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 r> o 
 
 Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L-1 

 
 .;j._"J 
 
 '.*■"' O " ■''C^'<"5 
 
 Form L-9-35Hi-8,-'28
 
 HOWE'S 
 NEW ERA CIVICS 
 
 FOR THE STUDENTS OF TODAY AND THE CITIZENS OF 
 
 TOMORROW, TO SHOW THEM WHAT GOVERNMENT 
 
 IS AND MEANS IN NATION, STATE AND AT 
 
 HOME, TO DEEPEN THEIR INTEREST IN 
 
 COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, AND TO 
 
 LIGHT THEIR PATH TO PUB- 
 
 Lie DUTY AND SERVICE 
 
 By 
 
 JOHN B. HOWE, LITT. D. 
 
 > • • > » 
 
 
 
 47710 
 
 IROQUOIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc. 
 SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
 
 To My Wife, 
 Marietta Gartlan Hozve, 
 
 The Author. 
 
 Copyright, 1922, by 
 IROQUOIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc. 
 
 All Rights Reserved.
 
 ^ 
 
 <v 
 
 -3 s^<f jy 
 
 H>s3 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In preparing this work, the fruit ol many years' 
 study and observation of public affairs, the author has 
 kept foremost in his mind the practical objects of Civics 
 teaching in our schools. 
 
 The study of Civics is finding more and more favor 
 with experienced educators, not alone because it is a 
 source of useful knowledge to the pupil, but because 
 it is, when wisely directed, the best kind of training for 
 our future citizens. 
 
 In a work of this character it is not enough to describe 
 government and its operations in the national, State and 
 local fields. It is even more desirable to impress students 
 with the proper sense of their coming responsibilities as 
 citizens ; to kindle in their minds the right kind of interest 
 in public affairs; and to point out for them the way to 
 helpful public service and to an intelligent exercise of 
 the voting power when the time comes for them to use it. 
 
 In dealing with American government in its various 
 branches, the author of this book has proceeded on the 
 theory that the best way to aid students of Civics and 
 to make their memories retentive, is by explaining the 
 why and wherefore of the important features of govern- 
 ment and of the changes it has undergone. If a youth 
 visiting a factory sees a novel and ingenious device 
 attached to the machinery, and learns nothing more about 
 it, he may be deeply interested for the moment in its 
 operation, but his appreciation is only vague and fleet- 
 ing. If, however, the machinist in charge takes pains to 
 
 iii
 
 iv Introduction 
 
 explain why the contrivance was devised, and how it im- 
 proves and quickens the productiveness of the whole 
 machine, the youthful observer carries away a lively and 
 enduring impression of the value of the clever invention. 
 This suggests that the rule of painstaking explanation 
 should be applied by the authors of works on Civics to 
 the best of their ability. 
 
 Why has it been deemed necessary to amend the 
 Constitution of the United States several times since the 
 year 1912? Why was the Federal Reserve system of 
 national banking established in 1913, to take the place 
 of the old system, introduced during the Civil War? 
 Why was the reform known as direct primaries adopted 
 by the States, at a comparatively recent time? Why 
 was government by commissions, or administration by 
 City Managers, substituted by many American cities for 
 the older municipal government by Mayors and Boards 
 of Aldermen? These are but a few of many questions 
 which should be answered for the benefit of Civics 
 students. The mind of the student who learns the why 
 and wherefore of these things receives a stamp that is 
 not soon efifaced. 
 
 Some writers on Civics have shown a strange dis- 
 inclination to mention the word "politics." The present 
 author does not share that feeling. In support of his 
 ' position he can quote the dictionary, which defines 
 "politics" as "that branch of Civics that treats of the 
 principles of civil government and the conduct of State 
 afifairs." 
 
 Another fact worthy of note is that ours is a govern- 
 ment by political parties. The school students of today 
 will be the citizens and voters of tomorrow, and they 
 will form political attachments after the fashion of their 
 elders. Perhaps eighty per cent of the American people
 
 Introduction v 
 
 who have passed their majority belong to one or another 
 of the political parties. For this reason, and because ours 
 is a party government, the author has not hesitated to 
 present in his book such information as may lead to a 
 better understanding of party history and party policies. 
 
 The interest and influence of every good citizen in 
 politics and public affairs count in many ways; but 
 nowhere do they count more effectively than at the 
 ballot box. Therefore one of the legitimate objects of 
 Civics study is to awaken the interest of American youth 
 in their future political duties. It was never more deserv- 
 ing of consideration than it is at the present time, when 
 the school girl looks forward to the same civic obligations 
 as the school boy. 
 
 The best place to begin the study of Civics is the 
 classroom. The best way to use the knowledge there 
 acquired is in helpful service to the community and, when 
 the voting age is reached, by the exercise of good judg- 
 ment in the election booth. It is at the ballot box that 
 the character of government is determined. Hence the 
 course of Civics study should be shaped so that it will 
 provide the key to useful community service and to 
 wise participation in public affairs. 
 
 JOHN B. HOWE, 
 Svracuse, N. Y.
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 
 
 The separation of this book into five parts was inci- 
 dentally intended to serve the convenience of teachers 
 who may prefer to change the order adopted by the 
 author in dealing with the several branches of Civics 
 study. The teacher who considers it desirable to acquaint 
 students first with the features and functions of local 
 government can easily substitute Part IV for Part II, 
 and then conduct the student from the city to the State 
 and lastly to the nation, thus reversing the course fol- 
 lowed by the author. 
 
 It is further suggested to teachers that in the study 
 of municipal methods and activities, covered in Part IV, 
 the organization of a class senate for purposes of inves- 
 tigation and discussion may be found useful. A simple 
 organization of this kind can be designed by any com- 
 petent teacher. It would wisely include the election of 
 class officers, at least a chairman and recording secre- 
 tary, and especially the appointment of class committees. 
 It would be the duty of each committee to pursue a line 
 of inquiry assigned to it. One committee could gather 
 information regarding the latest devices for fighting fire ; 
 another could look into the question of water supply, 
 protection and distribution ; others could gain an insight 
 into the operations of the departments of public works 
 and public health — and so on. Each committee would be 
 expected to prepare a report on its findings, to be pre- 
 sented to the class senate at one of its sessions. Among 
 the committees would be one on finance, whose mission 
 
 vi
 
 Suggestions to Teachers vii 
 
 it would be to tell something' about the annual cost of 
 running the local government, the size of the tax rate, 
 the increase of municipal expenditures in recent years 
 and the reasons for the increase, the amount of the 
 bonded debt and other matters which should be of 
 financial concern to citizens. 
 
 A valuable feature in such a class organization would 
 be a "Question Box" for written slips containing requests 
 for information from the student members or suggesting 
 subjects for committee investigation. These should be 
 examined by the teacher and submitted to the class for 
 discussion or turned over to the appropriate committees 
 for inquiry and report. 
 
 In recommending a plan of this kind, which can be 
 varied within the discretion of teachers, the author is 
 moved by the consideration that a practical application 
 of the knowledge gained through the study of Civics not 
 only stirs a personal interest in the minds of pupils, but 
 gives them a better conception of their future responsi- 
 bilities as citizens.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Introduction iii 
 
 Suggestions to Teachers vi 
 
 PART I— CITIZENSHIP 
 
 I. Citizenship 3 
 
 II. The Citizen and the Ballot ii 
 
 PART II— THE NATION 
 
 III. The United States Constitution .... 21 
 
 Senate and House 26 
 
 The Executive Branch 30 
 
 The Judicial Branch 36 
 
 General Provisions 3^ 
 
 IV. The Presidency 44 
 
 The Merit System 53 
 
 V. The Congress 63 
 
 The National Budget 73 
 
 The Legislative Mill 17 
 
 The Upper Branch 81 
 
 VI. The Federal Judiciary 9" 
 
 VII. The Cabinet and the Departments .... lo.i 
 
 Independent Departments 121 
 
 VIII. The Currency 128 
 
 The New Currency Era 138 
 
 IX. Our Government in War I49 
 
 X. Recent Constitutional Amendments . . .164 
 
 IX
 
 X Contents — Continued 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XL The Woman Suffrage Amendment .... 178 
 XII. Our National Dependencies 190 
 
 PART III— THE STATE 
 
 XIII. The Government of the States 207 
 
 State Justice and Public Welfare .... 215 
 
 XIV. State Reforms and Problems 224 
 
 State Problems 231 
 
 XV. Voting Qualifications and Methods . . . 239 
 
 PART IV— THE LOCAL COMMUNITY 
 
 XVI. City, County, Town and Village .... 259 
 
 New Municipal Methods 268 
 
 A Popular Reform 271 
 
 In Village and County 275 
 
 XVII. The City — Its Safety, Health and Charity . 282 
 
 Defenses Against Disease 287 
 
 Other Sanitary Safeguards 293 
 
 X\"III. The City — Its Schools, Service and Attrac- 
 tions 306 
 
 Transportation Problems 312 
 
 City Attractions 315 
 
 PART V— THE PARTIES 
 
 XIX. How Presidents Are Nominated 327 
 
 XX. How Presidents Are Elected 341 
 
 XXI. Party History — I 353 
 
 XXII. Party History — II 366 
 
 Appendix 377
 
 PART I 
 
 CITIZENSHIP
 
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 CHAPTER I 
 TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP 
 
 Each one of us obtains in his schooling something which 
 not he, but the community, has paid for. He must return it 
 to the community in full, in the shape of good citizenship. — 
 Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 1. Looking Around. — It is a fine morning and the 
 Student decides to start early on a roundabout route to 
 school. In the course of his walk he sees several things 
 that remind him of the government, or governments, 
 under which he lives. 
 
 A street car passes, filled with people on their way 
 to business. The car is owned and the men who operate 
 it are paid by a private company. But it runs on tracks 
 laid on a public highway, and if it is a trolley car the 
 wires which supply it with the electric current are strung 
 from poles stationed on the same highway. The rail- 
 way company could not have laid the tracks or erected 
 the poles without the consent of the city government, 
 given in the form of an official permit, or, as it is called, 
 a franchise. The people own the streets, and they have, 
 therefore, a sort of partnership interest in the company. 
 
 The passing street car is an agency of the city gov- 
 ernment. Because the operating company is organized 
 to serve the public convenience, under a franchise which 
 allows it the use of the streets, it is known as a public- 
 service corporation. 
 
 3
 
 New Era Civics' 
 
 Brown Eros. 
 
 One of the Familiar Figures 
 
 A reminder of a useful branch of city 
 
 Early in his walk the Student sees a street cleaner at 
 
 work. In the next block he notices a city garbage wagon, 
 
 halted at the curb. These, 
 too, are agencies of the 
 .city government. Both 
 the sweepers and the gar- 
 bage men are representa- 
 tives of a city department. 
 It is their duty to aid in 
 keeping the city clean and 
 in protecting the public 
 health. 
 
 Presently the Student 
 has a more startling re- 
 minder of the city's activ- 
 ities. The loud clang of a 
 city ambulance is heard, 
 and then the vehicle itself 
 
 speeds by. Some one has been injured and must 
 
 be carried without a moment's delay to the hospital. 
 
 The Health Department has been quick to answer the 
 
 call. Night and day it is on watch, to face sudden 
 
 emergencies of this kind or dangers to the public health. 
 A policeman on patrol 
 
 duty is next met. He is the 
 
 uniformed representative 
 
 of another department of 
 
 the city government, and 
 
 a very important one. He 
 
 is a guardian of the public 
 
 safety. So, too, is each of 
 
 the firemen the Student 
 
 observes seated by the i;,„,„i Bros. 
 
 open door of a fire engine A Soldier of the City
 
 Training for Citizenship 
 
 house. At any minute the electric signal may summon 
 them to instant action. They, like the policemen, are 
 soldiers of the city's peace 
 army. Their duty is to re- 
 sist a public eneni\- in the 
 shape of fire, just as it is 
 the policeman's to prevent 
 crime and arrest criminals. 
 
 At the next corner a 
 man is seen climbing an 
 electric light pole. He is 
 the employe of another 
 public-service corporation 
 which works on the same 
 general basis as the rail- 
 way company and under 
 a similar franchise agree- 
 ment. The pole and the 
 wires attached to it are 
 the property of the light- 
 ing company, but they are, 
 in a very practical sense, a 
 part of the machinery of the public service. The company 
 is indebted to the city for the privilege of using them in 
 the lighting, not only of the streets, but of the homes. 
 
 A little further on some men are at work repairing 
 a gas main. This main is simply an agency for the dis- 
 tribution of gas for lighting or heating, and, like the 
 trolley and the long lines of wiring for electric light and 
 telegraphic and telephone communication, it is a part 
 of the public service authorized by the city and estab- 
 lished only with the city's consent. 
 
 Drinking at a public fountain, the Student is reminded 
 of the water supply which the city brings from a dis- 
 
 I ...I . . lI & UiiUenvood. 
 
 On Guard at the Crosswalk 
 
 The automobile has made the traffic 
 policeman a big factor for public safety.
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 tance and pipes through its mains ; and he had an earher 
 reminder of the same great municipal enterprise when 
 he made his morning toilet. 
 
 He next casts a glance at the City Hall, where the 
 business of his municipality is directed and recorded. 
 He passes a public park, where city workers are cutting 
 the grass or trimming the flower beds to make the 
 resort a thing of beauty and delight for tired workers 
 in the summer months. Not far away is an orphan 
 asylum where little dependents are cared for by the 
 public generosity. 
 
 Finally his round of observation ends at the school 
 
 door. Entering the build- 
 ing he sees on all sides 
 evidences of the interest 
 of government in public 
 education. 
 
 2. Other Signs and 
 Symbols. — In his morn- 
 ing walk the Student has 
 seen local government in 
 action. He has also noted 
 evidence that other gov- 
 ernments — the national 
 government, the State gov- 
 ernment and the county 
 government — are at work. 
 He met a letter carrier. 
 This man in grey is an 
 agent of the Government 
 at Washington, and he 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 On Uncle Sam's Errand has the honor of repre- 
 
 The postman is the best known of all sCUtiug the claSS of Fcd- 
 
 the hundreds of thousands of employes i rr • i u:^U ^o ,-nr^c^- 
 
 of the United States Government. Cral officials whlch IS mOSt
 
 Training fcr Citizenship 7 
 
 familiar to the masses of the American people. He is 
 one of an army of public servants eng^aged in performing 
 a useful and necessary national function — the collecting 
 and distributing of the mail. 
 
 The Student paused in his walk to purchase a news- 
 paper and handed out a coin in payment. That coin was 
 made at the United States mint. It is a symbol of one 
 
 Vie Lamudiu. 
 
 The State and the County 
 
 A scene showing a jury, escorted by a Deputy Sheriff, approaching the 
 entrance to a Court House. The Court House and the jury represent the 
 authority of the State as a source of criminal and civil law. The build- 
 ing itself was built and is owned and maintained by the county; the jurymen 
 are residents of the county, and the Deputy SherifT, who has charge of them, 
 „ is a county officer.
 
 8 New Era Civics 
 
 of the greatest powers exercised by the Washington gov- 
 ernment — the power of issuing currency — a power which 
 the State and local governments do not share. 
 
 Among the buildings passed by the Student was the 
 Court House, a temple of justice dedicated to the enforce- 
 ment of State law. The laws to prevent and punish the 
 ordinary crimes that we read about are State laws. In 
 the Court House the offenders are tried, and if found 
 guilty, sentenced to punishment. The building therefore 
 stands as an imposing memorial of the State govern- 
 ment. 
 
 But the structure has not been built and it is not 
 maintained by the State. It is, in nearly all cases, the 
 property of the county, because the county has been 
 from the beginning of the Republic the local district 
 through which the State administers its criminal law. 
 The Court House is the seat of authority, not only for 
 judges and juries, but for the sheriff and coroner — both 
 county officials — and for the county's attorney, who 
 prosecutes in cases of crime. 
 
 The strolling Student therefore found in the Court 
 House a double reminder of the State and the county 
 governments. 
 
 In the course of perhaps an hour's walk our observant 
 Student witnessed the action, or scene of action, of four 
 different governments. Every watchful citizen can have 
 the same enlightening experience. Now, each of these 
 governments has its own mission and its own sphere of 
 operation. It is only by study and observation that we 
 can separate them in our vision and thoughts, and 
 familiarize ourselves with the powers of each govern- 
 ment and the limits of such powers. This should be the 
 object of every citizen who is ambitious to discharge his 
 political duties faithfully.
 
 Training for Citizenship 9 
 
 3. The Starting Place. — The boys and girls who sit 
 in the class room today will before long be voters. It 
 will be their duty and their privilege to participate in the 
 choice of Presidents, Senators, Representatives in Con- 
 gress, Governors, State legislators, judges and local 
 officers. Some of them may be called to serve the public 
 in official posts. In any event, as members of the great 
 army of American voters, they will be charged with a 
 solemn trust, and it is a trust which they should qualify 
 themselves to fulfill worthily. The class room is the very 
 best place to begin. 
 
 4. The Object of Civics Study. — Civics is defined as 
 "the science that treats of citizenship and the relations 
 between citizens and the government." 
 
 The two essentials of good citizenship are knoivledge 
 and service. Service can be most readily given to the 
 local government — the government at our doors. But 
 our knowledge of government should be so extended as 
 to include, in some degree, the State and nation as well 
 as the county and the city or village. When this knowl- 
 edge is acquired, the citizen is in a position to serve his 
 nation and his State as well as his local community. 
 Even intelligent voting is a real service to the Republic. 
 
 5. Some Necessary Questions. — At the very begin- 
 ning of this search for knowledge we should ask ourselves 
 these general questions: 
 
 What are governments for? 
 
 How do governments serve us? 
 
 What can we do to serve them? 
 
 What relation do we bear to government in our 
 capacity as citizens and voters? 
 
 How much need we learn of the processes of gov- 
 ernment to possess the information necessary 
 for intelligent voting?
 
 10 New Era Civics 
 
 How are the powers of the nation, the State and 
 the local government separated and distin- 
 guished, one from the others? 
 It is especially desirable to keep the first of these 
 always in mind, "What are governments for?" It is a 
 sufficient answer that our several governments have been 
 established to preserve order, to enforce laws, to protect 
 the public safety and the public health, to spread the 
 benefits of education, to provide the facilities for trans- 
 portation and communication common to every civilized 
 country — in short, to promote the peace and happiness 
 of the people, so far as government agencies can do it. 
 Whatever the individual can do to serve any of these 
 purposes is a labor of good citizenship. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter I 
 
 1. What signs of your local government's activity have you seen 
 -today? 
 
 2. What daily reminders does one see of the operation and 
 authority of the national government? What building suggests the 
 authority of the State and the county? 
 
 3. What important trust awaits the students of today? 
 
 4. What is Civics? Name the two essentials of good citizenship. 
 What kind of government are we in the best position to serve? How 
 far should our knowledge of government be extended? How does 
 the knowledge of government help the citizen? 
 
 5. What are the first questions we should ask ourselves in our 
 search for knowledge of government and public affairs? Give an 
 answer to the question, "What are governments for?"
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CITIZEN AND THE BALLOT 
 
 The crozvning fact. 
 The kingliest act 
 Of freedom is the freeman's vote. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 1. The New Era of Woman Suffrage. — There is now 
 a compelling reason why a better knowledge of civics 
 should be cultivated. Up to a comparatively recent time 
 the right to vote was confined to one sex, except in a 
 few States west of the Rockies. In nearly the whole of 
 the country women were disfranchised. Intelligent 
 women took an interest, of course, in political affairs,. 
 but it was the interest of on-lookers. Though their in- 
 fluence counted in the decision of political contests and 
 in the adoption of government policies, it was largely 
 sentimental because it lacked the driving power of the 
 ballot. Fear of adverse votes is a strong restraint upon 
 politicians, but the womanhood of the country could not 
 apply this restraint without the voting power. 
 
 2. Effect of the New Conditions. — Women can now 
 vote in every State in the Union. The country has thus 
 entered upon a new political era, with the advent of a 
 mighty force hitherto helpless. Hereafter the leaders of 
 politics must keep in mind the votes of women in all 
 elections. The male head of a household which has no 
 grown sons, or from which the grown sons have departed 
 for homes of their own, will no longer cast a ballot for 
 
 11
 
 12 New Era Civics 
 
 the entire family. One result, it may be assumed, will 
 be the kindling of a new family interest in public affairs, 
 broader than the former individual male interest ; and 
 if this reasonable expectation is realized there will be a 
 widespread demand for more general education in civic 
 duties. 
 
 3. Citizens and Parties. — It is evident that the suc- 
 cess of government in accomplishing its various pur- 
 poses depends to a large extent upon the character of 
 the men selected to direct and manage it, in nation. State 
 and local community. That is why the casting of the 
 ballot is a serious part of the citizen's duty, and why he 
 should cultivate an interest in all civic affairs. 
 
 Ours has been, from the very first, a government by 
 political parties. In its development, political organiza- 
 tions have played a great part. Even independent voters, 
 who do not join any political party, admit the need of 
 party rivalry and party contests in a democracy. A party 
 in power has a special incentive to do its best as a govern- 
 ing force when it is watched and criticized by one or 
 more other parties which are eager to take its place. 
 
 In studying government and public affairs, it is well 
 for us to learn something about the conflicts of parties 
 in the past, for the study of political history gives an 
 enlightening background for present-day problems. 
 
 4. The Voter and His Responsibility. — Through the 
 possession of the ballot, every voter is a unit, and equal 
 to every other unit, in the popular force that controls 
 the greatest country in the world, the United States. 
 The nature of the ballot has long been a subject of con- 
 troversy. Some call it a right that belongs to every 
 native or naturalized American over twenty-one ; others 
 call it only a privilege which may be given or withheld 
 by the State. Perhaps the safest theory, which some
 
 The Citizen and the Ballot 
 
 13 
 
 courts have proclaimed, is that it is simply a convenient 
 instrument of government by the people. 
 
 But no matter how we may differ in describing it, 
 all good citizens must agree that the exercise of the 
 power to vote is a patriotic duty. Our government, 
 national. State and local, is shaped by the will of the 
 people as expressed through the ballot box. Therefore 
 the casting of a vote should be performed as carefully 
 in each case as if the voter knew that his or her single 
 ballot would decide the election. 
 
 5. The Voting Process. — The act of voting is itself 
 a very simple one. At stated times the voter goes to the 
 polls and casts his ballot for certain candidates for public 
 offices. In addition, the great majority of voters also 
 take part in primary elections at which candidates are 
 
 iJiuuu iirus. 
 
 Practical Crvics 
 
 An advanced High School student teaching pupils how to vote with the 
 
 ballot machine.
 
 14 New Era Civics 
 
 selected to run for office. The very word "primary" 
 indicates that this operation is only a preliminary to the 
 regular election-day function. 
 
 But it is one thing to vote and another to vote 
 wisely — that is to say, with a correct understanding of 
 what the process means. Hence the need of a fair knowl- 
 edge not only of each candidate's qualifications but of 
 the principles and purposes of the party which he repre- 
 sents and also of the details of the government which he 
 is to be chosen to serve. It takes only a few minutes to 
 perform the physical act of voting, but it takes study and 
 careful observation to qualify each citizen to perform 
 that act well. 
 
 6. How Voters are Grouped. — Every voter casts a 
 ballot in three different capacities — as a citizen of the 
 United States, as a citizen of his State, and as a citizen 
 of the home community. The various elections, barring 
 a number of exceptions in the local field, are contests 
 between parties, with the two historic parties. Republican 
 and Democratic, in the forefront. 
 
 A very large majority of the voters of the country 
 are partisans in the sense that they are attached to 
 some particular party by the ties of heredity, sentiment, 
 preference or self-interest. The small remainder is best 
 known as "the independent vote." The independents 
 themselves may be divided into two classes. One class 
 we may call neutral, or indifferent. The neutral voter 
 is one who takes the feeblest possible interest in the 
 conflict of parties and candidates, and either postpones 
 until the last moment the choice he will make in the 
 polling booth or abstains from voting entirely. The real 
 independent voter, however, takes a keen interest in 
 political developments, and, while he has no preference 
 as between the contending parties as parties, gives his
 
 The Citizen and the Ballot 15 
 
 personal support to the one which appeals most .strongly 
 to his reason. Such a voter rarely casts a straight ballot. 
 The so-called "split" ticket is a favorite with him, though 
 most of his selections are of the party which for the time 
 being enjoys his good will. 
 
 7. The Shifting of Party Control. — When we come 
 to the grand army of partisans, we find marked differences 
 in the fervor of their attachments to their respective 
 organizations. There are some partisans who consider 
 it a binding obligation to accept the party platform with- 
 out a murmur and to vote the party ticket without excep- 
 tion from top to bottom. On the other hand, there are 
 partisans who, though generally loyal, sometimes vigor- 
 ously object to features of the party platform and vote 
 against one or more of the party candidates for personal 
 reasons or from a conviction that the opposing candidates 
 are better fitted for the political trusts to which they 
 aspire. 
 
 As changes often occur in the control of the govern- 
 ment, it is certain, first, that partisans often waver in 
 their allegiance, and, second, that the independent vote 
 is a powerful factor in determining results. Party 
 ascendancy and the destinies of government in this 
 country are chiefly determined by the votes of citizens 
 who are willing to change their minds. If it were other- 
 wise, one party would perpetually remain in power in 
 Washington. As it is, in some of the States party con- 
 trol never changes. There are States that have uni- 
 formly gone Democratic and other States that have 
 uniformly gone Republican during the past half century, 
 though, of course, there have been fluctuations in the 
 size of the winning majorities. 
 
 8. Party Allegiance. — The average young voter needs 
 no urging to cast his or her lot with a political party.
 
 16 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 Many of us inherit our political principles as we do our 
 religion. Political independence is often an admirable 
 quality in itself. The good will and support of inde- 
 pendents are eagerly sought by partisan leaders and 
 managers. Nevertheless, American custom and Amer- 
 ican experience generally influence the young man or 
 woman who is assuming the voting obligation for the 
 first time to join one of the organized groups of citizens 
 whose struggle for mastery imparts to politics its greatest 
 excitement and attraction. 
 
 Brown Kros. 
 
 Training Adopted Citizens 
 
 A night school lesson for foreign-born students in Registering and Voting. 
 
 But it is well for every young partisan to resolve 
 firmly at the beginning to be a thinking voter. As a rule, 
 he or she can safely rely upon the judgment of the great 
 Presidential nominating conventions, or upon the decision 
 of the masses of the chosen party at the primaries ; but 
 there are times when rebellion becomes a duty to con- 
 scientious minds, and it is the inclination on the part 
 of individual partisans to rebel which exercises the
 
 The Citizen and the Ballot 17 
 
 strongest restraint upon party counsels and party 
 policies. 
 
