convention. 
 
 c. The character of its delegates. 
 
 d. The fundamental weakness of the Continental Congress. 
 
 e. The fundamental power of a strong government. 
 
 f. The objection to granting the power of taxation to the 
 
 Continental Congress. 
 
 g. The sort of assembly demanded for exercising the taxing 
 
 power. 
 h. The model on which the federal government was built. 
 
 § 2. The Federal Congress, 
 
 The federal House of Representatives is descended, 
 
 through the state houses of representatives, from the 
 
 colonial assemblies. It is an assembly representing 
 
 the whole population of the country as if it were all 
 
 in one ffreat state. It is composed of mem- 
 
 Tha House , ,° , i 1 i 
 
 of Represen- bcrs choscu everv other year by the people 
 
 tatives, «/ »/ 11 
 
 of the states. Persons in any state who are 
 qualified to vote for state representatives are qualified 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. 218 
 
 to vote for federal representatives. This arrange- 
 ment left the power of regulating the suffrage in the 
 hands of the several states, where it still remains, save 
 for the restriction imposed in 1870 for the protection 
 of the southern freedmen. A candidate for election 
 to the House of Representatives must be twenty-five 
 years old, must have been seven years a citizen of the 
 United States, and must be an inhabitant of the state 
 in which he is chosen. 
 
 As the Federal Congress is a taxing body, repre- 
 sentatives and direct taxes are apportioned among 
 the several states according to the same rule, that is, 
 according to population. At this point a difficulty 
 arose in the Convention as to whether slaves should 
 be counted as population. If they were to be counted, 
 the relative weight of the slave states in all matters of 
 national legislation would be much increased. The 
 northern states thought, with reason, that it would be 
 unduly increased. The difficulty was ad- „ 
 
 «/ The three 
 
 lusted by a compromise according to which fifths com- 
 
 ** " ^ ^ promise. 
 
 five slaves were to be reckoned as three per- 
 sons. Since the abolition of slavery this provision 
 has become obsolete, but until 1860 it was a very im- 
 portant factor in American history.^ 
 
 In the federal House of Representatives the great 
 states of course have much more weight than the 
 small states. In 1790 the f jur largest states had 32 
 representatives, while the other nine had only 33. 
 The largest state, Virginia, had 10 representatives to 
 1 from Delaware. These disparities have increased. 
 lAi 1880, out of thirty-eight states the nine largest had 
 a majority of the house, and the largest state. New 
 York, had 34 representatives to 1 from Delaware. 
 
 This feature of the House of Representatives caused 
 ^ See- my Critical Period, pp. 257-262. 
 
214 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 the smaller states in tlie Convention to oppose tlie 
 whole scheme of constructing a new government. 
 They were determined that great and small states 
 should have equal weight in Congress. Their stead- 
 fast opposition threatened to ruin everything, when 
 fortunately a method of compromise was discovered. 
 It was intended that the national legislature, in imita- 
 tion of the state legislatures, should have an upper 
 bouse or senate ; and at first the advocates of a strong 
 national government proposed that the senate 
 necticut also should represent population, thus differ- 
 
 compromise. . ,i i i i • ,i 
 
 mg irom the lower house only m the way m 
 which we have seen that it generally differed in the 
 several states. But it happened that in the state of 
 Connecticut the custom was peculiar. There it had 
 always been the custom to elect the governor and 
 upper house by a majority vote of the whole people, 
 while for each township there was an equality of rep- 
 resentation in the lower house. The Connecticut del- 
 egates in the Convention, therefore, being familiar 
 ;with a legislature in which the two houses were com- 
 posed on different principles, suggested a compromise. 
 Let the House of Representatives, they said, repre- 
 sent the people, and let the Senate represent the 
 states ; let all the states, great and small, be repre- 
 sented equally in the federal Senate. Such was the 
 famous " Connecticut Compromise." Without it the 
 Convention would probably have broken up without 
 accomplishing anything. When it was adopted, half 
 the work of making the new government was done, 
 for the small states, having had their fears thus allayed 
 by the assurance that they were to be equally repre- 
 sented in the Senate, no longer opposed the work but 
 cooperated in it most zealously. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that the upper house of our 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. 215 
 
 national legislature is composed of two senators from 
 each state. As they represent the state, they are chosen 
 by its leofislature and not by the people ; but 
 
 , 1, , ,. -ici liie Senate. 
 
 when they have taken their seats m the ben- 
 ate they do not vote by states, like the delegates in 
 the Continental Congress. On the contrary each sen- 
 ator has one vote, and the two senators from the same 
 state may, and often do, vote on opposite sides. 
 
 In accordance with the notion that an upper house 
 should be somewhat less democratic than a lower 
 house, the term of office for senators was made longer 
 than for representatives. The tendency is to make 
 the Senate respond more slowly to changes in popular 
 sentiment, and this is often an advantage. Popular 
 opinion is often very wrong at particular moments, 
 but with time it is apt to correct its mistakes. We 
 are usually in more danger of suffering from hasty 
 legislation than from tardy legislation. Senators are 
 chosen for a term of six years, and one third of the num- 
 ber of terms expire every second year, so that, while 
 the whole Senate may be renewed by the lapse of six 
 years, there is never a " new Senate." The Senate 
 has thus a continuous existence and a permanent or- 
 ganization; whereas each House of Representatives 
 expires at the end of its two years' term, and is suc- 
 ceeded by a " new House," which requires to be organ- 
 ized by electing its officers, etc., before proceeding to 
 business. A candidate for the senatorship must have 
 reached the age of thirty, must have been nine years 
 a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhab- 
 itant of the state which he represents. 
 
 The constitution leaves the times, places, and man- 
 ner of holding elections for senators and representa- 
 tives to be prescribed in each state by its own legisla- 
 ture ; but it gives to Congress the power to alter such 
 
216 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 regulations, except as to the place of clioosing sen- 
 ators. Here we see a vestige of tKe original theory 
 according to which the Senate was to be peculiarly the 
 home of state rights. 
 
 In the composition of the House of Representatives 
 the state legislatures play a very important part. For 
 the purposes of the election a state is divided into dis- 
 tricts corresponding to the number of representatives 
 the state is entitled to send to Congress. These electo- 
 Eiectorai ^^^ districts are marked out by the legislature, 
 districts. ^j^^ j.]^Q division is apt to be made by the 
 preponderating party with an unfairness that is at 
 once shameful and ridiculous. The aim, of course, is 
 so to lay out the districts " as to secure in the greatest 
 possible number of them a majority for the party 
 which conducts the operation. This is done some- 
 times by throwing the greatest possible number of 
 hostile voters into a district which is anyhow certain 
 to be hostile, sometimes by adding to a district where 
 parties are equally divided some place in which the ma- 
 jority of friendly voters is sufficient to turn the scale. 
 There is a district in Mississippi (the so-called Shoe 
 String district) 250 miles long by 30 broad, and an- 
 other in Pennsylvania resembling a dumb-bell. . . . 
 In Missouri a district has been contrived longer, if 
 measured along its windings, than the state itself, into 
 which as large a number as possible of the negro 
 voters have been thrown." ^ This trick is called " ger- 
 "Gerryman- rymaudcring," from Elbridge Gerry, of Mas- 
 deriiig." sachusetts, who was vice-president of the 
 United States from 1813 to 1817. It seems to have 
 been first devised in 1788 by the enemies of the Fed- 
 eral Constitution in Virginia, in order to prevent the 
 election of James Madison to the first Congress, and 
 ^ Bryce, American Commonwealth f vol. i. p. 121. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. 
 
 217 
 
 fortunately it was unsuccessful.^ It was introduced 
 some years afterward into Massachusetts. In 1812, 
 while Gerry was governor of that state, the Republi- 
 can legislature redistributed the districts in such wise 
 that the shapes of the towns forming a single district 
 in Essex county gave to the district a somewhat drag- 
 
 on-like contour. This was indicated upon a map of 
 Massachusetts which Benjamin Russell, an ardent 
 Federalist and editor of the " Centinel," hung up over 
 the desk in his office. The celebrated painter, Gilbert 
 Stuart, coming into the office one day and observing 
 the uncouth figure, added with his pencil a head, wings, 
 and claws, and exclaimed, *' That will do for a sala- 
 mander ! " " Better say a Gerrymander ! " growled 
 
 ^ Tyler's Patrick Henry, p. 313. 
 
218 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 the editor ; and tlie outlandish name, thus duly coined^ 
 soon came into general currency,^ 
 
 When after an increase in its number of represen- 
 tatives the state has failed to redistribute its districts, 
 the additional member or members are voted for upon 
 a general state ticket, and are called " representatives 
 at large." In Maine, where the census of 1880 had 
 reduced the number of representatives and there was 
 some delay in the redistribution, Congress allowed the 
 State in 1882 to elect all its representatives upon a 
 general ticket. The advantage of the district system 
 is that the candidates are likely to be better known by 
 The election their ucighbours, but the election at large is 
 at large. perhaps more likely to secure able men.^ It 
 is the American custom to nominate only residents of 
 the district as candidates for the House of Represen- 
 tatives. A citizen of Albany, for example, would not 
 be nominated for the district in which Buffalo is situ- 
 ated. In the British practice, on the other hand, if 
 an eminent man cannot get a nomination in his own 
 county or borough, there is nothing to prevent his 
 standing for any other county or borough. This sys- 
 tem seems more favourable to the independence of the 
 legislator than our system. Some of its advantages 
 are obtained by the election at large. 
 
 Congress must assemble at least once in every year, 
 and the constitution appoints the first Monday in De- 
 Time of as- cember for the time of meeting ; but Con- 
 sembiing. gj-ess cau, if worth while, enact a law chang- 
 
 1 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, vol. iii. p. 212 ; see 
 also Bryce, loc. cit. The word is sometimes incorrectly pro- 
 nounced " jerrymander." Mr. Winsor observes that the back 
 line of the creature's body forms a profile caricature of Gerry's 
 face, with the nose at Middleton. 
 
 ^ The difference is similar to the difference between the French 
 scrutin d'arrondissement and scrutin de liste. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. ^19 
 
 ing the time. The established custom is to hold the 
 election for representatives upon the same day as the 
 election for president, the Tuesday after the first 
 Monday in November. As the period of the new 
 administration does not begin until the fourth day of 
 the following March, the new House of Representa- 
 tives does not assemble until the December following 
 that date, unless the new president should at some ear- 
 lier moment summon an extra session of Congress. It 
 thus happens that ordinarily the representatives of the 
 nation do not meet for more than a year after their 
 election ; and as their business is at least to give legis- 
 lative expression to the popular opinion which elected 
 them, the delay is in this instance regarded by many 
 persons as inconvenient and injudicious. 
 
 Each house is judge of the elections, qualifications, 
 and returns of its own members ; determines its own 
 rules of procedure, and may punish its members for 
 disorderly behaviour, or by a two thirds vote expel a 
 member. Absent members may be compelled under 
 penalties to attend. Each house is required to keep a 
 journal of its proceedings and at proper intervals to 
 publish it, except such parts as for reasons of public 
 policy had better be kept secret. At the request of 
 one fifth of the members present, the yeas and nays 
 must be entered on the journal. During the session 
 of Congress neither house may, without consent of 
 the other, adjourn for more than three days, or to any 
 other place than that in which Congress is sitting. 
 
 Senators and representatives receive a salary fixed 
 by law, and as they are federal functionaries they are 
 paid from the federal treasury. In all cases, except 
 treason or felony or breach of the peace, they are 
 privileged from arrest during their attendance in Con- 
 gress, as also while on their way to it and while re- 
 turning home ; " and for any speech or debate in either 
 
220 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 house they shall not be questioned in any other place." 
 Privileges of These provisions are reminiscences of the 
 members. ^^'^ days whcu the king strove to interfere, 
 by fair means or foul, with free speech in parliament ; 
 and they are important enough to be incorporated in 
 the supreme law of the land. No person can at the 
 same time hold any civil office under the United 
 States government and be a member of either house 
 of Congress. 
 
 The vice-president is the presiding officer of the 
 
 Senate, with power to vote only in case of a tie. The 
 
 House of Representatives elects its presiding officer, 
 
 who is called the Speaker. In the early his- 
 
 The Speaker. p i tt p r\ • • t 
 
 tory 01 th^ House oi Commons, its presiding 
 officer was naturally enough its spohesman. He could 
 speak for it in addressing the crown. Henry of 
 Keighley thus addressed the crown in 1301, and there 
 were other instances during that century, until in 
 1376 the title of Speaker was definitely given to Sir 
 Thomas Hungerford, and from that date the list is un- 
 broken. The title was given to the presiding officers of 
 the American colonial assemblies, and thence it passed 
 on to the state and federal legislatures. The Speaker 
 presides over the debates, puts the question, and de- 
 cides points of order. He also appoints the commit- 
 tees of the House of Representatives, and as the 
 initiatory work in our legislation is now so largely 
 done by the committees, this makes him the most pow- 
 erful officer of the government except the President. 
 The provisions for impeachment of public officers 
 are copied from the custom in England. Since the 
 fourteenth century the House of Commons has occa- 
 sionally exercised the power of impeaching the king's 
 ministers and other high public officers, and although 
 the power was not used during the sixteenth century, 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. 221 
 
 it was afterward revived and conclusively established. 
 In 1701 it was enacted that the royal pardon 
 could not be pleaded against an impeach- mentmEng- 
 ment, and this act finally secured the respon- 
 sibility of the king's ministers to Parliament. An 
 impeachment is a kind of accusation or indictment 
 brought against a public officer by the House of Com- 
 mons. The court in which the case is tried is the 
 House of Lords, and the ordinary rules of judicial pro- 
 cedure are followed. The regular president of the 
 House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, who is the 
 highest judicial officer in the kingdom. A simple ma- 
 jority vote secures conviction, and then it is left for the 
 House of Commons to say whether judgment shall be 
 pronounced or not. 
 
 In the United States the House of Eepresentatives 
 has the sole power of impeachment, and the Senate 
 has the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
 the president of the United States is tried, impeach- 
 the chief -justice must preside. As a precau- united^ *^^ 
 tion against the use of impeachment for ^*^^®®* 
 party purposes, a two thirds vote is required for con- 
 viction ; and this precaution proved effectual (fortu- 
 nately, as most persons now admit) in the famous 
 case of President Johnson in 1868. In case of con- 
 viction the judgment cannot extend further than " to 
 removal from office, and disqualification to hold and 
 enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit under the 
 United States ; " but the person convicted is liable 
 afterward to be tried and punished by the ordinary 
 process of law. 
 
 The pro^dsions of the Constitution for legislation 
 are admirably simple. All bills for raising revenue 
 must originate in the lower house, but the upper 
 house may propose or concur with amendments, as 
 
222 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 on other bills. This provision was inherited from 
 Parliament, through the colonial legislatures. After 
 a bill has passed both houses it must be sent to the 
 president for approval. If he approves it, he signs 
 it ; if not, he returns it to the house in which it 
 originated, with a written statement of his 
 
 Veto power , . . i i • i 
 
 of the pres- objcctious, and this statement must be en- 
 tered in full upon the journal of the house. 
 The bill is then reconsidered, and if it obtains a two 
 thirds vote, it is sent, together with the objections, to 
 the other house. If it there likewise obtains a two 
 thirds vote, it becomes a law, in spite of the. objec- 
 tions. Otherwise it fails. If the president keeps a 
 bill longer than ten days (Sundays excepted) with- 
 out signing it, it becomes a law without his signa- 
 ture ; unless Congress adjourns before the expiration 
 of the ten days, in which case it fails to become a law, 
 just as if it had been vetoed. This method of vetoing 
 a bill just before the expiration of a Congress, by 
 keeping it in one's pocket, so to speak, was dubbed a 
 " pocket veto," and was first employed by President 
 Jackson in 1829. The president's veto power is a 
 qualified form of that which formerly belonged to the 
 English sovereign but has now, as already observed, 
 become practically obsolete. As a means of guarding 
 the country against unwise legislation, it has proved 
 to be one of the most valuable features of our Federal 
 Constitution. In bad hands it cannot do much harm ; 
 it can only delay for a short time a needed law. But 
 when properly used it can save the country from laws 
 that if once enacted would sow seeds of disaster very 
 hard to eradicate ; and it has repeatedly done so. A 
 single man wiU often act intelligently where a group 
 of men act foolishly, and, as already observed, he is 
 apt to have a keener sense of responsibility. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONGRESS. 223 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 What is to be said with regard to the following topics ? 
 
 1. The House of Representatives : — 
 
 a. Its relation to the people. 
 
 b. The term of service. 
 
 c- Qualifications of those who may vote for representa- 
 tives. 
 . d. Qualifications for membership. 
 e. The three fifths compromise. 
 
 2. The Connecticut Compromise. 
 
 a. The powers of the different states in the House. 
 h. Opposition to the scheme of a new government. 
 
 c. What the advocates of a strong government wanted the 
 
 Senate to represent. 
 
 d. A peculiar Connecticut system. 
 
 e. The suggestion of the Connecticut delegates. 
 
 f. The effect of the compromise. 
 
 3. The Senate : — 
 
 a. The number of senators. 
 
 b. The method of electing senators. 
 
 c. The voting of senators. 
 
 d. The term of service. 
 
 e. The maintenance of a continuous existence. 
 
 f. A comparison with the House in respect to nearness to the 
 
 people. 
 
 g. Qualifications for membership. '\ 
 
 4. Elections for senators and representatives : — 
 
 a. Times, places, and manner of holding elections. 
 
 b. The power of Congress over state regulations. 
 
 c. Electoral districts. 
 
 d. The temptation to unfairness in laying out electoral dis- 
 
 tricts. 
 
 e. Illustrations of unfair divisions. 
 J". " Gerrymandering." 
 
 g. Representatives at large. 
 
 h. The advantage of the district system. 
 
 i. The British system and its advantage. 
 
 5. The assembling of Congress : — 
 
 a. The time of assembling. 
 
 b. The interval between a member's election and the begin* 
 
 ning of his service. 
 
224 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 c. The disadvantage of this long interval. 
 
 6. What is the duty of each house in respect (1) to its member- 
 
 ship, (2) its rules, (3) its records, and (4) its adjourn- 
 ment. 
 
 7. Give an account (1) of the pay of a congressman, (2) of 
 
 his freedom from arrest, (3) of his responsibility for 
 words spoken in debate, and (4) of his right to hold 
 other office. 
 
 8. Tell (1) who preside in Congress, (2) how the name speaker 
 
 originated, (3) what the speaker's duties are, and (4) 
 what his power in the government is. 
 
 9. Impeachment of public officers : — 
 
 a. Old English usage. 
 
 b. The conduct of an impeachment trial in England. 
 
 c. The conduct of an impeachment trial in the United States. 
 
 d. The penalty in case of conviction. 
 
 10. The provisions of the Constitution for legislation : — 
 
 a. Bills for raising revenue. 
 
 b. How a bill becomes a law. 
 
 c. The president's veto power. 
 
 d. Passage of a bill over the president's veto. 
 
 e. The " pocket veto." 
 
 f. The veto power in England. 
 
 g. The value of the veto power. 
 
 § 3. The Federal Executwe* 
 
 In signing or vetoing bills passed by Congress the 
 president shares in legislation, and is virtually a third 
 house. In his other capacities he is the chief executive 
 officer of the Federal Union; and inasmuch as he 
 appoints the other great executive officers, he is really 
 the head of the executive department, not — like the 
 governor of a state — a mere member of it. His title 
 of " President " is probably an inheritance from the 
 presidents of the Continental Congress. In 
 
 The title ofil ,,., „ . . ^„r- a 1 ^ i 
 
 "Presi- i^ ranklm s plan of union, m 1754, the head 
 
 dent." 
 
 of the executive department was called 
 " (Jovernor General,'' but that title had an unpleasant 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 225 
 
 sound to American ears. Our great-grandfathers liked 
 " president " better, somewhat as the Komans, in the 
 eighth century of their city, preferred " imperator " 
 to "rex." Then, as it served to distinguish widely 
 between the head of the Union and the heads of the 
 states, it soon fell into disuse in the state governments, 
 and thus " president " has come to be a much grander 
 title than " governor," just as " emperor " has come 
 to be a grander title than " king." ^ 
 
 There was no question which perplexed the 
 Federal Convention more than the question as to the 
 best method of electing the president. There was a 
 general distrust of popular election for an office so 
 exalted. At one time the Convention decided to have 
 the president elected by Congress, but there was a 
 grave objection to this ; it would be likely to destroy 
 his independence, and make him the tool of Congress. 
 Finally the device of an electoral college was The electoral 
 adopted. Each state is entitled to a number «^<^^^®g®- 
 of electors equal to the number of its representatives 
 in Congress, plus two, the number of its senators. 
 Thus to-day Delaware, with 1 representative, has 8 
 electors ; Missouri, with 14 representatives, has 16 
 electors ; New York, with 34 representatives, has 36 
 electors. No federal senator or representative, or any 
 person holding civil office under the United States, 
 can serve as an elector. Each state may appoint or 
 choose its electors in such manner as it sees fit ; at 
 first they were more often than otherwise chosen by 
 the legislatures, now they are always elected by the 
 people. The day of election must be the same in all 
 the states. 
 
 By an act of Congress passed in 1782 it is required 
 to be within 34 days preceding the first Wednesday in 
 
 ^ See above p, 163. 
 
226 THE FEDERAL UNION 
 
 December. A subsequent act in 1845 appointed the 
 Tuesday following the first Monday in November as 
 election day. 
 
 By the act of 1792 the electors chosen in each state 
 are required to assemble on the first Wednesday in 
 December at some place in the state which is desig- 
 nated by the legislature. Before this date the gov- 
 ernor of the state must cause a certified list of the 
 names of the electors to be made out in triplicate and 
 delivered to the electors. Having met together they 
 vote for president and vice-president, make owt a 
 sealed certificate of their vote in triplicate, and attach 
 to each copy a copy of the certified list of their names. 
 One copy must be delivered by a messenger to the 
 president of the Senate at the federal capital before 
 the first Wednesday in January ; the second is sent 
 to the same officer through the mail ; the third is to 
 be deposited with the federal judge of the district in 
 which the electors meet. If by the first Wednesday 
 in January the certificate has not been received at 
 the federal capital, the secretary of state is to send a 
 messenger to the district judge and obtain the copy 
 deposited with him. The interval of a month was 
 allowed to get the returns in, for those were not the 
 days of railroad and telegraph. The messengers were 
 allowed twenty-five cents a mile, and were subject to 
 a fine of a thousand dollars for neglect of duty. On 
 the second Wednesday in February, Congress is re- 
 quired to be in session, and the votes received are 
 counted and the result declared.^ 
 
 At first the electoral votes did not state whether 
 the candidates named in them were candidates for the 
 presidency or for the vice-presidency. Each elector 
 simply wrote down two names, only one of which 
 could be the name of a citizen of his own state. In 
 ^ See note on p. 278. 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 227 
 
 the official count the candidate who had the largest 
 number of votes, provided they were a majority of 
 the whole number, was declared president, and the 
 candidate who had the next to the largest number 
 was declared vice-president. The natural result of 
 this was seen in the first contested election in 1796, 
 which made Adams president, and his antagonist vice- 
 president. In the next election in 1800 it gave to 
 Jefferson and his colleague Burr exactly the same 
 number of votes. In such a case the House of Rep- 
 resentatives must elect, and such intrigues followed 
 for the purpose of defeating Jefferson that the country 
 was brought to the verge of civil war. It thus became 
 necessary to change the method. By the twelfth amend- 
 ment to the constitution, declared in force 
 
 H r,r\ 4 -t 11 1 1 "^"^^ twelfth 
 
 m lo04, the present method was adopted, amendment 
 The electors make separate ballots for presi- 
 dent and for vice-president. In the official count the 
 votes for president are first inspected. If no candi- 
 date has a majority, then the House of Representatives 
 must immediately choose the president from the three 
 names highest on the list. In this choice the house 
 votes by states, each state having one vote ; a quorum 
 for this purpose must consist of at least one member 
 from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all 
 the states is necessary for a choice. Then if no can- 
 didate for the vice-presidency has a majority, the 
 Senate makes its choice from the two names highest 
 on the list ; a quorum for the purpose consists of two 
 thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority 
 of the whole number is necessary to a choice. Since 
 this amendment was made there has been one instance 
 of an election of the president by the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, — that of John Quincy Adams in 1825; 
 and there has been one instance of an election of the 
 
228 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 vice-president by the Senate, — that of Richard Men- 
 tor Johnson in 1837. 
 
 One serious difficulty was not yet foreseen and pro- 
 vided for, — that of deciding between two conflicting 
 returns sent in by two hostile sets of electors in the 
 same state, each list being certified by one of two 
 rival governors claiming authority in the same state. 
 Such a case occurred in 1877, when Florida, Louisiana, 
 and South Carolina were the scene of struggles be- 
 tween rival governments. Ballots for Tilden and bal- 
 lots for Hayes were sent in at the same time from 
 these states, and in the absence of any recognized 
 means of determininsf which ballots to 
 
 The electoral . . ^ i • i 
 
 commission couut, the two parties 111 Congress submitted 
 the result to arbitration. An "electoral 
 commission '^ was created for the occasion, composed 
 of five senators, five representatives, and five judges 
 of the supreme court ; and this body decided what 
 votes were to be counted. It was a clumsy expedient, 
 but infinitely preferable to civil war. The question 
 of conflicting returns has at length been set at rest by 
 the act of 1887, which provides that no electoral votes 
 can be rejected in counting except by the concurrent 
 action of the two houses of Congress. 
 
 The devolution of the presidential office in case of 
 the president's death has also been made the subject 
 of legislative change and amendment. The office of 
 vice-president was created chiefly for the purpose of 
 meeting such an emergency. Upon the accession of 
 the vice-president to the presidency, the Senate would 
 proceed to elect its own president pro tempore. An 
 act of 1791 provided that in case of the death, resigna- 
 presidentiai tion, or disability of both president and vice- 
 succession. president, the succession should devolve first 
 upon the president pro tempore of the Senate and 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 229 
 
 then upon the speaker of the House of Representa- 
 tives, until the disability should be removed or a new 
 election be held. But supposing a newly elected 
 president to die and be succeeded by the vice-presi- 
 dent before the assembling of the newly elected Con- 
 gress ; then there would be no president pro tempore 
 of the Senate and no speaker of the House of Eepre- 
 sentatives, and thus the death of one person might 
 cause the presidency to lapse. Moreover the presid- 
 ing officers of the two houses of Congress might be 
 members of the party defeated in the last presidential 
 election ; indeed, this is often the case. Sound policy 
 and fair dealing require that a victorious party shall 
 not be turned out because of the death of the presi- 
 dent and vice-president. Accordingly an act of 1886 
 provided that in such an event the succession should 
 devolve upon the members of the cabinet in the follow- 
 ing order : secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, 
 secretary of war, attorney-general, postmaster-general, 
 secretary of the navy, secretary of the interior. This 
 would seem to be ample provision against a lapse. 
 
 To return to the electoral college : it was devised 
 as a safeguard against popular excitement. It was 
 supposed that the electors in their December meeting 
 would calmly discuss the merits of the ablest men in 
 the country and make an intelligent selection for the 
 presidency. The electors were to use their ^ . . , 
 
 . -. . Original pur- 
 
 own judgment, and it was not necessary that pose of the 
 
 ^ -iTi GiGCtor&i cot" 
 
 all the electors chosen m one state should lege not fui- 
 
 filled. 
 
 vote for the same candidate. The people on 
 election day were not supposed to be voting for a 
 president but for presidential electors. This theory 
 was never realized. The two elections of Washington, 
 in 1788 and 1792, were unanimous. In the second 
 contested election, that of 1800, the electors simply 
 
230 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 registered the result of the popular vote, and it has 
 been so ever since. Immediately after the popular 
 election, a whole month before the meeting of the 
 electoral college, we know who is to be the next presi- 
 dent. There is no law to prevent an elector from vot- 
 ing for a different pair of candidates from those at the 
 head of the party ticket, but the custom has become 
 as binding as a statute. The elector is chosen to vote 
 for specified candidates, and he must do so. 
 
 On the other hand, it was not until long after 1800 
 that all the electoral votes of the same state were 
 necessarily given to the same pair of candidates. It 
 Electors was customary in many states to choose the 
 choTenYn clcctors by districts. A state entitled to ten 
 by distrfct?; clcctors would chooso eight of them in its 
 oS^generi eight cougrcssioual districts, and there were 
 ticket. various ways of choosing the other two. In 
 
 some of the districts one party would have a majority, 
 in others the other, and so the electoral vote of the 
 state would be divided between two pairs of can- 
 didates. After 1830 it became customary to choose 
 the electors upon a general ticket, and thus the elec- 
 toral vote became solid in each state.^ 
 
 This system, of course, increases the chances of 
 electing presidents who have received a minority of 
 Minority *^® popular votc. A Candidate may carry 
 presidents. ^^^ stato by an immense majority and thus 
 gain 6 or 8 electoral votes ; he may come within a 
 few hundred of carrying another state and thus lose 
 36 electoral votes. Or a small third party may divert 
 some thousands of votes from the principal candidate 
 
 * In 1860 the vote of New Jersey was divided between Lin- 
 coln and Douglas, but that was because the names of three of 
 the seven Douglas electors were upon two different tickets, and 
 thus got a majority of votes while the other four fell short. In 
 1892 the state of Michigan chose its electors by districts. 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 231 
 
 without affecting the electoral vote of the state. Since 
 Washington's second term we have had twenty-five 
 contested elections,^ and in nine of these the elected 
 president has failed to receive a majority of the popu- 
 lar vote ; Adams in 1824 (elected by the House of Rep- 
 resentatives), Polk in 1844, Taylor in 1848, Buchanan 
 in 1856, Lincoln in 1860, Hayes in 1876, Garfield in 
 1880, Cleveland in 1884, Harrison in 1888. This 
 has suggested more or less vague speculation as to the 
 advisableness of changing the method of electing the 
 president. It has been suggested that it would be 
 well to abolish the electoral college, and resort to a 
 direct popular vote, without reference to state lines. 
 Such a method would be open to one serious objec- 
 tion. In a closely contested election on the present 
 method the result may remain doubtful for three or 
 four days, while a narrow majority of a few Advantages 
 hundred votes in some great state is being eieSorai 
 ascertained by careful counting. It was so ^y^*®"^- 
 in 1884. This period of doubt is sure to be a period 
 of intense and dangerous excitement. In an election 
 without reference to states, the result would more 
 often be doubtful, and it would be sometimes neces- 
 sary to count every vote in every little out-of-the-way 
 corner of the country before the question could be 
 settled. The occasions for dispute would be multi- 
 plied a hundred fold, with most demoralizing effect. 
 Our present method is doubtless clumsy, but the 
 solidity of the electoral colleges is a safeguard, and as 
 all parties understand the system it is in the long run 
 as fair for one as for another. 
 
 The Constitution says nothing about the method of 
 nominating candidates for the presidency, neither has 
 
 ^ All have been contested, except Monroe's reelection in 1820, 
 when there was no opposing candidate. 
 
232 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 it been made the subject of legislation. It bas been 
 determined by convenience. It was not necessary to 
 nominate Washington, and the candidacies of Adams 
 and Jefferson were also matters of general under- 
 standing. In 1800 the Republican and Federalist 
 members of Congress respectively held secret meet- 
 Nomination i^^g^ or caucuscs, cliicfly for the purpose of 
 by'^congSs-^^ agreeing upon candidates for the vice-presi- 
 ?us"(i8oo-" dency and making some plans for the can- 
 ^^' vass. It became customary to nominate 
 
 candidates in such congressional caucuses, but there 
 was much hostile comment upon the system as un- 
 democratic. Sometimes the " favourite son " of a state 
 was nominated by the legislature, but as the means 
 of travel improved, the nominating convention came 
 to be preferred. In 1824 there were four candidates 
 for the presidency, — Adams, Jackson, Clay, and 
 Crawford. Adams was nominated by the legislatures 
 of most of the New England states ; Clay by the legis- 
 lature of Kentucky, followed by the legislatures of 
 Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Louisiana ; Crawford by 
 the legislature of Virginig-. ; and Jackson by a mass 
 convention of the people of Blount County in Tennes- 
 see, followed by local conventions in many other states. 
 The congressional caucus met and nominated Crawford, 
 but this indorsement did not help him,^ and this method 
 was no longer tried. In 1832 for the first time the 
 candidates were all nominated in national conventions. 
 These conventions, as fully developed, are represen- 
 Nominating tativc bodics choscu for the specific purpose 
 conventions. ^£ nominating candidates and making those 
 declarations of principle and policy known as " plat- 
 forms." Each state is allowed twice as many dele- 
 gates as it has electoral votes. " The delegates are 
 1 Stanwood, History of Presidential Elections f pp. 80-83. 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 238 
 
 chosen by local conventions in their several states, 
 viz., two for each congressional district by the party 
 convention of that district, and four for the whole 
 state (called delegates-at-large) by the state conven- 
 tion. As each convention is composed of delegates 
 from primaries, it is the composition of the primaries 
 which determines that of the local conventions, and it 
 is the composition of the local conventions which de- 
 termines that of the national." ^ The " primary " is 
 the smallest nominating convention. It stands in 
 somewhat the same relation to the national conven- 
 tion as the relation of a township or ward to .^jg a ^^, 
 the whole United States. A primary is a °^^^y-" 
 little caucus of all the voters of one party who live 
 within the bounds of the township or ward. It differs 
 in composition from the town-meeting in that all its 
 members belong to one party. It has two duties : one 
 is to nominate candidates for the local offices of the 
 township or ward ; the other is to choose delegates to 
 the county or district convention. The primary, as 
 its name indicates, is a primary and not a representa- 
 tive assembly. The party voters in a township or 
 "ward are usually not too numerous to meet together, 
 and all ought to attend such meetings, though in prac- 
 tice too many people -^tay away. By the representa- 
 tive system, through various grades of convention, the 
 wishes and character of these countless little primaries 
 are at length expressed in the wishes and character of 
 the national party convention, and candidates for the 
 presidency and vice-presidency are nominated. 
 
 The qualifications for the two offices are of course 
 the same. Foreia^n-born citizens are not ^ .„ 
 
 . . ... . Qualifica- 
 
 eliffible, thouffh this restriction did not in- tions for the 
 
 ■. ^ . . . presidency. 
 
 elude such as were citizens of the United 
 
 ^ Bryc^, American Commonwealth, vol. ii. p. 145 ; see also p. 52. 
 
234 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 States at the time when the Constitution was adopted. 
 The candidate must have reached the age of thirty- 
 five, and must have been fourteen years a resident of 
 the United States. 
 
 The president's term of office is four years. The 
 Constitution says nothing about his reelection, and 
 The term of there Is uo Written law to prevent his being 
 office. reelected a dozen times. But Washington, 
 
 after serving two terms, refused to accept the office a 
 third time. Jefferson in 1808 was " earnestly be 
 sought by many and influential bodies of citizens to 
 become a candidate for a third term ; " ^ and had he 
 consented there is scarcely a doubt that he would have 
 been elected. His refusal established a custom which 
 has never been infringed, though there were persons 
 in 1876 and again in 1880 who wished to secure a 
 third term for Grant. 
 
 The president is commander-in-chief of the military 
 and naval forces of the United States, and 
 
 Powers and ^ i -t • c ^ 
 
 duties of the of the militia of the several states when 
 
 President. i • i • c -i tt • 
 
 actually engaged m the service of the United 
 States ; and he has the royal prerogative of granting 
 reprieves and pardons for offences against the United 
 States, except in cases of impeachment.^ 
 
 He can make treaties with foreign powers, but they 
 must be confirmed by a two thirds vote of the Senate. 
 He appoints ministers to foreign countries, consuls, 
 and the greater federal officers, such as the heads of 
 executive departments and judges of the Supreme 
 Court, and all these appointments are subject to con- 
 firmation by the Senate. He also appoints a vast 
 number of inferior officers, such as postmasters and 
 revenue collectors, without the participation of the 
 Senate. When vacancies occur during the recess of 
 
 ^ Morse's Jefferson, p. 318. ^ See above, p. 221. 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 235 
 
 the Senate, he may fill them by granting commissions 
 to expire at the end of the next session. He commis- 
 sions all federal officers. He receives foreign min- 
 isters. He may summon either or both houses of 
 Congress to an extra session, and if the two houses 
 disagree with regard to the time of adjournment, he 
 may adjourn them to such time as he thinks best, but 
 of course not beyond the day fixed for the beginning 
 of the next regular session. 
 
 The president must from time to time make a report 
 to Congress on the state of affairs in the country and 
 suggest such a line of policy or such special measures 
 as may seem ffood to him. This report has 
 
 , "^ , (. ^ ^ , . ThePresi- 
 
 taken the form of an annual written mes- dent's mes- 
 sage. 
 sage. Washington and Adams began their 
 
 administrations by addressing Congress in a speech, 
 to which Congress replied ; but it suited the opposite 
 party to discover in this an imitation of the British 
 practice of opening Parliament with a speech from 
 the sovereign. It was accordingly stigmatized as 
 "monarchical," and Jefferson (though without for- 
 mally alleging any such reason) set the example, 
 which has been followed ever since, of addressing 
 Congress in a written message.^ Besides this annual 
 message, the president may at any time send in a 
 special message relating to matters which in his opin- 
 ion require immediate attention. 
 
 The effectiveness of a president's message depends 
 of course on the character of the president and the 
 general features of the political situation. That 
 separation between the executive and legislative de- 
 partments, which is one of the most distinctive fea- 
 tures of civil government in the United States, tends 
 to prevent the development of leadership. An Eng- 
 ^ Jefferson, moreover, was a powerful writer and a poor speaker. 
 
236 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 lish prime minister's policy, so long as lie remains in 
 office, must be that of the House of Commons ; power 
 and responsibility are concentrated. An able presi- 
 dent may virtually direct the policy of his party in 
 Congress, but he often has a majority against him in 
 one house and sometimes in both at once. Thus in 
 dividing power we divide and weaken responsibility. 
 To this point I have already alluded as illustrated in 
 our state governments.-^ 
 
 The Constitution made no specific provisions for 
 the creation of executive departments, but left the 
 Executive matter to Congress. At the beginning of 
 departments. Washington's administration three secreta- 
 ryships were created, — those of state, treasury, and 
 war ; and an attorney-general was appointed. After- 
 ward the department of the navy was separated from 
 that of war, the postmaster-general was made a mem- 
 ber of the administration, and as lately as 1849 the 
 department of the interior was organized. The heads 
 of these departments are the president's advisers, but 
 they have as a body no recognized legal existence or 
 authority. They hold their meetings in a room at the 
 president's executive mansion, the White House, but 
 no record is kept of their proceedings and the presi- 
 dent is not bound to heed their advice. This body 
 has always been called the " Cabinet," after the Eng- 
 lish usage. It is like the English cabinet in being 
 composed of heads of executive departments 
 and in being, as a body, unknown to the 
 law ; in other respects the difference is very great. 
 The English cabinet is the executive committee of 
 the House of Commons, and exercises a guiding and 
 
 ^ The English method, however, would probably not work well 
 in this country, and might prove to be a source of great and 
 complicated dangers. See above, p. 169. 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 237 
 
 directing influence upon legislation. The position of 
 the president is not at all like that of the prime min- 
 ister ; it is more like that of the English sovereign, 
 though the latter has not nearly so much power as the 
 president ; and the American cabinet in some respects 
 resembles the English privy council, though it cannot 
 make ordinances. 
 
 The secretary of state ranks first among our cab- 
 inet officers. He is often called our prime minister 
 or " premier," but there could not be a more absurd 
 use of language. In order to make an American per- 
 sonage corresponding to the English prime minister 
 we must first go to the House of Representatives, take 
 its committee of ways and means and its 
 
 ... 1 ' , ,1 The secre- 
 
 committee on appropriations, and unite them tary of 
 into one committee of finance ; then we must 
 take the chairman of this committee, give him the 
 power of dissolving the House and ordering a new 
 election, and make him master of all the executive 
 departments, while at the same time we strip from the 
 president all real control over the administration. 
 This exalted finance-chairman would be much like the 
 First Lord of the Treasury, commonly called the 
 prime minister. This illustration shows how wide the 
 divergence has become between our system and that 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 Our secretary of state is our minister of foreign 
 affairs, and is the only officer who is authorized to 
 communicate with other governments in the name of 
 the president. He is at the head of the diplomatic 
 and consular service, issuing the instructions to our 
 ministers abroad, and he takes a leading part in the 
 negotiation of treaties. To these ministerial duties 
 he adds some that are more characteristic of his title 
 of secretary. He keeps the national archives, and 
 
238 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 superintends the publication of laws, treaties, and 
 proclamations ; and lie is the keeper of the great seal 
 of the United States. 
 
 Our foreign relations are cared for in foreign coun- 
 tries by two distinct classes of officials : ministers and 
 consuls. The former represent the United States gov- 
 ernment in a diplomatic capacity; the latter have 
 nothing to do with diplomacy or politics, but look 
 after our commercial interests in foreign 
 
 Diplomatic . ri i • , .• 
 
 and consular countries. Cousuls cxcrcise a protective 
 
 service. ^ „ . -% ,- 
 
 care over seamen, and periorm various duties 
 for Americans abroad. They can take testimony and 
 administer estates. In some non-Christian countries, 
 such as China, Japan, and Turkey, they have juris- 
 diction over criminal cases in which Americans are 
 concerned. Formerly our ministers abroad were of only 
 three grades : (1) " envoys extraordinary and min- 
 isters plenipotentiary ; " (2) " ministers resident ; " 
 (3) charges d'affaires. The first two are accredited 
 by the president to the head of government of the 
 countries to which they are sent ; the third are accred- 
 ited by the secretary of state to the minister of foreign 
 affairs in the countries to which they are sent. We 
 still retain these grades, which correspond to the 
 lower grades of the diplomatic service in European 
 countries. Until lately we had no highest grade 
 answering to that of " ambassador," perhaps because 
 when our diplomatic service was organized the 
 United States did not yet rank among first-rate 
 powers, and could not expect to receive ambassadors. 
 Great powers, like France and Germany, send ambas- 
 sadors to each other, and envoys to inferior powers, 
 like Denmark or Greece or Guatemala. When we 
 send envoys to the great powers, we rank ourselves 
 along with inferior powers ; and diplomatic etiquette 
 as a rule obliges the great powers to send to us the 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE, 239 
 
 same grade of minister that we send to them. There 
 were found to be some practical inconveniences about 
 this, so that in 1892 the highest grade was adopted 
 and our ministers to Great Britain and France were 
 made ambassadors. 
 
 The cabinet officer second in rank and in some 
 respects first in importance is the secretary of the treas- 
 ury. He conducts the financial business of the gov- 
 ernment, superintends the collection of reve- 
 nue, and gives warrants for the payment of tary of the 
 
 „ , Tj 1 ' treasury. 
 
 moneys rrom the treasury. He also superin- 
 tends the coinage, the national banks, the custom- 
 houses, the coast-survey and lighthouse system, the 
 marine hospitals, and life-saving service.^ He sends 
 reports to Congress, and suggests such measures as 
 seem good to him. Since the Civil War his most 
 weighty business has been the management of the 
 national debt. He is aided by two assistant secreta- 
 ries, six auditors, a register, a comptroller, a solicitor, 
 a director of the mint, commissioner of internal rev- 
 enue, chiefs of the bureau of statistics and bureau of 
 engraving and printing, etc. The business of the 
 treasury department is enormous, and no part of our 
 government has been more faithfully administered. 
 Since 1789 the treasury has disbursed more than seven 
 billions of dollars without one serious defalcation. 
 No man directly interested in trade or commerce can 
 be appointed secretary of the treasury, and the de- 
 partment has almost always been managed by " men 
 of small incomes bred either to politics or the legal 
 profession." ^ 
 
 ^ Many of these details concerning the executive departments 
 are admirably summarized, and with more fullness than com- 
 ports with the design of the present work, in Thorpe's Govern^ 
 merit of the People of the United States^ pp. 183-193. 
 
 ^ Schouler, Hist, of the U. S., vol. i. p. 95, 
 
240 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 The war and navy departments need no special 
 description here. The former is divided into ten and 
 War and ^^ latter into eight bureaus. The naval 
 ^^'^' department, among many duties, has charge 
 
 of the naval observatory at Washington and publishes 
 the nautical almanac. 
 
 The department of the interior conducts a vast and 
 various business, as is shown by the designations of 
 its eight bureaus, which deal with public 
 lands, Indian affairs, pensions, patents, 
 education (chiefly in the way of gathering statistics 
 and reporting upon school affairs), agriculture, public 
 documents, and the census. In 1889 the bureau of 
 agriculture was organized as a separate department. 
 The weather bureau forms a branch of the depart- 
 ment of agriculture. 
 
 The departments of the postmaster -general and 
 attorney-general need no special description. The 
 Postmaster- l^^ttcr was Organized in 1870 into the depart- 
 fttornty^"*^ mcut of justicc. The attorney-general is the 
 general. president's legal adviser, and represents the 
 United States in all law-suits to which the United 
 States is a party. He is aided by a solicitor-gen- 
 eral and other subordinate officesc 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. Speak (1) of the president's share in legislation, (2) of his 
 
 relation to the executive department, and (3) of the origin 
 of his title. 
 
 2, The electoral college : — 
 
 a. The method of electing the president a perplexing ques- 
 tion. 
 h. The constitution of the electoral college, with illustrations 
 
 c. Qualifications for serving as an elector. 
 
 d. The method of choosing electors. 
 
 e. The time of choosing electors. 
 
 f. When and where the electors vote. 
 
 g. The number and disposition of the certificates of theii 
 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 241 
 
 h. The declaration of the result. 
 
 3, What was the method of voting in the electoral college be- 
 
 fore 1804? Illustrate the working of this method in 
 1796 and 1800. 
 
 4. The amendment of 1804 : — 
 a. The ballots of the electors. 
 
 h. The duty of the House if no candidate for the pi^sidency 
 receives a majority of the electoral votes. 
 
 c. The duty of the Senate if no candidate for the vice-pres- 
 
 idency receives a majority of the electoral votes. 
 
 d. Illustrations of the working of this amendment in 1825 
 
 and 1837. 
 5 The electoral commission of 1877 J — 
 a. A difficulty not foreseen. 
 h. Conflicting returns in 1877. 
 c. The plan of arbitration adopted. 
 
 6. The presidential succession :-^ 
 a. The office of vice-president. 
 
 • h. The act of 1791. 
 
 c. The possibility of a lapse of the presidency. 
 
 d. The possibility of an unfair political overthrow. 
 
 e. The act of 1886. 
 
 7. Compare the original purpose of the electoral college with 
 
 the fulfillment of that purpose. 
 
 8. Explain the transition from a divided electoral vote in a state 
 
 to a solid electoral vote. 
 
 9. Show how a minority of the people may elect a president. 
 
 Who have been elected by minorities ? 
 
 10. What is the advantage of the electoral system over a direct 
 
 popular vote ? 
 
 1 1 , Methods of nominating candidates for the presidency and 
 
 vice-presidency before 1832 : — 
 a. The absence of constitutional and legislative requirements. 
 h. Presidents not nominated. 
 
 c. Nominations by congressional caucuses. 
 
 d. Nominations by state legislatures. 
 
 e. Nominations by local conventions. 
 
 T2. Nominations by national conventions in 1832 and since : — 
 a. The nature of a national convention. 
 h. The platform. 
 
 c. The number of delegates from a state, and their elec- 
 tion. 
 
242 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 d. The relation of the " primaries " to district, state, and 
 national conventions. 
 
 e. The nature of the primary. 
 
 f. Its two duties. 
 
 g. The duty of the voter to attend the primaries. 
 
 13. The presidency : — 
 
 a. Qualifications for the office. 
 
 b. The term of office. 
 
 14. Powers and duties of the president : — 
 
 a. As a commander-in-chief. 
 
 b. In respect to reprieves and pardons. 
 
 c. In respect to treaties with foreign powers. 
 
 d. In respect to the appointment of federal officers. 
 
 e. In respect to summoning and adjourning Congress. 
 
 f. In respect to reporting the state of affairs in the country 
 
 to Congress. 
 
 15. The president's message : — 
 
 a. The course of Washington and Adams. 
 
 b. The example of Jefferson. 
 
 c. The effectiveness of the message. 
 
 d. Power and responsibility in the English sj^stem. 
 
 e. Power and responsibility in the American system. 
 
 16. Executive departments : — 
 
 a. The departments under Washington. 
 
 b. Later additions to the departments. 
 
 c. The " Cabinet." 
 
 d. The resemblance between the English cabinet and our 
 
 own. 
 
 e. The difference between the English cabinet and our own. 
 
 17. The secretary of state : — 
 
 a. Is he a prime minister ? 
 
 b. What would be necessary to make an American personage 
 
 correspond to an English prime minister ? 
 
 c. What are the ministerial duties of the secretary of state ? 
 
 d. What other duties has he more characteristic of his title ? 
 
 18. Our diplomatic and consular service : — 
 
 a. The distinction between ministers and consuls. 
 
 b. Three grades of ministers. 
 
 c. The persons to whom the three grades are accredited. 
 
 d. The grade of ambassador. 
 
 1 9. The secretary of the treasury ; — 
 c. His rank and importance. 
 
THE NATION AND THE STATES. 243 
 
 h. His various duties. 
 
 c. His chief assistants. 
 
 d. The administration of the treasury department since 1789. 
 20. The duties of the remaining cabinet officers : — 
 
 a. Of the secretary of war. 
 
 h. Of the secretary of the navy. 
 
 c. Of the secretary of the interior. 
 
 d. Of the postmaster-general, 
 c. Of the attorney-general. 
 
 § 4. The Nation and the States. 
 
 "We have left our Federal Convention sitting a good 
 wHle at Philadelphia, while we have thus undertaken 
 to give a coherent account of our national executive 
 organization, which has in great part grown up since 
 1789 with the growth of the nation. Observe how 
 wisely the Constitution confines itself to a clear sketch 
 of fundamentals, and leaves as much as possible to 
 be developed by circumstances. In this feature lies 
 partly the flexible strength, the adaptableness, of our 
 Federal Constitution. That strength lies partly also 
 in the excellent partition of powers between the fed- 
 eral government and the several states. 
 
 We have already remarked upon the vastness of 
 the functions retained by the states. At the same 
 time the powers granted to Congress have proved 
 sufficient to bind the states together into a union that 
 is more than a mere confederation. From 
 1776 to 1789 the United States were a con- between oon- 
 
 j? 1 • {• -irrnrx • o i -i federation 
 
 lederation ; atter 1789 it was a federal na- and federal 
 tion. The passage from plural to singular 
 was accomplished, although it took some people a 
 good while to realize the fact. The German language 
 has a neat way of distinguishing between a loose con- 
 federation and a federal union. It calls the former a 
 Staatenhund and the latter a BundesstaaU So in 
 
244 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 English, if we liked, we might call the confederation 
 a Band-of- States and the federal union a Banded- 
 State. There are two points especially in our Con- 
 stitution* which transformed our country from a Band- 
 of-States into a Banded-State. 
 
 The first was the creation of a federal House of 
 
 Representatives, thus securing for Congress the power 
 
 " to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, 
 
 to pay the debts and provide for the common welfare 
 
 of the United States." Other powers are 
 
 Powers *■ 
 
 granted to naturallv attached to this, — such as the 
 
 Congress. 
 
 power to borrow money on the credit of the 
 United States ; to regulate foreign and domestic com- 
 merce ; to coin money and fix the standard of weights 
 and measures ; to provide for the punishment of 
 counterfeiters; to establish post-offices and post-roads ; 
 to issue copyrights and patents ; to " define and pun- 
 ish felonies committed on the high seas, and offences 
 against the law of nations ; to declare war, grant let- 
 ters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concern- 
 ing captures on land and water ; " to raise and sup- 
 port an army and navy, and to make rules for the 
 regulation of the land and naval forces ; to provide 
 for calling out the militia to suppress insurrections 
 and repel invasions, and to govern this militia while 
 actually employed in the service of the United States. 
 The several states, however, train their own militia 
 and appoint the officers. Congress may also establish 
 a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
 the subject of bankruptcies. It also exercises exclu- 
 sive control over the District of Columbia,^ as the 
 seat of the national government, and over forts, maga- 
 zines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful build- 
 ings, which it erects within the several states upon 
 ^ Ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia. 
 
5 
 THE NATION AND THE STATES. 245 
 
 land purchased for such purposes with the consent of 
 the state legislature. 
 
 Congress is also empowered " to make all laws 
 which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
 execution the foregoing powers and all other powers 
 vested by this Constitution in the govern- The "Elastic 
 ment of the United States, or in any depart- ^i^^^®-" 
 ment or office thereof." This may be called the 
 Elastic Clause of the Constitution ; it has undergone 
 a good deal of stretching for one purpose and another, 
 and, as we shall presently see, it was a profound dis- 
 agreement in the interpretation of this clause that 
 after 1789 divided the American people into two great 
 political parties. 
 
 The national authority of Congress is further 
 sharply defined by the express denial of sundry pow- 
 ers to the several states. These we have al- 
 
 , Powers de- 
 ready enumerated.^ There was an especial nied to the 
 
 reason for prohibiting the states from issu- 
 ing bills of credit, or making anything but gold and 
 silver coin a tender in payment of debts. During the 
 years 1785 and 1786 a paper money craze ran through 
 the eountry ; most of the states issued paper notes, 
 and passed, laws obliging their citizens to receive them 
 in payment of debts. Now a paper dollar is not 
 money, it is only the government's promise to pay a 
 dollar. As long as you can send it to the treasury 
 and get a gold dollar in exchange, it is worth a dollar. 
 It is this exchangeableness that makes it paper cur- 
 worth a dollar. When government makes ^^^^^' 
 the paper dollar note a '' legal tender," i, e., when it 
 refuses to give you the gold dollar and makes you 
 take its note instead, the note soon ceases to be worth 
 a dollar. You would rather have the gold than the 
 ^ See above, p. 175. 
 
246 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 note, for the mere fact that government refuses to give 
 the gold shows that it is in financial difficulties. So 
 the note's value is sure to fall, and if the government 
 is in serious difficulty, it falls very far, and as it falls 
 it takes more of it to buy things. Prices go up. There 
 was a time (1864) during our Civil War when a pa- 
 per dollar was worth only forty cents and a barrel of 
 flour cost f 23. But that was nothing to the year 
 1780, when the paper dollar issued by the Continental 
 Congress was worth only a mill, and flour was sold in 
 Boston for $1,575 a barrel! When the different 
 states tried to make paper money, it made confusion 
 worse confounded, for the states refused to take each 
 other's money, and this helped to lower its value. In 
 some states the value of the paper dollar fell in less 
 than a year to twelve or fifteen cents. At such times 
 there is always great demoralization and suffering, 
 especially among the poorer people ; and with all the 
 experience of the past to teach us, it may now be held 
 to be little less than a criminal act for a government, 
 under any circumstances, to make its paper notes a 
 legal tender. The excuse for the Continental Con- 
 gress was that it was not completely a government 
 and seemed to have no alternative, but there is no 
 doubt that the paper currency damaged the country 
 much more than the arms of the enemy by land or 
 sea. The feeling was so strong about it in the 
 Federal Convention that the prohibition came near 
 being extended to the national government, but the 
 question was unfortunately left undecided.-^ 
 
 Some express prohibitions were laid upon the 
 national government. Duties may be laid upon im- 
 ports but not upon exports ; this wise restriction was 
 
 ^ See my Critical Period of American History , pp. 168-186, 
 273-276, 
 
THE NATION AND THE STATES. 247 
 
 a special concession to South Carolina, which feared 
 the effect of an export duty upon rice and 
 
 . T TA • T . ■. . Powers de- 
 
 mdio^o. Duties and excises must be uni- niedtoCon- 
 
 *-' gress. 
 
 form throughout the country, and no com- 
 mercial preference can be shown to one state over 
 another ; absolute free trade is the rule between the 
 states. A census must be taken every ten years in 
 order to adjust the representation, and no direct tax 
 can be imposed except according to the census. No 
 money can be drawn from the treasury except "in 
 consequence of appropriations made by law," and 
 accounts must be regularly kept and published. The 
 privilege of the writ of habeas corpus cannot b§ sus- 
 pended except " when, in case of rebellion or invasion, 
 the public safety may require it ; " and " no bill of at- 
 tainder, or ex post facto law," can be passed. A bill 
 of attainder is a special legislative act by -^^^ ^f ^t- 
 which a person may be condemned to death, *^^°<^®^- 
 or to outlawry and banishment, without the opportu- 
 nity of defending himseK which he would have in a 
 court of law. " No evidence is necessarily adduced to 
 support it,"^ and in former times, especially in the 
 reign of Henry YIII., it was a formidable engine for 
 perpetrating judicial murders. Bills of attainder long 
 ago ceased to be employed in England, and the pro- 
 cess was abolished by statute in 1870. 
 
 No title of nobility can be granted by the United 
 States, and no federal officer can accept a present, 
 office, or title from a foreign state without the consent 
 of Congress. " No religious test shall ever be re- 
 quired as a qualification to any office or public trust 
 under the United States." Full faith and credit 
 must be given in each state to the public acts and 
 records, and to the judicial proceedings of every other 
 
 ^ Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional Histori/, p. 385. 
 
248 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 state; and it is left for Congress to determine the 
 intercitizen- Planner in which such acts and proceedings 
 ^P* shall be proved or certified. The citizens of 
 
 each state are " entitled to all privileges and immuni- 
 ties of citizens in the several states." There is mutual 
 extradition of criminals, and, as a concession to the 
 southern states it was provided that fugitive slaves 
 should be surrendered to their masters. The United 
 States guarantees to every state a republican form of 
 government, it protects each state against invasion; 
 and on application from the legislature of a state, or 
 from the executive when the legislature cannot be 
 convened, it lends a hand in suppressing insurrection. 
 
 Amendments to the Constitution may at any time 
 be proposed in pursuance of a two thirds vote in both 
 houses of Congress, or by a convention called at the 
 request of the legislatures of two thirds of the states. 
 Mode of ^^® amendments are not in force until rati- 
 ^^^i. fied by three fourths of the states, either 
 ments. through their legislatures or through special 
 
 conventions, according to the preference of Congress. 
 This makes it difficult to change the Constitution, as 
 it ought to be ; but it leaves it possible to introduce 
 changes that are very obviously desirable. The 
 Articles of Confederation could not be amended ex- 
 cept by a unanimous vote of the states, and this made 
 their amendment almost impossible. 
 
 After assuming all debts contracted and engage- 
 ments made by the United States before its adoption, 
 the Constitution goes on to declare itself the supreme 
 law of the land. By it, and by the laws and treaties 
 made under it, the judges in every state are bound, 
 in spite of anything contrary in the constitution oi 
 laws of any state. 
 
THE NATION AND THE STATES. 249 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. In what two features of the Constitution does its strength 
 
 largely lie ? 
 
 2. Distinguish between the United States as a confederation 
 
 and the United States as a federal union. How does the 
 German language bring out the distinction ? 
 
 3. What was the first important factor in transforming our 
 
 country from a Band-of -States to a Banded-State ? 
 
 4. The powers granted to Congress : — 
 
 a. Over taxes, money, and commerce. 
 
 b. Over postal affairs, and the rights of inventors and au- 
 
 thors. 
 
 c. Over certain crimes. 
 
 d. Over war and military matters. 
 
 e. Over naturalization and bankruptcy. 
 
 f. Over the District of Columbia and other places. 
 
 g. The " elastic clause " and its interpretation. 
 
 5. The powers denied to the states : — 
 
 a. An enumeration of these powers (p. 175). 
 
 h. The prohibition of bills of credit, in particular. 
 
 c. The paper money craze of 1785 and 1786. 
 
 d. Paper money as a " legal tender." 
 
 e. The depreciation of paper money during the Civil War. 
 
 f. The depreciation of the Continental currency in 1780. 
 
 g. The demoralization caused by the states making paper 
 
 money. 
 h. The lesson of experience. 
 
 6. Prohibitions upon the national government : — 
 
 a. The imposition of duties and taxes. 
 
 b. The payment of money. 
 
 c. The writ of habeas corpus. 
 
 d. Ex post facto laws. 
 
 e. Bills of attainder. 
 /. Titles and presents. 
 
 7. Duties of the states to one another : — 
 
 a. In respect to public acts and records, and judicial pro- 
 ceedings. 
 h. In respect to the privileges of citizens. 
 c. In respect to fugitives from justice. 
 
 8. What is the duty of the United States to every state in 
 
 respect (1) to form of government, (2) invasion, and (3) 
 insurrection ? 
 
250 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 9. Amendments to the Constitution : — 
 
 a. Two methods of proposing amendments. 
 
 b. Two methods of ratifying amendments. 
 
 c. The difficulty of making amendments. 
 
 d. Amendment of the Articles of Confederation. 
 
 10. What is meant by the Constitution's declaring itself the 
 supreme law of the land ? 
 
 § 5. The Federal Judiciary. 
 
 The creation of a federal judiciary was the second 
 principal feature in the Constitution, which trans- 
 formed our country from a loose confederation into a 
 federal nation, from a Band-of- States into a Banded- 
 State. We have seen that the American people were 
 already somewhat familiar with the method of testing 
 the constitutionality of a law by erettino^ the 
 
 Need for a i i / 1 1 t i 
 
 federal judi- matter brought beiore the courts.^ In the 
 - case of a conflict between state law and 
 
 federal law, the only practicable peaceful solution is 
 that which is reached through a judicial decision. 
 The federal authority also needs the machinery of 
 courts in order to enforce its own decrees. 
 
 The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, 
 circuit courts, and district courts.^ At present the 
 supreme court consists of a chief justice and eight 
 associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the city 
 of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of 
 „ , , October. Each of these nine ludg'es is also 
 
 Federal ... . . 
 
 courts and presiding judge of a circuit court. The area 
 of the United States, not including the terri- 
 tories, is divided into nine circuits, and in each circuit 
 the presiding judge is assisted by special circuit judges. 
 The circuits are divided into districts, seventy-two in all, 
 and in each of these there is a special district judge. 
 The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a 
 1 See above, p. 194. ^ See the second note on p. 278. 
 
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 251 
 
 state is one district, but populous states with much 
 business are divided into two or even three districts. 
 " The circuit courts sit in the several districts of each 
 circuit successively, and the law requires that each jus- 
 tice of the supreme court shall sit in each district of 
 his circuit at least once every two years." ^ District 
 judges are not confined to their own districts ; they 
 may upon occasion exchange districts as ministers ex- 
 change pulpits. A district judge may, if need be, act 
 as a circuit judge, as a major may command a regi- 
 ment. All federal judges are appointed by the presi- 
 dent, with the consent of the Senate, to serve during 
 good behaviour. Each district has its district attor- 
 ney^ whose business is to prosecute offenders 
 against the federal laws and to conduct civil tomeys and 
 
 . , . , , . , . marshals. 
 
 cases m which the national government is 
 either plaintiff or defendant. Each district has also 
 its marshal^ who has the same functions under the 
 federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The 
 procedure of the federal court usually follows that of 
 the courts of the state in which it is sitting. 
 
 The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases : 
 (1) those which come before it " because of the nature 
 of the questions involved : for instance, admiralty and 
 maritime cases, navigable waters being within the 
 exclusive jurisdiction of the federal author- The federal 
 ities, and cases arising out of the Constitu- J'^^'^^diction. 
 tion, laws, or treaties of the United States or out of 
 conflicting grants made by different states " ; (2) those 
 which come before it " hecause of the nature of the 
 parties to the suit,'^ such as cases affecting the min- 
 isters of foreign powers or suits between citizens of 
 different states. 
 
 ^ See Wilson, The State, p. 554. I have closely followed, 
 though with much abridgment, the excellent description of onr 
 federal judiciary, pp. 555^61, 
 
252 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 The division of jurisdiction between the upper and 
 lower federal courts is determined chiefly by the size 
 and importance of the cases. In cases where a state 
 or a foreign minister is a party the supreme court has 
 original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate 
 jurisdiction, and " any case which involves the inter- 
 pretation of the Constitution can be taken to the su- 
 preme court, however small the sum in dispute." If a 
 law of any state or of the United States is decided 
 by the supreme court to be in violation of the Consti- 
 tution, it instantly becomes void and of no effect. 
 In this supreme exercise of jurisdiction, our highest 
 federal tribunal is unlike any other tribunal known 
 to history. The supreme court is the most original of 
 all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, 
 and for its exalted character and priceless services it is 
 an institution of which Americans may well be proud. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What was the second important factor (see p. 244 for the 
 
 first) in transforming our country from a Band- of -States 
 to a Banded-State ? 
 
 2. Why was a federal judiciary deemed necessary ? 
 
 3. The organization of the federal judiciary : — 
 a. The supreme court and its sessions. 
 
 h. The circuit courts. 
 
 c. The district courts. 
 
 d. Exchanges of service. 
 
 e. Appointment of judges. 
 
 /. The United States district attorney, 
 g. The United States marshal. 
 
 4. The jurisdiction of the federal courts : — 
 
 a. Cases because of the nature of the questions involved. 
 
 h. Cases because of the nature of the parties to the suit. 
 
 Cc The division of jurisdiction between the upper and the 
 lower courts. 
 
 d. Wherein the supreme court is the most original of Amer- 
 ican institutions. 
 
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. 253 
 
 § 6. Territorial Government. 
 The Constitution provided for the admission of new 
 states to the Union, but it does not allow a state to 
 be formed within another state. A state cannot " be 
 formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts 
 of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the 
 states concerned as well as of the Congress." Shortly 
 before the making of the Constitution, the United 
 States had been endov/ed for the first time 
 
 ITT . rrti . TheNorth- 
 
 with a public domain. 1 he territory north- west Tem- 
 west of the Ohio River had been claimed, on 
 the strength of old grants and charters, by Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia. In 1777 
 Maryland refused to sign the Articles of Confedera- 
 tion until these states should agree to cede their claims 
 to the United States, and thus in 1784 the federal 
 government came into possession of a magnificent ter- 
 ritory, out of * which five great states — Ohio, Indiana, 
 Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin — have since been 
 made. While the Federal Convention was sitting at 
 Philadelphia, the Continental Congress at New York 
 was doing almost its last and one of its greatest pieces 
 of work in framing the Ordinance of 1787 for the 
 organization and government of ' this newly acquired 
 territory. The ordinance created a territo- 
 
 . , *^ . , T TheOrdi- 
 
 rial government with 2"overnor and two- nance of 
 
 1787. 
 
 chambered legislature, courts, magistrates, 
 and militia. Complete civil and religious liberty was 
 guaranteed, negro slavery was prohibited, and pro- 
 vision was made for free schools.^ 
 
 In 1803 the enormous territory known as Louisiana, 
 comprising everything (except Texas) between the 
 
 ^ The manner in whicli provision should be made for these 
 schools had been pointed out two years before in the land- ordi- 
 nance of 1785, as heretofore explained. See above, p. 86. 
 
254 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 Mississippi River and the crest of the Kocky Moun- 
 tains, was purchased from France. A claim upon the 
 Oregon territory was soon afterward made by discov- 
 ery and exploration, and finally settled in 1846 by 
 treaty with Great Britain. In 1848 by conquest and 
 in 1853 by purchase the remaining Pacific lands were 
 acquired from Mexico. All of this vast region has 
 been at some time imder territorial government. As 
 other terri- ^^^ Tcxas, ou the othcr hand, it has never 
 theS^gov- been a territory. Texas revolted from Mex- 
 ernment. '^^ ^^ 1836 and remained an independent 
 state until 1845, when it was admitted to the Union. 
 Territorial government has generally passed through 
 three stages : first, there are governors and judges 
 appointed by the president; then as population in- 
 creases, there is added a legislature chosen by the 
 people and empowered to make laws subject to con- 
 firmation by Congress ; finally, entire legislative inde- 
 pendence is granted. The territory is "hen ripe for 
 admission to the Union as a state. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What is the constitutional provision for admitting new- 
 
 states ? 
 
 2. What states claimed the territory northwest of the Ohio 
 
 river ? On what did they base their claims ? 
 
 3. Why was this territory ceded to the general government ? 
 
 4. What states have since been made out of this territory ? 
 
 5. What was the Ordinance of 1787 ? 
 
 6. What were the principal provisions of this ordinance ? 
 
 7. Give an account of the Louisiana purchase ? 
 
 8. Give an account of the acquisition of the Oregon territory. 
 
 9. Give an account of the acquisition of the remaining Pacific 
 
 lands. 
 
 10. How came Texas to belong to the United States ? 
 
 11. How much of the public domain has been at some time 
 
 under territorial government ? 
 
 12. Through what three stages has territorial government usually 
 
 passed ? 
 
RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENTS, 255 
 
 § 7. Ratification and Amendments, 
 
 Thus the work of the Ordinance of 1787 was in 
 a certain sense supplementary to the work of framing 
 the Constitution. When the latter instrument was 
 completed, it was provided that " the ratifications of 
 the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for 
 the establishment of this Constitution between the 
 states so ratifying the same." The Constitution was 
 then laid before the Continental Congress, which sub- 
 mitted it to the states. In one state after another, 
 conventions were held, and at length the Constitution 
 was ratified. There was much opposition to it, because 
 it seemed to create a strange and untried form of gov- 
 ernment which might develop into a tyranny. There 
 was a fear that the federal power might crush out self- 
 government in the states. This dread was felt in all 
 parts of the country. Besides this, there was some sec- 
 tional opposition between North and South, 
 
 T . ^7-. . . .1 , • p Concessions 
 
 and m V irgmia there was a party m lavour to the 
 of a separate southern confederacy. But 
 South Carolina and Georgia were won over by the con- 
 cessions in the Constitution to slavery, and especially 
 a provision that the importation of slaves from Africa 
 should not be prohibited until 1808. By winning 
 South Carolina and Georgia the formation of a "solid 
 South " was prevented. 
 
 The first states to adopt the Constitution were Dela- 
 ware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Con- 
 necticut, with slight opposition, except in Pennsylvania. 
 Next came Massachusetts, where the convention was 
 very large, the discussion very long, and the 
 action in one sense critical. One chief nights pro- 
 source of dissatisfaction was the absence of 
 a sufficiently explicit Bill of Rights, and to meet this 
 
256 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 difficulty, Massacliusetts ratified the Constitution, but 
 proposed amendments, and this course was followed 
 by other states. Maryland and South Carolina came 
 next, and New Hampshire made the ninth. Virginia 
 and New York then ratified by very narrow majorities 
 and after prolonged discussion. North Carolina did 
 not come in until 1789, and Rhode Island not until 
 1790. 
 
 In September, 1789, the first ten amendments were 
 proposed by Congress, and in December, 1791, they 
 were declared in force. Their provisions are similar 
 to those of the English Bill of Kights, enacted in 
 
 1689,1 ]3^t are much more fuU and explicit. 
 amend- They providc for freedom of speech and of 
 
 the press, the tree exercise oi religion, the 
 right of the people to assemble and petition Congress 
 for a redress of grievances, their right to bear arms, 
 and to be secure against unreasonable searches and 
 seizures. The quartering of soldiers is guarded, gen- 
 eral search-warrants are prohibited, jury trial is guar- 
 anteed, and the taking of private property for public 
 use without due compensation, as well as excessive 
 fines and bail and the infliction of " cruel and unusual 
 punishment" are forbidden. Congress is prohibited 
 from establishing any form of religion. 
 
 Finally, it is declared that " the enumeration of cer- 
 tain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
 others retained by the people," and that " the powers 
 not granted to the United States by the Constitution, 
 nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the 
 states respectively, or to the people." 
 
 ^ See above, p. 190, This is further elucidated in Appen- 
 dixes B aud D. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 257 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What provision did the Constitution make for its own ratifi- 
 
 cation ? 
 
 2. What was the general method of ratification in the states ? 
 
 3. On what general grounds did the opposition to the Constitu- 
 
 tion seem to be based ? 
 
 4. By what feature in the Constitution was the support of South 
 
 Carolina and Georgia assured ? Why was this support 
 deemed peculiarly desirable ? 
 
 5. What five states ratified the Constitution with little or no 
 
 opposition ? 
 
 6. What was the objection of Massachusetts and some other 
 
 states to the Constitution ? What course, therefore, did 
 they adopt ? 
 
 7. What three states after Massachusetts by their ratification 
 
 made the adoption of the Constitution secure ? 
 
 8. What four states subsequently gave in their support ? 
 
 9. Give an account of the adoption of the first ten amend- 
 
 ments. 
 