 The new voters who join a political party do not by 
 any means surrender their right of private judgment. 
 The polling booth is safe from invasion, and their ballots 
 are their own. The vast majority of the people have 
 been and will continue to be partisans, but the balance 
 of power will remain with those who are independents 
 by preference, and to even a greater extent with those 
 who, while devoted to a favorite organization, hold still 
 dearer than this allegiance their freedom of will and 
 conscience. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter II 
 
 1. How was the voting privilege limited until a comparatively 
 recent period? What was the effect upon women's interest and 
 influence in politics? 
 
 2. What new force must political leaders reckon with here- 
 after? What educational demand is the enfranchisement of women 
 likely to create? 
 
 3. Upon what does the success of government largely depend? 
 Why should the citizen cultivate an interest in political affairs ? Why 
 does the rivalry of parties serve a good purpose in government? 
 Why is the study of party history useful? 
 
 4. What does the ballot mean to the citizen? How is the nature 
 of the ballot described? What have some courts called it? Suggest, 
 in your own words, the spirit in which the right to vote should be 
 exercised. 
 
 5. What voting operation precedes the regular elections? Why 
 is the "primary" so called? What preparation is desirable for 
 intelligent voting? 
 
 6. In what three different capacities does a citizen vote? What 
 may each voter consider himself or herself in the various political 
 contests? What two parties are generally at the forefront in party 
 warfare? What are the several influences that determine member- 
 ship in a political party? Who are the independent voters? Into what
 
 18 New Era Civics 
 
 two classes may they be divided? How does the neutral differ from 
 the real independent voter? How is the real independent voter 
 influenced? Does he generally vote a "straight ticket"? 
 
 7. Do partisans invariably support their party candidates or 
 policies? What reasons sometimes induce partisans to desert their 
 party? What two factors usually decide changes in the national 
 administration? If party voters never changed their minds, what 
 result would follow? Do some States cling uniformly to one party? 
 
 8. Are new voters generally inclined to attach themselves to 
 some political party? What kind of voter should the young citizen 
 aim to be? How are thinking voters sometimes influenced? What 
 good effect does this tendency have on party leaders? State your 
 idea of the secret ballot as an advantage to independent voters. 
 What two classes of voters often wield the "balance of power" in 
 national elections?
 
 PART II 
 
 THE NATION
 
 Underwoud & Uuderwuud, 
 
 The Dome of the Capitcl 
 An impressive symbol cf the majesty and strength of the Republic.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION 
 
 The preservation of liberty and the destiny of the repub- 
 lican form of government are justly considered as deeply, 
 perhaps as vitally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the 
 American people. — Washington's Farewell Address. 
 
 1. The Mission of the Fathers. — The Constitution of 
 the United States is the original charter of our national, 
 or central government, to which certain amendments have 
 been added from time to time to meet special needs or 
 demands. 
 
 The wise men who framed it, with George Wash- 
 ington at their head, assembled for the purpose in the 
 City of Philadelphia in the year 1787. At that time, and 
 for the six preceding years, the scheme of government 
 for the little nation, or rather group of thirteen new 
 States, was embodied in what was known as the Articles 
 of Confederation. The Confederation, or league, had not 
 worked well. It was established in 1781, a few months 
 before the surrender of Cornwallis and the end of our 
 Revolutionary struggle ; and as time went on the defects 
 of the new system became apparent. 
 
 The thirteen infant States were bound together by 
 very loose political ties. They had little in common 
 except their location, the Articles which they had adopted 
 for convenience sake, and the memory of common suffer- 
 ings and sacrifices in the War of the Revolution. They 
 
 21
 
 22 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 were often vexed by discord arising from their trade 
 rivalries and other opposing interests. Their far-sighted 
 leaders were not long in deciding that the Articles of 
 Confederation must be strengthened for a better under- 
 standing and a closer union. Such was the mission 
 confided to the sixty-two delegates sent to Philadelphia 
 in 1787 by twelve of the thirteen States (only Rhode 
 
 JJiovvu llrus. 
 
 Independence Hall 
 
 Where the Federal Constitution was drafted and signed by the framers on 
 September 17, 1787. Here, too, more than twelve years before, the first 
 
 Continental Congress met.
 
 The United States Constitution 23 
 
 Island being unrepresented). They were expected to 
 amend and improve the Articles of Confederation. But 
 they far exceeded their instructions. They were satisfied 
 with nothing less than the drafting of a real Constitution. 
 Charged with a modest task of repair work, they became 
 the architects of an entirely new political edifice, the best 
 of its kind the world has ever seen. 
 
 The student should approach the subject of the 
 Federal Constitution by ridding his or her mind of any 
 notion that it is a literary mass of subtleties. A careful 
 reading of its text shows it to be phrased in familiar 
 English words. In practical application some of its pas- 
 sages have been a cause of dispute at various times since 
 the beginning of the government. But that was because 
 its framers had to confine themselves to a foundation 
 code or general outline of principles. They had to 
 "boil everything down." Their language was simple 
 and direct. A prominent Senator of the last generation 
 described it well when he called it "a model of compre- 
 hensive brevity." 
 
 2. The Object in View. — Before examining the main 
 provisions of this famous instrument, it is well to glance 
 at the difficulties of the problem "the Fathers of the 
 Constitution" had to solve. Their duty was to draft a 
 national charter which thirteen new-born States, jealous 
 of their independent rights, could accept as a permanent 
 and binding compact. That is to say, their mission was 
 to unite, in one nationality, States that varied greatly 
 in area, population, social characteristics and material 
 interests. 
 
 When it came to the question of a stronger political 
 union, little States, like Delaware and New Hampshire, 
 were naturally distrustful of the power of the larger ones 
 like Virginia and New York. To reconcile all differences 
 
 3— Feb. 22.
 
 24 New Era Civics 
 
 and to frame a Constitution which, on the one hand, 
 would recognize the importance of the leading States 
 and, on the other, would guarantee protection to the 
 smaller ones, was the problem that faced the men who 
 sat in the Philadelphia convention. 
 
 They disposed of it with wonderful wisdom. Nowhere 
 have the purpose and spirit of the Constitution been 
 better revealed than in the language of the Preamble. 
 Every citizen should know the words by heart. "We, 
 the people of the United States" — so runs the solemn 
 declaration — "in order to form a more perfect union, 
 establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide 
 for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 
 and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
 posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for 
 the United States of America." Such were the objects 
 Washington and his associates had in mind in drafting 
 the Constitution. They are the objects we of today have 
 in mind in maintaining it. 
 
 3. Planning the Congress. — Under the old 'Confedera- 
 tion there had been no personal executive, or chief magis- 
 trate, corresponding to our President. The national 
 affairs of the thirteen States after the Revolution were 
 under the direction and control of a Congress, a single 
 legislative body, in which each State had from two to 
 seven representatives, but only one vote. As the Con- 
 gress was all powerful in this former league, it was 
 natural that the Philadelphia convention should first deal 
 with the problem of a Congress for the permanent union — 
 the basic foundation of the whole system. Right here 
 was a serious difficulty. 
 
 It was evident at the very start that a Congress with 
 a single chamber, patterned after the one in existence, 
 would not do. Why ? For one reason it would have been
 
 The United States Constitution 25 
 
 impossible with a single chamber to satisfy all the States 
 in the matter of representation. If every State were 
 allowed equal representation, or, what amounted to the 
 same thing, an equal vote, as was the case under the 
 Confederation, the larger States would have refused to 
 enter a permanent union on that condition. They would 
 have been justified, moreover, as it would have been 
 easily within the power of the minor States to outvote 
 such major States as Virginia, New York and Massa- 
 chusetts. In a legislature so organized Delaware would 
 have had an equal voice with her big sister, Pennsylvania, 
 and to such a leveling of influence Pennsylvania would 
 never have agreed. On the other hand, the plan of a 
 single chamber, with each State represented therein by 
 votes proportioned to its population, would have been 
 just as earnestly opposed by the little States. So the 
 idea of a one-chamber Congress was early abandoned in 
 favor of a Congress with two chambers. 
 
 In reaching this decision, the convention had before 
 it the example of the various State Legislatures organized 
 after the Declaration of Independence. These were com- 
 posed of two chambers, with the upper chamber con- 
 stituting a smaller and more select branch than the lower. 
 In accepting this idea from the States, the convention 
 took the right road. But there was still an ugly obstacle 
 in the way. 
 
 In the States the members of the upper chamber of 
 the Legislature were, as a rule, selected from districts 
 with large populations, while the members of the lower 
 chamber were more numerous and were chosen for 
 smaller districts, and usually for shorter terms. In each 
 State there was little difference in the representative 
 character of the two chambers, except that one was more 
 dignified than the other. The States found this plan
 
 26 New Era Civics 
 
 .satisfactory. But it was a plan that could not be adopted 
 bodily by the Philadelphia convention, because it would 
 not satisfy the smaller States. In a Congress organized 
 like the two-chamber State Legislatures, the small States 
 would still be at the mercy of the large ones in the matter 
 of representation. It was therefore clear that if a two- 
 chamber Congress was to be established, some way must 
 be found to protect the rights and interests of the small 
 States in one of the chambers. 
 
 SENATE AND HOUSE 
 
 4. Birth of the Federal Senate. — Finally the conven- 
 tion agreed upon the happy expedient of creating an 
 upper branch of Congress in which the representation 
 of the States, as States, would be exactly equal. This 
 decision is known in history as one of the three great 
 Compromises of the Constitution. The other two related 
 to the now extinct question of American slavery. This 
 ingenious design of a Senate organized on a basis of 
 equal State representation, as distinguished from pro- 
 portional popular representation, was perhaps more effec- 
 tive than any other of the convention's masterstrokes in 
 paving the way for the final adoption of the Constitution. 
 It was a practical and lasting concession to the smaller 
 States. 
 
 With one brief clause the convention performed the 
 miracle of conciliation. "The Senate of the United 
 •States," it ordained, "shall be composed of two Senators 
 from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for 
 six years." By this mandate the smallest State in the 
 Union was accorded equal representation with the largest 
 in the upper branch of Congress. 
 
 On the other hand, the convention decreed that in 
 the lower branch, the House of Representatives, the mem-
 
 The United States Constitution 27 
 
 bers "shall be apportioned among the several States- 
 according to their numbers" — that is, their populations. 
 
 5. General Functions of the Two Houses. — Here,, 
 then, we have in the American Congress an exquisite 
 balancing of two distinct systems of representation. The 
 House, or popular branch, was intended to represent the 
 people and the Senate to represent the States. As a 
 result, while the larger States enjoyed a representation 
 in the House proportioned to their population, every 
 small State was on exactly the same footing as the 
 most populous State, by its command of two votes- 
 in the Senate. Thus, while the interests of the larger 
 States were fully safeguarded in the House, the smaller 
 States were amply protected in the Senate. To clinch 
 this guaranty for the smaller States, the makers of the 
 Constitution inserted in Article V a proviso that "no 
 State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
 suffrage in the Senate." 
 
 In creating the Senate the Fathers had another pur- 
 pose in view than the settling of the rival claims of the 
 lar^e and small States. It was their intention to con- 
 stitute the Senate in such a manner that it would act as a 
 check upon the popular branch, or chamber. In organiz- 
 ing the House of Representatives it was provided that 
 its members should be elected for two years. As short- 
 term Representatives, chosen directly by the people, it 
 was expected that they would reflect quickly the public 
 will. But it was considered desirable to make of the 
 Senate a legislative force that would insure greater care 
 and deliberation and prevent hasty and impulsive action 
 by the lower branch. Accordingly it was ordained that 
 the Senatorial term should be six years. The theory 
 back of this provision was that legislators who were 
 required to render to the people an account of their
 
 28 New Era Civics 
 
 stewardship only after a long period of time would be 
 more independent and self-reliant than legislators with 
 two-year terms. 
 
 But this variance in the terms of service was not the 
 only difference between the two bodies. The age limit 
 under which no man would be eligible to serve as Repre- 
 sentative was fixed at twenty-five years. In the case of 
 Senators the limit was raised to thirty years. Again, it 
 will be noted that, whereas the Constitution originally 
 decreed that the Representatives should be chosen by the 
 peopile, the election of Senators was entrusted to the 
 State Legislatures. At that time it was considered best 
 to erect this barrier between the Senators and the 
 people. 
 
 6. The Cooling Process. — In an anecdote long cur- 
 rent it is related that Washington and Jefferson were 
 once dining together when their conversation turned to 
 the two branches of Congress. Jefferson argued against 
 the two-chamber system, and he was warmly discoursing 
 on the merits of a single legislative body when Wash- 
 ington Cjuietly remarked : "You yourself have proved the 
 excellence of two houses at this very moment." "How 
 is that. General?" inquired the surprised Jefferson; and 
 Washington answered : "You have turned your hot tea 
 into the saucer to get cool. It is the same thing we desire 
 of the two houses." Whether the story is authentic or 
 not, the illustration is apt. A measure that comes hot 
 from the House of Representatives is generally sure to 
 undergo the cooling process in the Senate. 
 
 One constitutional provision for making the Senate 
 more independent of popular influence than the House 
 is now a thing of the past. The Senators are no longer 
 chosen by the State Legislatures, but by the direct vote 
 of the people of the several States. The Seventeenth
 
 The United States Constitution 29 
 
 amendment to the Constitution, by which this change 
 was made, was adopted and proclaimed in 1913. Conse- 
 quently the Senators are now elected like Governors, but 
 this departure does not affect the equality of State repre- 
 sentation in the Senate. 
 
 7. Where the Two Branches Differ. — The Senate and 
 the House, acting in conjunction, are the legislative, or 
 law-making branch of the Federal government. Their 
 joint consent is necessary to the adoption of every legis- 
 lative measure. But in some respects their functions 
 differ. It is required, for example, in Section 7, Article I, 
 that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
 House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose, 
 or concur with, amendments, as on other bills." By this 
 proviso the House of Representatives, or lower branch, 
 is vested with prime responsibility as regards money bills. 
 It was England's abuse of the right of taxation that led 
 to the revolt of the colonies. It was therefore perfectly 
 natural that the framers of the Constitution, in working 
 out their new scheme of government, should make the 
 lower branch of Congress, the branch nearest to the 
 people and most responsive to their will, the custodian 
 in a special sense of what is called "the power of the 
 purse" — the power to raise revenue by taxation. In tariff 
 and other revenue legislation the Senate sometimes 
 changes a House bill so that its framers can scarcely 
 recognize it, and then the differences have to be adjusted 
 by conference committees. But the House, as a rule, 
 has jealously guarded its right to take the initiative in 
 preparing and passing such measures. 
 
 The Senate, too, is clothed by the Constitution with 
 special privileges. In the making of treaties and in the 
 case of Presidential appointments to office, its "advice and 
 consent" are necessary. Here the House has no voice.
 
 30 New Era Civics 
 
 A two-thirds vote of the Senate is necessary to ratify any 
 treaty submitted by the President, and a majority vote 
 to confirm his nominations for office. 
 
 In another respect, which is only conditional, the 
 House and the Senate have differing functions. The 
 House is empowered to elect a President when the Elec- 
 toral College fails to perform this duty owing to the 
 absence of a clear majority for any candidate. As will 
 be seen later, this has occurred twice in our history — 
 in 1801 and in 1825 — and the choice of President was 
 transferred to the House. On the other hand, when the 
 Electoral College does not choose a Vice President, 
 the power of selection goes to the Senate, and it was 
 once exercised by that body — in 1837. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH 
 
 8. The President. — In the opening sentence of its 
 second article, the Constitution provides that "the execu- 
 tive power shall be vested in a President of the United 
 States of America." These simple but expressive words 
 are the warrant for a public trust which good Americans 
 like to consider the greatest on earth. 
 
 In the Philadelphia convention there was a general 
 agreement as to the need of a single executive who should 
 head the new government. The differences of opinion 
 that arose among the delegates over this important 
 feature of their work chiefly related to his term of office, 
 his qualifications and the measure of his authority. The 
 decision finally reached, and embodied in Article II, may 
 be summarized in a sentence. The President's term of 
 service shall be four years ; and he must be a "natural 
 born citizen," at least thirty-five years of age and for 
 fourteen years a resident of the country. The last pro- 
 vision can be better understood when it is stated that
 
 The United States Constitution 31 
 
 a person born of American parents living abroad is 
 "a natural born citizen," but under the constitutional 
 mandate such person, to be eligible to the Presidency,, 
 must have resided within the States for the prescribed 
 period. 
 
 These are the only qualifications for the high office 
 of President set down in the Constitution. The framers 
 emphasized their devotion to democracy, to self-govern- 
 ment by the people and to the principle of equal oppor- 
 tunity by omitting any test for Presidential service 
 relating to religion, race extraction, social caste or the 
 ownership of property. 
 
 In spite of the liberal spirit here displayed, the con- 
 vention deemed it wise to provide for the election of 
 President by an indirect method, wdiich is still in opera- 
 tion and which is as curious as it is ingenious. So it 
 was decided that the President should be chosen, not 
 directly by the voters like Representatives in Congress, 
 but by a body of Presidential Electors selected for the 
 purpose in the various States. The political institution 
 which has long been known as the Electoral College 
 was thus brought into existence. 
 
 9. The Powers of the Executive. — The outline of the 
 President's power in the Constitution gives us but a 
 feeble idea of its tremendous range at the present time. 
 For it must be remembered that in 1787 the framers of 
 the Constitution shaped the authority of the executive 
 of an infant nation of less than four million inhabitants, 
 or not much more than one-third of the population of the 
 single State of New York in 1920. With the rapid growth 
 of the country the power and influence of the President 
 have steadily broadened. But this simply means that his 
 responsibility has increased with the passage of new laws 
 and the marvelous expansion of our whole political sys-
 
 32 New Era Civics 
 
 tern, and not that his power has become more autocratic 
 in times of peace. It is one of the supreme merits of 
 the Constitution that the barriers it originally raised 
 against any encroachment or wrongful exercise of Presi- 
 dential power are as staunch and firm now as they 
 were in Washington's day. Within its proper limits the 
 President's authority has been magnified as well as 
 varied ; but the constitutional limits themselves remain 
 unchanged. 
 
 First in order of the powers conferred upon the 
 President is that of commander-in-chief of the army 
 and the navy. During the European war we had a won- 
 derful demonstration of the meaning and effect of this 
 grant of authority. It is believed that the mere presence 
 in the convention of George Washington, who had led 
 our armies in the Revolution and who was admirably 
 fitted to be the first head of the new government, had 
 much to do with convincing the delegates that the Presi- 
 dent should direct and control the nation's military force. 
 It was this clause of the Constitution which, in 1917, 
 enabled Congress to concentrate the national strength 
 and resources by delegating enormous war powers to the 
 President. 
 
 The Constitution provides that the President "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." The 
 phrase "executive departments" as here used is the only 
 reference to the great branches of the Federal govern- 
 ment which have since been developed by enactments of 
 Congress and placed in charge of Cabinet officers. The 
 President's Cabinet is therefore not a constitutional 
 creation, but a product of statute law.
 
 The United States Constitution 33 
 
 The President is next armed with the pardoning 
 power, but it apphes only to offenses against the United 
 States — that is to say, to crimes against Federal laws, 
 such as treason, sedition, counterfeiting, smuggling or 
 illegal use of the mails. In the case of ordinary criminals 
 the pardoning power is vested in the Governors of States 
 or in boards established for that purpose. 
 
 The President is further empowered to "make 
 treaties," but only with the "advice and consent of the 
 Senate" and provided that "two-thirds of the Senate 
 concur." The long controversy between the President 
 and the Senate over the peace treaty between the allied 
 and associated powers and Germany has made Amer- 
 icans familiar with the operation of this constitutional 
 decree. 
 
 10. The Power of Appointment, — An extraordinary 
 source of power is opened to the President by the clause 
 authorizing him to appoint "ambassadors, ministers, 
 consuls and all other officers of the United States whose 
 appointments are not herein otherwise provided for." 
 It was this grant that gave the President his large con- 
 trol of what is known as "political patronage," or the 
 choice of men to fill many of the Federal offices. His 
 exercise of this power of appointment partly accounts 
 for the vigor and earnestness of the party struggles for 
 mastery. This power is subject to the Senate's right of 
 confirming his appointments, already referred to ; but it 
 is the President who makes the selection in every case, 
 and it is only on rare occasions that his nominations for 
 office are rejected by the Senate. 
 
 Many classes of Federal office holders are now pro- 
 tected in their places by Civil Service law^s. By this 
 means a so-called "merit system" has been established 
 to remedy the evils of the "spoils system," under which
 
 34 New Era Civics 
 
 many thousands of faithful public servants in subordinate 
 posts were exposed to the danger of summary removal 
 whenever a change of party administration occurred in 
 Washington. 
 
 The other powers of the President are specified in 
 Section 3, Article II. He is required to give Congress 
 from time to time "information of the state of the Union ; 
 and to recommend measures for the consideration of that 
 body." This is the warrant for the Presidential messages, 
 regular and special, to Congress. The first two Presi- 
 dents, Washington and Adams, appeared before Congress 
 in person to deliver their messages. The third President, 
 Jefferson, departed from their practice and transmitted 
 his messages in writing; and this example was followed 
 by all the Presidents to Wilson, who revived the original 
 custom of personal delivery. The President is further 
 authorized to summon Congress to meet "on extraordi- 
 nary occasions," or to use the more familiar expression, 
 in "special session." A time for the regular meeting of 
 Congress, namely, the first Monday in December of each 
 year, is specified in the Constitution, but Congress is 
 expressly allowed to choose a different day. In the early 
 years of the Republic, Congress took advantage of this 
 permission to change the date of its regular meeting no 
 less than eighteen times, but since 1820 the date recom- 
 mended by the Constitution has remained unaltered. 
 
 11. The Vice President and the Succession. — The 
 Vice President is elected at the same time and in the 
 same manner as the President. By a strange oversight 
 the original Constitution prescribed no qualifications for 
 the Vice President, but this omission was corrected in 
 the Twelfth amendment, adopted in 1804, which decreed 
 that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
 of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President
 
 The United States Constitution 35 
 
 of the United States." The only specific duty assigned 
 to the Vice President is that of presiding officer of the 
 Senate. But he has no vote in that body except in the 
 event of an equal division of its members on some 
 measure or resolution. He can then decide the ''tie" by 
 his "casting" vote. 
 
 It is the Vice President's status as a possible successor 
 to the power of the Presidency that imparts the greatest 
 dignity to his office. "In the case of the removal of the 
 President from office," says the Constitution, "or of his 
 death, resignation or inability to discharge the powers 
 and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve upon 
 the Vice President." Five times in the history of the 
 United States the Presidency has been made vacant by 
 death. As a result five of our Vice Presidents, John 
 Tyler in 1841, Millard Fillmore in 1850, Andrew Johnson 
 in 1865, Chester A. Arthur in 1881, and Theodore Roose- 
 velt in 1901, assumed the duties and responsibilities of 
 the Chief Magistrate. The Constitution makes no other 
 specific provision for filling a vacancy in the Presidential 
 office ; but it authorizes Congress to designate what the 
 line of succession shall be if both the President and Vice 
 President die, in turn, or are unable to serve. 
 
 It will be seen that one of the possible causes of a 
 vacancy is "the removal of the President from office." 
 This can be effected only by successful impeachment. 
 Like other civil officers of the government, the President 
 can be removed from office "on impeachment for, and 
 conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or 
 misdemeanors." Impeachment, as used in this sense, is 
 accusation. When this extreme process is applied against 
 a President, the House of Representatives has the sole 
 power of impeachment, or accusation, and the Senate, 
 sitting as a special tribunal, must hear the charges and
 
 36 New Era Civics 
 
 the evidence and pass judgment. On such an occasion 
 the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States presides over the Senate Court, as it would be 
 manifestly improper for the Vice President to perform 
 that function in a trial wherein he would be an interested 
 party. A two-thirds majority of the Senators present 
 wdien the final vote is taken is necessary to convict. 
 
 Only once has a President been tried in impeachment 
 proceedings. That was in 1868, wdien Andrew Johnson, 
 who had succeeded to the Presidential office on the death 
 of Lincoln, was impeached by the House. Thirty-five 
 Senators voted for conviction and nineteen against. He 
 was therefore acquitted in the absence of an affirmative 
 majority of two-thirds; but the change of a single vote 
 from the "no" to the "aye" side would have meant his 
 removal from office. 
 
 THE JUDICIAL BRANCH 
 
 12. The Federal Judiciary. — In this partial survey of 
 the Constitution two of the three branches of the govern- 
 ment — the legislative and executive — have been dis- 
 cussed. The third, or judicial, branch remains to be 
 considered. In addition to the law-making power, vested 
 in Congress, and the executive power, given to the Presi- 
 dent, it was necessary, under the broad-visioned plan of 
 the convention, to create a third power, charged with the 
 duty of interpreting the Constitution and insuring its 
 equal and just application in all disputed cases arising 
 thereunder. Such cases are outlined and divided into 
 general classes in Section 2, Article III. The only con- 
 stitutional court established by name is our great historic 
 tribunal, the Supreme Court of the United States. Aside 
 from this provision, the creation of minor United States 
 courts, as well as the organization of the Supreme Court
 
 The United States Constitution 37 
 
 itself, is left to Congress. All the Federal judges are 
 appointed by the President. 
 
 It should be observed that the Constitution confers 
 one remarkable distinction upon the judges of the 
 Supreme Court and other Federal courts. It invests them 
 with what is practically a life tenure, or term of service. 
 "The judges," it says, "both of the Supreme and inferior 
 courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior." 
 While the term of the President is limited to four years, 
 and of Senators and Representatives in Congress to six 
 years and two years, respectively, no limit or condition 
 is "attached to the service of the judges, excepting the 
 performance of duty described as "good behavior." 
 
 The purpose the framers of the Constitution had in 
 mind in thus setting the judges apart in a special class, 
 and securing them against removal, was plain enough. 
 They deemed it desirable that the President and the 
 Congressmen should be elected for fixed terms in order 
 that the people could call them to account for their 
 records, and change them at will, after stated intervals. 
 But it was also determined that a different rule should 
 prevail in the case of the judges. The judges were 
 required to interpret the Constitution or hold the scales 
 of justice with the strictest impartiality. With this 
 end in view, it was decided that they should be re- 
 moved as far as possi])le from outside influences that 
 might warp their judgment if- they were obliged to 
 seek reelection or reappointment after short terms of 
 service. 
 