 10. For what do these amendments provide ? 
 
 1 1 . What powers are reserved to the states ? 
 
 § 8. J. ^eiu Words about Politics, 
 A chief source of the opposition to the new federal 
 government was the dread of federal taxation. People 
 who found it hard to pay their town, county, Federal 
 and state taxes felt that it would be ruinous *^^^*io"- 
 to have to pay still another kind of tax. In the mere 
 fact of federal taxation, therefore, they were inclined 
 to see tyranny. With people in such a mood it was 
 necessary to proceed cautiously in devising measures 
 of federal taxation. 
 
 This was well understood by our first secretary of 
 the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and in the course 
 of his administration of the treasury he was once 
 roughly reminded of it. The two methods of federal 
 taxation adopted at his suggestion were duties on im- 
 ports and excise on a few domestic products, such as 
 
258 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 wHskey and tobacco. The excise, being a tax which 
 people could see and feel, was very unpopu-. 
 lar, and in 1794 the opposition to it in 
 western Pennsylvania grew into the famous " Whiskey 
 Insurrection," against which President Washington 
 thought it prudent to send an army of 16,000 men. 
 This formidable display of federal power suppressed 
 the insurrection without bloodshed. 
 
 Nowhere was there any such violent opposition to 
 
 Hamilton's scheme of custom-house duties on imported 
 
 goods. People had always been familiar with such 
 
 duties. In the colonial times they had been levied by 
 
 the British ejovernment without calling: forth 
 
 Tariff. . . 
 
 resistance until Charles Townshend made 
 them the vehicle of a dangerous attack upon American 
 self-government.^ After the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, custom-house duties were levied by the state 
 governments and the proceeds were paid into the 
 treasuries of the several states. Before 1789, much 
 trouble had arisen from oppressive tariff-laws enacted 
 by some of the states against others. By taking away 
 from the states the power of taxing imports, the new 
 Constitution removed this source of irritation. It 
 became possible to lighten the burden of custom-house 
 duties, while by turning the full stream of them into 
 the federal treasury an abundant national revenue was 
 secured at once. Thus this part of Hamilton's policy 
 met with general approval. The tariff has always 
 been our favourite device for obtaining a national 
 revenue. During our Civil War, indeed, the national 
 government resorted extensively to direct taxation, 
 chiefly in the form of revenue stamps, though it also 
 put a tax upon billiard-tables, pianos, gold watches, 
 and all sorts of things. But after the return of peace 
 
 1 See my War of Independence, pp. 58-83 ; and my History of the 
 United States, for Schools, pp. 192-203. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 259 
 
 these unusual taxes were one after another discon- 
 tinued, and since then our national revenue has been 
 raised, as in Hamilton's time, from duties on imports 
 and excise on a few domestic products, chiefly tobacco 
 and distilled liquors.^ 
 
 Hamilton's measures as secretary of the treasury 
 embodied an entire system of public policy, and the 
 opposition to them resulted in the formation of the 
 two political parties into which, under one name or 
 another, the American people have at most origin of 
 times been divided. Hamilton's opponents, pStSaipar- 
 led by Jefferson, objected to his principal *^®®' 
 measures that they assumed powers in the national 
 government which were not granted to it by the Con- 
 stitution. Hamilton then fell back upon the Elastic 
 Clause ^ of the Constitution, and maintained that such 
 powers were implied in it. Jefferson held that this 
 doctrine of " implied powers " stretched the Elastic 
 Clause too far. He held that the Elastic Clause ought 
 to be construed strictly and narrowly ; Hamilton held 
 that it ought to be construed loosely and liberally. 
 Hence the names " strict-constructionist " and "loose- 
 constructionist," which mark perhaps the most pro- 
 found and abiding antagonism in the history of 
 American politics. 
 
 Practically all will admit that the Elastic Clause, if 
 construed strictly, ought not to be construed too 
 narrowly ; and, if construed liberally, ought not to be 
 construed too loosely. Neither party has been con- 
 sistent in applying its principles, but in the main we 
 can call Hamilton the founder of the Federalist party, 
 which has had for its successors the National Republi- 
 cans of 1828, the Whigs of 1833 to 1852, and the Ee- 
 publicans of 1854 to the present time ; while we can call 
 
 1 In 1898, on the occasion of the Spanish war, taxation by stamps 
 was renewed. 
 
 2 Article I., section viii., clause 18 ; see above, p. 245. 
 
260 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 Jefferson the founder of the party which called itself 
 Republican from about 1792 to about 1828, and since 
 then has been known as the Democratic party. This 
 is rather a rough description in view of the real com- 
 plication of the historical facts, but it is an approxi- 
 mation to the truth. 
 
 It is not my purpose here to give a sketch of the 
 
 history of American parties. Such a sketch, if given in 
 
 due relative proportion, would double the size of this 
 
 little book, of which the main purpose is to treat of 
 
 civil srovernment in the United States with 
 
 Tariff, In- ° . . . -n . 
 
 ternai im- reference to its origins. But it may here be 
 and National said lu general that the practical questions 
 which have divided the two great parties 
 have been concerned with the powers of the national 
 government as to (1) the Tariff; (2) the making 
 of roads, improving rivers and harbours, etc., under 
 the general head of Internal Improvements ; and (3) 
 the establishment of a National Bank., with the na- 
 tional government as partner holding shares in it and 
 taking a leading part in the direction of its affairs. 
 On the question of such a national bank the Demo- 
 cratic party achieved a complete and decisive victory 
 under President Tyler. On the question of internal 
 improvements the opposite party still holds the 
 ground, but most of its details have been settled by 
 the great development of the powers of private enter- 
 prise during the past sixty years, and it is not at 
 present a " burning question." The question of the 
 tariff, however, remains to-day as a "burning ques- 
 tion," but it is no longer argued on grounds of con- 
 stitutional law, but on grounds of political economy. 
 Hamilton's construction of the Elastic Clause has to 
 this extent prevailed, and mainly for the reason that a 
 liberal construction of that clause was needed in order 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 261 
 
 to give the national government enough power to re- 
 strict the spread of slavery and suppress the great 
 rebellion of which slavery was the exciting cause. 
 
 Another political question, more important, if pos- 
 sible, than that of the Tariff, is to-day the question of 
 the reform of the Civil Service; but it is civii service 
 not avowedly made a party question. Twenty ^^^°^^' 
 years ago both parties laughed at it ; now both try to 
 treat it with a show of respect and to render unto it 
 lip-homage ; and the control of the immediate political 
 future probably lies with the party which treats it 
 most seriously. It is a question that was not distinctly 
 foreseen in the days of Hamilton and Jefferson, when 
 the Constitution was made and adopted ; otherwise, 
 one is inclined to believe, the framers of the Consti- 
 tution would have had something to say about it. 
 The question as to the Civil Service arises from the 
 fact that the president has the power of appointing 
 a vast number of petty officials, chiefly postmasters 
 and officials concerned with the collection of the fed- 
 eral revenue. Such officials have properly nothing to 
 do with politics ; they are simply the agents or clerks 
 or servants of the national government in conducting 
 its business : and if the business of the national gov- 
 ernment is to be managed on such ordinary principles 
 of prudence as prevail in the management of private 
 business, such servants ought to be selected for per- 
 sonal merit and retained for life or during good be- 
 haviour. It did not occur to our earlier presidents to 
 regard the management of the public business in any 
 other light than this. 
 
 But as early as the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury a vicious system was growing up in New York 
 and Pennsylvania. In those states the appointive 
 offices came to be used as bribes or as rewards for 
 
262 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 partisan services. By securing votes for a successful 
 candidate, a man with little in his pocket and 
 
 Origin of the , . . . , -. i i I • 
 
 " spoils sys- notnins: m particular to do could obtain some 
 
 tem." 
 
 office with a comfortable salary. It would 
 be given him as a reward, and some other man, per- 
 haps more competent than himself, would have to be 
 turned out in order to make room for him. A more 
 effective method of driving good citizens " out of poli- 
 tics " could hardly be devised. It called to the front 
 a large class of men of coarse moral fibre who greatly 
 preferred the excitement of speculating in politics to 
 earning an honest living by some ordinary humdrum 
 business. The civil service of these states was se- 
 riously damaged in quality, politics degenerated into 
 a wild scramble for offices, salaries were paid to men 
 who did little or no public service in return, and thus 
 the line which separates taxation from robbery was 
 often crossed. 
 
 About the same time there grew up an idea that 
 there is something especially democratic, and there- 
 fore meritorious, about " rotation in office." Govern- 
 " Rotation Hicut officcs wcrc regarded as plums at which 
 in office." every one ought to be allowed a chance to 
 take a bite. The way was prepared in 1820 by W. H. 
 Crawford, of Georgia, who succeeded in getting the law 
 enacted that limits the tenure of office for postmasters, 
 revenue collectors, and other servants of the federal 
 government to four years. The importance of this 
 measure was not understood, and it excited very little 
 discussion at the time. The next presidential election 
 which resulted in a change of party was that of Jack- 
 son in 1828, and then the methods of New York and 
 Pennsylvania were applied on a national scale. Jack- 
 son cherished the absurd belief that the administration, 
 of his predecessor Adams had been corrupt, and he 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 263 
 
 turned men out of office with a keen zest. During 
 the forty years between Washington's first inaugura- 
 tion and Jackson's the total number of removals from 
 office was 74, and out of this number 5 were default- 
 ers. During the first year of Jackson's administra- 
 tion the number of changes made in the The"8poUs 
 civil service was about 2,000.^ Such was Se^l'- 
 the abrupt inauguration upon a national *^°"^^' 
 scale of the so-called " spoils system." The phrase 
 originated with W. L. Marcy, of New York, who in 
 a speech in the senate in 1831 declared that " to the 
 victors belong the spoils." The man who said this 
 of course did not realize that he was making one of 
 the most shameful remarks recorded in history. There 
 was, however, much aptness in his phrase, inasmuch 
 as it was a confession that the business of American 
 politics was about to be conducted on principles fit 
 only for the warfare of barbarians. 
 
 In the canvass of 1840 the Whigs promised to re- 
 form the civil service, and the promise brought them 
 many Democratic votes ; but after they had won the 
 election, they followed Jackson's example. The 
 Democrats followed in the same way in 1845, and 
 from that time down to 1885 it was customary at each 
 change of party to make a " clean sweep " of the 
 offices. Soon after the Civil War the evils of the 
 system began to attract serious attention on the part 
 of thoughtful people. The " spoils system " has 
 helped to sustain all manner of abominations, from 
 grasping monopolies and civic jobbery down to po- 
 litical rum-shops. The virus runs through everything, 
 and the natural tendency of the evil is to grow with 
 the growth of the country. 
 
 In 1883 Congress passed the Civil Service Act, 
 1 Sumner's Jackson, p. 147. 
 
264 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 allowing the president to select a board of examiners 
 on whose recommendation appointments are 
 Service\ct made. Candidates for office are subjected 
 to an easy competitive examination. The 
 system has worked well in other countries, and under 
 Presidents Arthur and Cleveland it was applied to 
 a considerable part of the civil service. It has also 
 been adopted in some states and cities. The oppo- 
 nents of reform object to the examination that it is 
 not always intimately connected with the work of the 
 office,^ but, even if this were so, the merit of the sys- 
 tem lies in its removal of the offices from the category 
 of things known as " patronage." It relieves the 
 president of much needless work and wearisome im- 
 portunity. The president and the heads of depart- 
 ments appoint (in many cases, through subordinates) 
 about 115,000 officials. It is therefore impossible to 
 know much about their character or competency. It 
 becomes necessary to act by advice, and the advice of 
 an examining board is sure to be much better than 
 the advice of political schemers intent upon getting 
 a salaried office for their needy friends. The ex- 
 amination system has made a fair beginning and will 
 doubtless be gradually improved and made more strin- 
 gent. Something too has been done toward stopping 
 two old abuses attendant upon political canvasses, — 
 (1) forcing government clerks, under penalty of losing 
 their places, to contribute part of their salaries for 
 election purposes ; (2) allowing government clerks to 
 
 ^ The objection that the examination questions are irrelevant 
 to the work of the office is often made the occasion of gross ex- 
 aggeration. I have given, in Appendix I, an average sample of 
 the examination papers used in the customs service. It is taken 
 from Comstock's Civil Service in the United States, New York, 
 Holt & Co., 1885, an excellent manual with very full particulars. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 265 
 
 neglect their work in order to take an active part in 
 the canvass. Before the reform of the civil service 
 can be completed, however, it will be necessary to re- 
 peal Crawford's act of 1820 and make the tenure of 
 postmasters and revenue collectors as secure as that of 
 the chief justice of the United States. 
 
 Another political reform which promises excellent 
 results is the adoption by many states of some form 
 of the Australian ballot-system, for the pur- 
 
 . . .y . 1 1 .1 TheAustra- 
 
 pose 01 checking: intimidation and bribery iianbaiiot- 
 
 , , system. 
 
 at elections. The ballots are printed by the 
 state, and contain the names of all the candidates of 
 all the parties. Against the name of each candidate 
 the party to which he belongs is designated, and 
 against each name there is a small vacant space to be 
 filled with a cross. At the polling-place the ballots 
 are kept in an inclosure behind a railing, and no bal- 
 lot can be brought outside under penalty of fine or 
 imprisonment.^ One ballot is nailed against the wall 
 outside the railing, so that it may be read at leisure. 
 The space behind the railing is divided into separate 
 booths quite screened from each other. Each booth 
 is provided with a pencil and a convenient shelf on 
 which to write. The voter goes behind the railing, 
 takes the ballot which is handed him, carries it into 
 one of the booths, and marks a cross against the 
 names of the candidates for whom he votes. He then 
 puts his ballot into the box, and his name is checked 
 off on the register of voters of the precinct. This sys- 
 tem is very simple, it enables a vote to be given in 
 absolute secrecy, and it keeps " heelers " away from 
 
 ^ This is a brief description of the system lately adopted in 
 Massachusetts. The penalty here mentioned is a fine not ex- 
 ceeding a thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one 
 year, or both such fine and such imprisonment. 
 
266 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 the polls. It is favourable to independence in voting,^ 
 and it is unfavourable to bribery, because unless the 
 briber can follow his man to the polls and see how he 
 votes, he cannot be sure that his bribe is effective. 
 To make the precautions against bribery complete it 
 will doubtless be necessary to add to the secret ballot 
 the English system of accounting for election ex- 
 penses. All the funds used in an election must pass 
 through the hands of a small local committee, vouch- 
 ers must be received for every penny that is ex- 
 pended, and after the election an itemized account 
 must be made out and its accuracy attested under 
 oath before a notary public. This system of account- 
 ing has put an end to bribery in England.^ 
 
 Complaints of bribery and corruption have attracted 
 especial attention in the United States during the past 
 few years, and it is highly creditable to the good sense 
 of the people that measures of prevention have been 
 
 ^ It is especially favourable to independence in voting, if the 
 lists of the candidates are placed in a single column, without 
 reference to party (each name of course, having the proper 
 party designation, " Rep.," " Dem.," " Prohib.," etc., attached to 
 it). In such case it must necessarily take the voter some little 
 time to find and mark each name for which he wishes to vote. 
 If, however, the names of the candidates are arranged according 
 to their party, all the Republicans in one list, all the Democrats 
 in another, etc., this arrangement is much less favourable to in- 
 dependence in voting and much less efficient as a check upon 
 bribery ; because the man who votes a straight party ticket will 
 make all his marks in a very short time, while the " scratcher," 
 or independent voter, will consume much more time in selecting 
 his names. Thus people interested in seeing whether a man is 
 voting the straight party ticket or not can form an opinion from 
 the length of time he spends in the booth. It is, therefore, im- 
 portant that the names of all candidates should be printed in a 
 single column. 
 
 2 An important step in this direction has been taken in the 
 Kew York Corrupt Practices Act of April, 1890. See Appendix J. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 267 
 
 so promptly adopted by so many states. With an in- 
 dependent and uncorrupted ballot, and the civil service 
 taken " out of politics," all other reforms will become 
 far more easily accomplished. These ends will pre- 
 sently be attained. Popular government makes many 
 mistakes, and sometimes it is slow in finding them out j 
 but when once it has discovered them it has a way of 
 correcting them. It is the best kind of government 
 in the world, the most wisely conservative, the most 
 steadily progressive, and the most likely to endure. 
 
 QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT. 
 
 1. What was a chief source of opposition to the new federal 
 
 government ? 
 
 2. What necessity for caution existed in devising methods to 
 
 raise money ? 
 
 3. Hamilton's scheme of excise : — 
 
 a. The things on which excise was laid. 
 
 b. The unpopularity of the scheme. 
 
 c. The " Whiskey Insurrection." 
 
 d. Its suppression by Washington. 
 
 4. Hamilton's tariff scheme : — 
 
 a. The class of things on which duties were placed. 
 
 b. Popular acquiescence in the plan. 
 
 c. Effect of diverting the stream of custom-house revenue 
 
 from its old destination in the several state treasuries to 
 its new destination in the federal treasury. 
 
 d. Direct taxation during the Civil War. 
 
 e. Methods pursued since the Civil War. 
 
 5. The origin of American political parties : — 
 
 a. Jefferson's objection to Hamilton's policy. 
 
 b. Hamilton's defence of his policy. 
 
 c. Jefferson's view of the Elastic Clause. 
 
 d. Hamilton's view of the Elastic Clause. 
 
 e. Two names suggestive of an abiding antagonism in Ameri- 
 
 can politics. 
 
 f. A view of the Elastic Clause that commends itself to all. 
 
 g. The party of Hamilton and its successors. 
 h. The party of Jefferson and its successor. 
 
 6. Great practical questions that have divided parties : — 
 
268 THE FEDERAL UNION, 
 
 a. The Tarife. 
 
 h. Internal Improvements. 
 
 c. A National Bank. 
 
 d. The present attitude towards these three questions. 
 
 e. The shifting of ground in arguing the tariff question. 
 
 f. The reason for this change of base. 
 J. Civil Service reform : — 
 
 a. The attitude of parties a few years ago. 
 5. The present attitude of the same parties. 
 
 c. A question not foreseen. 
 
 d. The number of officers appointed. 
 
 c. The non-political nature of their duties. 
 /. The principles that should prevail in their selection and 
 service. 
 
 8. The " spoils system " : — 
 
 a. Early appointive officers in New York and Pennsylvania. 
 h. The driving of good citizens out of politics. 
 
 c. The character of the men called to the front. 
 
 d. The effect on civil service and on politics. 
 
 9. Rotation in office : — 
 
 a. A new idea about government offices. 
 5. Crawford's law of 1820. 
 
 c. Failure to grasp its significance. 
 
 d. Jackson's course in 1829. 
 
 e. Removals from office down to Jackson's time. 
 
 f. Removals during the first year of Jackson's administra- 
 
 tion. 
 
 g. Origin of the phrase, " spoils system." 
 h. Promises and practice down to 1885. 
 
 i. The evils conspicuous since the Civil War. 
 
 10. The Civil Service Act of 1883. 
 a. A board of examiners. 
 
 h. Competitive examination of candidates. 
 
 c. The spread of the principles of the reform. 
 
 d. The merit of the system. 
 
 e. Two old abuses stopped. 
 /. Further measures needed. 
 
 1 1 . The Australian ballot system : — 
 a. The object of this system. 
 
 h. The printing of the ballots. 
 
 c. What a ballot contains. 
 
 d. Ballots at the polling-places. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS, 269 
 
 e. The booths. 
 
 y. The manner of voting. 
 
 g. The advantages of the system. 
 
 h. An additional precaution against bribery. 
 
 12. What is the attitude of the people towards bribery and cor^ 
 
 ruption ? 
 
 13. What reforms must be accomplished before others can make 
 
 much headway ? 
 
 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS. 
 
 1. How much money is needed by the United States govern- 
 
 ment for the expenses of a year ? How much is needed 
 for the army, the navy, the interest on the public debt, 
 pensions, rivers and harbours, ordinary civil expenses, 
 etc. ? (Answer for any recent year.) 
 
 2. From what sources does the revenue come ? Tell how 
 
 much revenue each of the several sources has yielded in 
 any recent year. 
 
 3. What is the origin of the word tariff 
 
 4. What is meant hj protection ? What is meant hj free trade f 
 
 What is meant by a tariff for revenue only ? What is 
 meant by reciprocity f Give illustrations. 
 
 5. What are some of the reasons assigned for protection ? 
 
 6. What are some of the reasons assigned for free trade ? 
 
 7. Which policy prevails among the states themselves ? 
 
 8. Which policy prevails between the United States and other 
 
 nations ? 
 
 9. Mention all the kinds of United States money in circula- 
 
 tion. Bring into the class a national bank bill, a gold 
 certificate, a silver certificate, any piece that is used as 
 money, and inquire wherein its value lies, what it can or 
 cannot be used for, what the United States will or will 
 not give in exchange for it, and whether it is worth its 
 face in gold or not. 
 \0. Is it right to buy silver at seventy-five cents and then put it 
 into circulation stamped a dollar, the Government receiv- 
 ing the profit ? Can you get a gold dollar for a silver one? 
 
 11. Is a promise to pay a dollar a real dollar ? May it be as 
 
 good as a dollar ? If so, under what conditions ? 
 
 12. If gold were as common as gravel, what characteristics of it 
 
 universally recognized would remain unchanged ? What 
 would become of its purchasing power, if it cost little or 
 
270 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 no labour to obtain it ? Why is it accepted as a standard 
 of value ? 
 
 13. During the Civil War gold was said to fluctuate in value, 
 
 because it took two dollars of paper money, sometimes 
 more, sometimes less, to buy one dollar in gold. Where 
 was the real changing ? What was the cause of it ? 
 
 14. What men are at the head of the national government at the 
 
 present time ? (Think of the executive department and 
 its primary divisions, the legislative department, and the 
 judicial.) 
 
 15. What salaries are paid these officers ? Compare American 
 
 salaries with European salaries for corresponding high 
 positions. 
 
 16. Should a president serve a second term ? What is the ad- 
 
 vantage of such service ? What is the objection to it ? 
 Is a single term of six years desirable ? 
 
 17. Ought the president to be elected directly by the people ? 
 
 18. Name in order the persons entitled to succeed to the presi- 
 
 dency in case of vacancy. 
 
 19. Who is your representative in Congress ? 
 
 20. Who are your senators in Congress ? 
 
 21. What is the pay of members of Congress ? Who determine 
 
 the compensation ? What is there to prevent lavish or 
 improper pay ? 
 
 22. There is said to be "log-rolling" in legislation at times. 
 
 What is the nature of this practice ? Is it right ? 
 
 23. Is the senator or the representative of higher dignity? 
 
 Why? 
 
 24. Why should members of Congress be exempted from arrest 
 
 in certain cases ? 
 
 25. Find authority in the Constitution for various things that 
 
 Congress has done, such as the following : — 
 a. It has established a military academy at West Point. 
 h. It has given public lands to Pacific railroads. 
 
 c. It has authorized uniforms for letter carriers. 
 
 d. It has ordered surveys of the coast. . 
 
 e. It has established the Yellowstone National Park. 
 /. It has voted millions of dollars for pensions. 
 
 g. It refused during the Civil War to pay its promises with 
 
 silver or gold. 
 h. It bought Alaska of Russia. 
 L It has adopted exclusive measures towards the Chinese. 
 
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POLITICS. 271 
 
 26. Reverse the preceding exercise. That is, cite clauses of the 
 
 Constitution, and tell what particular things Congress has 
 done because of such authority. For example, what 
 specific things have been done under the following pow- 
 ers of Congress ? — 
 
 a. To collect taxes. 
 
 b. To regulate commerce with foreign nations. 
 
 c. To coin money. 
 
 d. To establish post-roads. 
 
 e. To provide for the common defence. 
 
 f. To provide for the general welfare. 
 
 27. Compare the strength of the national government to-day 
 
 with its strength in the past. 
 
 28. Who are citizens according to the Constitution ? Is a woman 
 
 a citizen ? Is a child a citizen ? Are Indians citizens ? 
 Are foreigners residing in this country citizens ? Are 
 children born abroad of American parents citizens ? Can 
 one person be a citizen of two nations at the same time, 
 or of two states, or of two towns ? Explain. 
 
 29. To what laws is an American vessel on the ocean subject ? 
 
 30. Show how the interests and needs of the various sections of 
 
 the country present wide differences. Compare mining 
 sections with agricultural, and both with manufacturing ; 
 Pacific states with Atlantic ; Northern states with South- 
 ern. What need of mutual consideration exists ? 
 
 31. Name all the political divisions from the smallest to the great- 
 
 est in which you live. A Cambridge (Mass.) boy might, 
 for example, say, " I live in the third precinct of the first 
 ward, in the first Middlesex representative district, the 
 third Middlesex senatorial district, the third councillor 
 district, and the fifth congressional district. My city is 
 Cambridge ; my county, Middlesex, etc." Name the 
 various persons who represent you in these several dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 32. May state and local officers exercise authority on United 
 
 States government territory, as, for example, within the 
 limits of an arsenal or a custom-house ? May national gov- 
 ernment officers exercise authority in states and towns ? 
 
 33. WTiat is a sovereign state ? Is New York a sovereign state ? 
 
 the United States ? the Dominion of Canada ? Great 
 Britain ? Explain. 
 
 34. When sovereign nations disagree, how can a settlement be 
 
272 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 effected ? What is the best way to settle such a dis- 
 agreement ? Illustrate from history the methods of 
 negotiation, of arbitration, and of war. 
 35. When two states of the Federal Union disagree, what solu- 
 tion of the difficulty is possible ? 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 
 
 The Federal Union. — For the origin of our federal con- 
 stitution, see Bancroft's History of the United States, final edition, 
 vol. vi., N. Y., 1886 ; Curtis's History of the Constitution, 2 vols., 
 N. Y., 1861, new edition, vol. i., 1889 ; and my Critical Period of 
 American History, Boston, 1888, with copious references in the 
 bibliographical note at the end. Once more we may refer ad- 
 vantageously to /. H. U. Studies, II., v.-vi., H. C. Adams, Tax- 
 ation in the United States, 1789-1816 ; VIII., i.-ii., A. W. Small, 
 The Beginnings of American Nationality. See also Jameson's 
 Essays in the Constitutional History of the United States in the 
 Formative Period, 1775-1789, Boston, 1889, a very valuable book. 
 
 On the progress toward union during the colonial period, see 
 especially Frothingham's Rise of the Republic of the United 
 States, Boston, 1872 ; also Scott's Development of Constitutional 
 Liberty in the English Colonies of America, N. Y., 1882. 
 
 By far the ablest and most thorough book on the government 
 of the United States that has ever been published is Bryce's 
 American Commonwealth, 2 vols., London and N. Y., 1888. No 
 American citizen's education is properly completed until he has 
 read the whole of it carefully. In connection therewith, the 
 work of Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2 vols., 6th ed., 
 Boston, 1876, is interesting. The Scotchman describes and dis- 
 cusses the American commonwealth of to-day, the Frenchman 
 that of sixty years ago. There is an instructive difference in 
 the methods of the two writers, Tocqueville being inclined to 
 draw deductions from ingenious generalizations and to explain 
 as natural results of democracy sundry American characteristics 
 that require a different explanation. His great work is admira- 
 bly reviewed and criticised by Bryce, in the /. H. U. Studies, V., 
 ix.. The Predictions of Hamilton and De Tocqueville. 
 
 The following manuals may be recommended : Thorpe, The 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE, 273 
 
 Government of the People of the United States, Phila., 1889 ; Mar- 
 tin's Text Book on Civil Government in the United States, N. Y. 
 and Chicago, 1875 (written with special reference to Massachu- 
 setts) ; Northam's Manual of Civil Government, Syracuse, 1887 
 (written with special reference to New York) ; Ford's American 
 Citizen's Manual, N. Y., 1887 ; Rupert's Guide to the Study of 
 the History and the Constitution of the United States, Boston, 1888 ; 
 Andrews's Manual of the Constitution of the United States, Cin- 
 cinnati, 1874 ; Miss Dawes, How we are Governed, Boston, 1888 ; 
 Macy, Our Government : How it Grew, What it Does, and How it 
 Doss it, Boston, 1887. The last is especially good, and mingles 
 narrative with exposition in an unusually interesting way. Nord- 
 hoff's Politics for Young Americans, N. Y., 1887, is a book that 
 ought to be read by all young Americans for its robust and sound 
 political philosophy. It is suitable for boys and girls from 
 twelve to fifteen years old. C. F. Dole's The Citizen and the 
 Neighbour, Boston, 1887, is a suggestive and stimulating little 
 book. For a comparative survey of governmental institutions, 
 ancient and modern, see Woodrow Wilson's The State: El- 
 ements of Historical and Practical Politics, Boston, 1889. An 
 enormous mass of matter is compressed into this volume, and, 
 although it inevitably suffers somewhat from extreme conden- 
 sation, it is so treated as to be both readable and instructive. 
 The chapter on The State and Federal Governments of the United 
 States has been published separately, and makes a convenient 
 little volume of 131 pages. Teachers should find much help in 
 MacAlister's Syllabus of a Course of Elementary Instruction in 
 United States History and Civil Government, Phila., 1887. 
 
 The following books of the " English Citizen Series," pub- 
 lished by MacmiUan & Co., may often be profitably consulted : 
 M..D. Chalmers, Local Government; H. D. Traill, Central Gov- 
 ernment ; F. W. Maitland, Justice and Police; Spencer Walpole, 
 The Electorate and the Legislature; A. J. Wilson, The National 
 Budget ; T. H. Farrer, The State in its Relations to Trade ; W. 
 S. Jevons, The State in its Relations to Labour. The works on 
 the English Constitution by Stubbs, Gneist, Taswell-Lang- 
 mead. Freeman, and Bagehot are indispensable to a thorough 
 understanding of civil government in the United States : Stubbs, 
 Constitutional History of England, 3 vols., London, 1875-78 ; 
 Gneist, History of the English Constitution, 2d ed., 2 vols., Lon- 
 don, 1889 ; Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History/) 
 
274 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 5th ed., Boston, 1896 ; Freeman, The Growth of the English CoU' 
 stitution, London, 1872 ; Bagehot, The English Constitution, re- 
 vised ed., Boston, 1873. An admirable book in this connection 
 is Hannis Taylor's (of Alabama) Origin and Growth of the Eng- 
 lish Constitution, Boston, 1889. In connection with Bagehot's 
 English Constitution the student may profitably read Woodrow 
 Wilson's Congressional Government, Boston, 1885, and A. L. 
 Lowell's Essays in Government, Boston, 1890. See also Sir H. 
 Maine, Popular Government, London, 1886 ; Sir G. C. Lewis on 
 The Use and Abuse of Certain Political Terms, London, 1832 ; 
 Methods of Observation and Reasoning in Politics, 2 vols., London, 
 1852 ; and Dialogue on the Best Form of Government, London, 1863. 
 
 Among the most valuable books ever written on the proper 
 sphere and duties of civil government are Herbert Spencer's 
 Social Statics, London, 1851 ; The Study of Sociology, 9th ed., 
 London, 1880 ; The Man versus The State, London, 1884 ; they 
 are all reprinted by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The views 
 expressed in Social Statics with regard to the tenure of land are 
 regarded as unsound by many who are otherwise in entire sym- 
 pathy with Mr. Spencer's views, and they are ably criticised in 
 Bonham's Industrial Liberty, N. Y,, 1888. A book of great merit, 
 which ought to be reprinted as it is now not easy to obtain, is 
 Toulmin Smith's Local S elf-Government and Centralization, Lon- 
 don, 1851. Its point of view is sufficiently indicated by the 
 following admirable pair of maxims (p. 12) : — 
 
 " Local Self-government is that system of Government un- 
 der which the greatest number of minds, knowing the most, and 
 having the fullest opportunities of knowing it, about the special mat- 
 ter in hand, and having the greatest interest in its well-working^ 
 have the management of it, or control over it. 
 
 " Centralization is that system of government under lohich the 
 smallest number of minds, and those knowing the least, and having 
 the fewest opportunities of knowing it, about' the special matter in 
 hand, and having the smallest interest in its well-working, have the 
 management of it, or control over it." 
 
 An immense amount of wretched misgovernment would be 
 avoided if all legislators and all voters would engrave these 
 wholesome definitions upon their minds. In connection with the 
 books just mentioned much detailed and valuable information, 
 may be found in the collections of essays edited by J. W. Pro- 
 byn. Local Government and Taxation [in various countries], 
 London, 1875 ; Local Government and Taxation in the United 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 275 
 
 Kingdom, London, 1882. See also R. T. Ely's Taxation in Amer-' 
 ican States and Cities^ N. Y., 1889. 
 
 ^"^ 
 
 •<>= 
 
 V 
 
 The most elaborate work on our political history is that of 
 Hermann von Hoist, Constitutional and Political History of the j 
 United States, translated from the German by J. J. Lalor, vols, 
 i.-vi. (1787-1859), Chicago, 1877-89. In spite of a somewhat too 
 pronounced partisan bias, its value is great. See also Schouler's 
 History of the United States under the Constitution, vols, i.-iv. ^_^ 
 (1783-1847), new ed., N. Y., 1890. The most useful handbook, , "^ 
 alike for teachers and for pupils, is Alexander Johnston's His-^C 
 tory of American Politics, 2d ed., N. Y., 1882. The -United States, 
 N. Y., 1889, by the same author, is also excellent. Every school 's^ 
 should possess a copy of Lalor's Cyclopcedia of Political Science, "...^<pS 
 .''Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States, -T'l-^p) ^ 
 ' 3 vols., Chicago, 1882-84. The numerous articles in it relating .. _J ^ 
 to American history are chiefly by Alexander Johnston, whose 'd. ^ -^ 
 \ mastery of his subject was simply unrivalled. His death iir 
 \ 1889, at the early age of forty, must be regarded as a national 
 Na^lamity, For a manual of constitutional law, Cooley's General 
 Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, 
 Boston, 1880, is to be recommended. The reader may fitly sup- 
 plement his general study of civil government by the little book 
 of E. P. Dole, Talks about Law : a Popular Statement of What 
 our Law is and How it is to be Administered, Boston, 1887. 
 
 In connection with the political history, Stanwood's History of 
 Presidential Elections, newed., Boston, 1898, will be found useful. 
 See also Lawton's American Caucus System, N. Y., 1885. On 
 the general subject of civil service reform, see Eaton's Civil 
 Service in Great Britain : a History of Abuses and Reforms, and 
 their Bearing upon American Politics, N. Y., 1880. Comstock's 
 Civil Service in the United States, N. Y., 1885, is a catalogue of 
 offices, with full account of civil service rules, examinations, 
 specimens of examination papers, etc. ; also some of the state 
 rules, as in New York, Massachusetts, etc. 
 
 I would here call attention to some publications by the Di- 
 rectors of the Old South Studies in History and Politics, — 
 first, The Constitution of the Ujiited States, with Historical and 
 Bibliographical Notes and Outlines for Study, prepared by E. D. 
 Mead (Directors of the Old South Work, 25 cents) ; secondly, 
 the Old South Leaflets, furnished to schools and the trade by 
 
276 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 the same publishers, at 5 cents a copy or $4.00 a hundred. 
 These leaflets are for the most part reprints of important original 
 papers, furnished with valuable historical and bibliographical 
 notes. The titles of the earliest issues in this series are as 
 follows : 1. The Constitution of the United States ; 2. The Ar- 
 ticles of Confederation ; 3. The Declaration of Independence ; 
 4, Washington's Farewell Address ; 5. Magna Charta ; 6. Vane's 
 "Healing Question ; " 7. Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629; 
 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639 ; 9. Franklin's Plan 
 of Union, 1754 ; 10. Washington's Inaugurals ; 11. Lincoln's 
 Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation ; 12. The Federalist, 
 Nos. 1 and 2 ; 13. The Ordinance of 1787 ; 14. The Constitu- 
 tion of Ohio ; 15. Washington's " Legacy " ; 16. Washington's 
 Letter to Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, on the 
 Opening of Communication with the West ; 17. Verrazano's 
 Voyage, 1524 ; 18. Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confedera- 
 tion. (Additions are made to this list every year.) 
 