 In a word, the object was to lift the Federal judges 
 above the ambitions and contentions of politics and to 
 free their minds from any thought of selfish advantage 
 in reaching and rendering their decisions. In one vital 
 sense, therefore, the judiciary is the only branch of the 
 
 47710
 
 38 New Era Civics 
 
 United States government not dependent upon public 
 opinion for its continuance in office. Its aloofness in 
 this particular is held to be a prime guarantee of its 
 .absolute fairness as between conflicting interests. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 
 13. The Powers of Congress. — The legislative powers 
 ■derived by Congress from the Constitution are chiefly 
 such as every independent nation, whatever its form of 
 government, exercises. Among them is power to levy 
 and collect taxes, to provide for the common defense 
 and welfare, to borrow money, to regulate commerce, 
 to coin money, to declare war, to raise and support 
 armies. 
 
 Special emphasis should be laid upon the power of 
 •our Congress to regulate commerce among the several 
 States. It is by this broad grant in the Constitution that 
 the Federal government, through Congress and the Presi- 
 dent, has exercised control over the great combinations 
 of capital, including monopolies and so-called trusts, 
 whose business overlaps State boundaries. The Supreme 
 Court has of late years taken a liberal view of what con- 
 stitutes interstate commerce within the meaning of the 
 Constitution. As a result Congress has been able to 
 wield a power of national regulation over railroads and 
 the great industrial combinations known as trusts which 
 might otherwise have brought it into conflict with State 
 authority. 
 
 Among the powers vested in Congress was that of 
 admitting new States into the Union. The same body 
 -was empowered by the Constitution "to dispose of and 
 make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
 territory or other property belonging to the United 
 States." In 1791, Vermont, as the first new State, was
 
 The United States Constitution 39 
 
 added to the original thirteen ; and in 1912 the great 
 sisterhood of the United States proper was completed by 
 the admission of Arizona and New Mexico. In this long 
 interval, legislation for the creation of new States and 
 for the government of the territories formed was an 
 important part of the duties and the history of Con- 
 gress. In 1912 the last territory within the continental 
 boundaries of the United States, barring only the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, was advanced to statehood. Mean- 
 while, however, Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico and the 
 Philippines had passed under our national control, and 
 in these outlying lands the power of Congress over the 
 territories was exercised in different forms. 
 
 14. Amending the Constitution. — The Constitution 
 prescribes simple rules for its own amendment. Under 
 the method always observed in the past, Congress, by 
 a two-thirds vote, adopts a resolution submitting the 
 proposed amendment to the Legislatures of all the States. 
 If the Legislatures of three-fourths of the States approve 
 and accept the amendment — or ratify it, to use the more 
 familiar term — it becomes a part of the Constitution. 
 In requiring a two-thirds vote of both branches of Con- 
 gress to submit an amendment, and the approval of three- 
 fourths of the States to ratify it, the makers of the 
 Constitution took careful precautions to guard against 
 changes in the instrument without the strong support 
 of public opinion. 
 
 Under the constitutional provision thus described it 
 rests with Congress to determine whether an amendment 
 shall be submitted to the country. But there is another 
 provision by which the States, if two-thirds of their 
 Legislatures so decide, can instruct Congress to call a 
 national convention for proposing one or more amend- 
 ments to the Constitution. If such action should be
 
 40 New Era Civics 
 
 taken by the necessary number of State Legislatures, 
 Congress would be bound to comply with the request. 
 But if a constitutional convention thus called should sub- 
 mit amendments, these would still have to be ratified 
 by three-fourths of the State Legislatures, as in the case 
 of amendments submitted by Congress. This latter 
 method of proposing changes in the Constitution has 
 never been tried. 
 
 When the original Constitution was submitted to the 
 thirteen States for adoption, much opposition to it 
 developed on the ground that it clothed the national, or 
 Federal, government with too much power at the expense 
 of the States and their people. In several States an 
 earnest demand was expressed for amendments that 
 would more securely fortify personal liberty and the 
 existing system of self-government within the States, 
 In compliance with this demand the First Congress 
 elected under the new Constitution, sitting in New York 
 in 1789, submitted ten amendments, which were duly 
 ratified, and were declared in force in December, 179L 
 They deserve an attentive reading. 
 
 It will be seen that these ten amendments safeguard 
 the rights of the States or of individual citizens. They 
 specifically insure freedom of religious worship; the 
 right of the people to keep and bear arms for mutual 
 defense ; the safety of the people, in their persons and 
 homes, from unreasonable and unauthorized seizures 
 and searches; their freedom from prosecution for crime 
 in time of peace, in the absence of an indictment; their 
 security from other arbitrary invasions of their personal 
 liberty and their property and other rights under the 
 common law ; and, above all, their right to a jury trial 
 and reasonable bail, when accused of crime. The last
 
 The United States Constitution 41 
 
 of these amendments, Article X, calls for particular 
 emphasis. It reads as follows : 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
 by the States respectively, or to the people. 
 
 This is pre-eminently the State-Rights article of the 
 Constitution. It leaves to the States the sovereign exer- 
 cise of all powers not expressly granted to the govern- 
 ment at Washington, represented by Congress and the 
 President. No less than five subsequent amendments 
 were adopted in order to confer upon the Federal govern- 
 ment powers denied to it by Article X. Three of them — 
 the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth — related to 
 slavery and the citizenship and political rights of the 
 freedmen and their descendants. The Eighteenth, or 
 Prohibition, amendment took from the States the control 
 of the traffic in intoxicating liquors and declared its aboli- 
 tion. The Suffrage amendment, the Nineteenth, was 
 designed to give women the voting franchise in every 
 State of the Union. It accomplishes this purpose by 
 taking away the right of the States to enforce any quali- 
 fication for voting based on sex. 
 
 'ts 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter III 
 
 1. When did the Fathers of the Constitution meet, and what 
 was their general purpose? Why was a new government considered 
 necessary? What was the national charter called that preceded the 
 Constitution? In what kind of language was the Constitution 
 framed? 
 
 2. What was the first problem before the framers? Describe 
 it in your own words ? Why was it difficult to organize the thirteen 
 States in a common Union? Repeat the Preamble to the Constitu- 
 tion.
 
 42 New Era Civics 
 
 3. How was the Congress under the old Confederation made 
 up? Why was not the single-chamber plan suitable for the govern- 
 ment? What examples of legislatures with two chambers were 
 familiar to the convention? How were the two branches of State 
 Legislatures chosen, as a rule? 
 
 4. What is the original design of a Federal Senate called in 
 history? On what ratio of representation was the Senate created? 
 Explain how the plan of equal representation in the Senate helped 
 to solve the problem? How did representation in the lower House 
 •differ? 
 
 5. Which of the two branches of Congress is known as the popu- 
 lar branch? Which class of States had their rights specially pro- 
 jected by the creation of the Senate? How does the Constitution 
 guarantee equal State representation in the Senate? How does the 
 Senate act as a check upon the House of Representatives? What are 
 the terms of service of Senators and members of the House? Why 
 were the Senators given the longer term? What is the age require- 
 ment for service in each branch? Which is supposed to be 'the 
 more conservative body? 
 
 6. How did the Constitution makers originally provide for the 
 election of Senators, and what change has been made in that method 
 in our own time? 
 
 7. In which branch of Congress do bills for raising revenue 
 ■originate? INIention two special privileges enjoyed by the Senate. 
 In what case does the House of Representatives elect the President? 
 How is the Vice President chosen in similar circumstances? 
 
 8. In whom does the Constitution lodge the executive power? 
 What are the qualifications for the office of President? To what 
 "body does the Constitution intrust his election? 
 
 9. Why has the scope of the President's powers been enlarged? 
 Which of his powers is first defined by the Constitution? Was the 
 President's Cabinet specifically created by the Constitution? To 
 what crimes does the President's pardoning power apply? In what 
 officer of the government is the power of "making treaties" vested? 
 What is the province of the Senate with regard to treaties? 
 
 10. Where is the power of appointing the principal officers of 
 the government placed? What has the Senate to do with appoint- 
 ments to office? What great reform has tended to correct the abuses 
 of the "spoils system"? What are the general rules governing the 
 President's official intercourse with Congress? What is the regular 
 meeting day of Congress.
 
 The United States Constitution 43 
 
 11. What is the single duty of the Vice President? When is 
 he allowed to vote on legislative measures? In what event does the 
 Vice President assume the powers of the President? What body 
 has the right of impeaching the President, and what body has the 
 right of removing him after impeachment? Name the single instance 
 where the President was impeached, and the outcome of the trial. 
 What officer presides in impeachment proceedings against the Presi- 
 dent? 
 
 12. What, generally speaking, is the duty of the Federal 
 judiciary? What famous court did the Constitution establish by 
 name? How are the Supreme Court and other Federal judges 
 appointed, and how do their terms of service differ from those of 
 other Federal officials? Why were the Federal judges given life 
 terms ? 
 
 13. Name some of the general powers of Congress. What 
 particular power of Congress has been found very useful in late 
 years? 
 
 14. How is the Constitution amended? When were the first 
 ten amendments to the Constitution declared in force? What was 
 the main purpose of their adoption? Repeat the Tenth amendment. 
 What is the distinctive character of that amendment? Name the 
 five amendments to the Constitution adopted since the Civil War 
 which were intended to modify, for special reasons, the State-Rights 
 privileges conferred by Article X?
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE PRESIDENCY 
 
 / humble myself before the magnitude of the undertak- 
 ing. — Jefferson's First Inaugural. 
 
 1. The President's Varied Powers. — The President 
 is clothed by the Constitution with the power of executing 
 the laws, of commanding the military forces and of ap- 
 pointing the officers of the United States government. 
 He is, moreover, authorized to confirm each measure of 
 Congress by his approval or to reject it by his veto. 
 When he exercises the right of veto it is decisive, unless 
 the two branches of Congress each muster a two-thirds 
 majority to override his objections. He may thus be 
 said to possess four distinct powers — the executive power, 
 the military power, the appointive power and, in con- 
 junction with Congress, the legislative power. 
 
 2. His Service for a Fixed Time. — Owing to this im- 
 posing range of the Chief Magistrate's authority in a 
 nation of more than one hundred millions of inhabitants, 
 it is often claimed that he is the most powerful executive 
 of any country that boasts a form of government in 
 which the people's will prevails. In one respect the 
 claim cannot be disputed. The Fathers of the Con- 
 stitution deemed it wise that the President should be 
 chosen for a fixed term of four years ; and that he should 
 be independent of control by the national legislature, 
 except so far as the House of Representatives has the 
 
 44
 
 The Presidency 
 
 45 
 
 constitutional right to impeach him and the Senate to 
 try him and remove him from office after impeachment. 
 As we have seen, only one attempt of this kind has been 
 made by Congress in all our history. 
 
 Leaving aside this possibility, the President exercises 
 his power for the specified period of four years. Under 
 other great liberal governments the principal power is 
 
 ISluUli l!ii 
 
 The Home of the Presidents 
 
 lodged in the national legislature, which itself virtually 
 selects the chief executive or prime minister, or whatever 
 he may be called, who is therefore responsible to that 
 body for the discharge of his trust. Under such a system, 
 when the legislature votes down an important policy of 
 the executive, that adverse vote, showing lack of con-
 
 46 New Era Civics 
 
 fidence, may force his immediate retirement from office. 
 Even during the World War, one sudden change of that 
 character was effected in Great Britain and more than 
 one in France. France, by the way, elects a President 
 for a seven-year term, but he has only a shadow of the 
 authority of our own President. In that country the chief 
 executive is the premier, who can be displaced at will 
 by a majority vote of the representative body. The Presi- 
 dent of the United States, on the contrary, owes his 
 great powers, not to the favor or confidence of Congress, 
 but to the Constitution and the will of the people. 
 
 In his independence of outside influence, in the se- 
 curity of his power for a prescribed term and in the 
 weight and variety of his responsibilities, the President 
 may be considered the foremost of the world's executives. 
 
 3. Burdens, Rewards and Customs. — It is needless 
 to say that the President is an extremely hard-working 
 and sometimes overworked official. Of necessity, much 
 of the work of the executive branch is entrusted to the 
 heads of the various departments and their subordinates, 
 and Congress has never been niggardly in its provision 
 for an adequate White House staff. Yet the duties to 
 which the President must perforce give his personal 
 attention are a severe tax on his faculties of endurance, 
 and they have become more trying with the growth of 
 the country and the extension of the administrative 
 machinery. 
 
 The war-time strain upon President Wilson was, of 
 course, exceptional, as extraordinary powers were dele- 
 gated to him by Congress. But even in time of peace, 
 the duties of the executive have become so varied and 
 burdensome that he has but little time for recreation 
 and even less time for intercourse with the outside world, 
 excepting such as relates to his official obligations. It is
 
 The Presidency 
 
 47 
 
 true that several of our Presidents, notably Roosevelt,, 
 a man of phenomenal mental and physical vigor, have 
 made extraordinary records by the length and duration 
 of their journeys of speech-making and official visitation 
 through the country ; but on these occasions they were 
 accompanied by detachments from the clerical force of 
 
 ^HKi4^ 
 
 
 
 
 h 
 
 1 
 
 •||i|o^ 
 
 ■S 
 
 w^^M ! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^hHH^^^^h 
 
 iNii^HByuB '4a|^^| 
 
 Hfl 
 
 bBt— "■\^^^BBBi?^^M^^^^^^^^^B 
 
 HF^^^^ 
 
 ^Hr^^ " -^""*3P9P7S -, 
 
 
 I'ndenvood & Underwood. 
 
 The State Dining-room 
 
 Where the President entertains distinguished guests. 
 
 the White House and transacted more or less official 
 business en route. 
 
 The President's salary was originally fixed at $25,000 
 per year, and before Civil War times it was deemed a 
 handsome compensation, measured by the large purchas- 
 ing power of money in that era. In 1873, during Grant's 
 second term, the salary was doubled. In 1909 it was in- 
 creased to $75,000, and President Taft was the first 
 executive to be thus favored. In addition, $25,000 is 
 allowed each vear to cover the President's traveling
 
 48 New Era Civics 
 
 expenses. We must also remember that his official home, 
 together with its furnishings, equipments, heating, light- 
 ing, automobiles, and other accessories, including a 
 famous conservatory, is maintained by the government 
 without cost to the President. The mail that reaches 
 the White House often exceeds 2,000 letters in a single 
 day. They are quickly examined by the President's 
 Secretary and the assisting clerks, and only an important 
 fraction of them is submitted for his perusal. 
 
 Though the President is legally at liberty to travel 
 when and where he chooses, it was for about one hundred 
 years a species of unwritten law that he should not leave 
 the territorial bounds of the United States. Strictly 
 speaking, the first President to disregard this rule was 
 Cleveland, who on one occasion went beyond the three- 
 mile limit on an Atlantic fishing trip. President Roose- 
 velt made a more conspicuous departure w^hen he visited 
 the Republic of Panama in the course of a trip of inspec- 
 tion of the Isthmian Canal. But such exceptions were 
 minor ones compared with President Wilson's two 
 missions to Europe to take part in the historic Peace 
 Congress. 
 
 4. The Succession. — In the event of a vacancy in the 
 office of President, its duties pass to the Vice President 
 as soon as he has taken the oath of office. One instance 
 of such a solemn transfer was in Buffalo in the fall of 
 1901, when, within half an hour of the death of the 
 stricken McKinley, Vice President Roosevelt was sworn 
 in as his successor by a Federal judge at Bufifalo. It 
 has never happened that a President and the Vice Presi- 
 dent who succeeded him have both died in office within 
 the same four-year term of service ; but it was necessary 
 to guard against such a calamity. The present law on 
 the subject, the so-called Presidential Succession act, was
 
 The Presidency 49 
 
 passed in 1886. It was intended to correct an oversight 
 which deserves some attention. 
 
 The Constitution authorizes the Senate to choose "a 
 President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice Presi- 
 dent." It also decrees that Congress may declare by- 
 law "what officer shall act as President," in case of the 
 death, removal, resignation or disability of the President 
 and of his successor, the Vice President. As early as 
 1792 Congress accordingly ordained that the President 
 pro tern, of the Senate should be the next successor, and 
 after him the Speaker of the House. 
 
 The provision was not a wise one, for two reasons. 
 In the first place, it was within the possibilities that the 
 Senate might have no President and the House no 
 Speaker at a given time. Again, it might easily happen 
 that the Senate majority and therefore its presiding officer 
 would be of a different party faith from the administra- 
 tion last chosen by the people. In that event a vacancy 
 in the Presidency by a double death would mean a sudden 
 and accidental change in party control of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 This possibility was brought home to Congress and 
 the country in the autumn of 1885. Vice President Hen- 
 dricks died on November 25th. If President Cleveland 
 had died within the next few days there would have been 
 no legal successor to his office in sight. The Forty-ninth 
 Congress had been elected, but was not to meet in regular 
 session until December 7th. The Senate, which was 
 Republican, had held a brief session in the spring but 
 had elected no President pro tern. The House had not 
 yet assembled and was therefore without a Speaker. 
 When Congress finally met and organized, John Sherman 
 of Ohio, a Republican, was President pro ton, while the 
 Speaker of the House was John G. Carlisle of Kentucky,
 
 50 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 a Democrat. But under the statute of 1792 the prior 
 right of succession was Senator Sherman's ; so that if 
 the Democratic President had died his successor would 
 have been a RepubHcan. Thus the death of Vice Presi- 
 dent Hendricks gave vital force to both of the objections 
 already mentioned to the only law regulating the succes- 
 sion. 
 
 5. The Present Succession Act. — To relieve this sit- 
 uation and to guard against its repetition Congress, in 
 
 Underwood «S: Underwood. 
 
 The Original Harding Cabinet 
 
 The entire group after its first meeting with the President. The members 
 are arranged as follows, with the White House in the background: Left to 
 right, front row, Secretary of War Weeks, Secretary of Treasury Mellon, 
 Secretary of State Hughes, President Harding, Vice President Coolidge, and 
 Secretary of Navy Denby. Back row, left to right: Secretary of Interior 
 Fall, Postmaster General Hays, Attorney General Daugherty, Secretary of 
 Agriculture Wallace, Secretary of Commerce Hoover, and Secretary of 
 
 Labor Davis. 
 
 January, 1886, enacted the Presidential Succession law 
 now in operation. It provides that in the event of the 
 death, disability, resignation or removal of both the 
 President and his Vice Presidential successor, the Secre- 
 tary of State shall assume the powers and duties of the 
 office ; and after him the Secretary of the Treasury, the
 
 The Presidency SI 
 
 Secretary of War, the Attorney General, and so on 
 through the Cabinet group of officers, in the order of 
 their original creation. 
 
 By this means the danger of a vacancy in the Presi- 
 dency was virtually removed ; and the arrangement has 
 the further merit of insuring the succession to officers 
 who are named by the President and in political sym- 
 pathy with the existing administration. The law, of 
 course, requires that each possible Cabinet successor 
 shall have the qualifications for the office of President 
 prescribed in the Constitution. 
 
 6. President and Congress. — The President can 
 largely determine his official relations with Congress. 
 His one necessary duty in this respect is to inform 
 Congress from time to time as to the state of the Union 
 and to recommend measures for its consideration. It is 
 in the performance of this duty that the President's 
 regular and special communications to that body are 
 made. These may be by letter or by spoken addresses, 
 as he prefers. Occasionally either branch of Congress 
 may request information which the President has not 
 already volunteered. In such cases he generally com- 
 plies, but there are times when he exercises the privilege 
 of declining on the ground that the supplying of the 
 required information would be "incompatible with the 
 public interests." 
 
 When bills are passed by both branches of Congress, 
 they are signed by the presiding officer of each body 
 and sent to the White House. It should be noted that 
 "bills thus adopted may be disposed of by the President 
 in other ways than by approval or veto. A bill which 
 the President does not act upon within ten week days 
 becomes a law without his signature, provided Congress 
 is still in session. A conspicuous instance of this method
 
 52 New Era Civics 
 
 of enactment occurred in 1894 when President Cleve- 
 land, who was dissatisfied with the Tariff bill of that 
 year, allowed it to go into effect without his approval. 
 But if Congress adjourns within the ten-day period per- 
 mitted for executive action on a bill, the President's 
 failure to sign it has the same effect as if he had rejected 
 it. This is called "a pocket veto." 
 
 The President, in considering a bill submitted to him, 
 has no room for choice as between its different provisions. 
 He must approve it as a whole or not at all. In the case 
 of appropriation bills — bills appropriating money for 
 government purposes — this is a peculiarity of the Federal 
 system. A different rule prevails in the States, where 
 the Governor can veto some items in an appropriation 
 bill which he considers unsatisfactory and approve the 
 rest. 
 
 From time to time there has been agitation for a 
 constitutional amendment which would enable the Presi- 
 dent to choose between the various items of an appro- 
 priation bill — to accept some and reject others, according 
 to his best judgment. 
 
 In order to force the President's hand, Congress some- 
 times attaches a "rider" to an appropriation bill. A rider 
 is a legislative measure which bears no direct relation to 
 the appropriation bill, but which is tacked to it in the 
 expectation that the President will accept the whole bill, 
 including the "rider" (which he may not approve) rather 
 than veto the bill for the sake of killing the "rider." 
 
 7. The President's Appointing Power. — The Presi- 
 dent has more or less personal consultation with members 
 of Congress relative to legislation and appointments to 
 office. This is chiefly true of Senators and Representa- 
 tives of his own party. It has been for many years the 
 recognized privilege of Congressmen to recommend can-
 
 The Presidency 53 
 
 didates for appointive office to the Presidents of their 
 party. With regard to the filling of minor Federal offices 
 within the district of a Representative of the same party 
 faith as the President's, the influence of such Represen- 
 tative has much to do with the President's choice. 
 
 In the selection of more important officers, including 
 foreign ambassadors, ministers and consuls, the recom- 
 mendations of Senators naturally receive the attention 
 of the President, especially for the reason that the Senate 
 can reject an executive nomination for office, and a 
 Senator who is aggrieved by the President's choice can 
 often persuade his colleagues to vote against the appoint- 
 ment. Differences of this kind between the President 
 and individual Senators of the same party have been the 
 occasion of some bitter conflicts at Washington. 
 
 THE MERIT SYSTEM 
 
 8. The Reform of the Civil Service. — A radical 
 change has been gradually effected in the scope of the 
 President's power of appointment and therefore in the 
 field of political patronage open to office-seekers and 
 their backers in and out of Congress. This has been 
 due to the sweeping progress of Civil Service Reform, 
 which deserves consideration as one of the happy develop- 
 ments of our political system. 
 
 In the first forty years of the Republic, the number 
 of appointive Federal offices was not large. Nor did the 
 method of their distribution arouse much interest or 
 noticeably disturb the currents of political controversy. 
 But in President Jackson's time the use of the executive 
 patronage to strengthen party domination began to pro- 
 voke opposition and censure. It soon became evident 
 that only good Jackson Democrats stood any chance of 
 appointment to Federal office. President Van Buren
 
 54 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 followed his predecessor's example by using his authority 
 to put, or keep, none but Democrats on guard ; and after- 
 wards the Whigs, when they, in turn, had the oppor- 
 tunity to fill the offices with their friends, showed a 
 similar disposition to make the most of it. Changes in 
 office for party reasons thus became a settled policy of 
 party government, as was emphasized by the declaration 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 The Famous Blue Room 
 
 Where the President received Marshal Foch in October, 1921. 
 
 of a prominent Senator that "to the victors belong the 
 spoils." Every shift in administration was the signal 
 for a rush for office. The rush was naturally more 
 eager and tumultuous when the election for a new Presi- 
 dent meant a change in party control. Even Lincoln 
 when first elected, laden as he was with many cares and 
 anxieties, had to face, and deal with as best he could, an 
 onslaught of office-seekers.
 
 The Presidency 
 
 55 
 
 After the Civil War the scramble at Washington for 
 spoils became more and more offensive, and it may be 
 said to have reached a violent climax in 1881, when Presi- 
 dent Garfield was shot and mortally wounded by a dis- 
 appointed and unbalanced office-hunter. This tragedy 
 gave new life and impetus to a movement for the reform 
 of the Civil Service which had been launched on a small 
 scale by Congress in 1871, in the shape of an act for 
 regulating admissions to 
 the civil service under the 
 direction of a national 
 commission. It included 
 provisions for competitive 
 examinations of candi- 
 dates for office. 
 
 In the next few years 
 Civil Service Reform lan- 
 guished for want of sup- 
 port in Congress or among 
 the people. But atten- 
 tion was turned anew to 
 the reform by an elab- 
 orate report by Dorman 
 B. Eaton, who under a 
 
 commission from President Hayes had gone to England 
 to study the Civil Service system there prevailing. The 
 foul assault on Garfield was quickly followed by the 
 formation of a National Civil Service Reform League. 
 Under the influence of an aroused public sentiment 
 Congress passed, in 1883, the famous Pendleton act, 
 named after its leading champion in that body. Senator 
 George H. Pendleton of Ohio. 
 
 9. Growth of the Merit System. — The purpose of 
 
 the Pendleton law, in a word, was to insure greater 
 5 
 
 Clijiediust Studio. 
 
 A Presidential Guard 
 
 Motorcylists from the United States 
 
 Secret Service who speed beside the 
 
 President's auto in his journeys to 
 
 and from the White House.
 
 56 New Era Civics 
 
 stability and efficiency in the whole Federal service, by 
 establishing tests of fitness for all applicants for appoint- 
 ments, and by protecting from the danger of removal for 
 political causes faithful and experienced official workers. 
 With this end in view, the act provided for the classifica- 
 tion of positions in the Washington departments, and 
 in the Postoffices and Custom Houses. It created a 
 Federal Civil Service commission of three members, who 
 were authorized to devise rules for the selection of 
 qualified applicants ; and the President was empowered 
 to extend the classified service from time to time. It 
 was necessary to develop the new system gradually to 
 keep pace with the slow growth of favorable public 
 opinion and to reconcile prejudiced politicians in and 
 out of Congress to the change. At the beginning not 
 more than 15,000 minor positions were classified and thus 
 subjected to the new test of merit. 
 
 It was President Arthur who made the first serious 
 departure from the old rule of party favoritism ; and every 
 President after him issued orders that increased the num- 
 ber of classified offices. One of the earlier Civil Service 
 Commissioners was Theodore Roosevelt, appointed by 
 President Harrison in 1889 and continued in office by 
 President Cleveland. As a firm believer in the reform, 
 Roosevelt, before his later Presidential service was ended, 
 doubled the number of officials afifected by the Civil 
 Service rules when he first entered the White House. 
 From the modest beginning in 1883, the scope of the 
 merit system has so expanded that early in 1922 it covered 
 600,000 Federal offices in the classified service. 
 
 10. The Non-Classified Service. — Though the appli- 
 cation of the reform has steadily broadened, many officers, 
 from the heads of the Cabinet departments and the Amer- 
 ican diplomats on foreign missions downwards, are still,
 
 The Presidency 57 
 
 and must continue to be, exempt from Civil Service rules. 
 Generally speaking, the exempt officials may be divided 
 into two classes : — those who, by virtue of their official 
 functions, are expected to serve as sympathetic agents in 
 carrying out the political policy of a given administra- 
 tion, and those who, in subordinate posts, maintain con- 
 fidential relations with their official chiefs. Private 
 secretaries are good samples of this latter class. 
 
 11. Advantages of the New System. — It is generally 
 agreed that the effect of Civil Service Reform in every 
 branch of the Federal service, as well as of the State 
 and municipal service, has been beneficial. Public senti- 
 ment has to all appearances heartily approved the change. 
 It has done no more than apply to the official agents of 
 government the rules of selection based on merit which 
 are supposed to prevail in every well-ordered private or 
 corporate business. 
 
 Civil Service Reform is intended to apply to nearly 
 all subordinate government employes. It does not apply 
 to officials whose appointments by the President have 
 to be confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 The merit system is now a recognized American 
 institution. Worked out in detail by Federal and State 
 laws, its aim is simply to insure, by fairly conducted 
 examinations, an eligible list of competent persons, from 
 the best qualified of whom the appointing officer or board 
 must make the selection. The theory underlying it is 
 that merit and fitness, and not partisan beliefs or affilia- 
 tions, should count decisively in the filling of public 
 offices. In the Federal sphere, the reform has another 
 great recommendation, because it has to a great extent 
 simplified the exercise of the appointive power, not only 
 by the President, but also by the heads of departments 
 and lesser administrative officers.
 
 58 New Era Civics 
 
 12. Other Important Powers of the President. — > 
 
 Among the Presidential powers mention must be made 
 of his power to call special sessions of Congress, and 
 to adjourn Congress when the two branches cannot agree 
 upon an adjournment date ; of his power to grant pardons 
 or reprieves to persons convicted of crimes against 
 Federal laws ; of his ceremonial duty of receiving am- 
 bassadors, ministers and special envoys from foreign 
 countries ; and, last but not least, of his right to make, 
 or negotiate, treaties. 
 
 13. The President in World Affairs. — The European 
 War gave the United States a more commanding posi- 
 tion in world affairs, and it correspondingly increased the 
 authority and influence of the President, owing to his 
 control of our foreign relations and his exercise of the 
 right to negotiate treaties. This was illustrated in 1919, 
 when President Wilson took a leading part in the Peace 
 conference at Versailles, France. He was largely instru- 
 mental in inducing the conference to agree to the forma- 
 tion of a League of Nations, and the adoption of a League 
 covenant, for the prevention of future wars. In due time 
 the League of Nations was organized, and more than 
 forty nations entered it, including all of those that were 
 associated with the United States in the war against Ger- 
 many. The first meeting of the representatives of the 
 League was held in Geneva, Switzerland, in November, 
 1920. 
 
 But the Versailles treaty, by which the League was 
 created, was rejected by the Federal Senate. For that 
 reason the United States did not become a party to it, 
 although it was ratified by all the other nations interested. 
 
 14. The Washington Conference of 1921. — It was, 
 however, the privilege of the next President, Warren G. 
 Harding, to take the official lead in another peace project
 
 The Presidency 59 
 
 of real magnitude. In the summer of 1921, with the 
 authority of Congress, he- issued an invitation to the 
 governments of Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan 
 to send delegates to an international conference at Wash- 
 ington. The stated purpose of the conference was to 
 agree on a plan for the limitation of naval armaments 
 and also to reach a friendly understanding on questions 
 relating to the Far East. One of the Eastern questions 
 concerned the future protection of China from the seizure 
 of her territory. Another looked to an agreement be- 
 tween the United States, Great Britain, Japan and France 
 whereby each would be bound to respect the island pos- 
 sessions of the others in the distant Pacific. This would 
 include, of course, our own Philippines and Hawaii. 
 Representatives of Holland, Belgium and Portugal, which 
 nations have territory in the Pacific, were asked to send 
 representatives ; and a similar invitation was extended 
 to China. 
 
 All of the governments addressed accepted the invita- 
 tion, and the conference assembled at Washington on 
 November 12th. The American delegates were Charles 
 E. Hughes, Secretary of State, Senators Henry Cabot 
 Lodge and Oscar W. Underwood, and Elihu Root. On 
 the opening day, after the President had delivered a 
 welcoming address, Secretary Hughes, who was chosen 
 chairman of the conference, created what proved to be a 
 world sensation, by submitting in detail a plan for a 
 "naval holiday" — that is, for a suspension of new navy 
 building — for ten years. He also recommended a com- 
 pact by which Great Britain, Japan and the United 
 States would "scrap," or do away with, sixty capital 
 ships, finished and unfinished, with a total tonnage of 
 nearly 19,000,000. The value of the ships the United 
 States alone promised to "scrap" was more than $250,- 
 000,000.
 
 60 New Era Civics 
 
 The Hughes plan had been so worked out that the 
 tonnage of the United States, Great Britain and Japan 
 would stand in the ratio of 5 to 5 to 3 when the naval 
 holiday was over. The American and British tonnage 
 would thus be equal, while Japan's would be three-fifths 
 as large. Italy and France were allowed lesser ratios. 
 
 The Hughes plan, representing the views of Presi- 
 dent Harding, was welcomed all over the world. After 
 some weeks of discussion it was put in the form of an 
 international agreement and signed by all the delegates 
 concerned. The Eastern questions afifecting the United 
 States, Great Britain, Japan and France were disposed 
 of by the negotiation of a four-power treaty. 
 
 The Washington conference, with the United States 
 and its President and Secretary of State in the forefront, 
 was everywhere hailed as a happy omen and recognized 
 as the beginning of a series of international parleys and 
 agreements for the preservation of world peace. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter IV 
 
 1. What four general powers does the President possess, by 
 himself or in conjunction with others? 
 
 2. In what important respect does the President's service dififer 
 from that of foreign executives? How is his term more secure 
 than theirs? Name the only method by which the President's power 
 can be taken away by Congress. 
 
 3. State some of the reasons why' the President's labors are 
 great. What was the President's original salary and what is it now ? 
 What other provisions are made for his maintenance? Is there any 
 law forbidding the. President to leave the country? 
 
 4. Who is the President's constitutional successor? When did 
 Congress first provide for the Presidential succession in the event 
 of the death of both the President and Vice President within a 
 single term? What officers were made the successors, in turn, by 
 this law? State in your own language the objections to this pro- 
 vision.
 
 The Presidency 61 
 
 5. When was the present act for the Presidential succession 
 passed? Where did Congress then place the right of succession, 
 next in order to the Vice President, and what qualitications were 
 required of the new possible successors? 
 
 6. How is the President supposed to communicate with Con- 
 gress? What is the President's course when Congress asks him 
 for information? What are the President's various methods of 
 disposing of bills passed by Congress? What becomes of a bill 
 when the President fails to act on it in ten days, Congress being 
 still in session? Mention a conspicuous illustration. What is the 
 so-called "pocket veto"? Can the President reject some items of 
 an appropriation bill and approve the rest? How does the Wash- 
 ington rule in this matter differ from the rule in the States? What 
 is a "rider" to an appropriation bill? 
 
 7. To what matters do the personal relations between the Presi- 
 dent and Senators or Representatives generally refer? Explain 
 the influence of Senators and Representatives in appointments to 
 office. 
 
 8. What important change has taken place in the method of 
 filling Federal offices? What was the "spoils system"? Tell some- 
 thing about the struggle for "patronage" in the old days. What 
 famous reform reduced its evils? When was the first Civil Service 
 Reform law passed by Congress? What tragic event gave a power- 
 ful impulse to the movement ? When was the National Civil Service 
 Reform bill known as the Pendleton act passed? 
 
 9. What was the general purpose of the Pendleton act? What 
 was the classified service, and on what tests was it based? To what 
 organization was the administration of the Pendleton law intrusted? 
 With what new power did it vest the President ? Under what Presi- 
 dent was the new system installed, and how many minor offices were 
 affected by it at the beginning? What man of historic renown was 
 a member of the National Civil Service commission in its early 
 days? 
 
 10. What kinds of public officials are still outside of the range 
 of the classified service and therefore unaffected by the Civil 
 Service act? 
 
 11. ^\'hat has been the public attitude toward Civil Service Re- 
 form? What qualifications has it been the means of bringing into 
 public employment? What is the general theory underlying it? 
 What effect has it had upon the President's labors and responsi- 
 bilities?
 
 62 New Era Civics 
 
 12. Name some of the Presidential powers not already men- 
 tioned. To what classes of crimes does the President's pardoning 
 power apply? What is his share in the making of treaties? 
 
 13. In what famous conference after the World War did Pres- 
 ident Wilson figure? What was the object of the League of 
 Nations, and how many nations joined it? What disposition did 
 the American Senate make of the Versailles treaty? 
 
 14. What was the olijcct of the Washington conference of 
 1921? What governments were represented? What was Secretary 
 Hughes' plan for a "naval holiday"? How did it propose to 
 limit naval construction? What was the effect on our own naval 
 program?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE CONGRESS 
 
 In republican governments the legislative authority neces- 
 sarily predominates. — Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 1. The Popular Branch. — It is not without warrant 
 that the House of Representatives is called the "popular 
 branch of Congress." The Constitution defines its organi- 
 zation before providing for the creation of the Senate, 
 the Executive and the Judiciary. Of the branches of 
 the Federal government the House is, as it was intended 
 to be, closest to the people. 
 
 This is true not only in the political, but in the per- 
 sonal sense. Comparatively few citizens have business 
 or correspondence with the President, or even see him 
 during his term of office. The members of the Federal 
 Senate are now less remote from the people than they 
 were in the time when they were chosen by State Legis- 
 latures ; yet they each represent the people of an entire 
 State, with whom their relations are far from intimate. 
 But the Representative in Congress is still, what he has 
 always been, a sort of locality envoy or delegate to the 
 seat of government. No matter how populous the State 
 he hails from, his district is never so large that he cannot, 
 if he is fairly diligent, keep a watchful eye on its public 
 sentiment and legislative needs and maintain helpful rela- 
 tions with many of its individual voters. Usually he has 
 many personal acquaintances among the voters whom he 
 
 63
 
 64 New Era Civics 
 
 represents, and he may be called a sympathetic link 
 between his home district and the National Capitol. 
 
 2. Fixing the House Representation. — The number 
 of Representatives in the popular branch is largely deter- 
 mined every ten years by the total number of inhabitants, 
 as revealed by the preceding United States census. After 
 each census, generally in the year following, Congress 
 takes note of the new enumeration of inhabitants and 
 decides how many shall constitute the "ratio of appor- 
 tionment," and the figure thus agreed upon determines 
 the total number of Representatives. This ratio is the 
 average number of inhabitants that shall go to make up 
 each Congressional district. The Congressional district 
 may be a single county, a part of a very populous county 
 like New York county, or a group of small counties. 
 
 In the Constitution no rule is laid down regarding 
 the ratio of apportionment excepting that there shall not 
 be more than one Representative for every thirty thou- 
 sand inhabitants, and that every State, no matter what 
 number of people reside within its borders, shall have at 
 least one Representative. In the absence of an official 
 census, and to give the system a start, it was decreed 
 that the First Congress should be composed of sixty-five 
 members and the ratio for each of the thirteen States 
 was designated. It varied from ten for Virginia, then 
 the most populous State, down to one for little Rhode 
 Island. On the basis of a rough estimate of the popula- 
 tion in 1787, this was approximately a ratio of one Repre- 
 sentative to every 61,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The First Federal census returns in 1790 showed 
 something less than 4,000,000 people. The apportionment 
 ratio determined upon by the First Congress was 33,000, 
 and, making allowance for the slaves, each of whom 
 counted as three-fifths of a person, this gave the Second
 
 The Conijress 65 
 
 '& 
 
 Congress, at its beginning, a membership of 105 ; and 
 later Ohio was added with one member. With this early 
 ratio of 33,000 before us, we can understand why it has 
 been necessary, with the rapid growth of the country, to 
 increase the ratio every ten years in order to keep the 
 size of the House within reasonable limits. If that first 
 ratio prescribed by Congress had been a fixed one, the 
 present representation in the House, based upon a popula- 
 tion of more than a hundred million, would exceed three 
 thousand members. 
 
 In the first thirty years of our history, when there 
 was still considerable leeway for growth in the House, 
 the increase in the ratio was slow. After the Fourth 
 Federal census in 1820, the new ratio was only 40,000, 
 and this gave the House 213 members. After 1830 the 
 ratio was but 47,700, but the heavy inflow of immigration 
 in the next twenty years made it necessary to lift the 
 ratio to 93,000 after the Seventh census in 1850, in order 
 to keep the House membership down to 237. Thereafter 
 there was a steady gain in the ratio of apportionment, 
 but the gain in membership of the House was relatively 
 greater, because it was increased by the admission of 
 many new States. Owing to the rapid increase of the 
 population of the Western States, it has been necessary, 
 in order to allow them their full quota of representation, 
 to reduce the number of Representatives from some of 
 the older States of the East. 
 
 3. The Making of Congress Districts. — With the 
 returns from a new census before it. Congress decides 
 not only what the membership of the next House will be, 
 but what number will be assigned to each State. It then 
 rests with the States, through their Legislatures, to re- 
 apportion their Congress districts to meet the new ratio. 
 In this task the Legislatures are confronted with an
 
 66 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 obstacle in the shape of the county boundaries, for it is 
 necessary in most cases to group counties in making 
 Congress districts. It is impossible to divide any State 
 into districts of the same, or very nearly the same, size. 
 All that a Legislature which desires to be fair can do is 
 to group the counties, or to divide the exceptionally large 
 counties and populous cities, so as to insure the smallest 
 possible variation in the population of the districts. 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 A Scene in the House 
 
 The men standing in front with uplifted arms are new members. The 
 Speaker is administering the oath of office to them. 
 
 But zeal for party success frequently leads the State 
 Legislatures to apportion the districts so as to gain 
 partisan advantage. When this political partiality is 
 carried to excessive lengths, it is called "gerrymandering." 
 This is a word that new voters will become familiar with, 
 through the party press, whenever Congress or State 
 legislative districts are rearranged. It has handed down
 
 The Congress t7 
 
 to posterity the name of one of the grave Fathers of the 
 Constitution in a queer connection. More than a hundred 
 3-ears ago, when Elbridge Gerry was Governor of Massa- 
 chusetts, there was a redistricting of the State for the 
 election of State Senators. The new districts made a 
 curious network, and one of them was so grotesquely 
 outlined that the critics of that time likened it to a sala- 
 mander. Governor Gerry was held responsible for the 
 reapportionment, though some historians have disputed 
 the justness of the charge. So the new word, as tradition 
 has it, was coined from "Gerry" and "salamander," and 
 it has survived to our time with a secure place in the 
 dictionaries. Another term, "shoestring," is applied to 
 a narrow district with abnormally long boundaries. 
 
 On account of the difficulties in the way of equal 
 apportionment and the disposition of Legislatures to 
 gerrymander, the populations of many Congress districts 
 are far above and far below the specified ratio. Two 
 States, Nevada and 'W}oming, have populations below 
 the number prescribed for the apportionment ratio. 
 
 4. The Sessions of Congress. — The election of Sena- 
 tors and Representatives in Congress is held in the 
 November of every even year, though several of the 
 States were formerly accustomed to elect on other and 
 earlier dates. A Representative then elected begins his 
 two-year term and to draw his salary on March 4th fol- 
 lowing. If a special session of the new Congress is called 
 his duty commences when it assembles. Such special ses- 
 sions have been the rule of late years. The regular meet- 
 ing day of each Congress, however, is the first Monday 
 of December, and if no special session is called, the new 
 Congressman does not begin actual service until thirteen 
 months after his election. The first regular session of 
 each Congress is called "the long session," because it is
 
 68 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 prolonged according to the volume and importance of 
 the business before it. But the second session is the 
 short one because, although it, too, begins its regular 
 session in December — the second December of a Repre- 
 sentative's service — it expires by limitation on March 4th 
 following. 
 
 It is a peculiarity of the short regular session of 
 Congress that it is always held after the people have 
 
 CUnedinst Studio. 
 
 The President and Congress 
 
 President Harding delivering his first message at a joint session of the 
 House and the Senate. Seated behind him are the Vice President and the 
 
 Speaker of the House. 
 
 elected another House of Representatives and a part of 
 another Senate, and as a result it sometimes happens that 
 the party in control of the House or Senate, or both, at 
 the short session, shapes legislation after incurring defeat 
 at the polls. This was the situation during the short 
 session of 1918-19, when the Democrats still controlled
 
 The Congress 69 
 
 both branches of Congress, though a RepubHcan Con- 
 gress had been elected in the preceding November. 
 
 5. House Organization and Speakership. — When a 
 newly elected House assembles its hrst important duty 
 is to organize by the choice of Speaker, Clerk, Sergeant- 
 at-Arms and other officers. The seats of members were 
 formerly drawn by lot, but this custom was abandoned 
 in 1913, when the desks were removed from the hall, 
 and members now sit where they please, the main aisle 
 separating the parties. In the past, contests for the 
 Speakership, either in the caucus or on the floor of 
 the House, usually excited lively interest throughout the 
 country. But those were days when the Speaker was 
 a far more powerful official than he is now. So great 
 was the authority formerly vested in the Speaker that 
 one of the keenest and fairest English students of our 
 political system and customs, James Bryce, has recorded 
 the opinion that this officer wielded a power "which in 
 the hands of a capable and ambitious man becomes so far 
 reaching that it is no exaggeration to call him the second, 
 if not the first, political figure in the United States." 
 
 This exceptional power of the Speaker was derived 
 from three sources. He appointed all the committees of 
 the House ; he was chairman of the Committee on Rules, 
 which controlled the legislative procedure and program, 
 and he had the right to recognize members for motions 
 or resolutions, or in debate, which he still retains. In 
 1890 the power of the Speaker, already great, was 
 strengthened by new House rules. But in 1910, during 
 the Speakership of Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, there 
 was a revolt of so-called Republican insurgents, who 
 were joined by Democrats, against what was considered 
 the Speaker's despotism. The immediate effect was a 
 limiting of the Speaker's authority ; and in the following
 
 70 New Era Civics 
 
 year a revolution of the House rules was completed, 
 whereby the Speakership was shorn of its most sweeping 
 powers. 
 
 By this memorable reform the House took into its 
 own hands the right to designate the members of the 
 various committees, including the powerful Committee 
 on Rules, which was materially enlarged. Under the 
 new system, which is likely to survive, a committee is 
 authorized by the majority party to nominate for its 
 approval the chairmen of the various committees and 
 also its allowance of committee members. Through the 
 minority leader the minority party names the committee 
 assignments allowed to it. A safe majority of the 
 members of each committee is insured to the party in 
 power. 
 
 6. The House Rules. — By virtue of the radical change 
 here described, the Speakership is now clothed with only 
 a remnant of its former powers. The office is still one 
 of honor and dignity, but its functions are simply those 
 of a presiding officer. He rules on all points of order, 
 and he retains, of course, his former right of giving pre- 
 cedence when two or more members claim a right to the 
 floor for motions or remarks. Even when only one mem- 
 ber seeks recognition, the Speaker, as formerly, if he is 
 unaware of the member's purpose, inquires : "For what 
 purpose does the gentleman rise?" This is in the interest 
 of orderly procedure. 
 
 There are times, however, when the Speaker ceases to 
 be presiding officer. That is when the House transforms 
 itself into a "Committee of the Whole" (i. e., a committee 
 of all the House) to consider revenue and appropria- 
 tion bills in detail. On such occasions the Speaker leaves 
 the chair after calling upon a member to take his place 
 and to serve as chairman of the committee ; and when
 
 The Congress 
 
 71 
 
 the committee finishes its work the Speaker resumes his 
 post. At these sessions greater latitude for speech- 
 making- is allowed the members. 
 
 The rules of the House are less favorable to debate 
 than those of the Senate. One broad distinction that 
 
 liruuu Kros. 
 
 The Congressional Library 
 
 may be drawn between the methods of the two branches 
 of Congress is that the House is the home of action and 
 the Senate the home of discussion and review. It must 
 be apparent to all that in a legislative body of several 
 hundred members, it is essential to limit debate and to 
 regulate the legislative process by strict system if its 
 work is to be done on a business-like basis. Hence the 
 House rules provide for a scientific order of business 
 
 which must be strictlv followed from dav to day. It has 
 
 6 - ' ■'
 
 72 New Era Civics 
 
 been stated that in some sessions less than one-fiftieth 
 of the bills introduced in Congress are finally converted 
 into law. Naturally enough, most of them originate in. 
 the House, which would be swamped if some orderly 
 method of disposing of them, and of sifting the good 
 from the bad or doubtful, were not followed. 
 
 7. The Committee Workshops. — It is by the agency 
 of the committees that the House is able to work its way 
 through the giant accumulation of new bills. Legislation 
 in the House is to a great extent committee legislation. 
 There are more than sixty committees in the House, and 
 these are the mills that turn out the grist for the finishing 
 operations of the main legislative body. As the House 
 is to a far less extent than the Senate a parliamentary 
 forum, the House committees play a relatively more im- 
 portant part in the actual work of legislation than do 
 those of the Senate. 
 
 The two leading committees of the House are the 
 Ways and Means committee and the Appropriations 
 committee. Of almost equal prominence and power are 
 committees on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and on 
 the Judiciary. Measures designed for the raising of 
 revenue are intrusted to the Ways and Means commit- 
 tee, while most of those relating to the immense dis- 
 bursements by the government are prepared by the 
 Appropriations committee. The Ways and Means com- 
 mittee can boast a special distinction and authority 
 because it takes the first step in the exercise of the special 
 power, given to the House by the Constitution, of origi- 
 nating revenue bills. While the Appropriations com- 
 mittee is its close rival, assignments to Ways and Means 
 have generally been regarded as the first prizes of com- 
 mittee service, and its chairman has generally been recog- 
 nized as the floor leader of the majority party.
 
 The Cono^ress 7Z 
 
 't3 
 
 As to the other committees, their relative importance 
 depends from time to time upon the operations of gov- 
 ernment, the varying activities of the several departments 
 and the degree of public interest in special legislative 
 policies of Congress. It can readily be understood that 
 during our war with Germany the committees on Military 
 Affairs and on Naval Affairs in the two branches of Con- 
 gress were charged with exceptionally large authority 
 and grave responsibilities, 
 
 THE NATIONAL BUDGET 
 
 8. The New Budget System. — In the early summer 
 of 1921 Congress passed a law, known as the Budget 
 and Accounting act, by which the old methods of esti- 
 mating the government's expenses for each coming year, 
 and of preparing the appropriation bills for meeting such 
 expenses, were radically changed. 
 
 Under the old system, seven House committees, in 
 addition to the general Appropriations committee, were 
 charged with the duty of framing appropriation bills for 
 departments of the government, such as the War, Navy, 
 Postoffice and Agriculture departments ; or for special 
 public purposes, such as the improvement of rivers and 
 harbors. These committees based their claims for appro- 
 priations on their own "estimates" of the sums required 
 by the various departments which they represented. The 
 general Appropriations committee made estimates of all 
 government needs not covered by the estimates of the 
 seven other committees. All these estimates, when finally 
 worked out, were put in the shape of appropriation bills 
 and then reported to the House for discussion and adop- 
 tion. 
 
 Thus the task of calculating the money requirements 
 of the government was divided among eight separate and
 
 74 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 independent committees. These appropriation bills had 
 to be passed not only by the House, but also by the 
 Senate, and signed by the President, before the money 
 could be expended by the government. The items of 
 the various bills were often changed, after they had left 
 the committees, by amendments in either branch of Con- 
 gress. But the reports and recommendations of the 
 committees had a great deal to do with determining 
 the size of the government's expenditures. Each of the 
 
 Uadenvuud & Uuderwood. 
 
 Behind the Scenes 
 
 The catalogue room of the magnificent Congressional Library. All the usual 
 departments that make up a great city library are here, expanded to meet 
 the special needs of the national capital. Here publications of all periods, 
 lands and kinds are found. In the above workshop 100,000 books from all 
 over the world are catalogued every year. 
 
 minor committees that reported appropriation bills was 
 naturally eager to make liberal provisions for the depart- 
 ment it represented, without much regard to the demands 
 of the other committees or to the government's probable 
 income from taxation. 
 
 It was a haphazard, go-as-you-please system. It en- 
 couraged extravagance, because each committee was
 
 The Cong:ress 75 
 
 'fe 
 
 more interested in making a good showing for its depart- 
 ment than in keeping down the estimates and Hmiting 
 the expenditures. 
 
 After the close of the World War, when the appro- 
 priations of Congress had exceeded all previous volumes, 
 a strong agitation developed for a more business-like, 
 economical system of estimating the government's needs 
 from year to year, and in framing the appropriation bills. 
 Great financial experts went on record with the opinion 
 that the appropriation methods of Congress were slipshod 
 and wasteful. It was their judgment that some strong 
 central authority should be created which would have 
 control of the estimates for all the departments, survey 
 the whole field of expenditure for itself, strike a right 
 balance between the claims of the departments for funds, 
 and keep all appropriations down to the lowest possible 
 limits. 
 
 9. The Bureau of the Budget. — The sequel of this 
 agitation was National Budget Reform. The Budget and 
 Accounting law of 1921 established a Bureau of the 
 Budget in the Treasury department, with a Director and 
 Assistant Director at its head. Under the new system 
 it is the duty of the Director to investigate thoroughly 
 the afifairs of all the departments. In the performance 
 of this task he has at his command all the government's 
 records showing its income and expenditure for the pass- 
 ing year. The departments are required to compile for his 
 use careful estimates of their needs for the year to come. 
 
 With all this information before him the Director 
 proceeds to make his budget. This budget is a very care- 
 ful general estimate, setting forth, item by item, the 
 entire volume of appropriations necessary for the govern- 
 ment's support in the next fiscal year, as it is called. The 
 budget provides for the proper division of funds among
 
 "7^ New Era Civics 
 
 all the departments, according to the Director's best 
 judgment of their respective needs. 
 
 The ^scal year covered by the Director's estimates, 
 or budget, is the government's financial year, or the 
 twelvemonth by which the government's financial trans- 
 actions are reckoned. Unlike our calendar year, the 
 fiscal year begins on July 1st and ends on the following 
 June 30th. 
 
 It is expected that in his great work the Director will 
 be influenced by no motive or desire save that of pro- 
 ducing a methodical, reliable, business-like report of the 
 government's financial needs. 
 
 When the Director's annual task is accomplished, his 
 report goes to his official chief, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury. The Secretary transfers it to the President, 
 and the President sends it to Congress. 
 