 Howard Preston's Documents Illustrative of American History y 
 N". Y., 1886, contains the following : First Virginia Charter, 
 1606 ; Second Virginia Charter, 1609 ; Third Virginia Charter, 
 1612 ; Mayflowe? Compact, 1620 ; Massachusetts Charter, 1629 ; 
 Maryland Charter, 1632 ; Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 
 1639 ; New England Confederation, 1643 ; Connecticut Charter, 
 1662 ; Rhode Island Charter, 1663 ; Pennsylvania Charter, 
 1681 ; Penn's Plan of Union, 1697 ; Georgia Charter, 1732 ; 
 Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754 ; Declaration of Rights, 1765 ; 
 Declaration of Rights, 1774 ; Non-Importation Agreement, 1774 ; 
 Virginia Bill of Rights, 1776 ; Declaration of Independence, 
 1776 ; Articles of Confederation, 1777 ; Treaty of Peace, 1783 ; 
 Northwest Ordinance, 1787 ; Constitution of the United States, 
 1787 ; Alien and Sedition Laws, 1798 ; Virginia Resolutions, 
 
 1798 ; Kentucky Resolutions, 1798 ; Kentucky Resolutions, 
 
 1799 ; Nullification Ordinance, 1832 ; Ordinance of Secession, 
 1860 ; South Carolina Declaration of Independence, 1860 ; Eman- 
 cipation Proclamation, 1863. 
 
 See also Poore's Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial 
 Charters, and other Organic Laws of the United States, 2 vols., 
 Washington, 1877. 
 
 The series of essays entitled The Federalist, written by Hamil- 
 ton, Madison, and Jay, in 1787-88, while the ratification of the 
 Constitution was in question, will always remain indispensable 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 211 
 
 as an introduction to the thorough study of the principles upon 
 which our federal government is based. The most recent edi- 
 tion is by H. C. Lodge, N. Y., 1888. For the systematic and 
 elaborate study of the Constitution, see Foster's References to the 
 Constitution of the United States^ a little pamphlet of 60 pages 
 published by the " Society for Political Education," 330 Pearl St., 
 New York, 1890, price 25 cents. 
 
 For very pleasant and profitable reading, in connection with 
 the formation and interpretation of the Constitution, and the 
 political history of our country from 1763 to 1850, we have the 
 " American Statesmen Series," edited by J. T. Morse, and pub- 
 lished by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1882-96 : Benja- 
 min Franklin^ by J. T. Morse ; Patrick Henry, by M. C. Tyler ; 
 Samuel Adams, by J. K. Hosmer ; George Washington, by H. C. 
 Lodge, 2 vols. ; John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, by J. T. 
 Morse ; Alexander Hamilton, by H. C. Lodge ; Gouverneur Mor- 
 ris, by T. Roosevelt ; James Madison, by S. H. Gay ; James 
 Monroe, by D. C. Gilman ; Albert Gallatin, by J. A. Stevens ; 
 John Randolph, by H. Adams ; John Jay, by G. Pellew ; John 
 Marshall, by A. B. Magruder ; John Quincy Adams, hy J. T. 
 Morse ; John C. Calhoun, by H. von Hoist ; Andrew Jackson, 
 by W. G. Sumner ; Martin Van Buren, by E. M. Shepard ; 
 Henry Clay, by C. Schurz, 2 vols. ; Daniel Webster, by H. C. 
 Lodge ; Thomas H. Benton, by T. Roosevelt ; Lewis Cass, by 
 Prof. Andrew C. McLaughlin; Abraham Lincoln, by John T. 
 Morse, Jr., 2 vols. ; William H. Seward, by Thornton K. Lothrop ; 
 Salmon P. Chase, by Albert Bushnell Hart ; Charles Francis 
 Adams, by C. F. Adams, Jr.; Charles Sumner, by Moorfield 
 Storey; Thaddeus Stevens, by Samuel W. McCall. 
 
 In connection with the questions on page 269 relating to tariff, 
 currency, etc., references to some works on political economy are 
 needed. The arguments in favour of protectionism are set forth 
 in Bo wen's American Political Economy, last ed., N. Y., 1870 ; the 
 arguments in favour of free trade are set forth in Perry's PO" 
 litical Economy, 19th ed., N. Y., 1887 ; and for an able and im- 
 partial historical survey, Taussig's Tariff History of the United 
 States, N. Y., 1888, may be recommended. For a lucid view of 
 currency, see Jevons's Money and the Mechanism of Exchange^ 
 N. Y., 1875. 
 
 A useful work on the Australian method of voting is Wigmore's 
 The Australian Ballot System, 2d ed., Boston, 1890. 
 
278 THE FEDERAL UNION. 
 
 In connection with some of the questions on page 271, the 
 student may profitably consult Woolsey's International Lawy 5th 
 ed., N. Y., 1879. 
 
 NOTE TO PAGE 226. 
 
 By the act of February 3, 1887, the second Monday in January 
 is fixed for the meeting of the electoral colleges in all the states. 
 The provisions relating to the first Wednesday in January are 
 repealed. The interval between the second Monday in January 
 and the second Wednesday in February remains available for 
 the settlement of disputed questions. 
 
 NOTE TO PAGE 250. 
 
 In order to relieve the supreme court of the United States, 
 which had come to be overburdened with business, a new court, 
 with limited appellate jurisdiction, called the circuit court of 
 appeals, was organized in 1892. It consists primarily of nine 
 appeal judges, one for each of the nine circuits. For any given 
 circuit the supreme court justice of the circuit, the appeal judge 
 of the circuit, and the circuit judge constitute the court of appeal. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States 
 of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and 
 Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, and Georgia. 
 
 Article I. — The style of this Confederacy shall be, " The 
 United States of America." 
 
 Art. II. — Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and 
 independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is 
 not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United 
 States in Congress assembled. 
 
 Art. III. — The said States hereby severally enter into a 
 firm league of friendship with each other, for their common de- 
 fence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and gen- 
 eral welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all 
 force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on 
 account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence 
 whatever. 
 
 Art. IV. — The better to secure and perpetuate mutual 
 friendship and intercourse among the people of the different 
 States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, 
 paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall 
 be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in 
 the several States ; and the people of each State shall have free 
 ingress and egress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy 
 therein all the privileges of trade and commerce subject to the 
 same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants 
 thereof respectively; provided that such restrictions shall not 
 extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported 
 into any State to any other State of which the owner is an in- 
 
280 APPENDIX A. 
 
 habitant ; provided also, that no imposition, duties, or restricUon 
 shall be laid by any State on the property of the Unite.d States 
 or either of them. If any person guilty of, or charged with, 
 treason, felony, or other high misdemeanour in any State shall 
 flee from justice and be found in any of the United States, he 
 shall, upon demand of the governor or executive power of the 
 State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the 
 State having jurisdiction of his offense. Full faith and credit 
 shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and 
 judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other 
 State. 
 
 Art. V. — For the more convenient management of the 
 general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually 
 appointed in such manner as the Legislature of each State shall 
 direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, 
 in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its 
 delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to 
 send others in their stead for the remainder of the year. No 
 State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by 
 more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of 
 being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six 
 years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of 
 holding any office under the United States for which he, or 
 another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or emolument 
 of any kind. Each State shall maintain its own delegates in 
 any meeting of the States and while they act as members of the 
 Committee of the States. In determining questions in the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, each State shall have one 
 vote. Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be 
 impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress ; 
 and the members of Congress shall be protected in their per- 
 sons from arrests and imprisonment during the time of their 
 going to and from, and attendance on, Congress, except for 
 treason, felony, or breach of the peace. 
 
 Art. VI. — No State, without the consent of the United 
 States, in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or 
 receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agree- 
 ment, alliance, or treaty with any king, prince, or state; nor 
 shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the 
 United States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolu- 
 ment, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, 
 or foreign state; nor shall the United States, in Congress as- 
 sembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 281 
 
 No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confeder- 
 ation, or alliance whatever between them, without the consent 
 of the United States, in Congress assembled, specifying accu- 
 rately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and 
 how long it shall continue. 
 
 No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere 
 with any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United 
 States, in Congress assembled, with any king, prince, or state, 
 in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress to 
 the courts of France and Spain. 
 
 No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any 
 State, except such number only as shall be deemed necessary 
 by the United States, in Congress assembled, for the defence of 
 such State or its trade, nor shall any body of forces be kept up 
 by any State in time of peace, except such number only as, in 
 the judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall 
 be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the de- 
 fence of such State ; but every State shall always keep up a 
 well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and 
 accoutred, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use 
 in public stores a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a 
 proper quantity of arms, ammunition, and camp equipage. 
 
 No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, unless such State be 
 actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain ad- 
 vice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to 
 invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to ad- 
 mit of a delay till the United States, in Congress assembled, 
 can be consulted ; nor shall any State grant commissions to any 
 ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except 
 it be after a declaration of war by the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, 
 and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so de- 
 clared, and under such regulations as shall be established by the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, unless such State be in- 
 fested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out 
 for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, 
 or until the United States, in Congress assembled, shall deter- 
 mine otherwise. 
 
 Art. VII. — When land forces are raised by any State for 
 the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of Colonel 
 shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively 
 
282 APPENDIX A, 
 
 by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such 
 State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the 
 State which first made the appointment. 
 
 Art. VIII. — All charges of war, and all other expenses 
 that shall be incurred for the common defence, or general wel- 
 fare, and allowed by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
 shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be sup- 
 plied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land 
 within each State, granted to, or surveyed for, any person, as 
 such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be 
 estimated, according to such mode as the United States, in 
 Congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and ap- 
 point. The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and 
 levied by the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the 
 several States, within the time agreed upon by the United 
 States, in Congress assembled. 
 
 Art. IX. — The United States, in Congress assembled, 
 shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining 
 on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth 
 Article; of sending and receiving ambassadors; entering into 
 treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce 
 shall be made, whereby the legislative power of the respective 
 States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and 
 duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or 
 from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species 
 of goods or commodities whatever; of establishing rules for 
 deciding, in all cases, what captures on land and water shall be 
 legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces 
 in the service of the United States shall be divided or appropri- 
 ated; of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of 
 peace; appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies 
 committed on the high seas ; and establishing courts for receiv- 
 ing and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures; 
 provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge 
 of any of the said courts. 
 
 The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also be the 
 last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now sub- 
 sisting, or that hereafter may arise between two or more States 
 concerning boundary jurisdiction, or any other cause what- 
 ever; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner 
 following: Whenever the legislative or executive authority, or 
 lawful agent of any State in controversy with another, shall 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 28ii 
 
 present a petition to Congress, stating the matter in question, 
 and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by 
 order of Congress to the legislative or executive authority of the 
 other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appear- 
 once of the parties by their lawful agents, who shall then be 
 directed to appoint, by joint consent, commissioners or judges 
 to constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in 
 question; but if they cannot agree, Congress shall name three 
 persons out of each of the United States, and from the list o£ 
 such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the 
 petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to 
 thirteen; and from that number not less than seven nor more 
 than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence 
 of Congress, be drawn out by lot; and the persons whose names 
 shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners 
 or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, so 
 always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the cause 
 shall agree in the determination; and if either party shall 
 neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons 
 which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present, shall 
 refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three 
 persons out of each State, and the secretary of Congress shall 
 strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judg- 
 ment and sentence of the court, to be appointed in the manner 
 before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive; and if any of 
 the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such court, 
 or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the court shall 
 nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which 
 shall in like manner be final and decisive; the judgment or 
 sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted 
 to Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the 
 security of the parties concerned; provided, that every commis- 
 sioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be ad- 
 ministered by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court 
 of the State where the cause shall be tried, " well and truly to 
 hear and determine the matter in question, according to the best 
 of his judgment, without favour, affection, or hope of reward." 
 Provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for 
 the benefit of the United States. 
 
 All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed 
 under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions, 
 at they may respect such lands, and the States which passed 
 
284 APPENDIX A, 
 
 such grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being 
 at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such 
 settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party 
 to the Congress of the United States, be finally determined, as 
 near as may be, in the same manner as is before prescribed for 
 deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between, 
 different States. 
 
 The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also have 
 the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy 
 and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of 
 the respective States ; fixing the standard of weights and meas- 
 ures throughout the United States; regulating the trade and 
 managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of 
 the States ; provided that the legislative right of any State, 
 within its own limits, be not infringed or violated ; establishing 
 and regulating post-offices from one State to another, throughout 
 all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers 
 passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the ex- 
 penses of the said office ; appointing all officers of the land 
 forces in the service of the United States, excepting regimental 
 officers ; appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and com- 
 missionins: all officers whatever in the service of the United 
 States; making rules for the government and regulation of the 
 said land and naval forces, and directing their operations. 
 
 The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have author- 
 ity to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to 
 be denominated " A Committee of the States," and to consist 
 of one delegate from each State, and to appoint such other 
 committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing 
 the general affairs of the United States under their direction ; 
 to appoint one of their number to preside ; provided that no 
 person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than 
 one year in any term of three years ; to ascertain the necessary 
 sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, 
 and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public 
 expenses ; to borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the 
 United States, transmitting every half year to the respective 
 States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted ; 
 to build and equip a navy; to agree upon the number of land 
 forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, 
 in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such State, 
 which requisition shall be binding ; and thereupon the Legislar 
 
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 285 
 
 ture of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the 
 men, and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like manner, 
 at the expense of the United States ; and the officers and men 
 so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to the place ap- 
 pointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States, in 
 Congress assembled ; but if the United States, in Congress 
 assembled, shall, on consideration of circumstances, judge proper 
 that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller 
 number than its quota, and that any other State should raise a 
 greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra num- 
 ber shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped in 
 the same manner as the quota of such State, unless the Legis- 
 lature of such State shall judge that such extra number can- 
 not be safely spared out of the same, in which case they shall 
 raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip as many of such extra num- 
 ber as they judge can be safely spared, and the officers and men 
 so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to the place ap- 
 pointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States, in 
 Congress assembled. 
 
 The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never en- 
 gage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time 
 of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin 
 money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums 
 and expenses necessary for the defense and welfare of the 
 United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money 
 on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor 
 agree upon the number of vessels of war to be built or pur- 
 chased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor 
 appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine 
 States assent to the same, nor shall a question on any other 
 point, except for adjourning from day to day, be determined, 
 unless by the votes of a majority of the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled. 
 
 The Congress of the United States shall have power to ad- 
 journ to any time within the year, and to any place within the 
 United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer 
 duration than the space of six months, and shall publish the 
 journal of their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof 
 relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations as in their 
 judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the dele- 
 gates of each State, on any question, shall be entered on the 
 journal when it is desired by any delegate ; and the delegates 
 
286 APPENDIX A. 
 
 of a State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be fur- 
 nished with a transcript of the said journal except such parts as 
 are above excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several 
 States. 
 
 Art. X. — The Committee of the States, or any nine of 
 them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, 
 such of the powers of Congress as the United States, in Con- 
 gress assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall, from time 
 to time, think expedient to vest them with ; provided that no 
 power be delegated to the said Committee, for the exercise o£ 
 which, by the Articles of Confederation, the voice of nine States 
 in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite. 
 
 Art. XI. — Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and 
 joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted 
 into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Unioru; but no 
 other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such ad- 
 mission be agreed to by nine States. 
 
 Art. XII. — All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, 
 and debts contracted by or under the authority of Congress, be- 
 fore the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the 
 present Confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a 
 charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction 
 whereof the said United States and the public faith are hereby 
 solemnly pledged. 
 
 Art. XIII. — Every State shall abide by the determinations 
 of the United States, in Congress assembled, on all questions 
 which by this Confederation are submitted to them. And the 
 Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by 
 every State, and the Union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any 
 alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless 
 such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, 
 and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State. 
 
 And whereas it hath pleased the great Governor of the 
 world to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively 
 represent in Congress to approve of, and to authorize us to 
 ratify, the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, 
 know ye, that we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the 
 power .and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these 
 presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constitu- 
 ents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the 
 said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all and 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 287 
 
 singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do 
 further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective 
 constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the 
 United States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by 
 the said Confederation are submitted to them ; and that the 
 Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we 
 respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 
 
 In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Con- 
 gress, Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania 
 the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the third year of 
 the independence of America. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 Preamble.! 
 
 We, the people of the United States, in order to forni a more 
 perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- 
 vide for the common defence, promote bhe general welfare, and 
 secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
 ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
 America. 
 
 Article I. Legislative Department.^ 
 
 Section I. Congress in General. 
 
 All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
 Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
 and House of Representatives. 
 
 Section II. House of Representatives. 
 
 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem- 
 bers chosen every second year by the people of the several 
 States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifi'ca- 
 tions requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
 State legislature. 
 
 1 Compare this Preamble with Confed. Art. I. and III. 
 
 2 Compare Art. I.. §§ i.-vii. with Confed. Art. V. 
 
288 APPENDIX B. 
 
 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
 attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
 citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
 be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 
 
 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
 among the several States which may be included within this 
 Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be 
 determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, in- 
 cluding those bound to service for a term of years, and exclud- 
 ing Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The 
 actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the 
 first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within 
 every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they 
 shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not 
 exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have 
 at least one Representative ; and until such enumeration shall 
 be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
 three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
 tions one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, 
 Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, 
 North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 
 
 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
 State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election 
 to fill such vacancies. 
 
 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker 
 and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeach- 
 ment. 
 
 Section III. Senate. 
 
 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
 Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
 six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 
 
 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence 
 of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be 
 into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class 
 shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year ; of the 
 second class, at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
 third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third 
 may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by 
 resio-nation or otherwise during the recess of the legislature of 
 any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
 ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then 
 fill such vacancies. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 289 
 
 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
 to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
 United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabit- 
 ant of that State for which he shall be chosen, 
 
 4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President 
 of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally 
 divided. 
 
 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
 President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice-President, or 
 when he shall exercise the office of President of the United 
 States. 
 
 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach- 
 ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or 
 affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, 
 the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person shall be convicted 
 without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further 
 than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and 
 enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit under the United 
 States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable 
 and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, ac- 
 cording to law. 
 
 Section IV. Both Houses. 
 
 1. The' times, places, and manner- of holding elections for 
 Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State 
 by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time 
 by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places 
 of choosing Senators. 
 
 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 
 and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
 unless they shall by law appoint a differeni day. . 
 
 Section V. The Houses Separately. /^^'^ 
 
 1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
 qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall 
 constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
 adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
 attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
 penalties, as each house may provide. 
 
 2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
 punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and with the con- 
 currence of two thirds, expel a member. 
 
290 APPENDIX B. 
 
 3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
 from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may 
 in their judgment require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the 
 members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of 
 one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 
 
 4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, with- 
 out the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
 nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall 
 be sitting. 
 
 Section VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Menders. 
 
 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen- 
 sation for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out 
 of the Treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases 
 except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged 
 from arrest during their attendance at the session of their re- 
 spective houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; 
 and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be 
 questioned in any other place. 
 
 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 
 which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
 authority of the United States, which shall have been created, 
 or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during 
 such time; and no person holding any office under the United 
 States shall be a member of either house during his continuance 
 in office. 
 
 Section VII. Mode of Passing Laws, 
 
 1. All bills for raisings revenue shall originate in the House of 
 Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with 
 amendments as on other bills. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
 sentatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be pre- 
 sented to the President of the United States; if he approve he 
 shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to 
 that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the 
 objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider 
 it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall 
 agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 
 tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be recon- ' 
 sidered, and if approved by two thirds of that house it shaD 
 become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses 
 shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 291 
 
 persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
 journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be re- 
 turned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) 
 after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
 law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
 by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
 not be a law. 
 
 3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence 
 of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 
 (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the 
 President of the United States; and before the same shall take 
 effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
 shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre- 
 scribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 Section VIII. Powers granted to Congress.^ 
 
 The Congress shall have power : 
 
 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
 pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general 
 welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and ex- 
 cises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 
 
 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the 
 several States, and with the Indian tribes; 
 
 4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uni- 
 form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United 
 States ; 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
 coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 
 
 ■ 6! To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the secu- 
 rities and current coin of the United States; 
 
 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 
 
 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by se- 
 curing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive 
 right to their respective wrifinixs and discoveries; 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on 
 the hiorh seas and offenses ao-ainst the law of nations; 
 
 1 Compare §§ viii. and ix. with Conf ed. Art. IX. ; clause 1 of § viii. 
 with Confed. Art. VIII. ; and clause 12 of § viii. with Confed. Art» 
 
 vn. 
 
292 APPENDIX B. 
 
 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
 make rules concerning captures on land and water; 
 
 12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of 
 money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 
 
 13. To provide and maintain a navy; 
 
 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
 land and naval forces. 
 
 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the 
 laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 
 
 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 
 militia, and for governing such part of them as may be em- 
 ployed in the service of the United States, reserving to the 
 States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the 
 authority of training the militia according to the discipline 
 prescribed by Congress; 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever 
 over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by 
 cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, be- 
 come the seat of the Government of the United States, and to 
 exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
 of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for 
 the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other 
 needful buildings ; and 
 
 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
 for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
 powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
 United States, or in any department or officer thereof.^ 
 
 Section IX, Powers denied to the United States. 
 
 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
 States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be pro- 
 hibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
 importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 
 
 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
 pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public 
 safety may require it. 
 
 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 
 
 4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in 
 
 1 This is the Elastic Clause in the interpretation of which arose the 
 original and fundamental division of political parties. See above, 
 pp. 245, 259. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 293 
 
 proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed 
 to be taken. 
 
 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
 State. 
 
 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
 merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of an- 
 other; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged 
 to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 
 
 7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in con- 
 sequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular state- 
 ment and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public 
 money shall be published from time to time. 
 
 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
 and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them 
 shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
 emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, 
 prince, or foreign State. 
 
 Section X. Powers denied to the States.'^ 
 
 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
 tion ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit 
 bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender 
 in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
 law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any 
 title of nobility. 
 
 2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
 imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
 absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the 
 net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on im- 
 ports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the 
 United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision 
 and control of the Conorress. 
 
 3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
 duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, 
 enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with 
 a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in 
 such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 
 
 1 Compare § x. with Confed. Art. VI. 
 
294 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Article II. Executive Department.^ 
 
 . Section I. President and Vice-President. 
 
 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
 United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
 term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen 
 for the same term, be elected as follows : 
 
 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
 thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole 
 number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may 
 be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or Representative, 
 or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
 States, shall be appointed an elector. 
 
 3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote 
 by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
 inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
 make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 
 votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
 mit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, 
 directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
 Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
 be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes 
 shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the 
 ■whole number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than 
 one who have such majority, and have an equal number of 
 votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
 choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person 
 have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said 
 House shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
 choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the 
 representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for 
 thif purpose shall consist of a member or members from two 
 thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be 
 necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the 
 President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the 
 electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain 
 two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from 
 them by ballot the Vice-President.] ^ 
 
 1 Compare Art. II. with Confed. Art. X. 
 
 2 This clause of the Constitution has been amended. See Amend« 
 ments, Art. XII. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 296 
 
 4. The Congress may determine tlie time of choosirig the 
 electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which 
 day shall be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the 
 United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
 shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any 
 person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 
 the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
 within the United States. 
 
 6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of 
 his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
 duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- 
 President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
 removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President 
 and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as 
 President, and such officer shall act accordingly until the dis- 
 ability be removed or a President shall be elected. 
 
 7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
 a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
 during the period for which he may have been elected, and he 
 shall not receive within that period any other emolument from 
 the United States or any of them. 
 
 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office he shall take 
 the following joath^ or affirmation : 
 
 " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
 the office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
 of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
 the United States." 
 
 Section II. Powers of the President. 
 
 1. The President shall be Commander-in-chief of the Army 
 and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
 States when called into the actual service of the United States ; 
 he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in 
 each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to 
 the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to 
 grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
 States, except in cases of impeachment. 
 
 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent 
 of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Sen- 
 ators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and, by and with 
 the advice and consent o£ the Senate, shall appoint ambassa- 
 
296 APPENDIX B, 
 
 dors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
 Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appoint- 
 ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
 be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the 
 appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in 
 the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de- 
 partments. 
 
 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
 may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting com- 
 missions which shall expire at the end of their next session. 
 
 Section III, Duties of the President. 
 
 He shall from time to time give to the Congress information 
 of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration 
 such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he 
 may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either 
 of them, and in case of disagreement between them with re- 
 spect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to 
 such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassa- 
 dors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the 
 laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers 
 of the United States. 
 
 Section IV. Impeachment. 
 
 The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the 
 United States shall be removed from office on impeachment 
 for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
 misdemeanors. 
 
 Article III. Judicial Department.^ 
 
 Section I. United States Courts. 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in 
 one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress 
 may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both 
 of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices dur- 
 ing Efood behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
 services a compensation which shall not be diminished during 
 their continuance in office. 
 
 1 Compare Art. III. with the first three paragraphs of Confed 
 Art. IX. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 297 
 
 Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts. 
 
 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
 equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
 States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
 authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
 ters, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
 diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a 
 party ; to controversies between two or more States ; between a 
 State and citizens of another State ; between citizens of differ- 
 ent States ; between citizens of the same State claiming; lands 
 under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citi- 
 zens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.^ 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
 and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Su- 
 preme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other 
 cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate 
 jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and 
 under such regulations as the Cong-ress shall make. 
 
 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
 shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where 
 the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not com- 
 mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places 
 as the Congress may by law have directed. 
 
 Section III. Treason. 
 
 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
 levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
 them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason 
 unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, 
 or on confession in open court. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment 
 of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
 blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. 
 
 Article IV. The States and the Federal Govern- 
 ment. 2 
 
 Section I. State Records. 
 Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
 
 ^ This clause has been amended. See Amendments, Art. XI. 
 2 Compare Art. IV. with Confed Art. IV. 
 
298 APPENDIX B. 
 
 acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
 And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in 
 which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and 
 the effect thereof. 
 
 Section II. Privileges of Citizens, etc. 
 
 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
 and immunities of citizens in the several States. 
 
 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or 
 other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another 
 State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State 
 from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
 having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 3. No person held to service or labour in one State, under the 
 laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any 
 law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or 
 labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
 such service or labour may be due.^ 
 
 Section III. New States and Territories.^ 
 
 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
 Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
 jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the 
 junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the 
 consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
 the Congress. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
 needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
 property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
 Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
 the United States or of any particular State. 
 
 Section IV. Guarantee to the States. 
 
 The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
 Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each 
 of them against invasion, and on application of the legislature, 
 or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), 
 against domestic violence. 
 
 1 This clause has been cancelled by Amendment XIII., which abol- 
 ishes slavery. 
 
 2 Compare § iii. with Confed. Art. XL 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 299 
 
 Article V. Power of Amendment.^ 
 The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem 
 it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, 
 on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several 
 States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which 
 in either case shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part 
 of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three 
 fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths 
 thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro- 
 posed by the Congress, provided that no amendments which 
 may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
 eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in 
 the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without 
 its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 Article VI. Public Debt, Supremacy of the Consti- 
 tution, Oath of Office, Religious Test. 
 
 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
 the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
 United States under this Constitution as under the confedera- 
 tion. ^ 
 
 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
 shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or 
 which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
 shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
 State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
 laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
 the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive 
 and judicial officers both of the United States and of the several 
 States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this 
 Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as 
 a qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
 States.2 
 
 Article VII. Ratification of the Constitution. 
 The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
 
 1 Compare Art. V. with Confed. Art. XIII. 
 
 2 Compare clause I with Confed. Art. XII. 
 
 ^ Compare clauses 2 and 3 with Confed. Art. XIII. and addendum, 
 "And whereas," etc. 
 
300 APPENDIX B. 
 
 sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
 States so ratifying the same. 
 
 Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States 
 present,^ the seventeenth day of September, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, 
 and of the Independence of the United States of America 
 the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have hereunto sub- 
 scribed our names. 
 
 George Washington, President, and Deputy from Virginia. 
 New Hampshire — John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 
 Massachusetts — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 
 .Connecticut — William Samuel Johnson, Koger Sherman. 
 New York — Alexander Hamilton. 
 New Jersey — William Livingston, David Brearly, William 
 
 Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. 
 Pennsylvania — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert 
 
 Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, 
 
 James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. 
 Delaware — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dick- 
 inson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 
 Maryland — James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 
 
 Daniel Carroll. 
 Virginia — John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 
 North Carolina — William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, 
 
 Hugh Williamson. 
 South Carolina — John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinck- 
 
 ney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 
 Georgia — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 
 
 Attest : William Jackson, Secretary, 
 
 AMENDMENTS.^ 
 
 Article I. 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
 religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
 the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people 
 
 1 Rhode Island sent no delegates to the Federal Convention. 
 
 2 Amendments I. to X. were proposed by Congress, Sept. 25, 1789, 
 and declared in force Dec. 15, 1791. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 801 
 
 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a 
 redress of grievances. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
 free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
 not be infringed. 
 
 Article III. 
 
 No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
 without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
 manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
 papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
 shall not be violated, and no warrants sh&ll issue but upon prob- 
 able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
 describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to 
 be seized. 
 
 Article V. 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
 infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
 grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
 or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public 
 danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to 
 be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled 
 in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be de- 
 prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; 
 nor shall private property be taken for public use without just 
 compensation. 
 
 Article VI. 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state 
 and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, 
 which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, 
 and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; 
 to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com- 
 pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have 
 the assistance of counsel for his defence. 
 
 Article VII. 
 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
 
/ 
 
 802 APPENDIX B. 
 
 exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre- 
 served, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexam- 
 ined in any court of the United States, than according to the 
 rules of the common law. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
 posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 Article IX. 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
 not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
 people. 
 
 Article X.^ 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
 stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
 States respectively or to the people. 
 
 Article XI. 2 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
 strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
 prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of 
 another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 
 
 Article XII^ 
 
 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote 
 by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
 least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
 selves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
 President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice- 
 President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
 for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, 
 and of £he number of votes for each ; which lists they shall sign 
 and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
 of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
 The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
 and House of Kepresentatives, open all the certificates and the 
 
 1 Compare Amendment X. with Confed. Art II. 
 
 2 Proposed by Congress March 5, 1794, and declared in force Jan. 
 8, 1798. 
 
 ^ Proposed by Congress Dec. 12, 1803, and declared in force Sept, 
 25,1804. 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 303 
 
 votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest 
 number of votes for President shall be the President, if such 
 number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 
 and if no person have such majority, then from the persons hav- 
 ing the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those 
 voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall 
 choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosino- 
 the President the votes shall be taken by States, the represen- 
 tation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this pur- 
 pose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of 
 the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
 a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose 
 a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
 them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the 
 Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death 
 or other constitutional disability of the President. 
 
 2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
 President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a ma- 
 jority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no 
 person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on 
 the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum 
 for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number 
 of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be neces- 
 sary to a choice. 
 
 3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
 President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the 
 United States. 
 
 Article XHI.* 
 
 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
 punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
 convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place 
 subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
 priate legislation. 
 
 Article XIV.2 
 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
 
 1 Proposed by Congress Feb. 1, 1865, and declared in force Dec. 
 18, 1865. 
 
 2 Proposed by Congress June 16, 1866, and declared in force July 
 2S, 1868. 
 
304' APPENDIX B, 
 
 subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
 States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
 make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
 immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any 
 State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
 due process of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdic- 
 tion the equal protection of the laws. 
 
 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
 States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
 whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
 taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
 choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United 
 States, Eepresentatives in Congress, the executive and judicial 
 officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is 
 denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
 twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in 
 any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other 
 crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in 
 the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall 
 bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of 
 age in such State. 
 
 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con- 
 gress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any 
 office, civil or military, under the United States or under any 
 State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of 
 Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
 of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of 
 any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
 shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
 same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But 
 Congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each house, remove 
 such disabiliry. 
 
 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, au- 
 thorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
 sions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
 rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
 States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
 incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
 States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; 
 but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
 and void. 
 
 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
 legislation, the provisions of this article. 
 
TSE CONSTITUTION, 305 
 
 Article XV.* 
 
 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
 be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
 account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
 appropriate legislation. 
 
 FRANKLIN'S SPEECH ON THE LAST DAY OF 
 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.^ 
 
 Monday, September 17. In Convention — The engrossed 
 Constitution being read, Doctor Franklin rose with a speech in 
 his hand, which he had reduced to writing for his own con- 
 venience, and which Mr. Wilson read in the words following: 
 
 " Mr. President: I confess that there are several parts of 
 this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not 
 sure I shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have 
 experienced many instances of being obliged by better informa- 
 tion, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on impor- 
 tant subjects which I once thought right, but found to be 
 otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt 
 I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to 
 the judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most 
 sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and 
 that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele, 
 a Protestant, in a dedication tells the Pope that the only differ- 
 ence between our churches, in their opinions of the certainty of 
 their doctrines, is, ' the Church of Rome is infallible, and the 
 Church of England is never in the wrong.' But though many 
 private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility 
 as of that of their sect, few express it so naturally as a certain 
 French lady who, in a dispute with her sister, said, ' I don't know 
 how it happens, sister, but I meet with nobody but myself that 
 is always in the right — il n'y a que moi qui a toujours raif^nn.^ 
 In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its 
 
 1 Proposed by Congress Feb. 26, 1869, and declared in force March 
 30, 1870. 
 
 2 From Madison's Journal, in Eliot's Debates, vol. v. p. 554. 
 
306 APPENDIX B. 
 
 faults, if they are such, because I think a General Government 
 necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what 
 may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe 
 further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course 
 of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have 
 done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to 
 need despotic government, being incapable of any other. I 
 doubt, too, whether any other Convention we can obtain may be 
 able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a 
 number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you 
 inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their 
 passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their 
 selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production 
 be expected? It, therefore, astonishes me, sir, to find this sys- 
 tem approaching so near to perfection as it does: and I think it 
 will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear 
 that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of 
 Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only to 
 meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. 
 Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no bet- 
 ter, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opin- 
 ions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have 
 never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls 
 they were born and here they shall die. If every one of us, in 
 returning to our constituents, were to report the objections he 
 has had to it, and endeavour to gain partisans in support of them, 
 we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose 
 all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally 
 in our favour among foreign nations as well as among ourselves, 
 from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength 
 and efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing 
 happiness to the people, depends on opinion — on the general 
 opinion of the goodness of the government as well as of the wis- 
 dom and integrity of its governors. I hope, therefore, that for 
 our own sakes, as a part of the people, and for the sake of pos- 
 terity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending 
 this Constitution (if approved by Congress and confirmed by the 
 Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our 
 future thoughts and endeavours to the means of having it well 
 administered. On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a 
 wish that every member of the Convention who may still have 
 objections to it would, with me, on this occasion doubt a little d 
 
THE CONSTITUTION. 307 
 
 his own infallibility, and, to make manifest our unanimity, put 
 his name to this instrument.'* 
 
 He then moved that the Constitution be signed by the mem- 
 bers, and offered the following as a convenient form, viz. : 
 " Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States 
 present the seventeenth of September, etc. In witness whereof 
 we have hereunto subscribed our names." This ambiguous form 
 had been drawn up by Mr. Gouverneur Morris, in order to 
 gain the dissenting members, and put into the hands of Doctor 
 Franklin, that it mio-ht have the better chance of success. 
 [Considerable discussion followed, Randolph and Gerry stating 
 their reasons for refusing to sign the Constitution. Mr. Hamil- 
 ton expressed his anxiety that every member should sign. A 
 few characters of consequence, he said, by opposing or even re- 
 fusing to sign the Constitution, might do infinite mischief by 
 kindling the latent sparks that lurk under an enthusiasm in 
 favour of the Convention which may soon subside. No man's 
 ideas were more remote from the plan than his own were known 
 to be; but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy and con- 
 vulsion on one side, and the chance of good to be expected 
 from the plan on the other? This discussion concluded, the 
 Convention voted that its journal and other papers should be 
 retained by the President, subject to the order of Congress.] 
 The members then proceeded to sign the Constitution as finally 
 amended. The Constitution being signed by all the members 
 except Mr. Randolph, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Gerry, who declined 
 giving it the sanction of their names, the Convention dissolved 
 itself by an adjournment sine die. 
 
 Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Franklin, look- 
 ing towards the President's chair, at the back of which a rising 
 sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near 
 him that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their 
 art a rising from a setting sun. I have, said he, often and often, 
 in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and 
 fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without 
 being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at 
 length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not 
 a setting, sun. 
 
308 APPENDIX C. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 MAGNA CHARTA,i 
 
 Or the Great Charter op King John, granted June 15, a. d. 
 