 The new system is sometimes called the Executive 
 tudget, because the President for the first time takes a 
 hand in the preparation of appropriation bills. Formerly 
 his only authority in this connection was his right to veto 
 such bills when enacted by Congress. This right was 
 rarely used, because the veto of an appropriation bill 
 might cripple the operations of the government. 
 
 General Charles G. Dawes of Illinois, appointed by 
 President Harding, was the first Budget Director. Soon 
 after taking office he said : *T am the eyes and ears of 
 the President." This figure of speech well expressed the 
 nature of his functions. 
 
 Before it becomes a law the budget must be adopted 
 by Congress. In turning over to a bureau in one of the 
 executive departments the duty of shaping the annual 
 budget. Congress did not, and could not under the Con- 
 stitution, give up its right of making all appropriations 
 bv legislative acts. It still retains the power to alter
 
 The Consress 77 
 
 't3 
 
 the budget as it pleases. It can accept all the Director's 
 items, or it can accept some, reject some and add others. 
 The budget is therefore a carefully constructed, scientific 
 chart lor the guidance of Congress. But Congress will 
 doubtless be impelled to respect the recommendations of 
 the Budget Bureau and to be influenced by them in its 
 policy of expenditures. 
 
 The budget, when it reaches the House, is referred 
 to the general Appropriations committee for considera- 
 tion, discussion and a report. This committee has been 
 enlarged, and it is now the only House committee charged 
 with the duty of reporting appropriation bills. In the 
 Senate the duty of reporting on the budget is performed 
 by its own Appropriations committee. 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE MILL 
 
 10. Tracing the Progress of a Bill. — The House com- 
 mittees wield a large power over legislation in its early 
 stages. When it is stated that as many as 45,000 bills 
 have been introduced in a single two-years term of the 
 House, we can form some idea of the magnitude of 
 the task assigned to the committees. 
 
 This is the story of a bill introduced in the House : 
 The bill is first dropped, let us say, by Mr. X into a 
 basket on the Clerk's desk known as "the hopper." The 
 Speaker's clerk goes through the batch of new bills, and 
 assigns the X bill to the appropriate committee. The 
 bill is numbered and proper records are made of its 
 introduction, and the bill is sent to the Government Print- 
 ing Of^ce, where a number of copies of it are struck off. 
 The copies are deposited in the Document room of the 
 House, where they are procurable by the members. The 
 committee considers the bill at one of its meetings, and 
 decides either to report it in its original form or to report
 
 78 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 it with amendments. Sometimes extensive hearings on 
 the bill are accorded its friends and opponents. After the 
 committee has approved the X bill either with or with- 
 out amendments, it is reported to the House, with a 
 recommendation that it be passed. The Clerk receives 
 it, and refers it and the report to the House calendar. 
 
 If it is a public bill involving the raising of revenue or 
 an appropriation of money, it is referred to the "Calendar 
 
 Harris & Ewing. 
 
 One of the Workshops 
 
 A committee of Congress listening to arguments for and against a proposed 
 
 bill. 
 
 of the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
 the Union." If it is an ordinary public bill it goes to 
 the House calendar, and if a private bill to the private 
 calendar. More records of it are now made, and if it 
 has been amended in committee, another batch of copies 
 is printed carrying the calendar number and showing the 
 proposed amendments. 
 
 Various are the ways provided by the House rules 
 for taking up a bill once it is on a calendar, depending 
 upon its nature, whether privileged or not. It may be
 
 The Congress 79 
 
 taken up by unanimous consent ; it may be called up on 
 Calendar Wednesday by direction of the committee re- 
 porting it; it may be passed under suspension of the 
 rules; it may come up on certain days if it is a private 
 bill ; or it may take precedence over other bills if it is an 
 appropriation or revenue bill. If in the view of the Rules 
 committee, the bill deserves prompt and special considera- 
 tion, that committee may bring- in a rule for its immediate 
 consideration and prescribe the terms under which it 
 may be considered, overriding all rules save the rule for. 
 a motion to recommit — that is, to return it to the com- 
 mittee. Ordinarily the duration of the debate is deter- 
 mined by the importance of the measure. The discussion 
 is generally opened by the chairman of the committee 
 in charge, and unless a specified time has been set for 
 debate, it is ended by a motion for the "previous ques- 
 tion" — that is, for an immediate vote. 
 
 The X bill being passed, that fact is certified by the 
 Clerk of the House, and the certified copy is carried by 
 him to the Senate, where it is received by the Vice Presi- 
 dent and by him referred to the Senate committee having 
 authority over the subject matter. Here it undergoes 
 another process of examination. The Senate committee, 
 in turn, is at liberty to shelve or "pigeon-hole" it, to 
 approve as it stands, or to make amendments of its own. 
 If approved or amended the X bill is reported in due 
 time to the Senate. If passed by that body it is returned 
 to the House. If the bill has been amended by the Senate 
 and the House accepts the amendment, that ends the 
 matter, and the bill is signed by the Speaker and the Vice 
 President and is presented by the Committee on Enrolled 
 Bills to the President for his approval or rejection, as 
 the case may be. But if, on the other hand, the House 
 disagrees to the Senate amendments, the Senate is so
 
 80 New Era Civics 
 
 informed, and if it still insists upon its amendments, each 
 branch appoints representatives to a joint conference com- 
 mittee, which is charged with the duty of compromising 
 the differences between the two bills. The committee 
 nearly always reaches an agreement, and its report is 
 almost invariably confirmed by the vote of the two 
 branches. 
 
 This is an outline of the progress of an ordinary 
 measure to final adoption. In the case of bills of major 
 importance, as for example, a general tariff bill, both 
 House and Senate committee in charge of such legislation 
 hold public hearings for the discussion of the legislation 
 in hand, and listen to arguments for or against the 
 measure, from citizens who may favor or oppose its 
 passage. It sometimes happens that the Senate and 
 House committees are far apart in their final conclusions 
 as to the details of grave measures, and in such cases a 
 heavy responsibility is intrusted to the conference 
 committee. 
 
 11. How Time is Economized. — The X bill has 
 smooth sailing compared with the great mass of bills 
 submitted. Much of the time of the committee is given 
 to the rejection of bills, and the committee rooms are, 
 as has been intimated, the graveyards of a very heavy 
 percentage of the Congress offerings. But once a bill 
 escapes from the committee into the House, it is disposed 
 of with clock-like precision and promptness. 
 
 It was not always thus. There was a time when the 
 minority of the House was armed with effective weapons 
 for impeding and prolonging debates on partisan legis- 
 lation, particularly by refusing to vote and leaving the 
 House without a quorum on the roll call. This dilatory 
 process was called "filibustering." Its effectiveness de- 
 parted in 1890, when under the ruling of the Speaker any
 
 The Congress 81 
 
 member within the chamber and not voting could be 
 counted'as forming a part of the quorum. Members could 
 not escape the new rule by remaining away from the 
 session, as the Sergeant-at-Arms was empowered to bring 
 them to the bar of the House, where the Clerk's tally 
 would do the rest. There is no longer any room for the 
 strategic delay of a vote in the House, though the Senate, 
 as will be noted, still permits a generous leeway in that 
 regard. 
 
 While the House rules are usually pretty rigid, they 
 are sometimes relaxed for urgent reasons. As a matter 
 of courtesy, and if no objection is made, a member is 
 occasionally permitted to call for the consideration, out- 
 side of the regular order, of an emergency measure in 
 which he is interested. Again, the regular order is now 
 and then interrupted to give one of the important com- 
 mittees an opportunity for action upon some pressing 
 measure. There are certain days, moreover, on which 
 the rules can be suspended by a two-thirds vote for the 
 passage of bills. 
 
 IN THE UPPER BRANCH 
 
 12. The Senate. — One of the respects in which the 
 Senate differs from the House is that the terms of service 
 of all its members do not end on the same day. While 
 each Senator is elected for six years, at the beginning 
 of the government the Constitution provided that the 
 Senators first elected should be divided into three classes, 
 the first class to serve two years, the second four years, 
 and the third six years ; and that all classes were there- 
 after to be chosen for the full term of six years. This 
 original grading of the terms was in order to get in 
 motion a system under which only one-third of the mem- 
 bers would be elected every two years. In other words,
 
 82 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 the plan was to guard against the ending of the terms 
 of all the Senators on the same day. The purpose of its 
 framers was to make the Senate a distinctively conserva- 
 tive and deliberative body. With this object in view the 
 Senators were given longer terms than the Representa- 
 tives ; and the minimum age limit for Senators was put at 
 thirty years as against the twenty-five years minimum 
 
 Statuary Hall in the Capitol 
 
 for Representatives. Operating to the same end was 
 the arrangement whereby two-thirds of the Senators are 
 always holding over when the term of a new House of 
 Representatives begins. This insures a certain continuity 
 of service on the part of two-thirds of the Senate, though 
 the fixed terms of all the Representatives regularly expire 
 on March 4th of every odd year. 
 
 The expirations of the terms of Senators are so timed 
 that every even year the people of one-third of the States 
 elect Senators to take their seats on March 4th following.
 
 The Consfress 83 
 
 't> 
 
 Should the seat of a Senator be left vacant by any cause, 
 the Constitution requires the Governor of the State 
 concerned to call a special election for the filling of 
 the vacancy, unless he is empowered by the Legislature 
 to make a temporary appointment of a Senator until such 
 time as the Legislature may direct. 
 
 In order to avoid the expense of a special election, 
 it is the custom of Legislatures to authorize the Governor 
 to fill vacancies until the next regular election. In such 
 cases it may happen that the people of a State elect two 
 Senators on the same election day ; but only one of them 
 is chosen for the full term of six years, while the other 
 is chosen for the unexpired term of the Senator whose 
 seat was vacated. It should here be observed that where 
 a vacancy occurs in the House of Representatives, it can- 
 not be filled temporarily except by a special election called 
 by the Governor. 
 
 13. The Senate's Triple Function. — Seats in the 
 Senate are highly prized not alone for their honor or 
 dignity, or because its membership is relatively small and 
 select and represents the important State units, but also 
 because the body is charged with peculiar responsibilities. 
 
 We have seen that the President may, in turn, exercise 
 three kinds of civil power — executive, appointive, and, 
 through his right of approval or veto, legislative power. 
 It has been pointed out that the Senate, too, may, by 
 virtue of its constitutional privileges, perform triple func- 
 tions. With the House it legislates. With the President 
 it takes part in the executive process of making appoint- 
 ments to office and completing treaty agreements. 
 Finally, when the occasion arises, it can assume a judicial 
 authority by sitting as a Court of Impeachment when the 
 President or other Federal officers are formally accused 
 by the House of "high crimes and misdemeanors."
 
 84 New Era Civics 
 
 14. The Senate's License of Debate. — Legislation 
 follows the same general course in the Senate as in the 
 House, up to the time it is favorably reported by the 
 committees. The Senate committees until recently were 
 more numerous than those of the House, and there are 
 some differences in the titles of the corresponding com- 
 mittees of the two bodies. On the whole there is little 
 difference in their committee dealings with bills. But 
 when the legislative stage proper is reached in the Senate, 
 its parliamentary methods are in striking contrast with 
 those of the House. 
 
 As a deliberative body, the Senate, unlike the House, 
 has clung to a code of rules allowing large latitude of 
 discussion. Up to a recent period, a Senate majority, 
 no matter how large, was powerless to force a bill to 
 passage, if a mere handful of Senators was disposed to 
 resist and to take full advantage of their parliamentary 
 privileges. There was no way of moving the "previous 
 question," as in the House, because the Senate had always 
 deemed it an essential safeguard of its independent and 
 conservative status to maintain unlimited freedom of 
 discussion. By adhering to this rule, it has occasionally 
 caused serious embarrassment. Not a few times since the 
 Civil War rebellious Senators have blocked the passage 
 of important bills in the closing hours of a session by 
 the simple process of talking them to death. 
 
 Cases are on record where one Senator with this object 
 in mind kept the floor for from ten to fifteen or more 
 hours, killing time by reading passage after passage of 
 irrelevant matter from books or pamphlets, until the clock 
 pointed to the hour for final adjournment, or until his fel- 
 low Senators, in sheer weariness, consented to abandon the 
 bill. From time to time Senators who had no sympathy 
 with this rigid system have- urged the adoption of a rule
 
 The Congress 85 
 
 permitting a Senate "cloture," or closing of debate, in 
 urgent cases; but all such efforts were unavailing until 
 a flagrant exercise of this power of obstruction by a small 
 minority stirred the indignation of the country and con- 
 vinced a majority of the Senate that the time had come 
 for a modification of its rules. 
 
 15. Cloture in the Senate. — Toward the end of the 
 short session of 1916-17 and after Germany had an- 
 nounced her policy of submarine terrorism, the President 
 asked Congress for authority to arm American mer- 
 chantmen for defense against undersea attacks. A great 
 majority of the members of both branches of Congress 
 were ready and eager to comply, and the necessary bill 
 was promptly passed by the House. In the other branch, 
 however, eleven Senators, less than one-eighth of the 
 membership, determined to resist, and by "filibustering" 
 and time-killing speeches, they accomplished their pur- 
 pose and "held up" the bill. Their act was condemned 
 by the President and provoked bitter reproaches from 
 press and people ; and the sequel was a strenuous popular 
 demand for a change in Senate rules that would prevent 
 any recurrence of a Senatorial blockade in a grave and 
 critical time. 
 
 The result was the adoption by the Senate, in 1917, 
 of a parliamentary rule of modified "cloture." By its 
 terms the Senate can, at any time, by a two-thirds vote, 
 name a day for the summary ending of debate. When- 
 ever the rule is invoked, a generous margin for discussion 
 is still left to the Senate, inasmuch as each Senator can 
 speak on the bill for an hour. But the merit of the 
 change is that the old license of discussion is limited 
 whenever a strong sentiment in the Senate favors that 
 course. Even with this reform in force in the Senate, 
 its right of thorough deliberation is substantially pre-
 
 86 New Era Civics 
 
 served, and it is hardly probable that it will return to the 
 system of unlimited debate which marked its procedure 
 for over a century and a quarter. 
 
 16. Senate and Vice President. — The presiding officer 
 of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States. 
 This office is one of high dignity and .honor, and it has 
 been held by Americans of historic celebrity, including 
 eight who succeeded to the Presidency either by election 
 or by constitutional right to fill an accidental vacancy, 
 namely, John Adams, Jefiferson, Van Buren, Tyler, Fill- 
 more, Johnson, Arthur, and Roosevelt. 
 
 The Vice President's service as presiding officer of 
 the Senate is his sole official duty under the Constitution. 
 In that capacity he has no share in legislation, except 
 in the event of an even division of the Senate on a measure 
 or resolution, when he is empowered to decide the ques- 
 tion by casting his vote. He takes no part in the organi- 
 zation of the Senate or in the committee assignments, 
 which have always been within the exclusive province of 
 the Senate proper. There is one case on record, however, 
 in which the vote of the Vice President determined the 
 committee appointments. That was in 1881, when the 
 Senate was tied in its division over the party lists of 
 committeemen, and Vice President Arthur voted for the 
 Republican list and broke the tie in the face of Democratic 
 protests. 
 
 17. Executive Sessions. — One distinctive rule of the 
 Senate calls for secret, or "executive" sessions, for the 
 consideration of treaties and of the President's nomina- 
 tions for office. The theory underlying this custom is 
 that our relations with foreign governments are often of 
 so delicate a character as to require confidential discus- 
 sion by the ratifying body ; and that the personal fitness 
 of the President's appointees should be scrutinized and
 
 The Conirress 87 
 
 't) 
 
 debated behind a similar screen of jDrivacy. But in one 
 recent historic case the Senate formally relinquished the 
 right of secret discussion. When President Wilson sub- 
 mitted to the Senate the treaty between the allied and 
 associated powers and Germany, in 1919, the long Sena- 
 torial discussion that followed was conducted in open 
 session and reported by the press of the country. 
 
 18. Compensation and Privileges. — Senators and 
 Representatives in Congress draw the same salaries from 
 the Government — $7,500 per annum. In addition, each 
 member of either branch is allowed mileage for each 
 session of twenty cents a mile by the nearest railroad 
 route in journeying to and from Washington ; and each 
 has the services of one or more clerks who are paid by 
 the government. In the House each member has an 
 allowance of $3,200 per annum for clerks. He may 
 appoint one clerk or two. If he has two clerks the allow- 
 ance is divided. The names of the clerks are entered 
 on the rolls as in the case of other House employes. 
 
 The Congressional Record is a publication containing 
 full reports of the Senate and House debates. It is 
 printed daily when Congress is in session. Congress also 
 issues a Congressional Directory, containing biographies 
 of its members and other data. 
 
 Free stationery is, of course, among the Congress- 
 man's perquisites, and he also enjoys the franking privi- 
 lege, whereby he can forward letters and documents to 
 his constituents without postage. The Speaker of the 
 House is allowed an annual salary of $12,000, and in 
 that respect he is on a par with the Vice President. 
 Members of Congress enjoy one special immunity, owing 
 to the constitutional decree that they shall not be subject 
 to arrest while attending, or going to or returning from, 
 
 a legislative session, except for treason, felony or breach 
 
 7
 
 88 New Era Civics 
 
 of the peace. It is further provided that they cannot 
 legally be held to account elsewhere for their utterances 
 in parliamentary debate. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter V 
 
 1. What is the House of Representatives often called? Why? 
 In what respect does it dififer from the Federal Senate? 
 
 2. What was the basis for apportioning the number of Repre- 
 sentatives, as laid down by the Constitution? When was the first 
 Federal census taken? What was the population? What was the 
 apportionment ratio determined by the First Congress? Why was 
 it necessary to increase the ratio? Tell of the progress of the ratio. 
 
 3. What difficulties confront State Legislatures in determining 
 Congress districts? What is the origin of "gerryinandering" ? How 
 do the difficulties and temptations of apportionment afifect Congress 
 districts? 
 
 4. When are Senators and Representatives chosen? When does 
 the term of a Congress elected in a given even year begin? When 
 does a newly elected Congress meet if no special session is called? 
 Explain the difference between the long and short sessions of Con- 
 gress. What is a peculiarity of the regular short session following 
 an election? Give example. 
 
 5. What is the first important duty of the newly elected House ? 
 When are candidates for its various offices nominated? Why was 
 the Speaker's authority diminished? Under the new system, who 
 has the authority to appoint committees and what form of selection 
 is observed? 
 
 6. What are the functions of the Speaker under this new law? 
 When does the Speaker leave the chair? 
 
 7. Through what agencies does the House accomplish most of 
 its work? Name the leading committees of the House? What are 
 the chief functions of the Ways and Means and the Appropriations 
 Committees? 
 
 8. When did Congress pass the law for a National Budget? 
 How were appropriation bills formerly prepared in the House of 
 Representatives? What faults did the old system reveal? What 
 remedy did its opponents suggest? 
 
 9. What new system did the Budget and Accounting act pro- 
 vide for? How does the Director of the Bureau of the Budget 
 proceed in making his budget? How would you describe the budget?
 
 The Congress 89' 
 
 What is (lone with it when the Director completes it? Who sends- 
 it and when is it sent to Congress? What is the new budget some- 
 times called? What are the rights of Congress regarding the- 
 budget? What is done with the budget after it reaches the House? 
 
 10. Describe the way in which a measure is introduced in the 
 House. Ha bill is approved, what is the next step? How is the 
 length of debate determined? The X bill, having passed the House,, 
 what becomes of it? What are the Senate's methods of treatment? 
 H the X bill is approved by the Senate in amended form and the 
 House accepts the Senate's changes, what happens? In the event 
 the House refuses to accept the change in a bill by the Senate, what 
 is the form of procedure? Ha bill of unusual importance is under 
 consideration, what course is followed? 
 
 11. What is the meaning of "filibustering"? Is the regular 
 order of presenting a bill, according to the calendar, ever changed? 
 How and why is this done? 
 
 12. In what way does the term of service of a Senator differ 
 from that of a Representative? For how long a term are Senators 
 elected? Give minimum age limit of Senators. Of Representatives. 
 How many of the Senators hold over when a new House is chosen? 
 When the seat of a Senator is vacated, how is the vacancy filled? 
 What is the proceeding when a vacancy occurs in the House of 
 Representatives? 
 
 13. In what way do the powers of the Senate compare with 
 those of the President? What are the peculiar powers vested in 
 the Senate? 
 
 14. In what marked respect does discussion in the House differ 
 from that in the Senate? 
 
 15. When was the Senate rule of cloture modified? Tell what 
 led to this change. How is the length of debate now sometimes 
 determined? 
 
 16. Who is the presiding officer over the Senate? Name those 
 who have succeeded to the Presidency. What is the Vice President's 
 duty under the Constitution? When only is he allowed a vote? 
 
 17. What is the rule of the Senate in discussing treaties and 
 executive, nominations for office and what is the reason for it? 
 In what instance was the right of secret discussion relinquished? 
 
 18. What are the salaries of Senators and of Representatives? 
 Give salary of the Vice President and also of the Speaker of the 
 House. What special immunity is provided in the Constitution for 
 Congressmen?
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 
 
 It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial 
 department to say what the laiv is. — Chief Justice John 
 Marshall. 
 
 1. The United States Supreme Court. — The nine 
 Justices of the Supreme Court are virtually appointed 
 for life, and are therefore not removable from office dur- 
 ing good behavior. Like the President, a Justice can 
 be impeached, and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the 
 Senate for "treason, bribery or other high crimes or mis- 
 demeanors" ; but in no other way can his term of service 
 be ended, save by his death or his resignation. 
 
 Of all our Federal offices, the judges alone, including 
 those of the minor courts, are thus favored by what is, 
 for all practical purposes, a life term. After they take 
 office, they are answerable to no outside authority ; and 
 as their official tenure is not limited they are not required 
 to run the gauntlet of popular scrutiny, after the manner 
 of Presidents, Senators and Representatives who seek a 
 renewal of their trusts. They constitute a branch of the 
 government unrelated to any other or to the people by 
 ties of political self-interest. They are not called upon 
 to deal with questions of policy. The only duty of the 
 Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution, and to 
 square with the Constitution the laws of Congress and 
 of the States. It is to encourage and enable its mem- 
 
 90
 
 The Federal Judiciary 91 
 
 bers to perform that duty without personal bias or the 
 fear of poHtical consequences that they are chosen to 
 serve without any time Hmitation and are set aside in 
 an independent official class, safe from interference, even 
 by the people. 
 
 2. Its Sphere and Power. — The Supreme Court 
 passes only on questions which are brought before it 
 in the regular judicial process by appeals from the State 
 or lower Federal courts. Early in our history it estab- 
 lished the precedent of declining to give advice on 
 administrative or legislative problems, merely for the 
 assistance or gviidance of officers of the government. 
 Its jurisdiction embraces appeals in all cases in law and 
 equity arising under the Constitution, the laws and the 
 treaties of the United States, and such other cases as 
 are outlined in Article III. Necessarily the questions 
 calling for its judgment cover a wide range. While it 
 has no right or desire to determine the course of legis- 
 lation or the shaping of national policies, its decisions 
 often have the effect of settling political issues which, 
 without its final verdict, would continue to be a cause of 
 public agitation or of partisan contention. 
 
 Our court of last resort, therefore, wields an enormous, 
 power within its tranquil sphere. No officer or official 
 power in the Republic can reverse or overrule its deci- 
 sions on questions within its constitutional province. 
 But this is not saying that a Supreme Court cannot alter 
 the decisions of a previous court. The personnel of the 
 tribunal periodically changes, of course, by death or 
 resignation ; and on a few occasions in our history a 
 judgment of the court was changed by a later bench 
 in which new members had turned the balance the other 
 way. The expression "turned the balance" is appropriate 
 because close divisions of the Supreme Court on ques-
 
 92 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 tions of the first importance are by no means uncommon. 
 More than once since the Civil War the court has decided 
 grave issues by the smallest possible margin — by a vote 
 of five to four. But it is nearly always safe to assume 
 that an opinion to which a majority of the court sub- 
 scribes is final. 
 
 Harris J>: Kwing. 
 
 In Their Robes of Office 
 
 The Justices of the Supreme Court as that body was constituted in 1921, 
 
 .after the appointment of former President Taft to succeed the late Edward 
 
 Douglass White as Chief Justice. Justice Taft is seated in the center. 
 
 3. Its Membership and Famous Justices. — Originally 
 the Supreme Court was composed of six members by act 
 •of Congress — a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices — 
 but the membership was increased to nine by various 
 ■enactments of Congress. In view of the life tenure of 
 -membership, it is not surprising that long records of
 
 The Federal Judiciary 93 
 
 service are common in the court. Though it was estab- 
 lished in 1789, only ten men have held the distinguished 
 office of Chief Justice. It is well to record their names 
 and the duration of their terms, as follows : John Jay 
 of New York (1789-1795) ; John Rutledge of South Caro- 
 lina (1795-1795;) Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut (1796- 
 1800) ; John Marshall of Virginia (1801-1835) ; Roger B. 
 Taney of Maryland (1836-1864); Salmon P. Chase of 
 Ohio (1864-1873) ; Morrison R. Waite of Ohio (1874- 
 1888) ; Melville W. Fuller of Illinois (1888-1910) ; Edward 
 D. White of Louisiana (1910-1921) ; William H. Taft of 
 Ohio and Connecticut (1921-). Of these. Chief Jus- 
 tice Rutledge's services were cut short by the refusal 
 of the Senate to confirm his nomination ; so that, strictly 
 speaking, only nine Justices have presided in the court, 
 with regular credentials, in more than 130 jears. It will 
 be seen that the combined terms of four of the Supreme 
 Court Justices, Marshall, Taney, Waite and Fuller, lack 
 only two }ears of a centur}- of time. 
 
 4. How the Court Works. — The Supreme Court 
 meets each year early in October and continues its ses- 
 sion, save for Christmas and Easter recesses, until the 
 following June. In this eight months' period of activity 
 its members attend at their chambers in the Capitol every 
 week day. They devote five days to hearing cases — 
 that is, to listening to the briefs and arguments of oppos- 
 ing counsel. On the first of these days, Monday, they 
 also hand down their opinions on cases they have dis- 
 posed of. Saturday they devote to consultation or con- 
 ference among themselves. While holding open sessions 
 of the court, for hearings, the Justices are ranged behind 
 an elevated desk, w^ith the Chief Justice occupying the 
 middle seat, and flanked on either side by the Asso- 
 ciate Justices, seated according to the length of service.
 
 94 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 After the court has heard the pleas on both sides, its 
 members take home for study copies of the opposing 
 briefs, or written arguments. In due time the Justices, 
 having mastered the subject of a given cause, take it up 
 at the Saturday consultation, w^here their views are freely 
 exchanged. On hearsay evidence — for the secrets of the 
 council chamber are closely guarded — it is said that, 
 where there is a sharp divergence of opinion, these dis- 
 cussions are frequently animated. When the canvass of 
 
 itiowu Bros. 
 
 The Supreme Court Chamber 
 
 Where the court hears arguments. The chairs to the left are for lawyers 
 
 pleading cases. There is a railed off space for the public. Back of the pillars 
 
 are located the offices of the Justices. 
 
 individual views is completed in a case, the Chief Jus- 
 tice calls the roll and the court is polled to determine 
 whether judgment shall be rendered for or against the 
 appellant. When this is decided, the Chief Justice desig- 
 nates one of the members to write the majority opinion. 
 At later conferences the drafted opinion is submitted for 
 consideration. As a rule, it is studied, criticized and 
 finally amended, sometimes radically. When the docu-
 
 The Federal Judiciary 95 
 
 ment reaches its final shape, it stands as the formal 
 opinion of the Court. 
 
 But individual judges often persist in their disagree- 
 ments, and delegate one of their number to prepare a 
 dissenting opinion. Sometimes more than one minority 
 opinion is thus rendered. These expressions of judicial 
 dissent become a part of the record, but they are purely 
 of the nature of a protest and give the defeated party 
 no advantage. Nearly every judgment of our highest 
 court afifects important interests or large bodies of citi- 
 zens, and the specified days for handing down opinions 
 are a signal for eager attention on the part of Washington 
 correspondents and many new^spaper readers. 
 
 5. The Other Federal Courts. — The important cases 
 that reach the nine distinguished judges of the Supreme 
 Court constitute but a small fraction of the mass of 
 judicial business calling for the attention of the Federal 
 courts. When we consider that crimes against the Fed- 
 eral laws, such as counterfeiting, smuggling, improper 
 use of the mails and the like are beyond the jurisdiction 
 of the State courts, and never come within the province 
 of the Federal Supreme Court unless some grave con- 
 stitutional principle is involved, it will be realized that 
 many minor Federal courts are necessary to sit in judg- 
 ment on these offenses. We must also take into account 
 a large number of civil actions that may come under 
 the Federal laws. These cases, too, fall within the 
 jurisdiction of the lesser departments of the Federal 
 bench. Ordinary lawsuits between citizens of different 
 States can be tried in minor Federal courts, but the 
 choice rests with the defendants, and attorneys often 
 prefer to resort to the State tribunals. 
 
 6. The Circuit Court of Appeals. — Of the minor 
 Federal courts, the highest in rank and power is the
 
 96 New Era Civics 
 
 Circuit Court of Appeals. The country is divided into 
 nine circuits by an act of Congress passed in 1891 for 
 the purpose of creating local jurisdiction which would 
 relieve the pressure on the Supreme Court. The Circuit 
 Courts of Appeals of these several circuits pass only on 
 cases carried up on appeal, and the great majority of 
 their decisions are final. The circuits are formed by the 
 grouping of States. The First circuit covers a part of 
 New England. In the Second, Third, Sixth and Seventh 
 circuits the populous States of New York, Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, Michigan and Illinois are included. The largest 
 circuit in size is the Eighth, which contains thirteen 
 States of the West and Southwest. 
 
 In all there were, in 1921, thirty-four judges in these 
 courts, the number varying from three, the common 
 allowance, to five in the Eighth circuit. The number of 
 circuits was fixed at nine, because the nominal" presiding 
 officer in each is a Justice of the Supreme Court. The 
 Supreme Court Justices, however, seldom sit in such 
 cases, but rather exercise a general supervision over the 
 judicial administration in their several districts. 
 
 7. The Federal District Judges. — The Federal Dis- 
 trict judges constitute by far the most numerous body 
 of public servants charged with the administration of 
 justice in the Federal field. They serve the lowest of 
 the Federal courts, and the one, therefore, nearest to the 
 people. The Federal districts are made up of entire 
 States or subdivisions of States, and no district embraces 
 more than one State. The districts within the boundaries 
 of the larger States are named geographically, as north- 
 ern, eastern, western, southern or middle. In the year 
 1921 there were 107 Federal District judges in office, 
 and New York, as the most populous of the States with 
 the greatest volume of judicial business, had nine of
 
 The Federal Judiciary 97 
 
 these judges, with five for Pennsylvania, four for IlHnois, 
 and so on down to the smaller States, which had one 
 each. In this total a Federal District judge is included 
 for the Panama Canal Zone and one for Porto Rico with 
 two for Hawaii and four for Alaska. In some of the 
 most populous and important districts more than one 
 Federal judge holds court, as, for example, in the 
 Southern district of New York (including the metropolis) 
 where four judges are assigned for service. 
 
 The Federal District judges are prohibited from prac- 
 ticing law, and are obliged to live within the limits of 
 their respective districts. It is their duty to preside over 
 all trials for violation of Federal laws or of civil actions 
 which do not come within the jurisdiction of State courts. 
 Persons arrested for such crimes as making or circulating 
 counterfeit money, fraud in bankruptcy to cheat creditors, 
 smuggling, violation of the postal or revenue laws, are 
 indicted by Federal grand juries and prosecuted in the 
 Federal District courts. During the World War breaches 
 or evasions of the special acts of Congress, such as the 
 Espionage or Food acts, added materially to the criminal 
 business of the Federal District courts. The civil actions 
 brought before the Federal courts relate to disputes over 
 the patent and copyright laws and the admiralty, bank- 
 ruptcy and revenue laws. 
 
 8. Provisions for Appeal. — The procedure before the 
 minor Federal courts differs in no essential particular 
 from that which marks the trial of cases in the State 
 courts of record, and defeated suitors or persons found 
 guilty of crime therein have the same right of appeal as 
 each State allows. In the Federal domain, appeal is 
 taken to the Circuit Court of Appeals which has juris- 
 diction over the district in which the action is tried. As 
 already stated, the decision of the Circuit Court of
 
 98 New Era Civics 
 
 Appeals is generally final. Few cases are deemed im- 
 portant enough, as involving some novel or vital con- 
 stitutional issue, to be passed by the Circuit Court to 
 the great Federal tribunal of last resort. 
 
 Associated w^ith the Federal District courts in their 
 labors are the United States District Attorneys and 
 Marshals. These officials, while subject to the authority 
 of the Federal District courts, must be classed as subordi- 
 nates of the Department of Justice at Washington, of 
 which the Attorney General is the recognized head. 
 
 9. Special Federal Courts. — Two special Federal 
 courts invested with large responsibilities are the Court 
 of Claims and the Court of Customs Appeals. Their 
 titles give some clue to their distinctive functions. 
 
 The Court of Claims was established back in 1855. 
 It consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. 
 This tribunal was created to provide a judicial agency for 
 the impartial investigation of claims against the govern- 
 ment and to open a way for their just settlement. As 
 a nation cannot be sued without its own consent, the 
 allowance of claims against it is a matter of government 
 grace. Prior to 1855 claims of this kind were acted upon 
 by Congress in its discretion ; but the system was never 
 satisfactory, because it imposed an unnecessary burden 
 upon that body and moreover encouraged the play of 
 favoritism and privilege. With the advent of the new 
 court, an impartial body was established to decide on 
 the merits of claims and petitions calling for money settle- 
 ment and to report its judgments to Congress. The 
 court has nothing to do with pension claims, but it passes 
 on claims founded on the Constitution or the laws of 
 Congress, or arising from the regulations of the executive 
 departments or from the execution or alleged violation 
 of any government contract.
 
 The Federal Judiciary 99 
 
 Unlike the regular courts, the Court of Claims has no 
 means of enforcing its decisions without the co-operation 
 of Congress. Its function is that of an advisory tribunal 
 for the guidance of Congress. In a word, it decides, after 
 a careful hearing, what amount, if any, is legally or 
 equitably due the claimant in each case, and so reports 
 to Congress, which alone can make the necessary appro- 
 priation to satisfy the claim. Congress is generally 
 influenced by its judgments. But appeals from the rul- 
 ings of the court may be made to the Supreme Court 
 on questions of law. 
 
 A simple title for the Court of Customs Appeals would 
 be the tariff court. Its mission is to settle disputes 
 springing from the construction of the tariff law at the 
 several ports of entry, and the appellants (or com- 
 plainants) are usually persons engaged in the importing 
 business. The court is composed of five members, includ- 
 ing a Chief Judge. A familiar cause of complaint in 
 such cases, and one fairly typical, arises from the classi- 
 fication of incoming merchandise by customs officials or 
 the General Board of Appraisers. The importer who con- 
 siders himself aggrieved by the classification of his goods 
 and the tariff rates charged thereon has the right to carry 
 his complaint to the Customs Court within sixty days, 
 and its decision is final. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter VI 
 
 1. How many Justices of the Supreme Court are there, and 
 what is their term of office? Under what circumstances can a 
 Justice of the Supreme Court be removed? What distinction has 
 the office of Justice compared with all other Federal offices as regards 
 its term of service and its relation to politics? 
 
 2. What are the duties of the Supreme Court? Can the deci- 
 sions of the Supreme Court be reversed or overruled by another 
 power ? Can they be altered by itself ? Tell how this has been done.
 
 100 New Era Civics 
 
 3. The Supreme Court was originally composed of how many 
 members? How were they classified? The Supreme Court was estab- 
 lished by the enactments of what body? In what year? How many 
 men have held the ofifice of Chief Justice to date? Give names 
 and dates. 
 
 4. In what month does the Supreme Court meet each year? 
 When does its session adjourn? How much time is devoted to the 
 hearing of cases and when are opinions handed down? In what 
 order and where do the Justices of the Supreme Court sit while 
 holding open session? Tell the course followed before the final 
 decision. In what way is the minority judgment sometimes recorded? 
 
 5. Do many of the enormous number of crimes against Federal 
 laws reach the Supreme Court for decision? What is necessary 
 for the disposition of such cases? Name some of the crimes that 
 fall under the jurisdiction of the lesser departments of the Federal 
 bench. How are ordinary civil actions between citizens of the 
 different States disposed of? 
 
 6. Of the minor Federal courts, which is highest in rank and 
 power? For what purpose were the nine circuits created? This 
 act was passed in what year? On what cases do the Circuit Courts 
 of Appeals pass? What is the usual effect of their decision? How 
 are the circuits formed? Where is the First circuit located? 
 What circuit covers the largest number of States? How many 
 judges in these circuits, and how do their numbers vary? Why 
 was the number of circuits fixed at nine? 
 
 7. What is the largest class of Federal judges? Tell how the 
 Federal districts are made up. How are the districts in the large 
 States named? How many Federal District judges were in office 
 in 1921? Give a general idea of their distribution? What restric- 
 tions are placed upon them and what cases come under their 
 jurisdiction? Name some of the civil cases brought before the 
 Federal District courts. 
 
 8. If appeal is taken in a Federal District court, what court 
 usually renders the decision? 
 
 9. Name the two special Federal courts invested with important 
 functions. When was the Court of Claims established? Of what 
 does it consist? Tell something of government claims. Why was 
 Congress relieved of this responsibility? What claims are sub- 
 mitted to this court and what is necessary to their enforcement? 
 Tell something about its methods.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 THE CABINET AND THE DEPARTMENTS 
 
 Government is a trust, and the officers of tJie government 
 are trustees. — Henry Clay. 
 
 1. How the Cabinet Grew. — The members of the 
 Cabinet comprise the President's official household and 
 maintain confidential relations with him. The govern- 
 ment departments of which they are the respective heads 
 were brought into existence, from time to time, by acts 
 of Congress. 
 
 At the beginning Congress established three Federal 
 departments, the chiefs of which served in Washington's 
 Cabinet. They were the departments of State, of the 
 Treasury and of War. Soon afterwards the office of 
 Attorney General was created, and President Washing- 
 ton included its occupant among his Cabinet advisers. 
 By 1913 the membership of the Cabinet had increased to 
 ten. The titles of the offices and the years the offices 
 first acquired such importance were as follows : Secre- 
 tary of State, 1789; Secretary of the Treasury, 1789; 
 Secretary of War, 1789; Attorney General, 1789; Secre- 
 tary of the Navy, 1798; Postmaster General, 1829; 
 Secretary of the Interior, 1849; Secretary of Agriculture, 
 1889; Secretary of Commerce, 1913; Secretary of Labor, 
 1913. 
 
 While this list indicates the order in which the heads 
 of the ten departments were originally admitted to the 
 
 101
 
 102 New Era Civics 
 
 President's Cabinet council, it does not measure the re- 
 spective ages of all of the departments. A Postoffice 
 department existed from Washington's time, and a 
 Bureau of Agriculture appeared in 1862 with a commis- 
 sioner at its head. In 1903, during Roosevelt's first 
 administration, Congress established a Department of 
 Commerce and Labor with a single Cabinet Secretary, 
 but it was not until ten years later that it was divided, 
 with a Secretary in charge of each section. 
 
 The Constitution makes no reference to a Presidential 
 Cabinet. The President has full control over everything 
 relating to his official advisers, as the Cabinet members 
 are called. President Harding made an interesting de- 
 parture from custom when, after his inauguration in 
 March, 1921, he invited Vice President Coolidge to attend 
 the sessions of the Cabinet and to take part in its delibera- 
 tions. 
 
 2. The Secretary of State. — The various titles give a 
 good general idea of the spheres and functions of the 
 Cabinet departments. The ranking member of the body 
 is the Secretary of State, who is intrusted with the con- 
 duct and supervision of the foreign affairs of the govern- 
 ment. We have seen that this officer is the first named 
 in the Presidential Succession act as the legal heir to 
 the executive authority, in the event of the death of both 
 the President and Vice President. This distinction 
 reflects the high traditional regard in which the post of 
 foreign secretary is held. Among the famous Americans 
 who occupied it in the old days before the Civil War 
 were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, 
 John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James 
 Buchanan, all of whom were afterwards elected to the 
 Presidency ; and John Marshall, Henry Clay, Daniel 
 Webster and John C. .Calhoun. In the last half century
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 103 
 
 the honor and dignity of the office have been weU main- 
 tained, and it has been a famiHar practice of Presidents- 
 elect to tender the State portfolio to men who had been 
 their convention rivals for the nomination or who had 
 acquired national fame as party leaders. Of appoint- 
 ments of this distinguished type since 1860, Secretaries 
 Wilham H. Seward, James G. Blaine, Thomas F. Bayard, 
 John Sherman, EHhu Root and Wilham J. Bryan may 
 be mentioned. 
 
 At the Cabinet meetings (which are held on Tuesdays 
 and Fridays unless a sudden emergency necessitates a 
 special session) the Secretary of State sits at the Presi- 
 dent's right. He is the official chief, subject only to the 
 President's supreme supervision, of all our diplomatic 
 representatives in foreign countries, ambassadors, minis- 
 ters, consuls and special envoys or commissioners. To 
 him the President confides special charge of our foreign 
 relations, including diplomatic intercourse with the 
 numerous foreign ambassadors and ministers resident 
 in Washington. Our correspondence with foreign gov- 
 ernments on important subjects and the instructions to 
 American diplomats at their capitals are signed by the 
 Secretary of State. An Under Secretary and three Assis- 
 tant Secretaries relieve him of a part of his responsi- 
 bilities, and in his absence the Under Secretary takes his 
 place in urgent transactions. 
 
 During the first years of the World War and while 
 our neutrality was still preserved, the American public 
 became familiar with the official signature of the Secre- 
 tary of State to all of our diplomatic notes to the German 
 government. In the case of ordinary treaties, the Secre- 
 tary is the most active factor, at least in the preliminary 
 negotiations on behalf of our government. His cere- 
 monial duties are noteworthy, for he is expected to
 
 104 New Era Civics 
 
 receive all the new diplomatic representatives of foreign 
 countries and present them to the President; and it is 
 he, moreover, who issues passports to American citizens 
 desiring to travel abroad. While he is preeminently the 
 officer dealing with our foreign affairs, he also performs 
 interesting duties relating to official matters at home, 
 as might be inferred from the title of his office. He 
 countersigns the strictly official announcements and proc- 
 lamations of the President, of which the annual Thanks- 
 giving address is a well known example, and the Presi- 
 dent's communications to State executives. It is also a 
 part of his duty to publish completed treaties and to pro- 
 claim constitutional amendments after their ratification. 
 
 Like all the other Cabinet departments, that of the 
 Secretary of State is divided into a number of bureaus. 
 In the business sense, at least, the Consular bureau is 
 its most important division, and the Director of Consular 
 service and the chairman of the bureau proper rank 
 among the leading officials of the department next to 
 the assistant Secretaries. Our consuls are distributed 
 throughout the civilized world, and they are the business 
 agents of the government, as distinct from its diplomatic 
 representatives, in foreign territory. The State depart- 
 ment is the nerve center of these far-flung branches of 
 consular service, and the Consular Bureau is rated high 
 in the weight and variety of its responsibilities, among 
 the constituent bureaus of the great Washington depart- 
 ments. 
 
 3. The Secretary of the Treasury. — In the extent and 
 gravity of his powers the Secretary of the Treasury is 
 unsurpassed by any of his Cabinet colleagues, and there 
 are times wdien he is easily foremost in these respects. 
 As the administrator of the financial affairs of the national 
 government his responsibility is heavy. In the course
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 
 
 105 
 
 of its financial operations he is frequently vested by Con- 
 gress with discretionary authority which calls for a high 
 degree of wisdom and 
 executive skill. He is 
 charged with the care of 
 the public funds ; the issu- 
 ing of government bonds ; 
 the collection, disburse- 
 ment and audit of national 
 revenues ; the administra- 
 tion of the currency laws ; 
 the general direction of 
 the coinage and the oper- 
 ation of the mints ; and, in 
 addition, with the official 
 supervision of a number 
 of subordinate bureaus 
 which, while they are not 
 strictly related to gov- 
 ernment finance, have al- 
 ways been a part of the establishment of the Federal 
 Treasury. 
 
 By virtue of his office — or ex officio, as it is called — 
 the Secretary of the Treasury is chairman of the body 
 known as the Federal Reserve Board, and one of his 
 chief subordinates, the Comptroller of the Currency, is 
 also an ex officio member of the Board. This Board exer- 
 cises a large authority over the Federal Reserve system 
 of national banks and their issues of money. It is the 
 product of a law enacted by Congress in 1913, which 
 worked a radical change in the character and principle 
 of our bank currency. 
 
 4. Functions of the Treasury Department. — In its 
 currency and general financial legislation Congress at 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 A Pocket of the Treasury 
 
 Some of Uncle Sam's small change. 
 Each of these bags, stored in a treas- 
 ury vault, holds $1,000 in silver coin.
 
 106 New Era Civics 
 
 times delegates large powers to the Secretary, and this 
 is particularly true of the bonding operations of the 
 government — its borrowing on bonds to satisfy special 
 financial needs — of which the last instance before the 
 World War was the issue of government bonds for the 
 construction of the Panama canal. 
 
 Among the official subordinates of this great depart- 
 ment are the Register of the Treasury, who has special 
 charge of the issuance and certification of all United 
 States bonds; the Comptroller of the Currency, whose 
 province it is to supervise the operation of the national 
 banks ; the Comptroller of the Treasury, who has general 
 charge of the auditing (that is, the process of insuring 
 correctness) of all disbursements from the Treasury, 
 and who is assisted in his duties by special auditors 
 or examiners for nearly all the departments ; the Director 
 of the Mint, who controls the government's work of 
 coinage and assay, and the Commissioner of Internal 
 Revenue — an officer charged with peculiarly weighty 
 responsibilities since the collection of the Federal income 
 tax was added to his ordinary functions. This officer has 
 also large power in the enforcement of the National Pro- 
 hibition act. 
 
 5. Uncle Sam's Tax Gatherers. — The collection of 
 the vast revenues of the government, the proceeds of its 
 taxation, requires the employment of a very large force 
 of Treasury officials. The great bulk of this income 
 passes through the hands of Collectors of Internal 
 Revenue and their subordinates. Every State has at 
 least one Internal Revenue collection district, with a 
 collector in charge, and Alaska, Hawaii and the District 
 of Columbia also have one each. In the more populous 
 States extra districts and collectors are necessary. In 
 1921 New York had five districts in all, Ohio four, Penn-
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 107 
 
 sylvania three and Illinois, California, New Jersey, 
 jVIichigan and Virginia two each. Internal taxes of every 
 kind, from income taxes down to the smallest imposts 
 on trifling commodities, reach the Internal Revenue 
 collectors and are by them forwarded to the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Jjiuwn JJi 
 
 The New York Custom House 
 
 This is where the government's biggest stream of revenue from tariff duties 
 is paid in, and where the record of all importations at the port of New 
 
 York is kept. 
 
 Customs taxes, or the duties laid on imports from 
 other countries, are paid to Collectors of Customs. At 
 every regular port of entry for foreign goods a collector 
 or a deputy collector is stationed. The main ports 
 are about fifty in number. The salaries of the collectors 
 in charge — and the same is true of the Collectors of 
 Internal Revenue — are regulated by the amount of busi- 
 ness done. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury is charged with the 
 direction of government activities not related to finance.
 
 108 New Era Civics 
 
 as, for example, the system of public health protection 
 at our ports. In this vital quarter he is responsible for 
 the management of our national quarantine stations and 
 marine hospitals and for safeguards against the introduc- 
 tion of contagious diseases by immigrants; and in this 
 capacity he is expected to co-operate with the govern- 
 ments of the seaboard states. He is also the chief of the 
 Coast Guard, which has absorbed the old life-saving and 
 revenue-cutter services; and of the Federal Secret-Service, 
 the title of which indicates its responsibility for ferreting 
 out or preventing crimes against the Federal govern- 
 ment. 
 
 6. The War and Navy Secretaries. — The Depart- 
 ments of War and the Navy may properly be considered 
 together because of their common relation to the system 
 of national defense. In recognition of the supremacy 
 of the civil over the military power in the American 
 democracy, the Secretary of War is usually a civilian. 
 Very rarely and only for short periods have professional 
 soldiers held the War portfolio. Generals Grant and 
 John M. Schofield were each for a brief period the Secre- 
 tary of War under President Johnson, as were Generals 
 Rawlins and Sherman under President Grant, but these 
 exceptions scarcely afifect the rule that the official head 
 of our War department shall be a civilian. In the case 
 of the Navy the adherence to this principle has been 
 even more uniform. In both departments, however, many 
 duties of administration are intrusted to officers of the 
 government's fighting branches. 
 
 While the Secretary of War is the real official head 
 of his department, the army itself is under the immediate 
 direction of the General Staff Corps, comprising more 
 than fifty officers ranking from Captain to General. In 
 addition we have distinguished officers charged with
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 109 
 
 varied functions, such as the Adjutant General, Inspector 
 General, Chief of the Quartermaster Corps, Surgeon 
 General, Judge-Advocate General, Chief Signal Officer, 
 Chief of Ordinance and Chief of Engineers. One result 
 of the World War was the revival of the rank of General 
 of the Army, conferred by Congress upon John J. 
 Pershing. 
 
 Our famous school of military instruction, the 
 Academy at West Point, is within the official jurisdic- 
 tion of the War department. The cadets at West Point 
 owe their appointments, for the most part, to the recom- 
 mendations of members of Congress, as they are named 
 from the Congress districts. But special appointments to 
 the Academy are reserved to the States as units and to 
 the United States. The appointments, however, are not 
 determined by political favor alone, as candidates for 
 admission are required to pass a very strict examina- 
 tion. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy is charged with responsi- 
 bility for the administration of all that concerns our 
 formidable fleet, and, like his colleague of the War de- 
 partment, he has the co-operation and advice of expe- 
 rienced officers detailed for important duties of command 
 or supervision. Among the subdivisions of the depart- 
 ment are the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Yards 
 and Docks, the Bureau of Ordnance, the Bureau of Con- 
 struction and Repairs ; and his subordinates also include 
 a Judge-Advocate General. The direction of the United 
 States Naval Academy at Annapolis is appropriately 
 intrusted to this department. 
 
 7. The Department of Justice. — The Attorney Gen- 
 eral is the head of the Department of Justice. He is the 
 officer directly intrusted with the execution of the Federal 
 law in general — that is to say, where the carrying out of
 
 no 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 statutes is not confided to new or existing officials desig- 
 nated for the purpose by Congress. The Washington 
 staff surrounding the Attorney General is relatively 
 small ; but he is the official chief of a large body of 
 functionaries distributed throughout the country, the 
 United States District Attorneys and the United States 
 Marshals, who co-operate with the Federal courts in the 
 administration of justice. Each District Attorney prose- 
 cutes cases, and each Marshal serves warrants to make 
 arrests. Every State has at least one Federal District 
 Attorney and one Marshal. The largest number of each 
 assigned to any State is New York's four, while several 
 of the States have three. 
 
 8. The Postoffice Department. — Of all the Cabinet 
 departments, the Postoffice department is perhaps 
 brought into the closest contact with the pul^lic, through 
 its official direction of the government's activities as the 
 carrier of the mail. Every postman who delivers letters 
 at our doors is a subordinate of this department, and 
 
 every Postmaster is its 
 local agent. The business 
 transacted by the depart- 
 ment was always rela- 
 tively enormous, and its 
 responsibilities have been 
 increased in recent years 
 by several remarkable im- 
 provements in the postal 
 service. 
 
 One of these is the sys- 
 tem of rural free delivery, 
 whereby daily collections 
 and deliveries of mail are 
 made along country roads, 
 
 I lultiwund i: Underwood. 
 
 Rural Mail Delivery 
 
 Early experiments in collecting and 
 delivering mail on country highways. 
 This old-fashioned method is still .em- 
 ployed in many rural districts, but in 
 others it is giving way to auto-wagons 
 and motorcycles.
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 111 
 
 Underwoud & Underwood, 
 
 A Modern Mercury 
 
 Aerial postmen who rival the tele- 
 graph. Beginning a postal service 
 that will develop with the aeroplane. 
 
 to the great convenience 
 
 of the farming population. 
 
 Still more important is the 
 
 carrying of bulky pack- 
 ages by mail (parcel 
 
 post). The latter service 
 
 marks a radical departure 
 
 in the operations of the 
 
 Postoffice department. It 
 
 was introduced, by act of 
 
 Congress, on January 1, 
 
 1913, and at first the 
 
 weight of packages carried 
 
 was limited to twenty pounds within a distance of 150 
 
 miles, and to eleven pounds for a greater distance. By 
 
 later regulations the weight limit was gradually increased 
 
 to seventy pounds within 300 miles and fifty pounds for 
 
 longer hauls. In view of 
 the cheap rate of postage 
 on such merchandise ship- 
 ments, this new branch of 
 the service has been a 
 welcome accommodation 
 to the public. 
 