 1215. 
 
 John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ire- 
 land, Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his 
 Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, For- 
 esters, Sheriffs, Governors, Officers, and to all Bailiffs, and his 
 faithful subjects, greeting. Know ye, that we, in the presence 
 of God, and for the salvation of our soul, and the souls of all 
 our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honour of God and the 
 advancement of Holy Church, and amendment of our Realm, 
 by advice of our venerable Fathers, Stephen, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, Primate of all England and Cardinal of the Holy 
 Roman Church : Henry, Archbishop of Dublin ; William, of 
 London ; Peter, of Winchester ; Jocelin of Bath and Glaston- 
 bury ; Hugh, of Lincoln ; Walter, of Worcester ; William, of 
 Coventry : Benedict, of Rochester — Bishops ; of Master Pan- 
 dulph, Sub-Deacon and Familiar of our Lord the Pope ; Brother 
 Aymeric, Master of the Knights-Templars in England ; and of 
 the noble Persons, William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke ; Wil- 
 liam, Earl of Salisbury ; William, Earl of Warren ; William, 
 Earl of Arundel; Alan de Galloway, Constable of Scotland; 
 Warin FitzGerald, Peter Fitz Herbert and Hubert de Burgh, 
 Seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew FitzHerbert, 
 Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip of Albiney, Robert de Rop- 
 pell, John Mareschal, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen, 
 have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present 
 Charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever: — 
 
 1. That the Church of England shall be free, and have her 
 whole rights, and her liberties inviolable ; and we will have 
 them so observed, that it may appear thence that the freedom 
 of elections, which is reckoned chief and indispensable to the 
 English Church, and which we granted and confirmed by our 
 Charter, and obtained the confirmation of the same from our 
 Lord the Pope Innocent IH., before the discord between us and 
 our barons, was granted of mere free will ; which Charter we 
 
 1 I have, by permission, reproduced the Old South Leaflet, with its 
 notes, etc., in full. 
 
MAGNA CHARTA. 309 
 
 shall observe, and we do will it to be faithfully observed by our 
 heirs for ever. 
 
 2. We also have granted to all the freemen of our kingdom, 
 for us and for our heirs for ever, all the underwritten liberties, to 
 be had and holden by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs 
 for ever : If any of our earls, or barons, or others, who hold of 
 as in chief by military service, shall die, and at the time of his 
 death his heir shall be of full age, and owe a relief, he shall have 
 his inheritance by the ancient relief — that is to say, the heir or 
 heirs of an earl, for a whole earldom, by a hundred pounds ; the 
 heir or heirs of a baron, for a whole barony, by a hundred 
 pounds ; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole knight's fee, 
 by a hundred shillings at most ; and whoever oweth less shall 
 give less, according to the ancient custom of fees. 
 
 3. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, and shall 
 be in ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance 
 without relief and without fine. 
 
 4. The keeper of the land of such an heir being under age, 
 shall take of the land of the heir none but reasonable issues, 
 reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without 
 destruction and waste of his men and his goods ; and if we 
 commit the custody of any such lands to the sheriff, or any 
 other who is answerable to us for the issues of the land, and he 
 shall make destruction and waste of the lands which he hath in 
 custody, we will take of him amends, and the land shall be 
 committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall 
 answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we shall assign 
 them; and if we sell or give to any one the custody of any such 
 lands, and he therein make destruction or waste, he shall lose 
 the same custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and 
 discreet men of that fee, who shall in like manner answer to us 
 as aforesaid. 
 
 5. But the keeper, so long as he shall have the custody of the 
 land, shall keep up the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and 
 other things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same 
 land ; and shall deliver to the heir, when he comes of full age, 
 his whole land, stocked with ploughs and carriages, according as 
 the time of wainage shall require, and the issues of the land can 
 reasonably bear. 
 
 6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that 
 before matrimony shall be contracted, those who are near in 
 blood to the heir shall have notice. 
 
310 APPENDIX C. 
 
 7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith 
 and without difficulty have her marriage and inheritance; nor 
 shall she give anything for her dower, or her marriage, or her 
 inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his 
 death ; and she may remain in the mansion house of her hus- 
 band forty days after his death, within which time her dower 
 shall be assigned. 
 
 8. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, so long as 
 she has a mind to live without a husband ; but yet she shall give 
 security that she will not marry without our assent, if she hold 
 of us ; or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if 
 she hold of another. 
 
 9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for 
 any debt so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to 
 pay the debt ; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained 
 so long as the principal debtor has sufficient to pay the debt j 
 and if the principal debtor shall fail in the payment of the debt, 
 not having wherewithal to pay it, then the sureties shall answer 
 the debt ; and if they will they shall have the lands and rents of 
 the debtor, until they shall be satisfied for the debt which they 
 paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show himself ac- 
 quitted thereof against the said sureties. 
 
 10. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or 
 less, and die before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no inter- 
 est paid for that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whom- 
 soever he may hold ; and if the debt falls into our hands, we 
 will only take the chattel mentioned in the deed. 
 
 11. And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife 
 shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt ; and if the 
 deceased left children under age, they shall have necessaries 
 provided for them, according to the tenement of the deceased ; 
 and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, saving, however, 
 the service due to the lords, and in like manner shall it be done 
 touching debts due to others than the Jews. 
 
 12. No scutage or aid^ shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless 
 by the general council of our kingdom ; except for ransoming our 
 person, making our eldest son a knight, and once for marrying 
 
 1 In the time of the feudal system scutage was a direct tax in com- 
 mutation for military service ; aids were direct taxes paid by the 
 tenant to his lord for ransoming his person if taken captive, and for 
 helping defray the expenses of knighting his eldest son and marrying 
 his eldest daughter. 
 
MAGNA CHART A. 311 
 
 our eldest daughter ; and for these there shall be paid no more 
 than a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be concerning 
 the aids of the City of London. 
 
 13. And the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties 
 and free customs, as well by land as by water : furthermore, wer 
 will and grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and 
 ports, shall have all their liberties and free customs. 
 
 14. And for holding the general council of the kingdom con- 
 cerning the assessment of aids, except in the three cases aforesaid^ 
 and for the assessing of scutageSj we shall cause to be summoned the 
 archbishops* bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons of the realm, 
 singly by our letters. And furthermore, loe shall cause to be sum- 
 moned generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of 
 us in chief, for a certain day, that is to say ^ forty days before their 
 meeting at least, and to a certain place ; and in all letters of such 
 summons we will declare the cause of such summons. And sum- 
 mons being thus made, the business shall proceed on the day ap- 
 pointed, according to the advice of such as shall be present, 
 although all that were summoned come not. 
 
 15. We will not for the future grant to any one that he may 
 take aid of his own free tenants, unless to ransom his body, 
 and to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his 
 eldest daughter ; and for this there shall be only paid a reason- 
 able aid. 
 
 16. No man shall be distrained to perform more service for a 
 knight's fee, or other free tenement, than is due from thence. 
 
 17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be 
 hold en in some place certain. 
 
 18. Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin,^ and of Mort 
 d'ancestor,^ and of Darrein Presentment,^ shall not be taken 
 but in their proper counties, and after this manner : We, or if 
 we should be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, will send 
 two justiciaries through every county four times a year, who, 
 with four kniojhts of each county, chosen by the county, shall 
 hold the said assizes * in the county, on the day, and at the place 
 appointed. 
 
 ^ Dispossession. 
 
 2 Death of the ancestor ; that is, in cases of disputed succession to 
 land. 
 
 3 Last presentation to a benefice. 
 
 * The word Assize here means "an assembly of knights or other 
 substantial persons, held at a certain time and place where they sit 
 
312 APPENDIX a 
 
 19. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day ap- 
 pointed for holding the assizes in each county, so many of the 
 knights and freeholders as have been at the assizes aforesaid shall 
 stay to decide them as is necessary, according as there is more 
 or less business. 
 
 20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but 
 only according to the degree of the offence ; and for a great 
 crime according to the heinousness of it, saving to him his con- 
 tenement ; ^ and after the same manner a merchant, saving to 
 him his merchandise. And a villein shall be amercej^ after the 
 same manner, saving to him his wainage, if he falls under our 
 mercy ; and none of the aforesaid amerciaments shall be assessed 
 but by the oath of honest men in the neighbourhood. 
 
 21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their peers, 
 and after the degree of the offence. 
 
 22. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced for his lay 
 tenement, but according to the proportion of the others afore- 
 said, and not according to the value of his ecclesiastical bene- 
 fice. 
 
 23. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be distrained to make 
 bridges or embankments, unless that anciently and of right they 
 are bound to do it. 
 
 24. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall 
 hold « Pleas of the Crown." 2 
 
 25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trethings, shall 
 stand at the old rents, without any increase, except in our 
 demesne manors. 
 
 26. If any one holding of us a lay fee die, and the sheriff, or 
 our bailiffs, show our letters patent of summons for debt which 
 the dead man did owe to us, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or 
 our bailiff to attach and register the chattels of the dead, found 
 upon his lay fee, to the amount of the debt, by the view of law- 
 ful men, so as nothing he removed until our whole clear debt be 
 paid ; and the rest shall be left to the executors to fulfil the tes- 
 tament of the dead ; and if there be nothing due from him to 
 
 with the Justice. * Assisa * or ' Assize ' is also taken for the court, 
 place, or time at which the writs of Assize are taken." — Thompson's 
 Notes. 
 
 1 " That by which a person subsists and which is essential to his 
 rank in life." 
 
 2 These are suits conducted in the name of the Crown against crim- 
 inal offenders. 
 
MAGNA CHARTA. 818 
 
 us, all the chattels shall go to the use of the dead, saving to his 
 wife and children their reasonable shares.^ 
 
 27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be 
 distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and friends, by 
 view of the Church, saving to every one his debts which the 
 deceased owed to him. 
 
 28. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other 
 chattels of any man unless he presently give him money for it, 
 or hath respite of payment by the good-will of the seller. 
 
 29. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for 
 castle-guard, if he himself will do it in his person, or by another 
 able man, in case he cannot do it through any reasonable cause. 
 And if we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be 
 free from such guard for the time he shall be in the army by our 
 command. 
 
 30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take 
 horses or carts of any freeman for carriage, without the assent 
 of the said freeman. 
 
 31. Neither shall we nor our bailiffs take any man's timber 
 for our castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner 
 of the timber. 
 
 32. We will retain the lands of those convicted of felony only 
 one year and a day, and then they shall be delivered to the lord 
 of the fee.2 
 
 33. All kydells ^ (wears) for the time to come shall be put 
 down in the rivers of Thames and Medway, and throughout all 
 England, except upon the sea-coast. 
 
 1 A person's goods were divided into three parts, of which one went 
 to his wife, another to his heirs, and a third he was at liberty to dis- 
 pose of. If he had no child, his widow had half ; and if he had chil- 
 dren, but no wife, half was divided amongst them. These several 
 sums were called " reasonable shares." Through the testamentary 
 jurisdiction they gradually acquired, the clerg:y often contrived to get 
 into their own hands all the residue of the estate without paying the 
 debts of the estate. 
 
 2 All forfeiture for felony has been abolished by the 33 and 34 Vic, 
 C. 23. It seems to have originated in the destruction of the felon's 
 property being part of the sentence, and this "waste" being com- 
 muted for temporary possession by the Crown. 
 
 ^ The purport of this was to prevent in closures of common prop- 
 erty, or committing a " Purpresture.' These wears are now called 
 " kettles " or " kettle-nets " in Kent and Cornwall. 
 
S14 APPENDIX C. 
 
 84. The writ which is called prcBcipe, for the future, shall not 
 be made out to any one, of any tenement, whereby a freeman 
 may lose his court. 
 
 35. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through 
 our whole realm ; and one measure of corn, that is to say, the 
 London quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth, and russets, and 
 haberjeets, that is to say, two ells within the lists ; and it shall 
 be of weights as it is of measures. 
 
 36. Nothing from henceforth shall he given or taken for a writ 
 of inquisition of life or limbj but it shall be granted freely, and 
 not denied.^ 
 
 37. If any do hold of us by fee-farm, or by socage, or by bur- 
 gage, and he hold also lands of any other by knight's service, 
 we will not have the custody of the heir or land, which is holden 
 of another man's fee by reason of that fee-farm, socage,^ or bur- 
 gage; neither will we have the custody of the fee-farm, or socage, 
 or burgage, unless knight's service was due to us out of the same 
 fee-farm. We will not have the custody of an heir, nor of any 
 land which he holds of another by knight's service, by reason of 
 any petty serjeanty ^ by which he holds of us, by the service of 
 paying a knife, an arrow, or the like. 
 
 38. No bailiff from henceforth shall put any man to his law * 
 upon his own bare saying, without credible witnesses to prove it. 
 
 39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised, or 
 outlawed, or banished, or any luays destroyed, nor will we pass 
 upon him, nor will we send upon him, unless by the lawful judg- 
 ment of his peers, or by the law of the land. 
 
 40. We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either 
 Justice or right. 
 
 41. All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct, to go 
 
 ^ This important writ, or " writ concerning hatred and malice," 
 may have been the prototype of the writ of habeas corpus, and was 
 granted for a similar purpose. 
 
 2 "Socage" signifies lands held by tenure of performing certain 
 inferior offices in husbandry, probably from the old French word soc, 
 a plongh-share. 
 
 3 The tenure of giving the king some small weapon of war in 
 acknowledgment of lauds held. 
 
 * Equivalent to putting him to his oath. This alludes to the 
 Wager of Law, by which a defendant and his eleven supporters or 
 "compurgators" could swear to his non-liability, and this amounted 
 to a verdict in his favour. 
 
MAGNA CBARTA. 315 
 
 out of, and to come into England, and to stay there and to pass 
 as well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the 
 ancient and allowed customs, without any unjust tolls; except 
 in time of war, or when they are of any nation at war with us. 
 And if there be found any such in our land, in the beginning of 
 the war, they shall be attached, without damage to their bodies 
 or goods, until it be known unto us, or our chief justiciary, 
 how our merchants be treated in the nation at war with us ; and 
 if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our dominions. 
 
 42. It shall be lawful, for the time to come, for any one to go 
 out of our kingdom, and return safely and securely by land or 
 by water, saving his allegiance to us ; unless in time of war, by 
 some short space, for the common benefit of the realm, except 
 prisoners and outlaws, according to the law of the land, and 
 people in war with us, and merchants who shall be treated as is 
 above mentioned.^ 
 
 43. If any man hold of any escheat,^ as of the honour of Wal- 
 lingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats 
 which be in our hands, and are baronies, and die, his heir shall 
 give no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he 
 would to the baron, if it were in the baron's hand ; and we will 
 hold it after the same manner as the baron held it. 
 
 44. Those men who dwell without the forest from henceforth 
 shall not come before our justiciaries of the forest, upon com- 
 mon summons, but such as are impleaded, or are sureties for 
 any that are attached for something concerning the forest.^ 
 
 45. We will not make any justices, constables, sheriffs, or 
 bailiffs, but of such as know the law of the realm and mean 
 duly to observe it. 
 
 46. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by 
 charter from the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall 
 have the keeping of them, when vacant, as they ought tc have. 
 
 1 The Crown has still technically the power of confining subjects 
 within the kingdom by the writ " ne exeat regno," though the use of 
 the writ is rarely resorted to. 
 
 2 The word escheat is derived from the French escheoir, to return 
 or happen, and signifies the return of an estate to a lord, either on 
 failure of tenant's issue or on his committing felony. The abolition 
 of feudal tenures by the Act of Charles II. (12 Charles II. c. 24) 
 rendered obsolete this part and many other parts of the Charter. 
 
 3 The laws for regulating the royal forests, and administering jus- 
 tice in respect of offences committed in their precincts, formed a large 
 part of the law. 
 
S16 APPENDIX C. 
 
 A:l. All forests that have been made forests in our time shall 
 forthwith be disforested; and the same shall be done with the 
 water-banks that have been fenced in by us in our time. 
 
 48. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, forestersj 
 and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their 
 keepers, shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, hy 
 twelve sworn knights of the same county, chosen by creditable 
 persons of the same county; and within forty days after the said 
 inquest be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored : so as 
 we are first acquainted therewith, or our justiciary, if we should 
 not be in England. 
 
 49. We will immediately give up all hostages and charters 
 delivered unto us by our English subjects, as securities for their 
 keeping the peace, and yielding us faithful service. 
 
 50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks the rela- 
 tions of Gerard de Atheyes, so that ior the future they shall 
 have no bailiwick in England; we will also remove Engelard de 
 Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and Gyon, from the Chancery; Gyon 
 de Cygony, Geoffrey de Marty n, and his brothers; Philip Mark, 
 and his brothers, and his nephew, Geoffrey, and their whole 
 retinue. 
 
 51. As soon as peace is restored, we will send out of the 
 kingdom all foreign knights, cross-bowmen, and stipendiaries, 
 who are come with horses and arms to the molestation of our 
 people. 
 
 52. If any one has been dispossessed or deprived by us, with- 
 out the lawful judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liber- 
 ties, or right, we will forthwith restore them to him ; and if any 
 dispute arise upon this head, let the matter be decided by the 
 five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation 
 of the peace. And for all those things of which any person has, 
 without the lawful judgment of his peers, been dispossessed or 
 deprived, either by our father King Henry, or our brother King 
 Richard, and which we have in our hands, or are possessed by 
 others, and we are bound to warrant and make good, we shall 
 have a respite till the term usually allowed the crusaders; ex- 
 cepting those things about which there is a plea depending, or 
 whereof an inquest hath been made, by our order before we 
 undertook the crusade ; but as soon as we return from our expe- 
 dition, or if perchance we tarry at home and do not make our 
 expedition, we will immediately cause full justice to be adminis* 
 tered therein. 
 
MAGNA CHARTA. 817 
 
 53. The same respite we shall have, and in the same manner, 
 about administering justice, disafforesting or letting continue 
 the forests, which Henry our father, and our brother Richard, 
 have afforested ; and the same concerning the wardship of the 
 lands which are in another's fee, but the wardship of which we 
 have hitherto had, by reason of a fee held of us by knight's ser- 
 vice ; and for the abbeys founded in any other fee than our own, 
 in which the lord of the fee says he has a right ; and when we 
 return from our expedition, or if we tarry at home, and do not 
 make our expedition, we will immediately do full justice to all 
 the complainants in this behalf. 
 
 54. No man shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal^ of 
 a woman, for the death of any other than her husband. 
 
 55. All unjust and illegal fines made by us, and all amercia- 
 ments imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, 
 shall be entirely given up, or else be left to the decision of the 
 five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned for the preservation 
 of the peace, or of the major part of them, together with the 
 aforesaid Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be pres- 
 ent, and others whom he shall think fit to invite ; and if he can- 
 not be present, the business shall notwithstanding go on without 
 him ; but so that if one or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty 
 barons be plaintiffs in the same cause, they shall be set aside as 
 to what concerns this particular affair, and others be chosen in 
 their room, out of the said five-and-twenty, and sworn by the 
 rest to decide the matter. 
 
 56. If we have disseised or dispossessed the Welsh of any 
 lands, liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of 
 their peers, either in England or in Wales, they shall be imme- 
 diately restored to them ; and if any dispute arise upon this 
 head, the matter shall be determined in the Marches by the 
 judgment of their peers ; for tenements in England according 
 to the law of England, for tenements in Wales according to the 
 law of Wales, for tenements of the Marches according to the 
 law of the Marches : the same shall the Welsh do to us and our 
 subjects. 
 
 1 An Appeal here means an " accnsation." The appeal here men- 
 tioned was a suit for a penalty in which the plaintiff was a relation 
 who had suffered through a murder or manslaughter. One of the in- 
 cidents of this " Appeal of Death " was the Trial by Battle. These 
 Appeals and Trial by Battle were not abolished before the passing of 
 the Act 59 Geo. HI., c. 46. 
 
318 APPENDIX C. 
 
 57. As for all those things of which a Welshman hath, with- 
 out the lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or deprived 
 of by King Henry our father, or our brother King Richard, and 
 which we either have in our hands or others are possessed of, 
 and we are obliged to warrant it, we shall have a respite till 
 the time generally allowed the crusaders ; excepting those 
 things about which a suit is depending, or whereof an inquest 
 has been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade i 
 but when we return, or if we stay at home without perform- 
 ing our expedition, we will immediately do them full justice, 
 according to the laws of the Welsh and of the parts before 
 mentioned. 
 
 58. We will without delay dismiss the son of Llewellln, and 
 all the Welsh hostages, and release them from the engagements 
 they have entered into with us for the preservation of the 
 peace. 
 
 59. We will treat with Alexander, King of Scots, concerning 
 the restoring his sisters and hostages, and his right and liber- 
 ties, in the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest 
 of our barons of England ; unless by the charters which we have 
 from his father, William, late King of Scots, it ought to be other- 
 wise ; and this shall be left to the determination of his peers in 
 our court. 
 
 60. All the aforesaid customs and liberties, which we have 
 granted to be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to 
 us, all people of our kingdom, as well clergy as laity, shall ob- 
 serve, as far as they are concerned, towards their dependents. 
 
 61. And whereas, for the honour of God and the amendment 
 of our kingdom, and for the better quieting the discord that has 
 arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these 
 things aforesaid ; willing to render them firm and lasting, we do 
 give and grant our subjects the underwritten security, namely 
 that the barons may choose five-and-twenty barons of the king- 
 dom, whom they think convenient ; who shall take care, with 
 all their might, to hold and observe, and cause to be observed, 
 the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by this our 
 present Charter confirmed in this manner ; that is to say, that 
 if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, shall in 
 any circumstance have failed in the performance of them to- 
 wards any person, or shall have broken through any of these 
 articles of peace and security, and the offence be notified to 
 four barons chosen out of the five-and-twenty before mentioned, 
 
MAGNA CHARTA. 319 
 
 the said four barons shall repair to us, or our justiciary, if we 
 are out of the realm, and, laying open the grievance, shall 
 petition to have it redressed without delay: and if it be not re- 
 dressed by us, or if we should chance to be out of the realm, 
 if it should not be redressed by our justiciary within forty days, 
 reckoning: from the time it has been notified to us, or to our 
 justiciary (if we should be out of the realm), the four barons 
 aforesaid shall lay the cause before the rest of the five-and- 
 twenty barons ; and the said five-and-twenty barons, together 
 with the community of the whole kingdom, shall distrain and 
 distress us in all the ways in which they shall be able, by 
 seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner 
 they can, till the grievance is redressed, according to their 
 pleasure ; saving harmless our own person, and the persons of 
 our Queen and children ; and when it is redressed, they Ljhall 
 behave to us as before. And any person whatsoever in the 
 kingdom may swear that he will obey the orders of the five-and- 
 twenty barons aforesaid in the execution of the premises, and 
 will distress us, jointly with them, to the utmost of his power ; 
 and we give public and free liberty to any one that shall please 
 to swear to this, and never will hinder any person from taking 
 the same oath. 
 
 62. As for all those of our subjects who will not, of their 
 own accord, swear to join the five-and-twenty barons in distrain- 
 ing and distressing us, we will issue orders to make them take 
 the same oath as aforesaid. And if any one of the five-and- 
 twenty barons dies, or goes out of the kingdom, or is hindered 
 any other way from carrying the things aforesaid into execution, 
 the rest of the said five-and-twenty barons may choose another 
 in his room, at their discretion, who shall be sworn in like man- 
 ner as the rest. In all things that are committed to the execution 
 of these five-and-twenty barons, if, when they are all assembled 
 together, they should happen to disagree about any matter, and 
 some of them, when summoned, will not or cannot come, what- 
 ever is agreed upon, or enjoined, by the major part of those 
 that are present shall be reputed as firm and valid as if all the 
 five-and-twenty had given their consent ; and the aforesaid five- 
 and-twenty shall swear that all the premises they shall faithfully 
 observe, and cause with all theu* power to be observed. And 
 we will procure nothing from any one, by ourselves nor by 
 another, whereby any of these concessions and liberties may be 
 revoked or lessened ; and if any such thing shall have been pb- 
 
320 APPENDIK C. 
 
 tained, let it be null and void ; neither will we ever make use of 
 it either by ourselves or any other. And all the ill-will, indig- 
 nations, and rancours that have arisen between us and our sub- 
 jects, of the clergy and laity, from the first breaking out of the 
 dissensions between us, we do fully remit and forgive : moreover, 
 all trespasses occasioned by the said dissensions, from Easter in 
 the sixteenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace and 
 tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to all, both clergy and laity, 
 and as far as in us lies do fully forgive. We have, moreover, 
 caused to be made for them the letters patent testimonial of 
 Stephen, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Lord Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of Master 
 Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid. 
 
 63. Wherefore we will and firmly enjoin, that the Church of 
 Eno-land be free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold 
 all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, truly and 
 peaceably, freely and quietly, fully and wholly to themselves 
 and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and places, for- 
 ever, as is aforesaid. It is also sworn, as well on our part as on 
 the part of the barons, that all the things aforesaid shall be 
 observed in good faith, and without evil subtilty. Given under 
 our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named, and 
 many others, in the meadow called Runingmede, between 
 Windsor and Staines, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year 
 of our reign. 
 
 The translation here given is that published in Sheldon Amos'a 
 work on The English Constitution. The translation given by Sir E. 
 Creasy was chiefly followed in this, but it was collated with another 
 accurate translation by Mr. Richard Thompson, accompanying his 
 Historical Essay on Magna Charta, published in 1829, and also with 
 the Latin text. "The explanation of the whole Charter," observes 
 Mr. Amos, " must be sought chiefly in detailed accounts of the Feudal 
 system in Enerland, as explained in such works as those of Stubbs, 
 Hallam, and Blackstone. The scattered notes here introduced have 
 only for their purpose to elucidate the most unusual and perplexing 
 expressions. The Charter printed in the Statute Book is that issued 
 in the ninth year of Henry III., which is also the one specially con- 
 firmed by the Charter of Edward I. The Charter of Henry III. dif- 
 fers in some (generally) insignificant points from that of John. The 
 most important difference is the omission in the later Charter of the 
 14th and 15th Articles of John's Charter, by which the King is re- 
 stricted from levying aids beyond the three ordinary ones, without the 
 
MAGNA CHARTA. 321 
 
 assent of the ' Common Council of the Kingdom/ and provision is 
 made for summoning it. This passage is restored by Edward I. 
 Magna Charter nas been solemnly confirmed upwards of thirty times." 
 See the chapter on the Great Charter, in Green's History of the Eng- 
 lish People. See also Stubbs's Documents Illustrative of English His- 
 tory. " The whole of the constitutional history of England," says 
 Stubbs, " is a commentary on this Charter, the illustration of which 
 must be looked for in the documents that precede and follow." 
 
 "CONEIRMATIO CHARTARUM" OF EDWARD I. 
 
 1297. 
 
 I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of 
 Ireland, and Duke Guyan, to all those that these present letters 
 shall hear or see, greeting. Know ye that we, to the honour of 
 God and of holy Church, and to the profit of our realm, have 
 granted for us and our heirs, that the Charter of Liberties and 
 the Charter of the Forest, which were made by common assent 
 of all the realm in the time of King Henry our father, shall be 
 kept in every point without breach. And we will that the same 
 Charters shall be sent under our seal as well to our justices of 
 the forest as to others, and to all sheriffs of shires, and to all our 
 other officers, and to all our cities throughout the realm, together 
 with our writs in the which it shall be contained that they cause 
 the foresaid Charters to be published, and to declare to the 
 people that we have confirmed them in all points ; and that our 
 justices, sheriffs, mayors, and other ministers, which under us 
 have the laws of our land to guide, shall allow the said Charters 
 pleaded before them in judgment in all their points ; that is to 
 wit, the Great Charter as the common law, and the Charter of 
 the Forest according to the assize of the Forest, for the wealth 
 of our realm. 
 
 IL And we will that if any judgment be given from hence- 
 forth, contrary to the points of the Charters aforesaid, by the 
 justices or by any other our ministers that hold plea before them 
 against the points of the Charters, it shall be undone and holden 
 for naught. 
 
 IIL And we will that the same Charters shall be sent under 
 our seal to cathedral churches throughout our realm, there to 
 remain, and shall be read before the people two times by the 
 year. 
 
322 APPENDIX C. 
 
 IV. And that all arclibishops and bishops shall pronounce the 
 sentence of great excommunication against all those that by 
 ■word, deed, or counsel do contrary to the foresaid Charters, or 
 that in any point break or undo them. And that the said curses 
 be twice a year denounced and published by the prelates afore- 
 said. And if the prelates or any of them be remiss in the de- 
 nunciation of the said sentences, the Archbishops of Canterbury 
 and York for the time being, as is fitting, shall compel and dis- 
 train them to make that denunciation in form aforesaid. 
 
 V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear 
 that the aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime 
 towards our wars and other business, of their own grant and 
 goodwill, howsoever they were made, might turn to a bondage 
 to them and their heirs, because they might be at another time 
 found in the rolls, and so likewise the prises taken throughout 
 the realm by our ministers ; we have granted for us and our 
 heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks, nor prises into a 
 custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore, or that may 
 be found by roll or in any other manner. 
 
 VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well 
 to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy 
 Church, as also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of 
 the land, that for no business from henceforth will we take such 
 manner of aids, tasks, nor prises but by the common consent of 
 the realm, and for the common profit thereof, saving the ancient 
 aids and prises due and accustomed. 
 
 VII. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of 
 the realm find themselves sore grieved with the matelote of wools, 
 that is to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and 
 have made petition to us to release the same ; we, at their re- 
 quests, have clearly released it, and have granted for us and our 
 heirs that we shall not take such thing nor any other without 
 their common assent and goodwill ; saving to us and our heirs 
 the custom of wools, skins, and leather, granted before by the 
 commonalty aforesaid. In witness of which things we have 
 caused these our letters to be made patents. Witness Edward 
 our son, at London, the 10th day of October, the five-and- 
 twentieth of our reign. 
 
 And be it remembered that this same Charter, in the same 
 terms, word for word, was sealed in Flanders under the King's 
 Great Seal, that is to say, at Ghent, the 5th day of November, 
 
MAGNA CHART A, 323 
 
 in the 52th year of the reign of our aforesaid Lord the King, 
 and sent into England. 
 
 The words of this important document, from Professor Stubbs's 
 translation, are given as the best explanation of the constitutional 
 position and importance of the Charters of John and Henry III. See 
 historical notice in Stubbs's Documents Illustrative of English History, 
 p. 477. This is far the most important of the numerous ratifications 
 of the Great Charter. Hallam calls it " that famous statute, inade- 
 quately denominated the Confirmation of the Charters, because it added 
 another pillar to our constitution, not less important than the Great 
 Charter itself." It solemnly confirmed the two Charters, the Charter 
 of the Forest (issued by Henry II. in 1217 — see text in Stubbs, 
 p. 338) being then considered as of equal importance with Magna 
 Charta itself, establishing them in all points as the law of the land ; 
 but it did more. " Hitherto the king's prerogative of levying money 
 by name of tallage or prise, from his towns and tenants in demesne, 
 had passed unquestioned. Some impositions, that especially on the 
 export of wool, affected all the king's subjects. It was now the mo- 
 ment to enfranchise the people and give that security to private prop- 
 erty which Magna Charta had given to personal liberty." Edward's 
 statute binds the king never to take any of these " aids, tasks, and 
 prises " in future, save by the common assent of the realm. Hence, 
 as Bowen remarks, the Confirmation of the Charters, or an abstract 
 of it under the form of a supposed statute de tallagio non concedendo 
 (see Stubbs, p. 487), was more frequently cited than any other enact- 
 ment by the parliamentary leaders who resisted the encroachments of 
 Charles I. The original of the Confirmatio Chartarum, which is in 
 Norman French, is still in existence, though considerably shriveled 
 by the fire which damaged so many of the Cottonian manuscripts in 
 1731. 
 
 THE GRANT OF THE GREAT CHARTER. 
 
 " An island in the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been 
 chosen as the place of conference : the King encamped on one bank, 
 while the barons covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of 
 Runnymede, on the other. Their delegates met in the island be- 
 tween them, but the negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's 
 purpose of unconditional submission. The Great Charter was dis- 
 cussed, agreed to, and signed in a single day. One copy of it still re- 
 mains in the British Museum, injured by age and fire, but with the 
 royal seal stiU hanging from the brown, shrivelled parchment. It is 
 impossible to gaze without reverence on the earliest monument of 
 English freedom which we can see with our own eyes and touch with 
 our own hands, the great Charter to which from age to age patriots 
 
324 APPENDIX C. 
 
 have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in itself the 
 Charter was no novelty, nor did it claim to establish any new consti- 
 tutional principles. The Charter of Henry the First formed the basis 
 of the whole, and the additions to it are for the most part formal rec- 
 ognitions of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by 
 Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the older charters 
 were now exchanged for precise and elaborate provisions. The bonds 
 of unwritten custom which the older grants did little more than rec- 
 ognize had proved too weak to hold the Angevins ; and the baronage 
 now threw them aside for the restraints of written law. It is in this 
 way that the Great Charter marks the transition from the age of 
 traditional rights, preserved in the nation's memory and officially de- 
 clared by the Primate, to the age of written legislation, of Parlia- 
 ments and Statutes, which was soon to come. The Church had shown 
 its power of self-defence in the struggle over the interdict, and the 
 clause which recognized its rights alone retained the older and gen- 
 eral form. But all vagueness ceases when the Charter passes on to 
 deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, their right to justice, to 
 security of person and property, to good government. 'No free- 
 man,' ran the memorable article that lies at the base of our whole 
 judicial system, * shall be seized or imprisoned, or dispossessed, or 
 outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin ; we will not go against any 
 man nor send against him, save by legal judgment of his peers or by 
 the law of the land.' * To no man will we sell,' runs another, * or 
 deny, or delay, right or justice.' The great reforms of the past reigns 
 were now formally recognized; judges of assize were to hold their 
 oircuits four times in the year, and the Court of Common Pleas was 
 no longer to follow the King in his wanderings over the realm, but to 
 sit in a fixed place. But the denial of justice under John was a small 
 danger compared with the lawless exactions both of himself and his 
 predecessor. Richard had increased the amount of the scutage which 
 Henry II. had introduced, and applied it to raise funds for his ran- 
 som. He had restored the Danegeld, or land tax, so often abolished, 
 under the new name of * carucage,' had seized the wool of the Cis- 
 tercians and the plate of the churches, and rated movables as well as 
 land. John had again raised the rate of scutage, and imposed aids, 
 fines, and ransoms at his pleasure without counsel of the baronage. 
 The Great Charter met this abuse by the provision on which our con- 
 stitutional system rests. With the exception of the three customary 
 feudal aids which still remained to the crown, 'no scutage or aid 
 shall be imposed in our realm save by the Common Council of the 
 realm ; ' and to this Great Council it was provided that prelates and 
 the greater barons should be summoned by special writ, and all ten- 
 ants in chief through the sheriffs and bailiffs, at least forty days 
 before. But it was less easy to provide means for the control of a 
 King whom no man could trust, and a council of twenty-four barons 
 
A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS 325 
 
 was chosen from the general body of their order to enforce on John 
 the observance of the Charter, with the right of declaring war on the 
 King should its provisions be infringed. Finally, the Charter was 
 published throughout the whole country, and sworn to at every hun- 
 dred-mote and town-mote by order from the King." — Green's Short 
 History of the English People, p. 1 23. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. 
 
 An Act for Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the 
 Subject, and Settling the Succession of the Crown. 
 1689. 
 
 Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
 assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely represent- 
 ing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the 
 thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
 sand six hundred eighty-eight [o. 8.],^ present unto their Majes- 
 ties, then called and known by the names and style of William 
 and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, being present in 
 their proper persons, a certain Declaration in writing, made by 
 the said Lords and Commons, in the words following, viz.: 
 
 Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of divers 
 evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did 
 endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion, and 
 the laws and liberties of this kingdom: 
 
 1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and 
 suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent 
 of Parliament. 
 
 2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for 
 humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said 
 assumed power. 
 
 3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under 
 the Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of Commis- 
 sioners for Ecclesiastical Causes. 
 
 4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pre- 
 tence of prerogative, for other time and in other manner than 
 the same was granted by Parliament. 
 
 1 In New Style Feb. 23, 1689. 
 
326 APPENDIX D. 
 
 5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this king- 
 dom in time of peace, without consent of Parliament, and quar- 
 tering soldiers contrary to law. 
 