 Another recent exten- 
 sion of postal activity has 
 been the establishing of 
 postal savings banks, 
 which pay a low rate of 
 interest on small deposits 
 of money at Postoffices, 
 and are conducted chiefly 
 for the benefit of persons 
 who do not patronize the 
 
 Underwuod i*^ Underwood. 
 
 Stamp Printing by Magic 
 
 A wonderful new stamp machine in 
 the Bureau of Engraving at Washing- 
 ton. Ten of these machines can print, 
 gum and perforate 3,500.000 postage 
 stamps every day.
 
 112 New Era Civics 
 
 ordinary banks or who live where savings banks are not 
 within reach. 
 
 Necessarily the Postmaster General is one of the 
 busiest members of the Cabinet. The largest army of the 
 civil servants of the government serve under his official 
 jurisdiction. He appoints all the minor Postmasters; 
 makes postal rules for domestic observance ; enters into 
 postal agreements with foreign governments ; contracts 
 for railway service in mail transportation ; supervises the 
 work of the railway postal clerks as well as of the Post- 
 office forces. He is, in short, responsible to the President 
 and the Congress for a department of government service 
 which more intimately concerns the mass of the people 
 than any other. With no branch of government work is 
 the average citizen more familiar than with the diversified 
 operations of the Postoffice department at all points 
 where it serves the popular needs. 
 
 9. The Department of the Interior. — The Secretary 
 of the Interior is at the head of a Cabinet department 
 which has a unique distinction with respect to the 
 strangely varied interests within its jurisdiction. It is 
 about the only Cabinet department whose title gives no 
 enlightening clue to the character or limit of its official 
 authority. In some respects the Secretary of the Interior 
 seems to have the whole territory of the United States 
 for his province, while some of the subdivisions of his 
 department seem to be as widely separated, one from 
 another, as are any two of the Cabinet departments 
 proper. 
 
 This distinction can be better understood when the 
 names of various important officials who own the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior as their chief are enumerated as 
 follows: Commissioner of the Land Office, Commis- 
 sioner of Pensions, Commissioner of Education, Com-
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 113 
 
 missioner of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Patents, 
 Director of the Geological Survey, Director of the Recla- 
 mation Service, Director of the Bureau of Mines and 
 Director of the National Park Service. 
 
 The department was created in 1849, immediately 
 following our war with Mexico. Its original mission was 
 to assume supervision of the hundreds of thousands of 
 square miles of largely uninhabited land we acquired 
 from Mexico by the peace treaty, and to manage their 
 sale and distribution. All this was the special duty of 
 the Land office of the department. Later it seems to 
 have been the plan of Congress to shift to the Interior 
 department all new administrative responsibilities not 
 directly related to the existing departments; and for 
 many years it was treated as a sort of catch-all depart- 
 ment to take care of promiscuous matters not otherwise 
 provided for. Not long ago a Secretary of the Interior, 
 protesting against this policy, went so far as to declare 
 in an official report that the department should be dis- 
 solved and its duties apportioned among the departments 
 to which they more properly belong ; that the Land office 
 should be incorporated with the Department of Agricul- 
 ture, the Patent office with the Department of Commerce 
 and the Pension office with the War and Navy depart- 
 ment. 
 
 10. Some of Its Powers. — In the past the Interior 
 department has justified its existence, notably by its 
 agency in the distribution of perhaps a billion acres of 
 land among American settlers for railroad and other pur- 
 poses. Much of this task has been performed in local 
 Federal Land offices, some of which still operate in States 
 where considerable areas of unused public land remain. 
 
 Of late years the department has rendered a highly 
 valuable service in executing the various laws enacted
 
 114 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 by Congress to reclaim and make productive vast 
 stretches of waste land in the far West. In the general 
 land administration of the department the Geological 
 Survey has played an effective part. 
 
 Not the least of the duties devolving upon the depart- 
 ment is the care of our Indian wards. The Commissioner 
 of Indian Affairs is the real white chief of the numerous 
 reservations to which our surviving Indian tribes are 
 allotted, and through him and his official superior, the 
 Secretary of the Interior, the government exercises con- 
 stant care over their interests. 
 
 The Pension Bureau and the Patent Office have large 
 responsibilities. The former has discharged, and is still 
 discharging a weighty obligation, in attending to the 
 payment of Civil War pensioners, whose claims have 
 exceeded $160,000,000 in a single year, and of the similar 
 claims of veterans of the Spanish-American War and 
 the small remnant of pensioners of the Mexican War. 
 The Patent office has control of the issue and record of 
 
 all patents on inventions 
 and the copyrights of 
 books and other publica- 
 tions. 
 
 11. The Department 
 of Agriculture. — Compar- 
 atively few people fitly ap- 
 preciate the importance 
 and value of the services 
 rendered by the Cabinet 
 department next in the 
 chronological order — the 
 Department of Agricul- 
 ture. Of the younger de- 
 partments it is pre-emi- 
 
 Lnacruuud & Underwood, 
 
 Packing Seeds by Machines 
 
 This is how Uncle Sam puts up his 
 packages of vegetable and flower seeds 
 for free distribtition. Each girl feeds 
 empty packets to the machines, which 
 discharges full packets into the basket.
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 115 
 
 nent as a servant of the people and a protector of their 
 vital interests. The World War aroused an anxious 
 interest throughout the country in our farm productive- 
 ness and the sufficiency of our food supply. One effect 
 of this deep popular concern was to make the country 
 better acquainted with the modest but vigilant and enter- 
 prising" labors of the Agriculture department. It is 
 through this branch of his government that Uncle Sam 
 displays his solicitous interest in farm production, the 
 source of our food supply, and exerts his power to en- 
 courage the toil and enlarge the output of our millions 
 of husbandmen. 
 
 Occasionally the public reads of the official crop re- 
 ports and estimates of the department. These are of 
 immense aid in enlightening grain dealers and speculators 
 and in steadying the market, but, although they are the 
 work of an elaborate statistical organization, they con- 
 stitute only one of many items in the useful service of 
 the department. It directs the observations of the 
 Weather Bureau, based on daily reports from many far 
 separated stations. It has charge, through its Bureau of 
 Animal Industry, of the official inspections of meat 
 products, including exports and imports. It conducts, 
 through its Bureau of Plant Industry, scientific investi- 
 gations which are exceedingly helpful in the process of 
 cultivation. It has general charge of our national forests 
 and of all the official machinery of forest conservation. 
 Through the agency of its Bureau of Chemistry it fur- 
 nishes the farming interests with valuable information 
 regarding the use of fertilizers, and of the many labor- 
 saving devices now at the farmer's command. It renders 
 a valuable public service by the administration of our 
 food laws, particularly with a view to insuring the purity 
 of food and drugs.
 
 116 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 The educational work of this department and its 
 various bureaus can hardly be overrated. This was illus- 
 trated aptly a few years 
 ago when its Biological 
 Survey published, after a 
 long expert investigation, 
 an exhaustive review of 
 the relations of wild-bird 
 life to agriculture. This 
 showed how the farmer 
 has profited from the in- 
 sect-devouring habits of 
 many birds formerly rated 
 as his enemies, and it 
 counseled the vigilant pro- 
 tection of our feathered 
 friends. During the World 
 War the Department of 
 Agriculture was a potent 
 factor in the wonderful 
 development of our food-power. Incidentally, it co- 
 operated with free exhibits in our leading State Fairs, 
 and this branch of its service it has since continued. 
 
 12. The Department of Commerce. — The Depart- 
 ment of Commerce bears a relation to the country's busi- 
 ness and industry similar to that of the Department of 
 Agriculture to farm production. Its official mission is 
 to promote by every available method the commercial, 
 manufacturing, maritime, fishing, mining and transporta- 
 tion interests of the United States. For that purpose it 
 is armed with official power over our merchant marine 
 and for the enforcement of our navigation laws ; with 
 authority over our steamboat services, our fish hatcheries 
 and the fishing industry in general ; with responsibility 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 The War Against Insect Pests 
 
 An expert of the Bureau of Ento- 
 mology, Department of Agriculture, 
 studying injurious insects under the 
 microscope. This is a step toward 
 devising methods for exterminating 
 them.
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 117 
 
 for the construction and maintenance of lighthouses and 
 the regulation of Hghtship and buoy safeguards, and the 
 like. These and other related duties covering shipping, 
 navigation and maritime commerce in general are in- 
 trusted to suitable bureaus. 
 
 13. The Department of Labor. — The youngest of the 
 independent departments is that of Labor. It is the 
 official agency through which the government serves 
 
 Brown Eros. 
 
 Where Immigrants Come 
 
 An airplane view of Ellis Island, where armies of incoming foreigners are 
 landed and inspected each year. 
 
 the general class of manual workers. Its usefulness has 
 been seen in the collection of elaborate statistics relating 
 to the occupations, wages, and hours of labor of Amer- 
 ican workers, and the compilation of State laws relating 
 to compensation for injuries in hazardous employments. 
 Of late it has revealed an official interest in labor con- 
 troversies and strikes undertaken on a national scale of 
 magnitude. This was especially noted in the fall of
 
 118 New Era Civics 
 
 1919, when the Secretary of Labor figured as a mediator 
 of the threatening differences between some four hun- 
 dred thousand bituminous coal miners and their em- 
 ployers. 
 
 The Department of Labor has the smallest official 
 staff of the several Cabinet departments. It includes 
 bureaus maintained for the special protection of women 
 and children in industrial occupations. Another bureau 
 administers the laws whereby foreigners who come to 
 this country are naturalized, or converted into American 
 citizens. The bureau in charge of this work also gives 
 its official supervision and aid to a movement which of 
 late years, and especially since the World War, has en- 
 gaged the active interest of many citizens — the Ameri- 
 canization movement. 
 
 Among the most important duties intrusted to the 
 Labor department is that of executing the immigration 
 laws. Special reference to these closely related questions 
 of immigration and Americanization is desirable. 
 
 14. Our Immigration Problem. — The regulation of 
 immigration is still an open question, and it is one that 
 has produced much difference of opinion. From time to 
 time Congress has passed a number of laws for keeping 
 certain classes of foreigners outside of the country. 
 One of the first of these laws was enacted in 1882, and 
 it barred from the United States Chinese laborers, and 
 also paupers, criminals and insane persons. Three years 
 later another law was adopted, known as the Alien Con- 
 tract Labor law, which forbade foreigners to enter our 
 ports whose services had been contracted for in advance 
 by American producers. Other immigration laws pro- 
 hibited the coming of persons suffering from various 
 kinds of disease, of anarchists (or persons who are 
 opposed to all government) and of persons who, though
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 119 
 
 not classed as paupers, were likely to become a public 
 charge. One of these laws was aimed at Japanese 
 laborers. In order to make this legislation more effective, 
 it was provided that all immigrants who, on arriving at 
 our ports, could not prove that they were entitled to 
 enter under the law, must be returned by the steamship 
 companies bringing them here. 
 
 A radical change in our immigration system was made 
 in 1917, when Congress passed a law denying admission 
 to oiir ports to new-comers who could not read the Eng- 
 lish language or the language of their own country. 
 Under this statute the so-called "illiterate" aliens are 
 barred. This legislation provoked a storm of opposition. 
 Three Presidents had vetoed similar bills, and Con- 
 gress had been unable 
 to override the vetoes by 
 a two-thirds vote. The 
 fourth bill, though dis- 
 approved by President 
 Wilson, was repassed over 
 his veto and thus became 
 a law in 1917. 
 
 In 1921 an immigra- 
 tion law was passed which 
 limited the numbers ar- 
 riving from any foreign 
 country at American ports 
 in any given }'ear to 
 three per cent of the total 
 number of persons from 
 such country who were shown to be already here by 
 the census returns of 1910. 
 
 15. Americanization. — During the World War the 
 presence of many undesirable aliens, or unnaturalized 
 
 Browu Bros. 
 
 Testing an Immigrant 
 
 Here a government official is examin- 
 ing a new arrival from Europe to 
 determine his mental soundness. The 
 test is made with blocks. Seated at 
 the right of the official is an inter- 
 preter.
 
 120 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 foreigners, was revealed througnout the country. A large 
 proportion of them gave the government a good deal of 
 trouble, owing to their lack of sympathy with the Amer- 
 ican cause or their actual hostility toward it. It was 
 seen everywhere that these elements had made little or 
 no headway in acquiring what we may call the American 
 spirit. A fertile field was thus opened for the sowing of 
 the seeds of good American doctrine. 
 
 The Department of Labor is the official center of a 
 nation-wide movement for preparing recently arrived 
 foreigners, or aliens, as they are generally called, for the 
 duties of citizenship. In this line of service it acts in 
 co-operation with school authorities and civic associations 
 throughout the country. The object of the undertaking 
 has been to reach these 
 foreigners, to teach them 
 what American democ- 
 racy means and to per- 
 suade them that their best 
 interests as workers and 
 as future citizens would 
 be served by their honest 
 allegiance to the flag and 
 to all that it stands for. 
 These movements have 
 been encouraged by the 
 Federal and State govern- 
 ments; but they chiefly 
 depend for success upon 
 the energy and civic spirit 
 of local communities. Americanization societies are com- 
 mon in the larger cities. 
 
 As an educational undertaking the whole enterprise is 
 bound to yield good results when properly directed and 
 
 iJiLUMi JJrus. 
 
 The Making of Americans 
 
 An Americanization class in a New 
 York city night school. Teaching 
 foreigners how to apply for citizen- 
 ship papers and to swear allegiance 
 to the United States.
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 121 
 
 zealously supported. The Americanization problem has 
 been simplified by the new restrictions on immigration. 
 
 INDEPENDENT DEPARTMENTS 
 
 16. The Interstate Commerce Commission. — Wash- 
 ington is the seat of several Federal commissions, and 
 among the most conspicuous of these are the Interstate 
 Commerce commission, the Railroad Labor Board, the 
 Federal Trade commission, the United States Shipping 
 Board and the United States Tariff commission. 
 
 The Interstate Commerce commission was created in 
 1887, but its authority has since been strengthened and 
 broadened by several different acts of Congress. All of 
 these measures related to railroad regulation, and each of 
 them was intended to delegate to the commission fresh 
 powers in that direction. By virtue of its constitutional 
 power over interstate commerce. Congress can prescribe 
 the conditions under which the railroads that cross State 
 boundaries shall serve the public, and this power, as 
 the courts have decided, includes the right to fix the rates 
 for transportation of passengers and freight, provided 
 that such rates be reasonable. As it would not be prac- 
 ticable for Congress to regulate directly the operations 
 of a vast and complicated network of railroads, it dele- 
 gated the power to the Interstate Commerce commission. 
 
 By virtue of this grant, the authority of the com- 
 mission applies to all railroads (or common carriers) 
 engaged in interstate transportation ; to express and 
 sleeping-car companies ; to the owners of pipe lines trans- 
 mitting oil or other commodities, excepting water and 
 natural or artificial gas ; and to telegraph, telephone and 
 cable companies. Practically every mechanical detail of 
 railroad operation is within the regulative control of the 
 commission. It has at its command verified reports and
 
 122 New Era Civics 
 
 schedules of all railroad changes, and it is empowered 
 not only to fix or limit rates, but to compel the adoption 
 by the railroads of such safety appliances as may be 
 essential for the public protection. 
 
 The 'most important of all the acts of Congress en- 
 larging the power of the Interstate Commerce commis- 
 sion was the Transportation act adopted in February, 
 1920. By this measure the railroads of the country, which 
 had passed under the control of the government for war 
 purposes by Presidential proclamation in December, 1917, 
 were restored to their owners. By the terms of the act 
 the government agreed to lend its aid to strengthen and 
 encourage the railroad systems, which in many instances 
 were in poor financial condition and in pressing need of 
 new equipments after the hard usage of war service. 
 With this end in view, it was provided in the law that 
 the Interstate Commerce commission should ascertain 
 and publish the total value of the property of the rail- 
 roads, and provide new freight and passenger rates which 
 would yield the roads five and one-half per cent income 
 on the value of their property, as thus determined. To 
 this railroad income the commission was authorized to 
 allow an addition of one-half of one per cent in revenue 
 for necessary improvements and equipments. At the 
 same time the membership of the commission was in- 
 creased from nine to twelve. 
 
 17. The Railroad Labor Board. — The Transportation 
 act further provided for the appointment of a Railroad 
 Labor Board for the hearing and settlement of disputes 
 between the railroad companies and their employes. 
 The object of Congress in creating this agency was to 
 lessen, and, if possible, prevent, the danger of railroad 
 strikes, by the help of an official tribunal to which the 
 railroads or their men could appeal when differences
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 123 
 
 should arise between them. The board is composed of 
 nine members, all of them appointed by the President 
 with the consent of the Senate. They must be so selected 
 that three of them represent the railroad w^orkers, three 
 the railroad companies, and the remaining three the 
 public interests. 
 
 Soon after the appointment of its original members, 
 the Railroad Labor Board was called upon to decide a 
 question of the first magnitude, namely, the claim of the 
 great army of railroad workers for increased wages. 
 After prolonged consideration, the Board announced its 
 awards, whereby the men were allowed wage increases 
 amounting to approximately $600,000,000 in the aggre- 
 gate. It w^as then necessary for the Interstate Com- 
 merce commission to act upon a petition of the railroad 
 companies for increased freight and passenger rates, to 
 meet not only their need of improvements, but also their 
 added operating expenses due to the w^age awards of the 
 Railway Labor Board. On July 31, 1920, the Board ren- 
 dered its decision granting the roads permission to 
 advance their rates by a total estimated at $1,100,000,000. 
 Owing to the business and industrial depression the 
 Labor board in the summer of 1921 authorized the rail- 
 roads to make a twelve per cent wage reduction. The 
 sequel was the threat of a general railroad strike in the 
 following October, but through the agency of the Labor 
 Board it was averted. 
 
 18. Other Miscellaneous Departments. — The Civil 
 Service commission performs an exceedingly useful func- 
 tion in framing and enforcing the rules for the merit 
 system of appointments to office and in otherwise co- 
 operating with the President for its faithful administra- 
 tion. The commission is held responsible for conducting 
 competitive examinations to test the fitness of appli-
 
 124 New Era Civics 
 
 cants for the classified service, for listing those with the 
 best ratings, for a fair apportionment of appointments in 
 the various departments among the States and for the 
 protection of officials in the classified service from 
 political oppression from any source. 
 
 The Federal Trade commission, created in 1914, is 
 armed with large powers of inspection and supervision 
 with regard to business corporations. It keeps elaborate 
 records of corporate activities and one of its most valuable 
 missions is the detecting of corporate abuses, such as 
 unfair competition, restraint of trade and other violations 
 of the various Federal statutes for the regulation of 
 corporations, trusts and monopolies. 
 
 The United States Shipping Board made its advent 
 seven months before our entrance into the World War, 
 through an act of Congress "for the purpose of encourag- 
 ing and developing a naval auxiliary and a naval reserve, 
 and a merchant marine to meet the requirements of the 
 commerce of the United States with its territories and 
 possession and with foreign countries." With this end 
 in view, the Shipping Board was clothed with large dis- 
 cretionary powers for the construction and purchase of 
 equipment and the lease or charter of vessels suitable 
 for naval auxiliaries in time of war ; and this was a for- 
 tunate anticipation of the necessities that later confronted 
 it. At the very inception of its task $50,000,000 was 
 placed at the command of the Shipping Board by Con- 
 gress. During the war it played a notable part in the 
 mobilization of the country's maritime resources. 
 
 The task imposed upon the Tariff commission, created 
 in 1916, is largely one of investigation. Owing to con- 
 stitutional limitations, its power can go no further than 
 the preparation of reports and recommendations for sub- 
 mission to Congress. The enactment of tariff laws is
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 125 
 
 a right Congress cannot legally delegate to any outside 
 body. It can, if it chooses, receive the suggestions of 
 the tariff commission covering revised rates of import 
 duties and proceed to embody them in law. But its own 
 discretion in the matter is absolute, and the commission 
 acts, therefore, solely in an advisory capacity. In this 
 respect, however, it serves a useful purpose through its 
 exhaustive inquiries into the tariff systems of other coun- 
 tries and the legitimate needs of our own producers in 
 the matter of protection from foreign competition. 
 
 The commission has a staff of tariff experts at its 
 disposal, and their data and advice are of great service 
 to the Ways and Means committee of the House and the 
 Finance committee of the Senate in the drafting or 
 amending of tariff bills. After the World War the tariff 
 question became more complicated owing to the dis- 
 turbed rates of exchange, which were in turn due to the 
 enormous issues of paper money and scarcity of gold 
 in Europe. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter VII 
 
 1. By what body was the Cabinet originally established? Of 
 how many members did it consist? How many Federal depart- 
 ments were represented in the Cabinet? Give official title of each 
 officer. 
 
 2. Name the first in rank of the Cabinet members, and what 
 distinguishes him as such. Name some of the famous men who 
 first held this post. What precedent has been established by the 
 Presidents-elect in the tendering of this honor? Where does the 
 Secretary of State sit at Cabinet meetings, and what days of the 
 week are such meetings held? Of what officials is he chief? What 
 assistants has he? Tell something of his executive duties. What 
 are his ceremonial duties? Tell something of the consuls and 
 their importance. 
 
 3. What is the standing of the Secretary of the Treasury? 
 Name some of his duties. Of what important body is he chairman?
 
 126 New Era Civics 
 
 4. In addition to all other duties imposed upon the office of 
 Secretary of the Treasury, what power is often conferred upon him 
 by Congress? Name some of the Secretary's official subordinates 
 and their special duties. What has added materially to the duties 
 of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue? Tell some of the re- 
 sponsibilities attached to the office of Secretary of Treasury as 
 regards health protection. What other duties has he outside of 
 government finances? 
 
 5. To what officials is the duty of collecting the Internal Revenue 
 taxes assigned ? What is the duty of the Collectors of Customs and 
 where are they stationed? 
 
 6. State the general responsibilities of the War and Navy 
 Secretaries? Why are civilians chosen to fill these offices? Where 
 is the military direction of the army placed? How many officers 
 has the General Stafif Corps? Name the other officers whose duties 
 pertain to the army. What high military rank was revived during 
 the World War? Tell something of our military school at West 
 Point? With what power is the Secretary of the Navy nivested? 
 What are some of the subdivisions of the department? 
 
 7. Of what department is the Attorney General the head? He 
 is charged with what obligation? Of what Federal officials is he the 
 chief? Tell about these officers, and how they are distributed. 
 
 8. Tell of the business intrusted to the Postmaster General. 
 What materially increased the expansion of the mail system? In 
 what year was the system of parcel post introduced? What appoint- 
 ments are made by the Postmaster General? 
 
 9. Indicate the scope of the duties of the Secretary of Interior. 
 When was this department created, and what was its original vnis- 
 sion? Name some of the important bureaus of the Interior depart- 
 ment. 
 
 10. How has the Interior department rendered notable service? 
 How has this been accomplished? What is the relation of this 
 department to the Indians? Tell something of the Pension Bureau. 
 
 11. What is the mission of the Department of Agriculture? Tell 
 how the production of our food supply is encouraged by this depart- 
 ment. In what other ways have we been served by the department? 
 
 12. What are the duties of the Department of Commerce? It is 
 protective in what respect? 
 
 13. The Department of Labor was organized for what special 
 purpose? How is this department helpful to aliens?
 
 The Cabinet and the Departments 127 
 
 14. Tell something about the laws for regulating immigration. 
 What law of this kind was passed over President Wilson's veto? 
 
 15. What is the Americanization movement, and what are its 
 general aims? 
 
 16. Name some of the most conspicuous Federal commissions. 
 When was the Interstate Commerce commission created, and how 
 has it since been strengthened? What constitutional right is exer- 
 cised by Congress over the railroads? Why did Congress transfer 
 this power to the commission? What important act of Congress 
 added largely to the commission's authority? 
 
 17. What is the Railroad Labor Board, and what was the object 
 of Congress in creating it? What remarkable developments in 1920 
 and 1921 strikingly illustrated the powers of the Railroad Labor 
 Board and the Interstate Commerce commission? 
 
 18. How is the Civil Service commission useful? What are 
 some of its responsibilities? When was the Federal Trade com- 
 mission created? What is its most important mission? When and 
 why was the United States Shipping Board established? The Tariff 
 commission was created in what year? What is the nature of its 
 functions ?
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE CURRENCY 
 
 Elasticity to our circulating medium, and just enough of 
 it to transact the legitimate business of the country and to 
 keep all industries employed, is what is most to be desired. — 
 President Ulysses S. Grant, 
 
 1. Money, Its Origin and Uses. — One of the most 
 familiar and necessary powers of every civilized nation 
 is that of issuing money for the use of its people. Money 
 is best defined as a medium of exchange. It was first 
 introduced to make trade in commodities more con- 
 venient. In ancient days men exchanged their products 
 and property directly for other products and property 
 of which they stood in greater need. It was, of course, 
 difficult to find an even basis of exchange in the case 
 of dissimilar articles, and the whole system was crude 
 and awkward. 
 
 As time went on, primitive men advanced a little 
 toward better conditions by agreeing to use some 
 standard commodity like cattle, grain and furs and, still 
 later, tobacco as a medium of exchange. For example, 
 in our country in the early days a trader would exchange 
 a coat for so many pounds of tobacco ; and then he would 
 exchange some of his stock of tobacco for an axe or a 
 pair of shoes. Other common articles were similarly 
 used to make trading easier by making values as equal 
 
 as possible. 
 
 128
 
 The Currency 
 
 129 
 
 But this was only a slight improvement. As civiliza- 
 tion progressed gold and silver became the most popular 
 medium of exchange. This kind of money, unlike the 
 paper money of our day, had, and still has, a real (or 
 intrinsic) value of its own. Paper money was the last 
 
 iiiuwn Bros. 
 
 The Treasury Building 
 
 The official center of all the government's financial operations. 
 
 to make its appearance, and it was a necessary reliance 
 because the supply of gold and silver was not sufficient, 
 and metallic money in large amounts was too heavy and 
 bulky for all the purposes of trade. 
 
 Metal money and paper money are now the two 
 kinds everywhere in use in civilized nations. The dif- 
 ference between them is this: The value of paper
 
 130 New Era Civics 
 
 money is not actual, or inherent in the thing itself, but 
 is due to the security behind it and especially to the 
 credit of the government which issues it or authorizes 
 it to be issued. But the value of gold money belongs 
 to the coin itself, as determined by its weight and fine- 
 ness. If a $10 gold piece should be melted down the 
 metal would be worth very nearly the face value of the 
 coin. In the United States silver coins have an intrinsic, 
 or metal, value that varies according to the market price 
 of silver. But they are always as good as their face, 
 whether silver is cheap or not, because, in addition to 
 the value of the metal, the credit of the government is 
 back of them. The silver in a dollar or fifty-cent coin 
 may be worth less than the face value, but the govern- 
 ment issues them for dollars and half dollars and as such 
 they are accepted in the daily transactions of business. 
 Paper money, unlike gold and silver coins, has no real, 
 intrinsic value. It only represents value. 
 