 6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to be 
 disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both armed and 
 employed contrary to law. 
 
 7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve 
 in Parliament. 
 
 8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters 
 and causes cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other 
 arbitrary and illegal causes. 
 
 9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified 
 persons have been returned, and served on juries in trials, and 
 particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were 
 not freeholders. 
 
 10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons commit- 
 ted in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for 
 the liberty of the subjects. 
 
 11. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and 
 cruel punishments inflicted. 
 
 12. And several grants and promises made of fines and for- 
 feitures before any conviction or judgment against the persons 
 upon whom the same were to be levied. 
 
 All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws 
 and statutes, and freedom of this realm. 
 
 And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated 
 the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his High- 
 ness the Prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God 
 to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from 
 popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords 
 Spiritual and Temporal, and divers principal persons of the 
 Commons) cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual 
 and Temporal, being Protestants, and other letters to the sev- 
 eral counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque ports, 
 for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of 
 right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster 
 upon the two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year one 
 thousand six hundred eighty and eight, ^ in order to such an 
 establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties might 
 not again be in danger of being subverted; upon which letters 
 elections have been accordingly made. 
 
 And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 
 
 1 In New Style Feb. I, 1689. 
 
A PART OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. 327 
 
 Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, 
 being now assembled in a full and free representation of this 
 nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best 
 means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as 
 their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating 
 and asserting their ancient rights and liberties, declare : 
 
 1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the 
 execution of laws by regal authority, without consent of Parlia- 
 ment, is illegal. 
 
 2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the 
 execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed 
 and exercised of late, is illegal. 
 
 3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Com- 
 missioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions 
 and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious. 
 
 4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pre- 
 tence and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time 
 or in other manner than the same is or shall he granted, is illegal.^ 
 
 5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, and all 
 commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.^ 
 
 6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the king- 
 dom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is 
 against law.^ 
 
 7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for 
 their defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.^ 
 
 8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free. 
 
 9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in 
 Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court 
 or place out of Parliament,^ 
 
 10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive 
 fines imposed ; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.^ 
 
 11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and 
 jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be 
 freeholders ^ 
 
 1 Compare this clause 4 with clauses 12 and 14 of Magna Charta, 
 and with Art. I. § vii. clause 1 of the Constitution of the United 
 States. 
 
 2 Compare clause 5 with Amendment I. 
 
 ^ Compare clause 6 with Amendment III. 
 
 * Compare clause 7 with Amendment II. 
 
 ^ Compare clause 9 with Constitution, Art. I. § vi. clause 1, 
 
 6 Compare clause 10 with Amendment VIII. 
 
 " Compare clause 11 with Amendments VI. and VII. 
 
328 APPENDIX D. 
 
 12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of 
 particular persons before conviction are illegal and void. 
 
 13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amend- 
 ing, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament 
 ought to be held frequently. 
 
 And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular 
 the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that 
 no declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the preju- 
 dice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in any 
 wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example. 
 
 To which demand of their rights they are particularly encour- 
 aged by the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, 
 as being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy 
 therein. 
 
 Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness 
 the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far ad- 
 vanced by him, and will still preserve them from the violation 
 of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from all 
 other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liberties : 
 
 II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
 assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, 
 Prince and Princess of Orange, be, and be declared, King and 
 Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions 
 thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and royal dignity of the 
 said kingdoms and dominions to them the said Prince and 
 Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them ; 
 and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only 
 in, and executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in the names 
 of the said Prince and Princess, during their joint lives; and 
 after their deceases, the said crown and royal dignity of the 
 said kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of 
 the said Princess ; and for default of such issue to the Princess 
 Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body ; and for default 
 of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of 
 Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
 mons, do pray the said Prince and Princess to accept the same 
 accordingly. 
 
 The act goes on to declare that, their Majesties having ac- 
 cepted the crown upon these terms, the " rights and liberties as- 
 serted and claimed in the said declaration are the true, ancient, 
 and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this king- 
 dom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and 
 
FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. 329 
 
 taken to be, and that all and every the particulars aforesaid 
 shall be firmly and strictly holden and observed, as they are ex- 
 pressed in the said declaration; and all officers and ministers 
 whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their successors ac- 
 cordinsc to the same in all times to come." 
 
 The act then declares that William and Mary " are and of 
 right ought to be King and Queen of England, etc. ; and it goes 
 on to regulate the succession after their deaths. 
 
 ** The passing of the Bill of Rights in 1689 restored to the 
 monarchy the character which it had lost under the Tudors and 
 the Stuarts. The right of the people through its representa- 
 tives to depose the King, to change the order of succession, and 
 to set on the throne whom they would, was now established. 
 All claim of divine right, or hereditary right independent of the 
 law, was formally put an end to by the election of William and 
 Mary. Since their day no English sovereign has been able to 
 advance any claim to the crown save a claim which rested on a 
 particular clause in a particular Act of Parliament. William, 
 Mary, and Anne were sovereigns simply by virtue of the Bill of 
 Rights, George the First and his successors have been sover- 
 eigns solely by virtue of the Act of Settlement. An English 
 monarch is now as much the creature of an Act of Parliament 
 as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his realm.'* — Greenes Short HiS' 
 tory, p. 673. 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 THE FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT* 
 
 1638(9). 
 
 The first written constitution that created a government. 
 
 Forasmuch as it hath pleased the AUmighty God by the 
 wise disposition of his diuyne p''uidence so to Order and dispose 
 of things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, 
 Harteford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in 
 and vppon the River of Conectecotte and the Lands thereunto 
 adioyneing ; And well knowing where a people are gathered to- 
 gather the word of God requires that to mayntayne the peace 
 and vnion of such a people there should be an orderly and de- 
 
380 APPENDIX E. 
 
 cent Gouerment established according to God, to order and 
 dispose of the affayres of the people at all seasons as occation 
 shall require ; doe therefore assotiate and conioyne our selues 
 to be as one Publike State or Comonwelth ; and doe, for our 
 selues and our Successors and such as shall be adioyned to vs 
 att any tyme hereafter, enter into Combination and Confedera- 
 tion togather, to mayntayne and p'searue the liberty and purity 
 of the gospell of our Lord Jesus w°^ we now p'fesse, as also the 
 disciplyne of the Churches, w'*" according to the truth of the 
 said gospell is now practised amongst vs ; As also in o' Ciuell 
 Affaires to be guided and gouerned according to such Lawes, 
 Kules, Orders and decrees as shall be made, ordered & decreed, 
 as f oUoweth : — 
 
 1. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that there shall be 
 yerely two generall Assemblies or Courts, the one the second 
 thursday in Aprill, the other the second thursday in September, 
 following ; the first shall be called the Courte of Election, 
 wherein shall be yerely Chosen fro tyme to tyme soe many 
 Magestrats and other publike Officers as shall be found requi- 
 sitte : Whereof one to be chosen Gouernour for the yeare ensue- 
 ing and vntill another be chosen, and noe other Magestrate to 
 be chosen for more than one yeare ; p'uided allwayes there 
 be sixe chosen besids the Gouernour ; w"'' being chosen and 
 sworne according to an Oath recorded for that purpose shall 
 haue power to administer iustice according to the Lawes here 
 established, and for want thereof according to the rule of the 
 word of God ; w"^ choise shall be made by all that are admitted 
 freemen and haue taken the Oath of Fidellity, and doe cohabitte 
 w'^n this Jurisdiction, (hauing beene admitted Inhabitants by 
 the maior p't of the Towne wherein they Hue,) or the mayor p'^te 
 of such as shall be then p'sent. 
 
 2. It is Ordered, sentensed and decreed, that the Election of 
 the aforesaid Magestrats shall be on this manner : euery p'^son 
 p'sent and quallified for choyse shall bring in (to the p'^sons de- 
 puted to receaue the) one single pap' w''' the name of him writ- 
 ten in yt whom he desires to haue Gouernour, and he that hath 
 the greatest niiber of papers shall be Gouernor for that yeare. 
 And the rest of the Magestrats or publike Ofllcers to be chosen 
 in this manner : The Secretary for the tyme being shall first 
 read the names of all that are to be put to choise and then shall 
 seuerally nominate them distinctly, and euery one that would 
 haue the p'son nominated to be chosen shall bring in one single 
 
FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. 331 
 
 paper written vppon, and he that would not haue him chosen 
 shall bring in a blanke : and euery one that hath more written 
 papers then blanks shall be a Magistrat for that yeare ; w"^ pa- 
 pers shall be receaued and told by one or more that shall be then 
 chosen by the court and sworne to be faythfuU therein ; but in 
 case there should not be sixe chosen as aforesaid, besids the 
 Gouernor, out of those w"*" are nominated, then he or they w"** 
 haue the most written pap's shall be a Magestrate or Magestrats 
 for the cDsueing yeare, to make vp the foresaid nuber. 
 
 3. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Secretary 
 shall not nominate any p'son, nor shall any p'son be chosen 
 newly into the Magestracy w"*" was not p'pownded in some Gen- 
 erall Courte before, to be nominated the next Election ; and to 
 that end yt shall be lawfull for ech of the Townes aforesaid by 
 their deputyes to nominate any two who they conceaue fitte to 
 be put to election ; and the Courte may ad so many more as 
 they iudge requisitt. 
 
 4. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that noe p'son be 
 chosen Gouernor aboue once in two yeares, and that the Gou- 
 ernor be always a meber of some approved congregation, and 
 formerly of the Magestracy w*4n this Jurisdiction ; and all the 
 Magestrats Freemen of this Comonwelth : and that no Masres- 
 trate or other publike officer shall execute any p'te of his or 
 their Office before they are seuerally sworne, w*^ shall be done 
 in the face of the Courte if they be p'sent, and in case of ab- 
 sence by some deputed for that purpose. 
 
 5. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that to the afore- 
 said Courte of Election the seu'all Townes shall send their 
 deputyes, and when the Elections are ended they may p'ceed 
 in any publike searuice as at other Courts. Also the other 
 Generall Courte in September shall be for makeing of lawes, 
 and any other publike occation, w"'' conserns the good of the 
 Comonwelth. 
 
 6. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that the Gou'nor 
 shaU, ether by himselfe or by the secretary, send out sumons to 
 the Constables of eu' Towne for the cauleing of these two 
 standing Courts, on month at lest before their seu'all tymes ; 
 And also if the Gou'nor and the gretest p'te of the Magestrats 
 see cause vppon any spetiall occation to call a generall Courte, 
 they may giue order to the secretary soe to doe w^'in fowerteene 
 dayes warneing ; and if vrgent necessity so require, vppon a 
 shorter notice, giueing sufficient grownds for yt to the deputyes 
 
332 APPENDIX E. 
 
 when they meete, or els be questioned for the same ; And if the 
 Gou'nor and Mayor p'te of Magestrats shall ether neglect oi* 
 refuse to call the two Generall standing Courts or ether of the, 
 as also at other tymes when the occations of the Comonwelth 
 require, the Freemen thereof, or the Mayor p'te of them, shall 
 petition to them soe to doe : if then yt be ether denyed or neg- 
 lected the said Freemen or the Mayor p'te of them shall haue 
 power to giue order to the Constables of the seuerall Townes to 
 doe the same, and so may meete togather, and chuse to them- 
 selues a Moderator, and may p'^ceed to do any Acta of power, 
 w''*' any other Generall Courte may. 
 
 7. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed that after there are 
 warrants giuen out for any of the said Generall Courts, the Con- 
 stable or Constables of ech Towne shall forthw*'' give notice dis- 
 tinctly to the inhabitants of the same, in some Publike Assembly 
 or by goeing or sending fro howse to howse, that at a place and 
 tyme by him or them lymited and sett, they meet and assem- 
 ble the selues togather to elect and chuse certen deputyes to 
 be att the Generall Courte then following to agitate the afayres 
 of the comonwelth ; w"'' said Deputyes shall be chosen by all 
 that are admitted Inhabitants in the seu''all Townes and haue 
 taken the oath of fidellity; p'uided that non be chosen a Deputy 
 for any Generall Courte w"^ is not a Freeman of this Comon- 
 welth. 
 
 The foresaid deputyes shall be chosen in manner following : 
 euery p'^son that is p'sent and quallified as before exp'ssed, shall 
 bring the names of such, written in seu'^rall papers, as they desire 
 to haue chosen for that Imployment, and these 3 or 4, more or 
 lesse, being the nuber agreed on to be chosen for that tyme, that 
 haue greatest niiber of papers written for the shall be deputyes 
 for that Courte ; whose names shall be endorsed on the backe 
 side of the warrant and returned into the Courte, w*^ the Con- 
 stable or Constables hand vnto the same. 
 
 8. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that Wyndsor, 
 Hartford and Wethersfield shall haue power, ech Towne, to 
 send fower of their freemen as deputyes to euery Generall 
 Courte ; and whatsoeuer other Townes shall be hereafter added 
 to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many deputyes as the 
 Courte shall judge meete, a resonable p'portion to the nuber of 
 Freemen that are in the said Townes being to be attended there- 
 in ; w"*" deputyes shall have the power of the whole Towne to 
 g'iue their voats and alowance to all such lawes and orders as may 
 
FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT. 333 
 
 be for the publike good, and unto w"** the said Townes are to be 
 bownd. 
 
 9. It is ordered and decreed, that the deputyes thus chosen 
 shall haue power and liberty to appoynt a tyme and a place of 
 meeting togather before any Generall Courte to aduise and con- 
 sult of all such things as may concerne the good of the publike, 
 as also to examine their owne Elections, whether according to the 
 order, and if they or the gretest p'te of them find any election to 
 be illegall they may seclud such for p'sent fro their meeting, and 
 returne the same and their resons to the Courte ; and if yt proue 
 true, the Courte may fyne the p^ty or p'tyes so intruding and the 
 Towne, if they see cause, and giue out a warrant to goe to a 
 newe election in a legall way, either in p^'te or in whole. Also 
 the said deputyes shall haue power to fyne any that shall be dis- 
 orderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due tyme or place 
 according to appoyntment ; and they may returne the said fynes 
 into the Courte if yt be refused to be paid, and the tresurer to 
 take notice of yt, and to estreete or levy the same as he doth 
 other fynes. 
 
 10. It is Ordered, sentenced and decreed, that euery Gen- 
 erall Courte, except such as through neglecte of the Gou^nor 
 and the greatest p'te of Magestrats the Freemen themselves 
 doe call, shall consist of the Gouernor, or some one chosen to 
 moderate the Court, and 4 other Magestrats at lest, w*^ the 
 mayor p'te of the deputyes of the seuerall Townes legally chosen ; 
 and in case the Freemen or mayor p'^te of the, through neglect 
 or refusall of the Gouernor and mayor p'^te of the magestrats, 
 shall call a Courte, y* shall consist of the mayor p'^te of Free- 
 men that are p'sent or their deputyes, w"" a Moderator chosen 
 by the : In w"^ said Generall Courts shall consist the supreme 
 power of the Comonwelth, and they only shall haue power to 
 make laws or repeale the, to graunt leuyes, to admitt of Free- 
 men, dispose of lands vndisposed of, to seuerall Townes or 
 p'sons, and also shall haue power to call ether Courte or Mages- 
 trate or any other p'^son whatsoeuer into question for any misde- 
 meanour, and may for just causes displace or deale otherwise 
 according to the nature of the offence ; and also may deale in 
 any other matter that concerns the good of this comonwelth, 
 excepte election of Magestrats, w"^ shall be done by the whole 
 boddy of Freemen. 
 
 In w*** Courte the Gouernour or Moderator shall haue power to 
 order the Courte to giue liberty of spech, and silence vnceason- 
 
834 APPENDIX E. 
 
 able and disorderly speakeings, to put all things to voate, and in 
 case the vote be equall to haue the casting voice. But non of 
 these Courts shall be adiorned or dissolued w'^out the consent 
 of the maior p'te of the Court. 
 
 11. It is ordered, sentenced and decreed, that when any 
 Generall Courte vppon the occations of the Coraonwelth haue 
 agreed vppon any sume or somes of mony to be leuyed vppon 
 the seuerall Townes w*Mn this Jurisdiction, that a Comittee be 
 chosen to sett out and appoynt w* shall be the p'portion of euery 
 Towne to pay of the said leuy, p^'vided the Comittees be made 
 vp of an equall niiber out of each Towne. 
 
 14"" January, 1*638, the 11 Orders abouesaid are voted. 
 
 The Oath of the Gou^nor, for the [p'^sent], 
 
 I J^. W, being now chosen to be Gou'nor w*Hn this Jurisdic- 
 tion, for the yeare ensueing, and vntil a new be chosen, doe 
 sweare by the greate and dreadfuU name of the everliueing God, 
 to p^'mote the publicke good and peace of the same, according 
 to the best of my skill ; as also will mayntayne all lawf uU priui- 
 ledges of this Comonwealth ; as also that all wholesome lawes 
 that are or shall be made by lawfull authority here established, 
 be duly executed ; and will further the execution of Justice ac- 
 cording to the rule of Gods word ; so helpe me God, in the 
 name of the Lo : Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Oath of a Magestrate, for the p"sent. 
 
 I, J^. I^^. being chosen a Magestrate w^'^in this Jurisdiction 
 for the yeare ensueing, doe sweare by the great and dreadfuU 
 name of the euerliueing God, to p'mote the publike good and 
 peace of the same, according to the best of my skill, and that I 
 will mayntayne all the lawfull priuiledges thereof according to 
 my vnderstanding, as also assist in the execution of all such 
 wholsome lawes as are made or shall be made by lawfull author- 
 ity heare established, and will further the execution of Justice 
 for the tyme aforesaid according to the righteous rule of Gods 
 word ; so helpe me God, etc. 
 
 [Until 1752, the legal year in England began March 25 (Lady Day), 
 not January 1. All the days between January 1 and March 25 of the 
 year which we now call 1639 were therefore then a part of the year 
 1638 ; so that the date of the Constitution is given by its own terms as 
 1638, instead of 1639.] 
 
To face page 335 
 
STATES CLASSIFIED. 335 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 THE STATES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ORIGIN. 
 
 1. The thirteen original states. 
 
 2. States formed directly from other states. 
 
 Vermont from territory disputed between New York and 
 New Hampshire, Kentucky from Virginia, Maine 
 from Massachusetts, West Virginia from Virginia. 
 
 3. States from the Northwest Territory (see p. 253}. 
 
 Ohio, Michigan, 
 
 Indiana, Wisconsin, 
 
 Illinois, Minnesota, in part. 
 
 4. States from other territory ceded by states. 
 
 Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, 
 
 Alabama, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia, 
 
 Mississippi, ceded by South Carolina and Georgia. 
 
 5. States from the Louisiana purchase (see p. 253). 
 
 Louisiana, North Dakota, 
 
 Arkansas, South Dakota, 
 
 Missouri, Montana, 
 
 Kansas, Minnesota, in part, 
 
 Nebraska, Wyoming, in part, 
 
 Iowa, Colorado, in part. 
 
 6. States from Mexican cessions. 
 
 California, Utah, Wyoming, in part, 
 
 Nevada, Colorado, in part. 
 
 7. States from territory defined by treaty with Great Britain 
 (see p. 254). 
 
 Oregon, Washington, Idaho. 
 
 8. States from other sources. 
 
 Florida, from a Spanish cession, 
 Texas, by annexation (see p. 254). 
 
gr^llj^^iiW—' 
 
 62i>v^ 
 
 fi4!'40— 
 
 LXICAN 
 CESSION - 
 
 18'^=) -v 
 
 MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY 
 BY THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 SQ. MILKS. 
 
 Area of United States in 1783 827,844 
 
 Austria-Hungaty, German Empire, France, and Spain .... 834,900 
 
 Louisiana Purchase, 1803, with the portion of Oregon territory retained 
 
 in 1846 1,171,931 
 
 Austria-Hungary, German Empire, Sweden, Norway, Denniarlc, Belgium, 
 
 France, and Spain 1,171,154 
 
 Florida Purchase, 1819 511, qcS 
 
 England and Wales jS.jjo 
 
 Texan Annexation, 1845 375,230 
 
 Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland 370,473 
 
 Mexican Cessions, 1848-53 . . . . • 501,318 
 
 German Empire, France, and Spain . 593,')l'3 
 
 Alaska, 1867 577.3<)0 
 
 Austria-Hungary, German Empire, and Norway 575.314 
 
 United States since 1867 3,6o2.9<)o 
 
 Europe 3.986,975 
 
 ■\ 
 
 i TEVAN -, 
 
 x.CANC£SMoA',ANlNE^XAT10N^j / 
 
 I 1845 . [ V 
 
 To fao« pago S 3 5 
 
836 
 
 APPENDIX G, 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. 
 {Ratio of representation based on census of 1890 — 173,901.) 
 
 
 Dates. 
 
 No. 
 1 
 
 Names. 
 
 Popula- 
 tion to 
 sq. m. 
 
 Area in 
 sq. m. 
 
 Popula- 
 tion, 1890. 
 
 1^ 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 
 r 1787, Dec. 7 
 
 Delaware 
 
 82.1 
 
 2,050 
 
 168,493 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 Dec. 12 
 
 2 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 111.2 
 
 45,215 
 
 5,258,014 
 
 30 
 
 32 
 
 
 Dec. 18 
 
 3 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 179.7 
 
 7,815 
 
 1,444,933 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 *> 
 
 1788, Jan. 2 
 
 4 
 
 Georgia 
 
 30.8 
 
 59,475 
 
 1,837,353 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 '■s 
 
 Jan. 9 
 
 5 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 149.5 
 
 4,990 
 
 746,258 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 § 
 
 Feb. 6 
 
 6 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 269.2 
 
 8,315 
 
 2,238,943 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 o. 
 
 April 28 
 
 7 
 
 Maryland 
 
 85.3 
 
 12,210 
 
 1,042,390 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 ^ 
 
 May 23 
 
 8 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 37.6 
 
 30,570 
 
 1,151,149 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 t3 
 
 June 21 
 
 9 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 40.4 
 
 9,305 
 
 376,530 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 June 25 
 
 10 
 
 Virginia 
 
 39. 
 
 42,450 
 
 1,655,980 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 
 July 26 
 
 11 
 
 New York 
 
 121.9 
 
 49,170 
 
 5,997,853 
 
 34 
 
 36 
 
 3 
 
 1789, Nov. 21 
 
 12 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 30.9 
 
 52,250 
 
 1,617,947 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 Ph 
 
 1790, May 29 
 
 13 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 276.4 
 
 1,250 
 
 345,506 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1791, March 4 
 
 14 
 
 Vermont 
 
 34.6 
 
 9,565 
 
 332,422 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1792, June 1 
 
 15 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 46. 
 
 40,400 
 
 1,858,635 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 
 1796, June 1 
 
 16 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 42. 
 
 42,050 
 
 1,767,518 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 
 1803, Feb. 19 
 
 17 
 
 Ohio 
 
 89.4 
 
 41,060 
 
 3,672,316 
 
 21 
 
 23 
 
 
 1812, April 30 
 
 18 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 22.9 
 
 48,720 
 
 1,118.587 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 1816, Dec. 11 
 
 19 
 
 Indiana 
 
 60.3 
 
 36,350 
 
 2,192404 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 
 1817, Dec. 10 
 
 20 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 42.7 
 
 46,810 
 
 1,289,600 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 
 1818, Dec. 3 
 
 21 
 
 Illinois 
 
 67.5 
 
 56,650 
 
 3,826,351 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 
 1819, Dec. 14 
 
 22 
 
 Alabama 
 
 28.9 
 
 52,250 
 
 1,513,017 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 
 1820, March 15 
 
 23 
 
 Maine 
 
 20. 
 
 33,040 
 
 661,086 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 n 
 
 1821, Aug. 10 
 
 24 
 
 Missouri 
 
 38.5 
 
 69,415 
 
 2,679,184 
 
 15 
 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 1836, June 15 
 
 25 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 20.9 
 
 53,850 
 
 1,128,179 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1837, Jan. 26 
 
 26 
 
 Michigan 
 
 35.5 
 
 58,915 
 
 2,093,889 
 
 12 
 
 14 
 
 1845, March 3 
 
 27 
 
 Florida 
 
 6.6 
 
 58,680 
 
 391,422 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1845, Dec. 29 
 
 28 
 
 Texas 
 
 8.4 
 
 265,780 
 
 2,235,523 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 o ■ 
 
 1846, Dec. 28 
 
 29 
 
 Iowa 
 
 34.1 
 
 56,025 
 
 1,911,896* 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 -IJ 
 
 1848, May 29 
 
 30 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 30. 
 
 56,040 
 
 1,686,880 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 
 1850, Sept. 9 
 
 31 
 
 California 
 
 7.6 
 
 158,360 
 
 1,208,130 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 
 1858, May 11 
 
 32 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 15.6 
 
 83,365 
 
 1,301,826 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 a 
 
 1859, Feb. 14 
 
 33 
 
 Oregon 
 
 3.2 
 
 96,030 
 
 313,767 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1861, Jan. 29 
 
 34 
 
 Kansas 
 
 17.3 
 
 82,080 
 
 1,427,096 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 1863, June 19 
 
 35 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 30.T 
 
 24,780 
 
 762,794 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 1864, Oct. 31 
 
 36 
 
 Nevada 
 
 0.4 
 
 110,700 
 
 45,761 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 1867, March 1 
 
 37 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 13.6 
 
 77,510 
 
 1,058,910 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 1876, Aug. 1 
 
 38 
 
 Colorado 
 
 3.9 
 
 103,925 
 
 412,198 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1889, Nov. 2 j 
 
 39 
 
 North Dakota ) 
 South Dakota ) 
 
 2.5 
 
 70,795 
 
 182,719 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 40 
 
 4.2 
 
 77,650 
 
 328,808 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1889, Nov. 8 
 
 41 
 
 Montana 
 
 0.9 
 
 146,080 
 
 132,159 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 1889, Nov. 11 
 
 42 
 
 Washington 
 
 5. 
 
 69,180 
 
 349,390 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1890, July 3 
 
 43 
 
 Idaho 
 
 0.9 
 
 84,800 
 
 84,385 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 1890, July 10 
 
 44 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 0.6 
 
 97,890 
 
 60,705 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 1896, Jan. \ 
 
 45 
 
 Utah 
 
 2.4 
 
 84,970 
 
 207,905 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 -■« 
 
 1850, Sept. 9 
 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 1.2 
 
 122,580 
 
 153,593 
 
 
 
 
 1863, Feb. 24 
 
 
 Arizona 
 
 0.5 
 
 113,020 
 
 59,620 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 1868, July 27 
 
 
 Alaska 
 
 
 577,390 
 
 no census 
 
 
 
 
 1834, June 30 
 
 
 Indian Territory 
 
 
 31,400 
 
 no census 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 1889, April 22 
 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 1.5 
 
 39,030 
 
 61,834 
 
 
 
 
 1791, March 3 
 
 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 
 3,291.1 
 
 70 
 
 230,392 
 
 
 
 1900, total House of Representatives 357 -}- Senate 90 = electoral votes, 447. 
 
EXAMINATION PAPER. 
 
 337 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1890, 
 Showing Percentages of Urban Population. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Pop. of U. S. 
 
 No. of Cities. 
 
 Pop. of Cities. 
 
 Percentage of Urban 
 Population. 
 
 1790 
 
 3,929,214 
 
 6 
 
 131,472 
 
 3.33 
 
 1800 
 
 5,308,483 
 
 6 
 
 210,873 
 
 3.9 
 
 1810 
 
 7,239,881 
 
 11 
 
 356,920 
 
 4.9 
 
 1820 
 
 9,633,822 
 
 13 
 
 474,135 
 
 4.9 
 
 1830 
 
 12,866,020 
 
 26 
 
 864,509 
 
 6.7 
 
 1840 
 
 17,069,453 
 
 44 
 
 1,453,994 
 
 8.5 
 
 1850 
 
 23,191,876 
 
 85 
 
 2,897,586 
 
 12.5 
 
 1860 
 
 31,443,321 
 
 141 
 
 5,072,256 
 
 16.1 
 
 1870 
 
 38,558,371 
 
 226 
 
 8,071,875 
 
 20.9 
 
 1880 
 
 50,155,783 
 
 286 
 
 11,318,597 
 
 22.5 
 
 1890 
 
 62,622,250 
 
 443 
 
 18,235,670 
 
 29.1 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 AN EXAMINATION PAPER FOR CUSTOMS CLERKS. 
 
 Applicant's No. o 
 Applicant's Declaration. 
 Directions, — 1. The number above is your examination number. 
 Write it at the top of every sheet given you in this examination. 
 
 2. Fill promptly all the blanks in this sheet. Any omission may 
 lead to the rejection of your papers. 
 
 3. Write all answers and exercises in ink. 
 
 4. Write your name on no other sheet but this. 
 
 Place this sheet in the envelope. Write your number on the en- 
 velope and seal the same. 
 
 declaration. 
 I declare upon my honour as follows : 
 
 1. My true and full name is (if female, please say whether 
 Mrs. or Miss) 
 
 2. Since my application was made I have been living at (give 
 all the places) 
 
338 APPENDIX I. 
 
 3. My post-office address in full is 
 
 4. If examined within twelve months for the civil service — 
 for any post-office, custom-house, or Department at Washing- 
 ton — state the time, place, and result. 
 
 5. If you have ever been in the civil service, state where and 
 in what position, and when you left it and the reasons therefor. 
 
 6. Are you now under enlistment in the army or navy? 
 
 7. If you have been in the military or naval service of the 
 United States, state which, and whether you were honourably 
 discharged, when, and for what cause. 
 
 8. Since my application no change has occurred in my health 
 or physical capacity except the following : 
 
 9. I was born at , on the day of , 188 . 
 
 10. My present business or employment is 
 
 11. I swore to my application for this examination as near as 
 
 I can remember at (town or city of) , on the day 
 
 of ,188 . 
 
 All the above statements are true, to the best of my knowl- 
 edge and belief. 
 
 (^Signature in usual form. ^ 
 
 Dated at the city of , State of , this day 
 
 of , 188 . 
 
 First Subject. 
 
 Question 1. One of the examiners will distinctly read (at a 
 rate reasonable for copying) fifteen lines from the Civil- Service 
 Law or Rules, and each applicant will copy the same below from 
 the reading as it proceeds. 
 
 Question 2. Write below at length the names of fifteen States 
 and fifteen cities of the Union. 
 
 Question Z. Copy the following precisely : 
 
 *' And in my opinion, sir, this principle of claiming monopoly 
 of office by the right of conquest, unless the public shall effectu- 
 ally rebuke and restrain it, will effectually change the charac- 
 ter of our Government. It elevates party above country; it for- 
 gets the common weal in the pursuit of personal emolument ; it 
 tends to form, it does form, we see that it has formed, a politi- 
 cal combination, united by no common principles or opinions 
 among its members, either upon the powers of the Government 
 or the true policy of the country, but held together simply as an 
 association, under the charm of a popular head, seeking to 
 maintain possession of the Government by a vigorous exercise 
 
EXAMINATION PAPER. 339 
 
 of its patronage, and for this purpose agitating and alarming 
 and distressing social life by the exercise of a tyrannical party 
 proscription. Sir, if this course of things cannot be checked, 
 good men will grow tired of the 'exercise of political privileges. 
 They will see that such elections are but a mere selfish contest 
 for office, and they will abandon the Government to the scram- 
 ble of the bold, the daring, and the desperate.'* — Daniel Web- 
 ster on Civil Service^ m 1832. 
 
 Question 4. Correct any errors in spelling which you find in 
 the following sentences, writing your letters so plainly that no 
 one of them can be mistaken : 
 
 Unquestionebly every federil offeser should be able to spell 
 corectly the familier words of his own languege. 
 
 Lose her hankercheif and elivate her head immediatly or she 
 will spedily loose her life by strangelation. 
 
 Second Subject. 
 
 Question 1. Multiply 2341705 by 23870 and divide the pro- 
 duct by 6789. 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 2. Divide two hundred and five thousand two hun- 
 dred and five, and two hundred and five ten- thousandths, by 
 one hundred thousand one hundred, and one hundredth. 
 
 Question 3. Multiply lOf by 7i and divide the product by 9^, 
 reducing the same to the simplest form. 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 4. The annual cost of the public schools of a city is 
 S36,848. What school-tax must be assessed, the cost of collect- 
 ing being 2 per cent. , and 6 per cent of the assessed tax being 
 uncollectible ? 
 ■«fc Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 5. Add 7|, | of 6|, 8^, 6| divided by 8 J, and re- 
 duce to lowest terms. 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 6. The Government sold 3000 old muskets at 22^ 
 per cent, of their cost. The purchaser becoming insolvent paid 
 only 13 per cent, of the price he agreed to pay; that is, he paid 
 $900. What did each musket cost the Government? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 7. What will it cost to carpet a room 36 feet wide by 
 72 feet long with -| width carpet at $2.12 per yard, including 
 
340 APPENDIX L 
 
 cost of carpet-lining at 11 cents a square yard and 12 cents a 
 yard for making and laying the carpet? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 8. A owned -^ of a ship and sold |- of his share to B, 
 who sold |- of what he bought to C, who sold ^ of what he 
 bought to D. What part of the whole vessel did D buy ? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 9. A man bought a cargo of wool and sold seven 
 thousand and forty-five ten-thousandths of it. How much had 
 he left ? 
 
 Give operation in full in decimal fractions. 
 
 Question 10. A merchant imported from Bremen 32 pieces of 
 linen of 32 yards each, on which he paid for the duties, at 24 
 per cent, $122.38, and other charges to the amount of $40.96. 
 What was the invoice value per yard, and the cost per yard 
 after duties and charges were paid ? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Third Subject. 
 
 Question 1. On a mortgage for $3,125, dated July 5, 1880 
 (interest at 3^ per cent), a payment of $840 was made April 23, 
 1881. What amount was due January 17, 1882? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 2. The Government sold an old vessel for $160,000, 
 payable two fifths in eight months and the residue in seventeen 
 months from the sale. What was the present cash value of the 
 vessel, the current rate of interest on money being five per cent ? 
 
 Give operation in full. 
 
 Question 3. Write a promissory note to be given by J. 
 Brown to J. Smith, for 60 days, without grace, for $500, at 5 
 per cent interest, and state what amount will be due at matu- 
 rity of the note. 
 
 Question 4. James X. Young, a contractor, had the follow- 
 ing dealings with the Treasury Department : He furnished 
 January 4, 1882, 14 tables at $16 each; June 6, 1882, 180 desks 
 at $18.50 each; December 7, 1882, 150 chairs at $2 each, and 
 July 18, 1883, 14 book-cases at $90 each. He was paid cash as 
 follows: January 31, 1882, $224; June 30, $1,800; December 18, 
 $300; and July 31, 1883, he was allowed on settlement $75 for 
 cartage and charged $25 for breakages. State his account and 
 show balance due. 
 
EXAMINATION PAPER, 841 
 
 Fourth Subject. 
 
 Question lo State the meaning of tense and of mood, and ex- 
 plain the difference between them in the Enghsh language or 
 grammar. 
 
 Question 2. Correct any errors you find in the following sen- 
 tences I 
 
 The boy done it, and he is as restless here as he will be if he 
 was with you. 
 
 He had did it and spoke of doing it before we come here. 
 
 Question ^. Write a letter to Senator Jackson answering in 
 full his letter of September 7 to the Secretary of the Treasury 
 in which he asks : " How must my nephew proceed to obtain a 
 clerkship in the Treasury Department, under the Civil-Service 
 Law, and what are the requisite qualifications of a good 
 clerk?'* 
 
 Fifth Subject. 
 
 Question 1. Write without abbreviation the names of fifteen 
 seaports of the Union. 
 
 Question 2. Name four of the principal tributaries of the 
 Mississippi River. 
 
 Question 3. Bound the State in which you live. 
 
 Question 4, Which States are peninsular, and upon what 
 waters are they situated ? 
 
 Question 5. Name six of the principal railroads in the United 
 States. 
 
 Question 6. Name seven of the leading agricultural products 
 of the United States, and state in what section of the country 
 each is most extensively cultivated- 
 
342 APPENDIX J. 
 
 APPENDIX J. 
 
 THE NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT OF 1890. 
 
 Chap. 94. — An Act to amend title five of the Penal Code 
 relating to chimes against the elective franchise. 
 
 Approved by the Governor April 4, 1890. Passed, three fifths being present. 
 
 The People of the State of New Yoj-k, represented in Senate and 
 Assembly J do enact as follows: 
 
 Section 1. Title five of the Penal Code, entitled " Of crimes 
 against the elective franchise," is hereby amended so as to read 
 as follows : 
 
 § 41. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, 
 by himself or through any other person : 
 
 1. To pay, lend, or contribute, or offer or promise to pay, lend, 
 or contribute any money or other valuable consideration, to or 
 for any voter, or to or for any other person, to induce such voter 
 to vote or refrain from voting at any election, or to induce any 
 voter to vote or refrain from voting at such election for any par- 
 ticular person or persons, or to induce such voter to come to the 
 polls or remain away from the polls at such election, or on ac- 
 count of such voter having voted or refrained from voting or 
 having voted or refrained from voting for any particular person, 
 or having come to the poll or remained away from the polls, at 
 such election. 
 
 2. To give, offer, or promise any office, place, or employment, 
 or to promise to procure or endeavour to procure any office, 
 place, or employment to or for any voter, or to or for any other 
 person, in order to induce such voter to vote or refrain from 
 voting at any election, or to induce any voter to vote or re- 
 frain from voting at such election for any particular person or 
 persons. 
 
 3. To make any gift, loan, promise, offer, procurement, or 
 agreement, as aforesaid, to, for, or with any person in order 
 to induce such person to procure or endeavour to procure the 
 election of any person, or the vote of any voter at any election. 
 
 4. To procure or engage, promise or endeavour to procure, in 
 consequence of any such gift, loan, offer, promise, procurement, 
 or agreement, the election of any person or the vote of any voter 
 at such election. 
 
NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT. 343 
 
 5. To advance or pay or cause to be paid any money or other 
 valuable thing to or for the use of any other person with the in- 
 tent that the same, or any part thereof, shall be used in bribery 
 at any election, or to knowingly pay, or cause to be paid, any 
 money or other valuable thing to any person in discharge or re- 
 payment of any money, wholly or in part, expended in bribery 
 at any election. 
 
 § 41«. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indi- 
 rectly, by himself or through any other person : 
 
 1. To receive, agree, or contract for, before or during an 
 election, any money, gift, loan, or other valuable consideration, 
 office, place, or employment for himself or any other person, for 
 votins: or agreeino; to vote, or for coming or agreeing to come to 
 the polls, or for remaining away or agreeing to remain away 
 from the polls, or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from vot- 
 ing, or for voting or agreeing to vote or refraining or agreeing 
 to refrain from voting for any particular persoii or persons at any 
 election. 
 
 2. To receive any money or other valuable thing during or 
 after an election on account of himself or any other person hav- 
 ing voted or refrained frOm voting at such election, or on account 
 of himself or any other person having voted or refrained from 
 voting for any particular person at such election, or on account 
 of himself or any other person having come to the polls or re- 
 mained away from the polls at such election, or on account of 
 having induced any other person to vote or refrain from voting 
 or to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or per- 
 sons at such election. 
 
 416. It shall be unlawful for any candidate for public office, 
 before or during an election, to make any bet or wager with a 
 voter, or take a share or interest in or in any manner become a 
 party to any such bet or wager, or provide or agree to provide 
 any money to be used by another in making such bet or wager, 
 upon any event or contingency whatever. Nor shall it be law- 
 ful for any person, directly or indirectly, to make a bet or wager 
 with a voter, depending upon the result of any election, with the 
 intent thereby to procure the challenge of such voter, or to pre- 
 vent him from voting at such election. 
 
 § 41c. It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indi- 
 rectly, by himself or any other person in his behalf, to make use 
 of, or threaten to make use of, any force, violence, or restraint, 
 or to inflict or threaten the infliction by himself, or through any 
 
344 APPENDIX J. 
 
 other person, of any injury, damage, harm, or loss, or in any 
 manner to practice intimidation upon or against any person, in 
 order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from 
 voting at any election, or to vote or refrain from voting for any 
 particular person or persons at any election, or on account of 
 such person having voted or refrained from voting at any elec- 
 tion. And it shall be unlawful for any person by abduction, 
 duress, or any forcible or fraudulent device or contrivance what- 
 ever to impede, prevent, or otherwise interfere with, the free 
 exercise of the elective franchise by any voter ; or to compel, 
 induce, or prevail upon any voter either to give or refrain from 
 giving his vote at any election, or to give or refrain from giving 
 his vote for any particular person at any election. It shall not 
 be lawful for any employer in paying his employees the salary 
 or wages due them to inclose their pay in " pay envelopes " upon 
 which there is written or printed any political mottoes, devices, 
 or arguments containing threats, express or implied, intended or 
 calculated to influence the political opinions or actions of such 
 employees. Nor shall it be lawful for any employer, within ninety 
 days of general election to put up or otherwise exhibit in his fac- 
 tory, work-shop, or other establishment or place where his em- 
 ployees may be working, any hand-bill or placard containing any 
 threat, notice, or information that in case any particular ticket or 
 candidate shall be elected, work in his place or establishment 
 will cease, in whole or in part, or his establishment be closed up, 
 or the wages of his workmen be reduced, or other threats, express 
 or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political opin- 
 ions or actions of his employees. This section shall apply to 
 corporations, as well as to individuals, and any person or corpo- 
 ration violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanour, and any corporation violating this 
 section shall forfeit its charter. 
 
 § Aid. Every candidate who is voted for at any public election 
 held within this state shall, within ten days after such election, 
 file as hereinafter provided an itemized statement, showing in 
 detail all the moneys contributed or expended by him, directly 
 or indirectly, by himself or through any other person, in aid of 
 his election. Such statement shall give the names of the vari- 
 ous persons who received such moneys, the specific nature of 
 each item, and the purpose for which it was expended or con- 
 tributed. There shall be attached to such statement an affidavit 
 subscribed and sworn to by such candidate, setting forth in sub- 
 
NEW YORK CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT. 345 
 
 stance that the statement thus made is in all respects true, and 
 that the same is a full and detailed statement of all moneys 
 so contributed or expended by him, directly or indirectly, by 
 himself or through any other person in aid of his election. 
 Candidates for offices to be filled by the electors of the entire 
 state, or any division or district thereof greater than a county, 
 shall file their statements in the office of the secretary of state. 
 The candidates for town, village, and city offices, excepting the 
 city of New York, shall file their statements in the office of the 
 town, village, or city clerk respectively, and in cities wherein 
 there is no city clerk, with the clerk of the common council 
 wherein the election occurs. Candidates for all other offices, 
 including all offices in the city and county of New York, shall 
 file their statements in the office of the clerk of the county 
 wherein the election occurs. 
 
 § 41e. A person offending against any provision of sections 
 forty-one and forty-one-a of this act is a competent witness 
 against another person so offending, and may be compelled to 
 attend and testify upon any trial, hearing, proceeding, or inves- 
 tigation in the same manner as any other person. But the tes- 
 timony so given shall not be used in any prosecution or proceed- 
 ing, civil or criminal, against the person so testifying. A person 
 so testifying shall not thereafter be liable to indictment, prose- 
 cution, or punishment for the offense with reference to which his 
 testimony was given and may plead or prove the giving of 
 testimony accordingly, in bar of such an indictment or prose- 
 cution. 
 
 § 41/! Whosoever shall violate any provision of this title, upon 
 conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a 
 county jail for not less than three months nor more than one 
 year. The offenses described in section ^ forty-one and forty- 
 one-a of this act are hereby declared to be infamous crimes. 
 When a person is convicted of any offense mentioned in sec- 
 tion forty-one of this act he shall in addition to the punishment 
 above prescribed, forfeit any office to which he may have been 
 elected at the election with reference to which such offense was 
 committed ; and when a person is convicted of any offense men- 
 tioned in section forty-one-a of this act he shall in addition to 
 the punishment above prescribed be excluded from the right of 
 suffrage for a period of five years after such conviction, and it 
 shall be the duty of the county clerk of the county in which 
 1 So in the original. 
 
346 APPENDIX J. 
 
 any such conviction shall be had, to transmit a certified copy of 
 the record of conviction to the clerk of each county of the state, 
 within ten days thereafter, which said certified copy shall be 
 duly filed by the said county clerks in their respective offices. 
 Any candidate for office who refuses or neglects to file a state- 
 ment as prescribed in section forty-one-d of this act shall be 
 deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, punishable as above provided 
 and shall also forfeit his office. 
 
 § 41^. Other crimes against the elective franchise are defined, 
 and the punishment thereof prescribed by special statutes. 
 
 § 2. Section forty-one of the Penal Code, as it existed prior 
 to the passage of this act, is hereby repealed. 
 
 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT. 347 
 
 APPENDIX K. 
 
 FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT ADOPTED IN MASSA- 
 CHUSETTS, 1889. 
 
 OFFICIAL BALLOT 
 
 FOK 
 
 Precinct , Ward , 
 
 of (city or town), 
 
 NOVEMBER ,18 . 
 
 [FaoSimile of Signature of Secretary.] 
 
 Secretary of the Commonwealths 
 
 SAMPLE BALLOT, 
 
 With explanations and illustration. 
 
 Prepared by the Ballot Act League with the approval of the 
 Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Some representative districts elect one, some two, and a few 
 three representatives to th,e General Court. Worcester County 
 elects four commissioners of insolvency instead of three as 
 in other counties. 
 
 No county commissioners or special commissioners will be 
 voted for in the cities of Boston and Chelsea or the county of 
 Nantucket. 
 
 Forms for nominating candidates can be had at the depart- 
 ment of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Carefully observe the official specimen ballots to be posted 
 and published just before election day. 
 
848 APPENDIX K. 
 
 To vote for a Person, mark a Cross X 
 
 GOVERNOR \ ', ; '. \ r~ Vote for ONE. 
 
 OLIVER AMES, of Easton . . . , 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 WILLIAM H. EARLE, of Worcester . . . . " 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 WILLIAM E. RUSSELL, of Cambridge . 
 
 Democratic. 1 
 
 1 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR . 
 
 Vote for ONE. 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 JOHN BASCOM, of Williamstown ..... 
 
 JOHN Q. A. BRACKETT, of Arlington 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 JOHN W. CORCORAN, of Clinton . 
 
 Democratic. 1 
 
 i 
 
 SECRETARY 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 WILLIAM N. OSGOOD, of Boston ..... 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 HENRY B. PEIRCE, of Abington .... 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 HENRY C. SMITH, of Williamsburg 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 1 
 
 TREASURER 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 JOHN M. FISHER, of Attleborough .... 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 GEORGE A. MARDEN, of Lowell 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 HENRY C. THACHER, of Yarmouth .... 
 
 Democratic. 1 
 
 1 
 
 AUDITOR 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 CHARLES R. LADD, of Springfield 
 
 . Republican. 
 
 EDMUND A. STOWE, of Hudson 
 
 Prohibition. 
 
 WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, of Worcester . 
 
 . Democratic. 
 
 1 
 
 ATTORNEY-GENERAL .... 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 ALLEN COFFIN, of Nantucket ...... 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 SAMUEL 0. LAMB, of Greenfield 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 ANDREW J. WATERMAN, of Pittsfield .... 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 1 
 
 COUNCILLOR, Third District . 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 ROBERT 0. FULLER, of Cambridge 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 WILLIAM E. PLUMMER, of Newton .... 
 
 Democratic. ( 
 
 SYLVANUS C. SMALL, of Winchester .... 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 
 
 
 SENATOR, Third Middlesex District . 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 FREEMAN HUNT, of Cambridge 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 CHESTER W. KINGSLEY, of Cambridge . 
 
 ; Republican. 
 \ Prohibition. 
 
 
 1 
 
 DISTRICT ATTORNEY, Northern District 
 
 Vote for ONE. 
 
 CHARLES S. LINCOLN, of Somerville .... 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 JOHN M. READ, of Lowell 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 WILLIAM B. STEVENS, of Stoneham .... 
 
 . Republican. | 
 
 ! 
 
FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT. 349 
 
 in the Square at the right of the name. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT 
 
 First Middlesex District. Vote for TWO. 
 
 WILLIAM H. MARBLE, of Cambridge . , . . Prohibition. 
 
 ISAAC McLEAN, of Cambridge Democratic. 
 
 GEORGE A. PERKINS, of Cambridge . . . . . Democratic. 
 
 JOHN READ, of Cambridge Republican. 
 
 CHESTER F. SANGER, of Cambridge . . Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM A. START, of Cambridge . , . • . Prohibition. 
 
 SHERIFF o . . . . . Vote for ONE 
 
 HENRY G. CUSHING, of Lowell Republican. 
 
 HENRY G. HARKINS, of LoweU Prohibition. 
 
 WILLIAM H. SHERMAN, of Ayer Democratic. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS OF INSOLVENCY. Vote for THREE. 
 
 JOHN W. ALLARD, of Framingham . . ■ . . . Democratic. 
 
 GEORGE J. BURNS, of Ayer . . . RepubUoan. 
 
 WILLIAM P. CUTTER, of Cambridge Prohibition. | 
 
 FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE, of Lowell .... Republican. 
 
 JAMES HICKS, of Cambridge . . Prohibition. | 
 
 JOHN C. KENNEDY, of Newton Republican. 
 
 RICHARD J. McKELLEGET, of Cambridge . . . . Democratic. 
 
 EDWARD D. McVEY, of Lowell Democratic. 
 
 ELMER A. STEVENS, of Someryjlle Prohibition. | 
 
 COUNTY COMMISSIONER. . . Vote for ONE, 
 
 WILLIAM S. FROST, of Marlborough Republican. 
 
 JOSEPH W. BARBER, of Sherbom Prohibition. | 
 
 JAMES SKINNER, of Wobum Democratic. 
 
 SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS . . . Vote for TWO. 
 
 HENRY BRADLEE, of Medford Democratic. 
 
 LYMAN DYKE, of Stoneham . Republican. 
 
 JOHN J. DONOVAN, of Lowell Democratic. 
 
 WILLIAM E. KNIGHT, of Shirley Prohibition. 
 
 ORSON E. MALLORY, of Lowell Prohibition. 
 
 EDWIN E. THOMPSON, of Wobum Republican. 
 
350 
 
 APPENDIX K, 
 
 SKETCH OF POLLING PLACE. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO VOTERS. 
 
 Give your name and residence to the ballot clerk, who, on finding your name on 
 the check list, will admit you within the rail and hand you a ballot. 
 
 Go alone to one of the voting shelves and there unfold your ballot. 
 
 Mark a cross X ii* ^'^ square at the right of the name of each person for whom 
 you wish to vote. No other method of marking, such as erasing names, will an- 
 swer. 
 
 Thus, if you wished to vote for John Bowles for Governor, you would mark 
 your ballot in this way : — 
 
 GOVERNOR .... 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton 
 
 . Prohibition. | X 
 
 THOMAS E. MEANS, of Boston o 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield . 
 
 Republican. | 
 
 If you wish to vote for a person whose name is not on the ballot, write, or insert 
 by a sticker, the name in the blank line at the end of the list of candidates for the 
 office, and mark a cross X in t^e square at the right of it. Thus, if you wished to 
 vote for George T. Morton, of Chelsea, for Governor, you would prepare your bal- 
 lot in this way : — 
 
 GOVERNOR 
 
 . Vote for ONE. 
 
 JOHN BOWLES, of Taunton 
 
 Prohibition. | 
 
 THOMAS B. MEANS, of Boston . 
 
 Democratic. | 
 
 ELIJAH SMITH, of Pittsfield . 
 
 . * . Republican. | 
 
 George T. Morton, of Chelsea 
 
 • IX 
 
 Notice, that for some offices you may vote for " two " or " three " candidates, as 
 stated in the ballot at the right of the name of the office to be voted for, e. g. : 
 *' Commissioners op Insolvency. Vote for Three." 
 
 If you spoil a ballot, return it to the ballot clerk, who will give you anothey. 
 You cannot have more than two extra ballots, or three in all. 
 
FORM OF AUSTRALIAN BALLOT, 351 
 
 You cannot remain within the rail more than ten minutes, and In case all the 
 shelves are in use and other voters waiting, you are allowed only five minutes at 
 the voting shelf. 
 
 Before leaving the voting shelf, fold your ballot in the same way as it was folded 
 when you received it, and keep it so folded until you place it in the ballot box. 
 
 Do not show any one how you have marked your ballot. 
 
 Go to the ballot box and give your name and residence to the officer in charge. 
 
 Put your folded ballot in the box with the certificate of the Secretary of the 
 Commonwealth uppermost and in sight. 
 
 You are not allowed to carry away a ballot, whether spoiled or not. 
 
 A voter who declares to the presiding official (under oath, if required) that he 
 was a voter before May 1, 1857, and cannot read, or that he is blind or physi6ally 
 unable to mark his ballot, can receive the assistance of one or two of the election 
 officers in the marking of his ballot. 
 
352 APPENDIX L. 
 
 APPENDIX L. 
 
 KANSAS ELECTION LAW. 
 
 State of Kansas, Executive Department. 
 Office of Secretary of State. 
 
 ToPEKA, Kansas, June 1, 1893. 
 
 To the County Clerk and all Election Officers of the State of 
 Kansas : 
 
 Gentlemen, ■ — In accordance witli tlie requirements of sec- 
 tion 31 of chapter 78, Session Laws of 1893, I submit herewith 
 such instructions and approved forms as in the opinion of the 
 Attorney- General and the Secretary of State may be necessary 
 to enable you to carry into effect the provisions of the act of the 
 legislature entitled " An act to provide for the printing and distri- 
 bution of ballots at the public expense, and for the nomination of 
 candidates for public offices ; to regulate the manner of holding 
 elections ; and to enforce secrecy of the ballot, and to provide 
 for the punishment of the violation of this act," which act was 
 approved March 11, 1893, and is known as chapter 78 of the Ses- 
 sion Laws of 1893. 
 
 Under this act, it is made the duty of the township trustee of 
 the respective townships, and the mayor and clerk of the re- 
 spective incorporated cities, to provide suitable places in which to 
 hold all elections provided for by this act, and to see that the same 
 are warmed, lighted, and furnished with proper supplies and 
 conveniences, including a sufficient number of guard rails, bal- 
 lot-boxes, booths, shelves, pens, penholders, ink, blotters, and 
 pencils, as will enable the voter to prepare his ballot for voting; 
 such voting booths to be so constructed that the voter may pre- 
 pare his ballot screened from all observation as to the manner 
 in which he does so. The number of voting booths shall be 
 not less than one to every sixty (60) voters, or fraction thereof, 
 who voted at the last preceding general election in the respec- 
 tive voting precincts in such township or city. The supplies 
 above enumerated are to be furnished by the officers above men- 
 tioned, at the expense of the respective townships and cities. 
 
 It is urged upon all such officers the necessity of seeing that 
 the legislative intent — the absolute secrecy of the ballot — is 
 secured, and to this end it is suggested that, in the construction 
 or arrangement of the voting booths, precaution be taken to pre- 
 
KANSAS ELECTION LAW. - 352a 
 
 vent any communication being had from one booth to another 
 without being observed by the judges of election. 
 
 Neither the county nor county officers are authorized by law 
 to obligate the county, townships, or cities to the payment of any 
 expense connected with the purchase of such supplies. 
 
 This act requires the officers whose duty it is to have the 
 ballots printed (county clerk, in all general elections) to pre- 
 pare full instructions for the guidance of voters, after they shall 
 have obtained a ballot, as to the manner of marking them and 
 the method of gaining assistance, and as to obtaining new bal- 
 lots in the place of those accidentally spoiled, and to cause such 
 instructions, together with the copies of sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 
 26, 27, 28, and 29 of said act, to be printed in large, clear type, 
 on cards to be called "Cards of Instruction," and furnished 
 to the judges of election, who are required to post not less than 
 one of such cards in each voting booth, and not less than four 
 in addition thereto in and about the polling place on the day 
 of election. 
 
 It is suggested that the following form of instructions be 
 adopted by the various county clerks, which, it is believed, would 
 meet the above requirements, and to which should be added the 
 sections above enumerated : — 
 
 CAED OF INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 To Obtain Ballot. — After giving your name and residence, if 
 you are a voter, you will receive a ballot from one of the judges, with 
 his initials indorsed thereon. Retire at once, alone, into any vacant 
 voting booth to prepare your ballot. You will find printed on the bal- 
 lot, in columns side by side, all the candidates of all the parties to be 
 voted for at that election. At the top of each column you will find 
 the name of each party " ticket," or list of candidates, as " People's 
 Party," "Republican," "Democratic," "Prohibition," etc. 
 
 To Prepare your Ballot. — To the left of each name on the 
 ballot, you will find a square, thus : n ; make a mark, thus : Xj ^'^ 
 the square, at the left of the names of the persons you desire to vote 
 for, (or Avrite the names in the blank spaces, making a mark, thus ; X> 
 at the left of such names.) Your ballot will be counted only for the 
 names marked. In voting for a " public measure," make a mark, 
 thus : X) i'^ the square at the left of the answer you want to give. 
 Do not mark your ballot in any other way except as indicated above. 
 Before leaving the booth, fold the ballot so as to conceal all names 
 and marks on the face of the ballot, leaving in view the printed filing 
 and initials of the judge of election indorsed on the outside. Leave 
 
352& APPENDIX L. 
 
 the booth and hand your ballot to the judge in charge of the ballot 
 box, and leave the inclosed space without delay. 
 
 Ix Preparing your Ballot. — You shall not remain in the in- 
 closed space longer than ten minutes ; nor in a booth longer than five 
 minutes, if other voters are waiting. You will not be allowed to take 
 a ballot from the polling place before the close of the election, nor to 
 vote any ballot except the one received from the judge. If you spoil a 
 ballot in preparing it, you must return it and get another. If you 
 decide not to vote, return your ballot and retire from the inclosed 
 space. 
 
 Assisting a Voter. — Any voter who cannot read English, or who 
 is disabled, shall, upon request, be assisted by two election officers of 
 opposite political parties, appointed for that purpose, who shall mark 
 the ballot as directed by the voter. No intoxicated person shall be 
 entitled to assistance in making his ballot. 
 
 Certificates of all nominations of candidates for offices to be 
 filled by the electors of the entire State, or any division thereof 
 greater than a county, must be filed with the Secretary of State 
 not more than sixty (60) nor less than thirty (30) days prior 
 to the day of election. Certificates of all other nominations of 
 candidates (except for the offices in cities) must be filed with 
 the county clerk of the respective counties not more than sixty 
 (60) days nor less than twenty (20) days prior to such elec- 
 tion. 
 
 The Secretary of State is required, not less than fifteen (15) 
 days before the election, to certify to the county clerk of each 
 county within which any of the electors may, by law, vote for 
 the candidates properly certified to him, the name and residence 
 of each of such candidates, as specified in the certificates of 
 nomination or nomination papers filed with him, and the county 
 clerk is required to have the ballots for all general elections 
 printed at the expense of the county ; the names of all the can- 
 didates, properly nominated and duly certified, to be printed on 
 one ballot ; all nominations for any political party or group of 
 petitioners being placed in separate columns under the party 
 appellation or title of such party or group as designated in the 
 certificates, and immediately below such party appellation or title 
 must be printed the following statement: "Electors will make a 
 cross mark, thus : X» ^^ the square at the left of the name of 
 the candidate for whom they wish to vote." 
 
 It is believed that the following form of ticket is in strict com- 
 pliance with the law : — 
 

 Yes, 
 
 1 
 
 No. 
 
 
 Yes. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 KANSAS ELECTION LAW. 352c 
 
 If a constitutional amendment is submitted to a vote, such 
 proposed amendment should be printed upon the ballot after 
 the list of candidates, as follows : — 
 
 " Shall the following amendment be adopted ? 
 
 (Here insert the proposed amendment.)'* 
 
 If any other public measure is proposed to be voted upon by 
 the people, instead of the above use the following : — 
 " Shall the following be adopted ? 
 
 (Here insert the designated title to proposed pub- 
 lic measure.) " 
 
 The county clerk is required to have the ballots printed and 
 in his possession at least five days before the election, accom- 
 panied by exact copies of said ballot, printed on paper of any 
 color other than white, for the inspection of candidates and 
 their agents ; and the county clerk is further required to cause 
 to be delivered to the judges of the election, at the polling place 
 of each voting precinct, not less than twelve (1 2) hours before 
 the time fixed by law for the opening of the polls therein, one 
 hundred (100) ballots of the kind to be voted in such precinct 
 for every fifty (50) voters or fraction thereof cast therein at the 
 last preceding election for state officers. 
 
 The township trustees of the respective townships, and the 
 mayors of the respective incorporated cities, are required, at 
 least five (5) days before any election, to appoint three (3) 
 judges and two (2) clerks of election for each voting precinct 
 in such township or city, and cause said judges and clerks to 
 be notified in writing of their appointment ; no more than two 
 (2) judges and no more than one (1) clerk to belong to the same 
 political party or organization : Provided, There be one or more 
 electors qualified and willing to act as such judge or clerk, and 
 belonging to and a member or members of opposite parties ; and 
 each person so appointed is required, at least one day before 
 election, to appear before such township trustee or clerk of such 
 city, as the case may be, and take and subscribe an oath to 
 faithfully and honestly discharge his duties as such judge or 
 clerk. 
 
352^ APPENDIX L. 
 
 The judges and clerks should, immediately after their being 
 notified of their appointment, appear before the trustee or clerk, 
 as the case may be, and take and subscribe the oath required, 
 in order that the county clerk may be promptly notified by the 
 trustee or clerk of such appointment or qualification, thus ad- 
 vising him as to the proper persons to whom the ballots should 
 and must be delivered 12 hours before the election. 
 
 The county clerk is also required to cause to be published (at 
 least once), prior to the day of election, in at least two news- 
 papers, if there be so many published in such county, represent- 
 ing the political parties which cast at the preceding general 
 election the largest and next largest number of votes, a list of 
 all the nominations made, as provided by said act, and to be 
 voted for at such election, as near as may be in the form in 
 which they may appear upon the general ballot. 
 
 The county clerk is also required to provide and retain at his 
 office an ample supply of ballots, in addition to those distributed 
 to the several voting precincts, to be furnished to any precinct 
 requiring same, by reason of the supply already furnished hav- 
 ing been lost, destroyed, or exhausted before the polls are closed, 
 as required by section 15 of said act. 
 
 The county clerks of the several counties of the State have 
 entire charge of the printing of cards of instruction to voters 
 and the ballots for all general elections, and their distribution, 
 together with the publication of the list of candidates nominated, 
 furnishing the poll books and other necessary blanks connected 
 with or growing out of the provisions of this act, (except the 
 books of registration required in cities of the first and second 
 class,) the same to be done at the expense of the county in the 
 first instance ; such expense to be apportioned by the board of 
 county commissioners among the various townships and cities of 
 the first and second class in such counties in proportion to the 
 vote cast at the last preceding election in each township and 
 city, and to be paid for by such townships and cities by warrants 
 drawn in favor of the proper county incurring such expense. 
 
 The provisions of said act do not apply to school-district 
 elections or meetings located outside the limits of an incorpo- 
 rated city. . . . 
 
 The county clerk should procure a record book in which to 
 enter the list of names of candidates certified to him, giving the 
 name of the office to which the respective candidates were nom* 
 inated, political party making such nominations, etc. 
 
KANSAS ELECTION LAW. 352e 
 
 The clerk should also procure a register in which to make 
 record of ballots issued at each election, showing the date of 
 issue^ to whom given, for what precinct, the number of ballots 
 delivered, date of return of ballots, number unused, the number 
 objected to or defective, and the number voted ; also date of 
 destruction of the ballots, and names of witnesses to such de- 
 struction, and their politics. 
 
 It is hoped that if the election law and the suggestions herein 
 made are carefully followed, the elections in this State will be 
 free from fraud and corruption, and the will of the voters can 
 and will be ascertained. 
 
 R. S. OsBORN, Secretary of State, 
 
 Approved by John T. Little, Attorney General. 
 

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INDEX. 
 
 Abbots, 50. 
 
 Adams, H., 277. 
 
 Adams, H. B., xiii., 46, 98. 
 
 Adams, H. C, 272. 
 
 Adams, J., 227, 232, 235. 
 
 Adams, J. Q., 227, 263. 
 
 Adams, S., 31, 162. 
 
 Adirondacks, 127. 
 
 Agora, 34, 
 
 Alabama, shire towns in, 62. 
 
 Aladdin's lamp, 133. 
 
 Albany Congress, 203. 
 
 Aldermen, 102, 107, 108, 111, 114, 122. 
 
 Alexander VI. , 140. 
 
 Alfred the Great, 9, 40, 43, 51. 
 
 Alice in the Looking-Glass Coimtry, 84. 
 
 Allinson, E. P., 134. 
 
 Ambassadors, 238. 
 
 Amending constitutions, 195, 248. 
 
 Amendments to Constitution of United 
 States, 190, 227, 256. 
 
 Andrews, C. M., 46. 
 
 Andrews, E. B., 273. 
 
 Andros, Sir E., 149. 
 
 Annapolis, 113, 206. 
 
 Arthur, C. A., 264. 
 
 Articles of Confederation, 205, 248. 
 
 Assemblies, colonial, 154, 160; dissolu- 
 tion of, 161, 165 ; primary and repre- 
 sentative, 99. 
 
 Assessment and collection of taxes, 
 25-29, 33, 45, 51, 63, 77, 78. 
 
 Assessors, 20, 21, 24-29, 33, 41, 45, 78, 
 79, 116. 
 
 Assistants, in New York, 111 ; in Massa- 
 chusetts, 147. 
 
 Athens, 34, 172. 
 
 Attainder, 247. 
 
 Attorney-generals, 169, 240. 
 
 Auditors, 130, 169. 
 
 Australia, 57. 
 
 Australian baUot, 265. 
 
 Babeau, A., 15. 
 Bagehot, W., 274. 
 Bailiffs, 36, 75. 
 Ballot, 24, 265. 
 Baltimore, Lord, 150. 
 Bancroft, G., 185, 272. 
 Band-of-States and Banded-State, 244. 
 250. 
 
 Bank, national, 260. 
 
 Barrington, 36. 
 
 Barrows, W., 186. 
 
 Base lines, 82, 88. 
 
 Beadles, 36, 38. 
 
 Beckford, W., 109. 
 
 Bemis, E., 89, 92, 94,98. 
 
 Berkeley, Lord, 144, 152. 
 
 Bill of Rights, 190, 256. 
 
 Board of estimate in Brooklyn, 131. 
 
 BoUing, J., 58. 
 
 Bonham, J. M., 274. 
 
 Boroughs, 50 ; in England, 103-111 ; in 
 
 some American states, 103. 
 Borough-reeves, 106. 
 Boston, 27, 31, 85, 101, 102, 119, 139; 
 
 list of city officials, 122. 
 Bourinot, J. G., 98. 
 Bouvier, J., 189. 
 Bowen, F., 277 
 Brentano, L., 139. 
 Bribery, 129, 266. 
 Brigandage in England in fourteenth 
 
 century, 52. 
 Bristol, 106. 
 
 Brooklyn, 116, 119, 130-133, 137. 
 Brotherhoods, 75, 76. 
 Browne, W. H., 151, 185. 
 Buchanan, J., 231. 
 Buckle, H. T., 15. 
 Bugbee, J. M., 123, 139. 
 Bundesstaat, 244. 
 Bunker Hill, 158, 205. 
 Burgesses, 103, 146. 
 Burgesses, House of, 145, 155. 
 Burgoyne, J., 208. 
 Burgundy, Duke of, 1. 
 Burr, A., 227. 
 
 Bryce, J., 193, 216, 217, 233, 272. 
 By-laws, 31,34, 36, 38, 59, 112. 
 
 Cabinet, 236-240. 
 
 Cabinet vs. presidential government, 
 
 167-169, 236. 
 Cabot, J., 140. 
 Cairo, 111., 89. 
 California, 57, 93, 95. 
 Calvert, C, 150. 
 Cambridge, Eng., 103. 
 Cambridge, Mass., 17, 102, 271. 
 Carr, D., 203. 
 
354 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Carr, L., 186. 
 
 Carteret, Sir G., 145, 152. 
 
 C artier, J., 140. 
 
 " Casters," casti^a, 104, 114. 
 
 Cato, 65. 
 
 Caucus, congressional, 232. 
 
 Cemeteries, 2. 
 
 Centralization vs. local self-government, 
 274, 
 
 Centralized administration in France, 
 173, 174. 
 
 Century, 76. 
 
 Chalmers, M. D., 50, 273. 
 
 Chamberlains, 111. 
 
 Chancellor, 221. 
 
 Channing, E., 46, 58, 64. 
 
 Charing Cross, 108. 
 
 Charles I., 143, 150. 
 
 CharlesII.,143, 149, 193. 
 
 Charles City county, Va., 62. 
 
 OliBiPlfis rivGr 146. 
 
 Charleston, s! C. (city), 72, 73; (county), 
 74. 
 
 Charter of Connecticut, 193; of Mary- 
 land, 150 ; of 1606, 142. 
 
 Charters of Massachusetts, 146, 149, 202, 
 204. 
 
 Charters and constitutions, 188, 189. 
 • Charters of mediaeval towns, 188. 
 
 Cheating the government, 28. 
 
 Cherokees, 75. 
 
 Cheshire, a county palatine, 150. 
 
 "Chesters," castra, 104, 114. 
 
 Chicago, 27, 85, 86, 116, 119. 
 
 Chimneys, 121. 
 
 Christendom, 188. 
 
 Churches, 16, 37, 38. 
 
 Church-rates, 37. 
 
 Churchwardens, 38, 59. 
 
 Circumlocution office, 126. 
 
 Cities, 50 ; in Virginia, 58, 146 ; defini- 
 tion of, in England and in the United 
 States, 103 ; rapid growth of, 119, 137 ; 
 government of, 116-139 ; debts of, 120, 
 127, 134 ; corruption in, 110, 114, 118, 
 135. 
 
 Citizens, duty of, 10, 11. 
 
 Civil service, 128, 132, 261-264. 
 
 Civil War, 73, 80, 170, 177, 246, 258, 263. 
 
 Clans, 35, 45, 104 ; their relation to 
 tribes, 49, 54 ; to hundreds, 75, 80. 
 
 Clay, H., 232. 
 
 Clergymen formerly supported by taxa- 
 tion, 46. 
 
 Crerk, city, 111, 123; county, 63, 73; 
 market. 111 ; parish, 38 ; town, 20, 24, 
 32, 33, 79 ; vestry, 38, 59, 
 
 Cleveland, G., 231, 264. 
 
 " Cloister and the Hearth," 1. 
 
 Close corporations, 60, 63, 79, 110. 
 
 Collectors of taxes, 21, 38, 79. 
 
 Colorado, 93, 95. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, 73. 
 
 Comitia, 34. 
 
 Committees of city council, 116, 125 ; of 
 correspondence, 162, 203 ; of legisla- 
 tive bodies, 168 ; of safety, 162 ; inef- 
 ficient for executive work, 126. 
 
 Common council, 102, 103, 107, 108, 114. 
 
 Common drivers, 38. 
 
 Common pasture, 18. 
 
 Commons, House of, 8, 13, 40, 50, 110, 
 135, 146, 161, 165, 193, 220. 
 
 Commonwealth, 5. 
 
 Communes in France, 173. 
 
 Company, London, 141, 159 ; of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, 146, 147, 159 ; Plymouth, 
 141, 159. 
 
 Complexity of city administration, 122- 
 124, 137. 
 
 Comptrollers, 130, 169. 
 
 Comstock, J. M., 264, 275. 
 
 Confederacy, New England, 202. 
 
 Confederation distinguished from fed- 
 eral union, 244, 250. 
 
 Confederation, the Articles of, 205, 248. 
 
 Congress, at Albany, 203 ; Stamp Act, 
 203; Continental, 7, 204-210, 253; 
 Provincial, 162, 204 ; Federal, 212-218, 
 244. 
 
 Connecticut, 253, 255 ; settlement of, 17, 
 143 ; size of counties in, 74 ; colonial 
 government of, 149, 153, 159, 163 ; fun- 
 damental orders of, 192 ; compromise, 
 214. 
 
 Constables, 2, 21, 24, 32, 33, 37, 39, OS, 
 79, 87, 123 ; high, 76, 77, 111 ; petty, 
 36. 
 
 Constitutions, written, 187-200. 
 
 Constituent Assembly of 1790 in France, 
 174. 
 
 Construction, strict and loose, 259. 
 
 Consular service, 238. 
 
 Contagious diseases, 20. 
 
 Contract, legal idea of, developed by the 
 Romans, 188. 
 
 Convention, the Federal, 209, 243, 253. 
 
 Conventions, definition of, 195 ; nomi- 
 nating, 233. 
 
 Cooley, T. M., 186, 275. 
 
 Cooke, J. E., 186. 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, 258. 
 
 Coroners, 51, 54, 63, 73, 78, 111. 
 
 Correction lines, 83. 
 
 Cotton, J., 17. 
 
 Council, governor's, 155 ; privy, 155, 
 193, 237. 
 
 Counts, 51. 
 
 County, 25, 38, 48-100; origin of, 49, 
 54; in Massachusetts, 54-57; in Vir- 
 ginia, 57-67 ; in South Carolina, 73, 
 74 ; in Maryland, 77 ; in Delaware, 78 ; 
 in Pennsylvania, 78-80 ; in New York, 
 79, 80 ; in the West, 84-98 ; sizes of, 
 61, 68, 74, 80 ; shapes of, 84, 85, 88. 
 
 County boards, 92, 93, 99 ; commission- 
 ers, 55, 73, 78 ; courts, 51, 54, 61, 148 ; 
 lieutenants, 64 ; treasurers, 55, 63. 
 
 Courts, baron, 36, 75, 150 ; circuit, 250 ; 
 city. 111, 178; common pleas, 112; 
 coroners', 51 ; county, 51, 61, 64, 78, 
 148, 178; district, 250; federal, 207, 
 250-252; general, 41, 148, 192; him- 
 dred, 76 ; insolvency, 55 ; leet, 36, 38, 
 75, 150 ; levy, 78 ; probate, 55 ; Quar- 
 ter Sessions, 52 ; superior, 55, 178 ; su- 
 preme, 178 ; Supreme, of United 
 States, 169, 250-252 ; of Appeals in 
 Cases of Capture, 207 ; actions and 
 procedure in, 69. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 355 
 
 Court-day in Virginia, 65. 
 
 Court-houses, 55, 62. 
 
 Crawford, W. H., 232, 262, 264. 
 
 Cressingham, 36. 
 
 CromweU, O,, 110, 191. 
 
 Crovraer, or coroner, 51. 
 
 Curia, 76. 
 
 Custom-house duties, 157, 175, 257-259. 
 
 Dakota, 85, 91, 92, 94. 
 
 Davenport, J., 17. 
 
 Davis, H.,200. 
 
 Dawes, Miss A. L., 273. 
 
 Debts of cities, 120, 127, 134. 
 
 Declaration of rights, 190. 
 
 Dedham, Mass., 22. 
 
 Deeds, 55. 68. 
 
 Deerfield, Mich., 83, 84. 
 
 Delaware, 210, 213, 225, 255 ; local insti- 
 tutions in, 78. 
 
 Delinquents, 21. 
 
 Delusions about government, 30, 33, 
 133. 
 
 Demagogues, 30, 133. 
 
 Democracy, unbridled, 169. 
 
 Democratic party, 260. 
 
 Denizens, 165. 
 
 Denmark, 205, 238. 
 
 Denver, Colo., 119. 
 
 Departments in France, 173. 
 
 Deputies in Massachusetts, 137. 
 
 Dickens, C, 14, 126. 
 
 Diocese and city, 103. 
 
 Diplomatic service, 238. 
 
 Direct and indirect government, 99-104. 
 
 Discreet men, 40. 
 
 Disorders in 1786, 209. 
 
 Dissolution of assemblies, parliaments, 
 etc., 161, 165. 
 
 District of Columbia, 244. 
 
 District attorneys, 251. 
 
 Districts, in South Carolina, 72, 73 ; 
 electoral, 216. 
 
 Dole, C. F., 273. 
 
 Dole, E. P., 70, 186, 275. 
 
 Dongan, T., 111. 
 
 Dorchester Company, 146, 159. 
 
 Dorchester. Mass., 17. 
 
 Douglas, S.' A., 230. 
 
 Duellists, 165. 
 
 Dunn, J. P., 186. 
 
 Durham, a county palatine, 150. 
 
 Dutch in New Netherland, 79, 98, 111, 
 144. 
 
 Ealdormen, 49-51. 
 
 East Anglia, 50. 
 
 East India Company, 157. 
 
 East Saxons, 49. 
 
 Eaton, D. B., 275. 
 
 Ecclesia, 34. 
 
 Educational value of town-meetings, 31, 
 
 34 
 Edward I., 40, 51. 
 Edward III., 52. 
 Egleston, M.,46. 
 Elastic Clause, 245, 259. 
 Election of Congress, 219. 
 Elective and appointive offloere, 132. 
 Elective judiciary, 179. 
 
 Electoral commission, 228. 
 
 Electoral college, in Maryland, 164 ; for 
 electing president of United States. 
 220-235. 
 
 Elizabeth, queen of England, 77. 
 
 Eiting, I., 98. 
 
 Ely, R. T., 275. 
 
 Emerson, T., xvii. 
 
 Eminent domain, 4, 12, 13. 
 
 England, 5-8, 12, 16, 17, 35-45, 48-54, 
 58, 75-77, 95, 100, 103-111, 113, 114, 
 135, 140-146, 153, 164, 172, 177, 18^ 
 187, 189-193, 197-202, 220, 234, 237. 
 
 Entails in Virginia, 58. 
 
 Envoys, 238. 
 
 Essex, Eng., 49. 
 
 Essex, Mass., 53. 
 
 Eternal vigilance the price of liberty, 11. 
 
 Excise, 258. 
 
 Executive and legislative departments 
 separated in the United States, but 
 not in Europe, 167-169, 235, 236. 
 
 Exemptions from taxation, 26, 33. 
 
 Exports, prohibition of duties on, 246. 
 
 Fairfax Court House, Va., 62. 
 
 Faneuil Hall, 101, 123. 
 
 Farms in New England, 18, 32. 
 
 Farrer, T. H., 273. 
 
 Federalist, the, 276. 
 
 Federalist party, 259. 
 
 Fence-viewers, 23, 33, 38, 79, 123. 
 
 Field-drivers, 23, 33, 123. 
 
 Fines for non-attendance, 19. 
 
 Finsbury, 108. 
 
 Fires and fire departments, 2, 121. 
 
 Firma hurgi, 109, 111. 
 
 Fiske, J., American Political Ideas, 47 5 
 
 Beginnings of New England, 143, 149 ; 
 
 Critical Period of American History, 
 
 14, 98, 165, 206, 213, 246, 272; Wai of 
 
 Independence, 14, 158. 
 Florence, 172. 
 Florida, 202, 228. 
 Ford, W. C, 272. 
 Foreign voters, 133-135. 
 Foresight, lack of, 121. 
 Foriim, 34. 
 
 Foster, W. E., xvi., 277. 
 France, 7, 12, 161, 207, 208. 
 Frankhn, B., 126, 163, 203, 209, 224. 
 Freedom of speech and press, 256. 
 Freedom too often destroyed in the 
 
 process of nation-building, 39. 
 Freeman, E. A., 9, 46, 105, 273. 
 French in Canada, 202 ; claims to the 
 
 possession of North America, 140, 169{ 
 
 words in English, 5. 
 
 Gage, T., 162. 
 
 Gardiner, S. R., 191, 200. 
 
 Garfield, J. A., 231. 
 
 Gay, S. H., 277. 
 
 General Court, 41, 148, 192. 
 
 General Sessions, 53. 
 
 George II., 8. 
 
 George III., 109, 142, 158, 210. 
 
 Georgia, 144, 153, 255. 
 
 Germans, 35, 72. 
 
 Gerry, E., 216, 217. 
 
856 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 •« Gerrymander," 217. 
 
 Gilman, D. C.,277. 
 
 Gladstone, W. E., 6. 
 
 Gneist, R., 139, 273. 
 
 Gomme, G. L,, 47. 
 
 Government, definition of, 5-8, 12 ; de- 
 lusions about, 30, 33, 133 ; direct and 
 indirect, 99-104; always cumbrous, 
 169. 
 
 Governor-general, 224. 
 
 Governors, royal, 66, 125, 163 ; republi- 
 can, before the Revolution, 148 ; since 
 the Revolution, 169-171. 
 
 Gouverner, 5. 
 
 Grant, U. S., 234. 
 
 Greeks, 34, 75, 80, 125. 
 
 Green, J. R., 189. 
 
 Guatemala, 238. 
 
 Gubernare, 5. 
 
 Guilds, 107, 108, 115, 139. 
 
 Hamilton, A., 209, 257-259, 261, 276. 
 
 Hanover Court House, Va., 62. 
 
 Harrison, B., 231. 
 
 Hartford, Conn., 62, 192. 
 
 Harvard College, 22. 
 
 Haste in constructing public works, 120. 
 
 Hayes, R. B., 228, 231. 
 
 Haywards, 38. 
 
 Hearn, W. E., 47. 
 
 Henry I., 106, 109. 
 
 Henry VIII., 9, 52. 
 
 Henry of Keighley, 220. 
 
 Henry, Patrick, 67. 
 
 Higginson, F., 17. 
 
 Hill, F. A., xiv. 
 
 Hinsdale, B. A., 81. 
 
 History, study of, 9, 10, 13. 
 
 Hitchcock, H., 179, 195, 200. 
 
 Holcomb, W. P., 79, 139. 
 
 Holland, 7, 207. 
 
 Hoist, H. von, 275. 
 
 Hooker, T., 17. 
 
 Hosmer, J. K.,31, 191, 277. 
 
 House of Burgesses, 145, 155 ; Commons, 
 8, 13, 40, 50, 110, 135, 146, 161, 165, 
 193, 220 ; Lords, 50, 164, 165, 221 ; 
 Representatives, state, 165 ; Repre- 
 sentatives, federal, 212-221, 244. 
 
 Howard, G. E., 46, 60, 64, 70, 79, 85, 92. 
 
 Howe, W. W., 139. 
 
 Hudson river, 141. 
 
 Huguenots, 71. 
 
 Hundred, origin of, 75, 76, 80 ; courts, 
 76, 80, 105 ; in some cases equivalent 
 to a borough, 105, 114 ; in Delaware, 
 78, 80. 
 
 Hundredman, 76. 
 
 Hundred-meetings in Maryland, 77. 
 
 Hungerford, Sir T., 220. 
 
 Hutchinson, T., 155. 
 
 Icklingham, 49. 
 
 Illinois, 81, 87, 95, 253 ; township and 
 
 county government in, 89-91, 96. 
 Impeachment, 221. 
 Jmperator, 225. 
 Indentured servants, 58. 
 Indiana, 81, 90, 253 ; townships in, 92. 
 Indians, 18, 32, 34, 76, 80, 146, 166, 202. 
 
 Ingle, E,, 64, 70, 98. 
 
 Inquests, 52. 
 
 Inspectors of buildings, 122 ; of eleo« 
 
 tions, 79. 
 " Instrument of Government," the, 191. 
 Insurrections, 56, 69. 
 Intercitizenship, 248. 
 Interior, department of, 240. 
 Internal improvements, 260. 
 Iowa, 95, 195 ; townships in, 192. 
 
 Jackson, A., 232, 262, 263. 
 
 Jails, 2, 58. 
 
 James I., 110, 143. 
 
 James II., 144, 152, 190. 
 
 James City county, Va., 62. 
 
 James river, 142. 
 
 Jameson, J. F., Ill, 176, 207, 272. 
 
 Jamestown, 146. 
 
 Jay, J., 276. 
 
 Jefferson, T., 58, 60, 65, 81, 227, 232, 
 234, 235, 259, 260, 261. 
 
 Jevons, W. S., 277. 
 
 John, King of England, 189. 
 
 Johns Hopkins University Studies in 
 History and Politics, 31, 46, 58, 64, 
 70, 72, 79, 89, 90, 92, 94, 98, 120, 123, 
 139, 176, 272. 
 
 Johnson, A., 221. 
 
 Johnson, J. , 98. 
 
 Johnson, R. M.,228. 
 
 Johnston, A., 154, 185, 200, 275. 
 
 Journal of Congress, 219. 
 
 Judges, city, 116 ; federal, 250-252 ; ap- 
 pointment or election, and tenure of 
 office, 179. 
 
 Jurisdiction, federal, 251. 
 
 Jurors, 20, 21, 52, 78. 
 
 Justices in eyre, 51. 
 
 Justices of the peace, 87, 108 , in Eng- 
 land, 52 ; in Massachusetts, 53, 55 ; in 
 Virginia, 61 ; in Delaware, 78. 
 
 Kansas, 85, 94, 95 ; townships in, 92. 
 
 Kennebec river, 142. 
 
 Kent, kingdom of, 50. 
 
 Kentucky, 90 ; shire towns in, 62 ; size 
 
 of counties in, 74 ; settlement of, 81, 
 
 88. 
 Kidnapping, 58. 
 King, R., 186. 
 
 Kings, 39, 50, 51, 112, 157, 164. 
 Kitchin, G. W., 14. 
 
 Lacombe, P., 14. 
 
 Laird, 19. 
 
 Lalor, J. J., 275. 
 
 Lancaster, duchy of, 150. 
 
 Land grants in Massachusetts, 17; in 
 
 Virginia, 58. 
 Lanesborough, Mass., 27. 
 Laveleye, E.,47. 
 Lawton, G. W.,275. 
 Lecky,W. E. H., 15. 
 Legal tender, 245. 
 Legislation in New York with reference 
 
 to cities, 128. 
 Leicester, S. de Montfort, Earl of, 40, 
 
 110, 115. 
 Levermore, C. H., 139. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 357 
 
 Levy court in Delaware, 78. 
 
 Lewes, battle of, 110. 
 
 Lewis, SirG. C.,274. 
 
 Lexington, 158. 
 
 Liberty, the French notion of, 174. 
 
 Libraries, public, 2. 
 
 Licenses, 20. 
 
 Lieutenant-governors, 164. 
 
 Lincoln, A., 6, 32, 170, 230, 231. 
 
 Lions, 35. 
 
 Liquid measures, shrinkage of, 29. 
 
 Livingston county, Mich., 84. 
 
 Local government in New England and 
 in Virginia before the Revolution, 
 contrasted, 64-67. 
 
 Local option between township and 
 county government, 90-92, 96. 
 
 Local self-government vs. centralization, 
 274. 
 
 Locke, J., 188. 
 
 Lodge, H. C, 185, 277. 
 
 Loftie, W. J., 108, 139. 
 
 "Log-rolling," 93, 125, 127, 129. 
 
 London, 85, 106-110, 113, 115, 139. 
 
 London Company, 141, 159. 
 
 Longman, W., 52. 
 
 Lord-lieutenants, 52, 64, 108. 
 
 Lord mayors of London, 107, 108. 
 
 Lords, House of, 50, 164, 165, 221. 
 
 Lords of the manor, 19, 37, 38, 50, 75, 
 76. 
 
 Lords proprietary, 150-153. 
 
 Louis XIV., 8, 9. 
 
 Louis XV., 7, 8. 
 
 Louisiana, 95, 228; parishes, 48; pur- 
 chase, 253. 
 
 Low, S., 120, 121, 130, 139. 
 
 Lowell, A. L., 169, 274. 
 
 Lynch law, 72, 80, 97, 171. 
 
 MacAlister, J., vi., 273. 
 
 Machine, 132. 
 
 Macy, J., 98, 273. 
 
 Madison, J., 67, 209. 
 
 Magazine of American History, 111. 
 
 " Magic fund " delusion, 30, 33, 86, 
 133. 
 
 Magna Charta, 39, 189, 197. 
 
 Magruder, A. B., 277. 
 
 Maine, 143, 218. 
 
 Maine, Sir H., 47, 274. 
 
 Maitland, F. W., 273. 
 
 Makeshifts, tendency to adopt them, 
 121. 
 
 Manors, 36, 39, 75. 
 
 Marblehead, Mass., 89. 
 
 March-meetings, 39. 
 
 Marcy, W. L., 263. 
 
 Mark, 35, 43. 
 
 Marriage certificates, 21. 
 
 Marshall, J., 67. 
 
 Marshals, 207, 251. 
 
 Martin, G. H,, 46, 70, 272. 
 
 Mary IL, 190. 
 
 Maryland, 144, 195, 253, 256 ; local insti- 
 tutions in, 75-77, 80; founding of, 
 150, 151, 160. 
 
 Mason and Dixon's line, 152, 160. 
 
 Massachusetts, 16, 74, 110, 143, 146, 253, 
 255,265. 
 
 May, Sir E., 135. 
 
 Mayflower compact, 192. 
 
 Mayors, 102, 111, 114, 116, 122, 125, 127, 
 
 130-132, 136 ; of London, 107, 108 ; in 
 
 France, 173. 
 Mead, E. D., 275. 
 "Mean whites," their origin, 59. 
 Measurers of wood, 23, 24, 33. 
 Meeting-houses, 19. 
 Mercia, 50. 
 
 Meridian, principal, 81-83, 88. 
 Merrimack river, 146. 
 Messages, governor's, 170 ; president's, 
 
 235. 
 IMgxico 141 2^4 
 Michigan, 81, 82, 89, 90, 95, 195, 253 ; 
 
 county board in, 92. 
 Middle Saxons, 49. 
 Middlesex, Eng., 49. 
 Middlesex, Mass., 53. 
 Militia, 52, 64, 77, 170. 
 Minneapolis, 86. 
 Minnesota, 91, 93, 95. 
 Mir, in Russia, 42. 
 
 Missouri, 90-92, 225 ; townships in, 92. 
 MitcheU's Atlas, 62. 
 Moderators, 24. 
 Mohawks, 75. 
 Mommsen, T., 9. 
 Monroe, J., 231. 
 Montana, 93. 
 
 Montfort, S. de, 40, 110, 115. 
 Montgomerie charter in New York, 112. 
 Morris, R., 206. 
 Morse, J. T., 234, 277. 
 Moses, B., 139. 
 Municipal Corporations Reform Act, 
 
 111, 135. 
 Municipal government in England, 103- 
 
 111 ; in the United States, 111-136, 
 
 138 ; politics should be kept clear of 
 
 national politics, 135. 
 
 Names, geographical, their significance, 
 36, 49, 54, 62, 103. 
 
 Napoleon I. , 174. 
 
 Nasse, E., 47. 
 
 National Republicans, 259 
 
 Navy department, 240. 
 
 Nebraska, 85, 92, 94. 
 
 Negroes, 58, 94. 
 
 Nevada, 93. 
 
 New England, settlement of, 16, 32. 
 
 New Hampshire, 53, 94, 143, 195, 199, 
 256. 
 
 New Haven, 139, 143. 
 
 New Jersey, 145, 230, 255. 
 
 New Netherland, 144, 152. 
 
 New Orleans, 139. 
 
 New York (city), 27, 101, 111-113, 115, 
 119, 127-129, 206 ; (state), 79, 81, 90, 
 127-129, 145, 195, 213, 225, 253, 256j, 
 261 ; influence of, upon the Northr 
 west, 80. 
 
 Newcastle, 106. 
 
 Newfoundland, 140. 
 
 Newspapers, 31, 100. 
 
 Nichols, R., 111. 
 
 Nordhoff, C, 273. 
 
 Norfolk, Eng., 49- 
 
858 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Norfolk (1643) in Massachusetts, 53. 
 Normau Conquest, 36, 51, 54, 76, 105. 
 North Carolma, 62, 144, 153, 256. 
 Northam, H. C. 273. 
 Northumbria, 50. 
 Norwich, Eng., 106, 111. 
 Nuisances, 20. 
 Numbering of streets, 84. 
 
 Oglethorpe, J., 153. 
 
 Ohio, 81, 90, 195, 253. 
 
 "One-man power," 125, 130, 137. 
 
 Ordinance of 1785 concerning survey of 
 public lands, 81, 88. 
 
 Ordinance of 1787 establishing govern- 
 ment of northwestern territory, 90, 
 253, 255. 
 
 Oregon, 81, 82, 93, 254. 
 
 Overseers of the poor, 20, 21, 33, 38, 60, 
 78, 79, 87, 116, 122; of roads, in 
 Maryland, 77 ; of towns, in New York, 
 79. 
 
 Oxford, 103. 
 
 Paestum, 101. 
 
 Palatine counties, 150, 160. 
 
 Paper money, 7, 245, 246. 
 
 Pardon, governor's prerogative, 170 ; 
 too freely used in United States, 171 ; 
 president's, 234. 
 
 Parishes, in England, 36-39, 41, 43, 45, 
 46 ; in Louisiana, 48 ; in South Caro- 
 lina, 71-73 ; in Virginia, 59-61, 65. 
 
 Paris, 173. 
 
 Parliament, 6, 155 ; its supremacy never 
 admitted in America, 156, 160 ; disso- 
 lution of, 161, 165 ; the Model, 40. 
 
 Parties, origin of, 245, 249. 
 
 Partition fences, 23. 
 
 Party politics, 132, 135. 
 
 Patronage, 264. 
 
 Paupers, 21. 
 
 Peers, creation of, 165. 
 
 PeUew, G., 277. 
 
 Penn, W., 145, 141, 203. 
 
 Pennsylvania, 81, 95, 152, 202, 210, 255, 
 258, 261 ; local institutions in, 78 ; 
 Municipal Commission, 134. 
 
 Penrose, B., 134. 
 
 Perjury, 27. 
 
 Personal property, taxation of, 25-28, 
 45. 
 
 Perry, A. L., 277. 
 
 Petersburg, Va., 89. 
 
 Phear, Sir J. B., 47. 
 
 Philadelphia, 119, 133, 204 ; streets in, 
 83, 84 ; municipal government of, 113, 
 115, 116, 139. 
 
 Phratries, 75. 
 
 Plantagenet period, 78. 
 
 Plantations, 146. 
 
 Plymouth, colony of, 143. 
 
 Plymouth Company, 141, 159. 
 
 Police, 52, 113, 122; commissioners, 
 128 
 
 Polk,* J. K., 231. 
 
 Poll-tax, 25, 33. 
 
 Poore, B. P., 276. 
 
 Poorhouses, 2, 21, 122. 
 
 Population, rural and urban, 119. 
 
 Port-reeves, 106. 
 
 Porter, J. A., 139. 
 
 Portland, Oregon, 82, 145. 
 
 Portugal, 205. " • 
 
 Posse comitatus, 51, 56. 
 
 Postmaster-general, 240. 
 
 Poimd-keepers, 23, 33. 
 
 Pound-masters, 79. 
 
 Precincts in Virginia, 63. 
 
 Prefects in France, 173. 
 
 Premiers, 236, 237. 
 
 President, origin of the title, 163, 224| 
 of councils, 162-163; of provincial 
 congresses, 162 ; of the Continental 
 Congress, 206 ; of the United States, 
 222-236; nommation of, 233; veto 
 power of, 222 ; his appointments, 261- 
 264. 
 
 Presidential succession, 228. 
 
 Preston, H., 200, 276. 
 
 Prices affected by paper money, 246 ; 
 and by tariff, 258. 
 
 Primaries, 233. 
 
 Priors, 50. 
 
 Privilege from arrest, etc., 220. 
 
 Probate courts, 55, 73. 
 
 Probyn, J. W., 274. 
 
 Proprietary colonies, 150-153, 160. 
 
 Provincial period, in the liistory of Maa* 
 sachusetts, 154. 
 
 Public lands, surveys of, 81-85. 
 
 Qualifications for office, 167. 
 Quarter Sessions, Court of, 52, 53, 61. 
 Quincy, J., 102. 
 
 Railroads, 13. 
 
 Ramage, B. J., 72-98. 
 
 Range-lines, 82, 88. 
 
 Rappahannock river, 141. 
 
 Rate of taxation, 28, 29, 34. 
 
 Reade, C, 1. 
 
 Real estate, taxation of, 25-28, 45. 
 
 Recorders, 111. 
 
 Records, 20, 53, 63, 122. 
 
 Reelection of town officers, 32. 
 
 Reeves, 36, 40, 41. 
 
 Referendwm, 196. 
 
 Register of deeds, 55 ; of probate, 55. 
 
 Regulating Act, 158. 
 
 "Regulators" on the Carolina fron- 
 tiers 72. 
 
 Representation, 40-43, 46, 50, 61, 73, 77, 
 110, 146, 154. 
 
 Representatives, House of, state, 165; 
 federal, 212-221, 244. 
 
 Republican colonies, 153. 
 
 Republican parties, 259, 260. 
 
 Requisitions, 210. 
 
 Reservations of land for schools, 86. 
 
 Responsibility of public officials, 32, 34, 
 116, 125-132, 171. 
 
 Restricting the suffrage, 133-135; in 
 the early history of Massachusetts, 
 148. 
 
 Revolution, American, 2, 7, 11-14, 31, 66, 
 77, 109, 112, 142, 158, 160-166, 203- 
 208, 258 ; English, 149, 157 ; French, 
 2, 11, 13, 14, 174. 
 
 Rex, ^25. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 359 
 
 Rhode Island, 74, 143, 149, 163, 159, 163, 
 256. 
 
 Rivers in Virginia, 58. 
 
 Roads, 2, 3, 20, 21, 53, 63, 78, 101. 
 
 Robbery and taxation, 8, 9, 12. 
 
 Roberts, E. H., 185. 
 
 Romans, 34, 75, 76, 125, 164, 225 ; de- 
 veloped the idea of contract, 188. 
 
 Roosevelt, T., 277. 
 
 " Rotation m office," 32, 262-264. 
 
 Rousseau, J. J., 188. 
 
 Royal colonies, 153. 
 
 Royce, J., 186. 
 
 Roxbury, 22. 
 
 Runnymede, 189. 
 
 Rupert, W. W., 273. 
 
 Russell, B., 217. 
 
 Russia, 5, 42, 43. 
 
 Sabbath-breakers, 38. 
 
 Safeguards against unbridled democ- 
 racy, 169. 
 
 St. Augustine, Fla., 140. 
 
 St. Lawrence river, 140. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., 84, 116, 139. 
 
 Salaries of clergymen in early times in 
 Massachusetts, 46 ; in Virginia, 60. 
 
 Salem, Mass, 146. 
 
 Salem, Oregon, 145. 
 
 San Francisco, 116, 139. 
 
 Sanitary problems, 122. 
 
 Santa F^, 140. 
 
 Sato, Shoshuke, 98. 
 
 Scandinavians, 35. 
 
 School-district as incipient township, 
 74 87-89 93-96. 
 
 Schools, public, 2, 13, 18, 22, 23, 44, 72, 
 86, 93-96 ; commissioners, 73 ; com- 
 mittees, 22-24, 45, 123 ; superinten- 
 dent, 23 ; teachers, 23, 45. 
 
 Schouler, J., 239, 275. 
 
 Schurz, C, 277. 
 
 Scotch, 72. 
 
 Scotland's connection with England, 
 156. 
 
 Scrutin d^arrondissement, etc., 218. 
 
 Scudder, H. E., 185. 
 
 Sealers of weights and measures, 23, 24, 
 33. 
 
 Secretary of state, 237 ; of the treasury, 
 239. 
 
 Sections of townships, 85. 
 
 Seebohm, F., 47. 
 
 Selectmen, 6, 20, 21, 24, 31-34, 38, 59,79. 
 
 Self-government in the United States, 
 172 ; contrasted with centralization 
 in France, 173, 174. 
 
 Semi-royal colony of Massachusetts, 
 154. 
 
 Senate, in South Carolina, 73 ; federal, 
 214-218, 234 ; origin of, 164. 
 
 Seneschals, 75. 
 
 Sentiment of union, 208. 
 
 Sewerage, 20. 
 
 Sextons, 60. 
 
 Shaler, N. S., 186. 
 
 Shaw, A., 90, 98, 139. 
 
 Shepard, E. M., 277. 
 
 Sheriffs, in England, 50, 106 ; in Massa- 
 chusetts, 56 ; in Virginia, 63, 67 ; in 
 
 South Carolina, 72, 73 ; in Pennsylva- 
 nia, 78 ; in New York (city). 111. 
 
 Ship of state, 5. 
 
 Shire, origin of, 49, 50. 
 
 Shiremotes, 40, 43, 50-52, 54. 
 
 Shire-reeve, 50. 
 
 Shire towns, 54, 62. 
 
 Shrines, 37. 
 
 Simon of Montfort, 40, 110, 115. 
 
 Skeat, W. W., 51. 
 
 Slavery, 58, 90, 177, 253, 255. 
 
 Small, A. W., 272. 
 
 Smith, Toulmm, 47, 139, 274. 
 
 Snow, M. S., 139. ' 
 
 Social contract, theory of, 188. 
 
 Social position of early settlers, 18, 33, 
 59. 
 
 Socrates, 34. 
 
 Solicitor-general, 240. 
 
 South Carolina, 62, 71, 72, 74, 80, 94, 
 144, 153, 228, 247, 255. 
 
 South Saxons, 49. 
 
 Southampton, 106. 
 
 Spanish claims to North America, 140, 
 159. 
 
 Spartans, 9. 
 
 Speaker, 220. 
 
 Speculation, 134. 
 
 Spencer, D. E., 98. 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, 274. 
 
 " Spoils system," 135, 261-264. 
 
 Spring, L. W., 186. 
 
 Staatenhund, 244. 
 
 Stamp Act, 203. 
 
 Stanwood, E., 232, 275. 
 
 States, 25 ; greatness of their retained 
 powers, 175-177 ; limits to the same, 
 175 ; governments, 166-184 ; not fit to 
 take care of cities, 127-129; legisla- 
 tures, 164 ; senates, 164 ; governors, 
 169-171; executive officers, 170; 
 courts, 177-184. 
 
 States General in France, 161. 
 
 Stephens, H. M., 14. 
 
 Stevens, J. A., 277. 
 
 Stewards, 36, 76. 
 
 Stray animals, 23. 
 
 Streets, 3, 101 ; in Philadelphia, 83, 84 ; 
 commissioners, 116 ; lights, 113. 
 
 Stubbs, W., 139, 200, 273. 
 
 Stump speeches, 66. 
 
 Stuart, G., 217. 
 
 Suffrage, universal, 97, 133-135, 137, 
 138, 166, 173. 
 
 Suffolk, Eng., 49. 
 
 Suffolk, Mass., 53. 
 
 Sumner, W. G., 263, 277. 
 
 Superintendents of schools, 23 ; of edu- 
 cation (in states), 170; of streets, 
 122. 
 
 Supervisors, in New York, 79 ; in Illi- 
 nois and Michigan, 92. 
 
 Surveyors of highways, 23, 38, 63, 77- 
 79, 87 ; of lumber, 23, 24, 33. 
 
 Surveys of public lands, 81-85. 
 
 Sussex, 49. 
 
 Sweden's connection with Norway, 156< 
 
 Swedes in Delaware, 144. 
 
 Swiss Referendum, 196. 
 
 Syracusan war, 34. 
 
360 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Taine, H. A., 14. 
 
 Tariff, 258, 260. 
 
 Taswell-Langmead, T. P., 139, 247, 273. 
 
 Taussig, F. W., 277. 
 
 Jaxation essential to the existence of 
 government, 7 ; involved in reserva- 
 tion of lands for schools, 86 ; of the 
 American colonies, 156-160; federal, 
 257-259. 
 
 Taxes and taxation, 1-15, 25-29, 39, 44, 
 63, 120, 127, 131, 151, 210, 257-259. 
 
 Taylor, H., 139, 200, 274. 
 
 Taylor, Z., 231. 
 
 Tea-ships at Boston, 162. 
 
 Tennessee, settlement of, 81. 
 
 Territories and their government, 253. 
 
 Texas, 253. 
 
 Thames river, 108. 
 
 Thermopylae, 9. 
 
 Thorpe, F, N., 239, 272. 
 
 Three fifths compromise, 213. 
 
 Tilden, S. J., 228. 
 
 Tintoretto, 101. 
 
 Tithing-men, 36, 38, 45. 
 
 Tobacco, 57, 60, 63. 
 
 Tobacco-viewers, 77. 
 
 Tocqueville, A. de, 15, 272. 
 
 Tower of London, 108. 
 
 Town, different senses in which the 
 word is used, 102-104; clerk, 20; 
 treasurer, 21, 33 ; pumps, 113. 
 
 Town-meetings, in New England, 19, 24, 
 30, 31, 33, 34, 44, 162 ; in Boston, 31, 
 101 ; in New York (state), 79, 80 ; in 
 ancient England, 36-43 ; in Greece 
 and Rome, 34 ; in Russia, 42 ; vitality 
 of, 91, 96, 97 ; prohibited by Regulat- 
 ing Act, 158. 
 
 Townshend Acts, 203. 
 
 Township in New England, 16-34, 41, 
 77 ; its origin, 38 ; Jefferson's opinion 
 of, 65 ; in the West, 83-98 ; in Mich- 
 igan, 89; in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, 
 Missouri, and Kansas, 92. 
 
 Township lines, 82, 88. 
 
 Traill, H. D., 273. 
 
 Treasurers, town, 21, 33; county, 55, 
 63, 7C; city, 111 ; state, 73, 169. 
 
 Treasury of the United States, 239. 
 
 Treaties, 234. 
 
 Trenton, 206. 
 
 Trial justices, 56, 73. 
 
 Trustees of western townships, 92. 
 
 Tun, 35, 43, 45. 
 
 TvMgemoi, 36. 
 
 Tweed Ring, 129. 
 
 Tyler, J., 260. 
 
 Tyler, M. C, 217, 277. 
 
 Undervaluation of property, 29, 34. 
 Unit of representation, in England, 41 ; 
 
 in New England, 41 ; in Virginia, 61 ; 
 
 in South Carolinaj 71 ; in Maryland, 
 
 77 ; in Pennsylvania, 78. 
 
 Vane, Sir H., 191. 
 
 Variety, wholesome and instructive, in 
 
 development of local institutions in 
 
 the United States, 93, 179. 
 Vermont, 94. 
 Verrazano, G. de, 140. 
 Versailles, 9. 
 Vestry-meetings, in England, 37, 43 ; in 
 
 Virginia, 59, 60; in South Carolina, 
 
 71. 
 Veto, mayor's, 117, 125, 127 ; governor's, 
 
 165, 169, 171 ; president's, 222 ; king's, 
 
 165, 222. 
 Vice-president, 220. 
 Villages, in New England, 18 ; ancient, 
 
 35 ; Indian, 35 ; Russian, 42. 
 Virginia, 90, 195, 213, 253, 255 ; settle- 
 ment of, 57-61, 67 ; hundreds in, 77 ; 
 
 shire towns in, 62, 67 ; size of counties 
 
 in, 74 ; representative government in, 
 
 145, 155, 159. 
 Voting as a substitute for fighting, 95. 
 
 Walpole, S., 273. 
 
 War department, 240. 
 
 " War governors," 170. 
 
 Wards of a city, 105, 103, 111. 
 
 Warrant for town-meetin£,, 24, 33, 43. 
 
 Washington, G,, 67, 119, 209, 229, 231, 
 232, 234, 235, 258, 263. 
 
 Washington, D. C, 84, 139. 
 
 Washington (state), 93. 
 
 Washtenaw county, Mich., 84. 
 
 Water-works, 121. 
 
 Watertown, Mass., 17. 
 
 Way-wardens, 38. 
 
 Weighers, 123. 
 
 West Saxons, 50. 
 
 West Virginia, shire towns in, 62. 
 
 Westward movement of population, 81* 
 
 Wethersfield, Conn., 192. 
 
 Whig party, 259, 263. 
 
 Whiskey insurrection, 258. 
 
 White House, 236. 
 
 " White trash,'» 59. 
 
 Wigmore, J. H., 277. 
 
 Wilhelm, W., 98. 
 
 William the Conqueror, 106. 
 
 William III., 190. 
 
 Wills, 55, 69. 
 
 Wilson, A. J., 273. 
 
 Wilson, W., 176, 178, 196, 251, 273. 
 
 Windsor, Conn., 192. 
 
 Winsor, J.,139, 185,218. 
 
 Wisconsin, 81, 93, 95, 253. 
 
 Woman suffrage, 94, 95. 
 
 Women on school committees, 95 ; rep- 
 resentation of, 46, 94. 
 
 Woolsey, T. D., 277. 
 
 Worcester county, Mass., 62. 
 
 Wreckage, 51. 
 
 Wyoming (state), 93-95. 
 
 York, 106. 
 Yorktown, 258. 
 
 Zones into which North America was 
 divided by royal grants of 1606, 141-» 
 146, 159. 
 
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