 2. The Government's Money-Issuing Power, — The 
 United States government issues both kinds of money — 
 metallic and paper. The Constitution (Article I, Sec- 
 tion 8) expressly authorizes Congress to coin money and 
 to regulate the value thereof. The issue of paper money 
 is one of the implied powers of the government. It is 
 an attribute of national sovereignty. As this power is 
 not withheld by the Constitution, it is exercised by Con- 
 gress with the sanction of the Supreme Court. The 
 Federal government also has the right to make its paper 
 money a "legal tender." This means that the paper 
 money issued by the government itself can be tendered, 
 or offered, and must be accepted, in payment of debts, 
 public or private. 
 
 The Constitution (Article I, Section 10) forbids the 
 States to "coin money," to "emit bills of credit" (paper
 
 The Currency 
 
 131 
 
 money) or to "make anything but gold and silver coin 
 a legal tender for the payment of debts." This denial 
 of power to the States makes reasonable the theory 
 that the Constitution intended that the Federal, or 
 central, government alone should issue legal-tender cur- 
 rency. 
 
 The government's paper money is, strictly speaking, 
 only a promise to pay gold, the standard metallic money, 
 on demand. But the government's credit is so good 
 that a United States greenback, a $10 bill, for example, 
 is considered as valuable as its face equivalent in 
 gold. Greenbacks are, in 
 fact, preferred to gold 
 because they are much 
 easier to carry, especially 
 in large amounts. Why 
 is the greenback, a mere 
 promise to pay, "as good 
 as gold"? Because the 
 government's credit rests 
 upon all the resources 
 of the nation and its 
 people. 
 
 When Congress, com- 
 posed of the elected rep- 
 resentatives of the people, orders a new issue of paper 
 money, the wealth of the country is back of the gov- 
 ernment's promise to pay. When the holder of paper 
 money knows he can obtain gold for it from the Federal 
 Treasury, he has no desire to make the exchange. So 
 our paper money circulates freely everywhere in the 
 country, and you can buy as much with a hundred 
 dollars in authorized paper currency as with a hundred 
 dollars in gold. 
 
 The Philadelphia Mint 
 
 One of the big workshops in wliich 
 
 Uncle Sam turns out his metallic 
 
 money.
 
 132 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 3. Our Currency Issues. — The various kinds of 
 money now in use in the United States may be classified 
 as follows : 
 
 '^Gold Coins 
 Standard Silver Dollars 
 Smaller Silver Coins 
 Nickel and Copper Coins 
 
 Metallic Moneys 
 
 v^ 
 
 Government Paper Issues 
 
 rCold Certificates 
 I Silver Certificates 
 
 United States Notes 
 Treasury Notes of 1890 
 
 [^National Bank Notes 
 Bank CurrencyJ Federal Reserve Notes 
 
 I Federal Reserve Bank Notes 
 
 4. The Gold and Silver Coin.— Our gold coins weigh 
 
 25.8 grains to the dollar. It is necessary, however, to 
 
 harden them with an alloy, 
 and the alloy makes one- 
 tenth of their weight. The 
 pure gold in the coins is 
 therefore 23.22 grains to 
 the dollar. 
 
 The standard silver 
 dollar weighs 412.5 grains. 
 As one-tenth is alloy its 
 total of pure silver is 
 371.3 grains. The coinage 
 of silver dollars w^as dis- 
 continued in 1905. 
 
 The "subsidiary" or 
 
 Uiown Bros. . , ., 
 
 Weighing Coins fractional Silver coinage 
 
 Automatic machines that determine }s knOWU tO US aS half dol- 
 
 whether every coin is of the correct , ]•.„„„ 
 
 weight and fineness. lars, quartcrs and dimes. 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 41^ 4l^- Ml, '• jk. 
 
 
 *V'V'^;V-; 
 
 jHi^I i 
 
 tf^ 
 
 
 m ^1 
 
 
 m 
 
 l^y^"' 
 
 -■• 
 
 w 
 
 m 

 
 The Currency 133 
 
 They do not contain as large a ratio of pure silver as the 
 standard dollar. In five dollars made up of halves, 
 quarters and dimes there is between six and seven per 
 cent less of pure silver than in five standard dollars. 
 This fractional silver currency is legal tender for the 
 payment of debts only up to the sum of $10. Beyond 
 that amount a creditor can demand other money. 
 
 The minor coins now issued are the five-cent and one- 
 cent pieces. Though the five-cent piece is known as 
 the "nickel" it contains three parts of copper to one of 
 nickel. The penny is ninety-five per cent copper, with a 
 five per cent alloy of tin and zinc. This "small change" 
 is not legal tender for more than twenty-five cents. 
 
 5. Our Paper Currency. — The character of each gov- 
 ernment issue of paper currency is plainly indicated on 
 its face. Gold and silver certificates are simply issues 
 of paper money representing gold and silver coin held 
 by the Treasury. The lowest denomination for gold cer- 
 tificates is $10, and the highest, $10,000. Silver certificates 
 range from the $1 and $2 denominations up to $1,000. 
 
 The United States notes are the kind familiarly known 
 as "greenbacks." They are issued in denominations of 
 from $1 to $1,000. They were first issued by the govern- 
 ment during the Civil War, and were made legal tender 
 for the payment of all debts. A special gold reserve of 
 $150,000,000 is retained in the Federal Treasury for their 
 redemption. The limit of their issue is something legs 
 than $350,000,000, and the gold reserve, backed by the 
 credit of the government, makes them a perfect circulat- 
 ing medium. 
 
 The Treasury notes of 1890 are so called because 
 Congress authorized their issue in that year. This issue 
 has been discontinued by Congress, and the Treasury 
 notes are steadily diminishing in volume by being re-
 
 134 New Era Civics 
 
 deemed in silver dollars or gold coin. They, too, are 
 legal tender, and what is left of them circulates in 
 denominations of $1 to $1,000. 
 
 These are the government issues proper. But a very 
 important part of our currency system, the bank issues, 
 is still to be considered. The bank issues have been a 
 great and necessary addition to the volume of currency, 
 and under recent laws they help to satisfy the needs of 
 the business world in such a manner as to diminish 
 greatly the danger of money scarcity. 
 
 6. National Bank Currency. — The system of national 
 banks was established to relieve the enormous financial 
 wants of the government during the Civil War. Under 
 the operation of the National Bank act passed at that 
 time, men with capital were encouraged to organize banks 
 of this class. The main purpose of the law was to pro- 
 vide a convenient agency for increasing currency with- 
 out adding too much to the large volume of greenbacks 
 in circulation, and also to create a new market for gov- 
 ernment bonds — the bonds on which the government 
 borrowed money to finance the war. 
 
 The device by which this end was gained was an 
 ingenious one. When a national bank was organized with 
 private capital, the directors were authorized to issue 
 currency of their own bank on conditions which made 
 such currency as safe as the government's own. The 
 system worked in this way : A bank could buy $100,000 of 
 interest-bearing government bonds. The bank could place 
 these bonds in the United States Treasury as security 
 for issues of bank notes in an amount somewhat less than 
 the total of the bonds deposited, let us say, $90,000. 
 Thereupon the government would engrave $90,000 of 
 new bank notes bearing the name of the bank applying 
 for them. These notes would be forwarded to the bank
 
 The Currency 135 
 
 and be signed by its i^resident and cashier. They would 
 next be passed out by the bank in the course of its busi- 
 ness, in the shape of loans to customers, or otherwise, 
 and thus they would become a part of the general circula- 
 tion of currency. 
 
 7. The Advantages of the System. — ^The govern- 
 ment, the banks and the public were all gainers from 
 this system. Many national banks were organized, 
 and all of them were glad to use their currency-issuing 
 privilege. 
 
 In the first place, the government had a new and a 
 great market in which to sell its bonds. This advantage 
 was a valuable one in the years following the Civil War, 
 because the government could rely upon the national 
 banks to aid it in refunding some of its big war loans. 
 By "refunding" is meant replacing a bond issue with 
 another one bearing a smaller rate of interest. When it 
 was hard pressed for money during the war, the govern- 
 ment was obliged to offer high rates of interest — seven 
 per cent, for example — to sell its bonds. But while these 
 bonds might run for a long period, say for twenty or 
 thirty years, the government reserved the right to re- 
 deem them at an earlier date — say, in five years. When 
 peace was restored and the country gradually recovered 
 from the effects of the war, the government was able to 
 sell new issues of bonds, say, at five per cent interest, and 
 to take up the seven per cent bonds with the proceeds, thus 
 saving two per cent interest. This refunding operation 
 went on extensively for the twenty years and more follow- 
 ing the civil conflict. Owing to the eager demand of the 
 national banks for government bonds to serve as a basis 
 for bank currency, they were willing to take the new bonds 
 at diminished rates of interest that finally fell as low as 
 two per cent. Thus the government, by refunding, was
 
 136 New Era Civics 
 
 permitted to substitute for many of the high-interest 
 war bonds the new, low-interest bonds bought by the 
 banks. 
 
 In the second place, while the government gained from 
 the national bank system, by finding a constant market 
 for its bonds and by getting the benefit of lower interest 
 rates, the banks also were benefited by their currency- 
 issuing privilege. Supposing that a bank purchased 
 $100,000 worth of government bonds paying four per cent 
 interest. On that investment its income was $4,000 a 
 year. But by depositing the bonds with the Treasury the 
 bank could obtain, say, $90,000 in new bank currency on 
 that security. This money it could lend to its customers 
 and its profits from this source would be gained in addi- 
 tion to the $4,000 of interest from the bonds. It was 
 therefore an advantage to the national banks to invest in 
 government bonds, and to use them as security for 
 new currency issues, to such an extent as their banking 
 business, and particularly the needs of their borrowing 
 customers, warranted. 
 
 In the third place, the public was benefited, because 
 under the national banking system the country was sup- 
 plied with additional currency for use in business and 
 manufacture and in the payment of labor. The national 
 bank notes had behind them not only the capital and 
 credit of the banks of issue, but also the credit of the 
 government itself, in the shape of the bonds sold to 
 the banks and deposited by the banks in the United 
 States Treasury for security. 
 
 8. Why a New System was Needed. — As the years 
 went on, however, the total of government bonds — that 
 is to say, of the old Civil War debt — steadily diminished. 
 The time for which many of them were issued expired 
 and their holders were paid ofif. In consequence of this
 
 The Currency 137 
 
 reduction of the war debt, the bonds that could be pro- 
 cured b_\- the banks as a basis for their currency gradually 
 lessened in amount. Meanwhile the business of the 
 country and its currency needs rapidly increased. 
 
 From time to time Congress enacted laws for enlarg- 
 ing the supply of government money ; but this process 
 alone was not sufficient to meet the demands for money 
 in special emergencies. Congress, moreover, had to take 
 proper precautions against "inflating" the currency — that 
 is, against increasing the volume of greenbacks to a 
 point where the government's credit would be strained. 
 Under the new conditions, with the volume of govern- 
 ment bonds available for bank purchase materially cut 
 down, serious defects became apparent in the old system 
 of national bank currency. Every bank's supply of new 
 bills of its own issue was, of course, limited by the 
 amount of its government bonds deposited for security. 
 It had no other way of enlarging its currency to satisfy 
 the unusual needs of local trade and industry. 
 
 It was then recognized that bank currency was not 
 elastic enough. It was too rigid ; it could not be ex- 
 panded to keep pace with the demands of business, manu- 
 facture and agriculture at exceptional times. The result 
 was sometimes disastrous. In periods of financial 
 stringency, or money shortage, the banks were unable 
 to ease the situation and violent panics took place. These 
 panics were usually begun by a rush of frightened bank 
 depositors for their money. When the bank's funds were 
 exhausted in this way, it had to close its doors. One 
 suspension of this kind, in panicky times, frequently led 
 to others. Thus money became "tight," and business 
 suffered. After much damaging experience of this kind, 
 financial experts and leaders in Congress agreed that the 
 weak spot in the national banking system was the re-
 
 138 New Era Civics 
 
 quirement that its currency issues be limited to the basis 
 of one kind of security — government bonds. After a long 
 investigation a remedy was found, and it took the form 
 of the Federal Reserve act passed by Congress in 1913. 
 
 THE NEW CURRENCY ERA 
 
 9. The Federal Reserve. — Under the nev^ system the 
 old national bank issues, secured by government bonds, 
 w^ere left in circulation, but another and abundant kind 
 of security for bank currency was authorized by the law. 
 It was commercial paper — that is to say, the promissory 
 notes of business and manufacturing concerns on which 
 the national banks make most of their loans. In the 
 vaults of every important national bank is commercial 
 paper of this kind valued at millions of dollars. It repre- 
 sents the borrowings of business men and industrial 
 corporations to finance their operations, to enlarge their 
 plants and to provide funds for fresh purchases. Every 
 promissory note of this kind discounted (as the process 
 of advancing money is called) by the banks is backed by 
 the property and credit of the business man, firm or 
 corporation that applies for the loan. Each note runs 
 for a given time, as, for example, three months or six 
 months, after which it is paid or renewed. The proceeds 
 of this commercial paper when it is discounted, or cashed, 
 at the banks, are used, to a large extent, in industry. 
 The paper, therefore, represents production ; and the 
 quantity of such paper held by the banks of a community, 
 at a given time, is a measure of the community's business 
 and industrial needs. 
 
 10. The New Currency Basis. — The advocates and 
 framers of the Federal Reserve act considered that it 
 would be a wise step to permit the national banks to 
 issue currency on the basis of the commercial paper
 
 The Currency 139 
 
 held by them. The idea was not a new one. It had been 
 put in force in European countries and in Canada with 
 good results. Bank currency of this kind was called 
 "asset currency," because it was issued on the security 
 of the assets, or resources, of those concerns that had 
 borrowed on their promissory notes, and also on the 
 assets of the banks issuing the currency. The principle 
 of "asset currency" is indicated by a simple illustration. 
 A manufacturing company doing a large business and 
 having first-class credit discounts a note for $100,000. 
 The note is secured by the company's property and 
 production. It therefore represents solid value. Why 
 not, then, use it as security for bank currency issues, 
 instead of leaving it idle and unproductive? In Europe 
 and Canada this question was answered by authorizing 
 the issue of such bank currency. 
 
 The banking currency now known as the Federal 
 Reserve issues is simply a variation of the old national 
 bank currency. The old currency system enabled the 
 banks to use government bonds as a basis of circulation, 
 while the Federal Reserve permits the use of commercial 
 paper in place of the bonds. 
 
 The new system is tmder the supervision and control 
 of one big central organization, which has the co-opera- 
 tion of a number of minor organizations. 
 
 11. Features of the New Plan. — The central organi- 
 zation is known as the Federal Reserve Board. The 
 Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the 
 Currency are ex officio (by virtue of their offices) mem- 
 bers of the Board. There are five other members, nomi- 
 nated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. 
 The chief executive officer of the Board is designated as 
 its Governor when he is appointed by the President, 
 and the next in rank is similarly designated as Vice
 
 140 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 Governor. These two officers correspond in rank and 
 authority with the President and Vice President of any 
 banking organization. 
 
 Besides creating the Federal Reserve Board, the act 
 of 1913 divided the country into twelve Federal Reserve 
 districts, in each of which the most important city, such 
 as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago or San 
 
 • rtDERALRtSERVr BANKCmtS 
 O rCDCRALRtSERVC BRANCH CITIES 
 
 The Banking Districts 
 
 This map shows the twelve Federal Reserve districts as they were estab- 
 lished by the act of 1913. The heavy lines mark the boundaries of the 
 
 districts. 
 
 Francisco, was to be the Federal Reserve city and the 
 seat of the Federal Reserve bank for the district. Each 
 national bank was required to become a member of the 
 Federal Reserve bank of the district, and it was further 
 provided that State banks and trust companies complying 
 with certain requirements might also become members. 
 Each of the member banks was obliged to subscribe 
 to the capital stock of the Federal Reserve bank of its
 
 The Currency 141 
 
 district an amount equal to six per cent of its own paid-up 
 capital stock and surplus. 
 
 It is unnecessary here to describe the mechanism of 
 the system further than to say that each Federal Reserve 
 bank does not do business directly with the public, but 
 is rather a bank for the other banks or bankers of the 
 district; and that one of its useful functions is to be a 
 source of supply for the currency known as Federal Re- 
 serve notes. The holders of these can readily identify 
 them by their inscriptions. 
 
 The government is represented in the twelve Federal 
 Reserve banks. Each of these twelve banks has nine 
 Directors — six chosen by the member banks (three from 
 the banks themselves and three from outside commercial 
 or industrial, including agricultural, interests), and the 
 other three named by the Federal Reserve Board at 
 Washington. The last named may be called the govern- 
 ment's representatives. 
 
 12. How the System Works. — The operation of the 
 system can be briefly described as follows : The issue of 
 Federal Reserve currency is regulated by the Federal 
 Reserve banks. But if a member bank in any city of 
 the country desires additional currency it can forward 
 commercial paper of the required amount to the Federal 
 Reserve bank of its district and receive the equivalent 
 in money. This process is called "rediscounting." It 
 enables the local banks to keep supplied with funds up 
 to the limit of their needs, by rediscounting their com- 
 mercial paper. The Federal Reserve bank in each case 
 accepts from its member banks the promissory notes on 
 which they have made loans, and transmits to them 
 currency in exchange for the paper. When any of this 
 commercial paper is paid by the business man, firm or 
 corporation whose name is signed to it, it must be
 
 142 New Era Civics 
 
 replaced in the Federal Reserve bank by other com- 
 mercial paper or "taken up" at the Federal Reserve bank 
 with currency. When the member bank has more cur- 
 rency on hand than it can profitably use, it redeems 
 with currency a portion of its commercial paper deposited 
 with the Federal Reserve bank. It has every motive 
 to do this, inasmuch as it has to pay interest on all its 
 rediscounted paper in the hands of the Federal Reserve 
 bank. This interest rate is low in normal times, but it is 
 sometimes raised in order to prevent inflation of the 
 currency. 
 
 Thus the volume of currency at the command of each 
 bank can be increased or diminished at will according 
 to its needs and the needs of its patrons. Its currency 
 rises and falls in volume, like the waters of a reservoir, 
 in response to the public requirements. The chief merit 
 of the system is that it can be regulated by the increase 
 or decline of business activity and of industrial and 
 agricultural production. It is generally believed that 
 the danger of sudden money scarcity such as occasionally 
 troubled the country under the old banking system has 
 been greatly lessened by the Federal Reserve law. 
 
 13. How Federal Reserve Money is Made Safe. — 
 Like the old national bank currency, the Federal Reserve 
 issues of money have behind them the credit of the 
 government. Indeed, they are fortified by a five-fold 
 security. First there is the credit of the person, firm 
 or corporation discounting the commercial paper at the 
 local member bank. Then there is the credit of the local 
 member banks supported by their stock holdings in the 
 Federal Reserve bank. Next comes the credit of the 
 Federal Reserve bank, representing many member banks 
 and their resources. In addition to all this, the Federal 
 Reserve act requires that all bank currency issued must
 
 The Currency 
 
 143 
 
 be further secured by a gold reserve equal to forty per 
 cent of its value. Finally, Federal Reserve currency is 
 an obligation of the United States government redeem- 
 able in gold on demand at the Federal Treasury. This 
 last named security is strengthened by the fact that the 
 whole system is operated under the direction of a Federal 
 Reserve Board in which two officials directly represent 
 the United States Treasury department and the others 
 are appointed by the Pr-esident. 
 
 Neither the old national bank currency nor the Fed- 
 eral currency is legal tender. But that does not detract 
 from its value as money, 
 because it can be ex- 
 changed for legal-tender 
 money at the national 
 banks or at the Treasury, 
 and it freely circulates 
 for every purpose, includ- 
 ing the payment of debts. 
 
 14. A Great Addition 
 to the Currency. — The 
 Federal Reserve issues 
 now constitute by far 
 the largest volume of 
 currency in circulation. 
 They reached an enor- 
 mous volume during the 
 World War, and when the 
 armistice was signed in 
 November, 1918, the total 
 of this currency in circu- 
 lation exceeded $2,600,- 
 000,000 as compared with 
 $1,200,000,000 in gold and 
 
 _ ^—.aa/^^a^ 
 
 ■|;ai! 
 
 fill h 
 
 8i 11 11 II i 
 11 II 11 II If , 
 
 
 lii 
 
 fn 
 
 !i " "i 
 
 
 3I 
 
 A Federal Reserve Storehouse 
 
 A big structural annex of the Federal 
 Reserve bank. New York City. It is 
 located at Maiden Lane and Gold 
 Street. In this great fireproof build- 
 ing the files, records, stationery and 
 supplies of the bank are kept. In 1921 
 this bank, the ofiicial center of the 
 greatest of the Federal Reserve dis- 
 tricts, had about 3,000 employes.
 
 144 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 silver coin and certificates and about the same amount 
 in all other kinds of currency. 
 
 The old national bank currency is being slowly retired 
 from circulation under the provisions of the Federal 
 Reserve act ; but it still runs into the hundreds of mil- 
 lions of dollars, and is therefore an important part of 
 the circulating medium. Most of it is secured by two-per- 
 cent government bonds. National banks that retire their 
 bond-secured currency can replace them with the Federal 
 Reserve Bank Notes mentioned in the table of currency 
 issues in this chapter. This currency is distinct from 
 the far more plentiful Federal Reserve proper, because 
 it is based solely on government bonds. It is a com- 
 paratively small currency item, because it is intended 
 only to take the place of the old national bank notes 
 
 as they are slowly with- 
 drawn from circulation. 
 15. The Coining of 
 Money. — The departments 
 for making the money 
 issued by the government 
 or under its authority are 
 important branches of the 
 public service. The United 
 States mints, where our 
 metal money is coined, 
 are located in Phila- 
 delphia, New Orleans, 
 San Francisco, Denver 
 and Carson City. Each of 
 the mints is in charge of 
 a superintendent, but all 
 of them are under the 
 official supervision of the 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 Vigilance in the I\Iint 
 
 Examining coins for possible defects 
 in stamping and in milling the edges. 
 The belt carries the coins so that both 
 sides are, in turn, exposed to scrutiny. 
 The work requires the keenest eye- 
 sight. The hopper pictured above 
 holds $20,000 in $2.50 gold coins.
 
 The Currency 
 
 145 
 
 Director of the Mint, a high official of the Treasury 
 department. When gold is brought to one of the mints 
 to be coined, the metal is first subjected to a careful 
 process, called assaying, 
 to ascertain its degree of 
 purity. It is next put 
 through a melting opera- 
 tion by which all foreign 
 material is removed. The 
 alloy is then added. With- 
 out the alloy it would be 
 too soft to stand the wear 
 of money. The annealing 
 process comes next, by 
 wdiich the gold is run be- 
 tween rollers several times 
 until it becomes a strip of 
 gold of the right thick- 
 ness for the proposed coin. 
 This strip, or flat bar, is 
 then put through a huge stamping machme which rapidly 
 cuts out of it the coins of gold as a cooky-cutter cuts out 
 cookies. Finally the inscriptions are stamped on both 
 sides of the coins by a large machine which presses them 
 between engraved dies. The same mechanical method 
 is employed in the making of silver, nickel and copper 
 coins. 
 
 16. The Engraving of Money. — All paper money is 
 manufactured for the government or for the Federal 
 Reserve banks by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
 at Washington, the chief of which is another official of 
 the Treasury department. The mechanical principle 
 applied in the printing of money resembles that of the 
 small printing press, but before the printing stage is 
 
 iinjun Urus. 
 
 Bank Notes in the Raw 
 
 These women employes of the Bureau 
 of Engraving are engaged in trimming 
 by machinery the edges of newly en- 
 graved bank bills.
 
 146 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 reached the preparation of the engraved plates is a long 
 and extremely delicate task, performed by the most 
 
 expert engravers. Great 
 care is taken to guard the 
 plates from theft and to 
 keep the impressions from 
 being duplicated. No one 
 but the workers is ad- 
 mitted to the engraving 
 rooms, and each engraver 
 is allowed to produce only 
 a part of a plate. When 
 each engraved plate is 
 completed, duplicates are 
 made from it by a me- 
 chanical process, and it is 
 with the duplicate plates 
 that the money is printed. 
 The paper used is of the 
 toughest linen, and the method of manufacture is a well 
 kept secret. Two features of each government bill that 
 make it particularly difficult to counterfeit are the finely 
 engraved portraits and the fine lines running through the 
 bills. These lines are made upon the original plates by a 
 geometric machine which turns out the lines in endless 
 varieties of combinations. 
 
 r^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 »P^ 
 
 ^hH>^^^ -^ ^^ 
 
 BHH^^^H^^I^P^ "^ 
 
 liiuuu uros. 
 
 Numbering the Notes 
 
 A scene in what is known as the sur- 
 face division of the Bureau of En- 
 graving, vliere every new bank bill is 
 numbered by machinery. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter VIII 
 
 1. How would you define money? How was trade conducted 
 in the ancient days? What rude kind of barter was afterwards 
 adopted? What precious metals were finally used for money? Why 
 was paper luoney introduced? What is the difference between paper 
 money and metal money? What gives paper monej^ its value? Why 
 is a gold coin worth its face value? What determines the real value
 
 The Currency 147 
 
 of silver coins in this country? \\ hj^ are such coins worth their 
 face when silver is cheap? Has paper currency any intrinsic value? 
 If not, why is it prized? 
 
 2. By what authority does the government coin money? Has 
 it also the right to issue paper money, and why? What is legal 
 tender? How would you describe the government's paper money? 
 Why is the government's paper money, a promise to pay, as good 
 as gold? 
 
 3. Name the different classes of money now in use in the United 
 States. 
 
 4. How many grains of pure gold to the dollar do our gold 
 coins contain? What part of the gold coin is alloy? Why is the 
 alloy necessary? How much pure silver does the silver dollar 
 contain? Is the proportion of silver as large in the half dollars, 
 quarters and dimes? What metals are used in the coining of the 
 nickels and pennies? 
 
 5. \\'hat are gold and silver certificates ? What are their lowest 
 and highest denominations? How are the United States notes 
 familiarly known? \\ hen were they first issued by the government? 
 What is the present limit of their circulation? How and why are 
 the Treasury notes of 1890 diminishing in volume? 
 
 6. ^\'hat were the two purposes of the National Banking act 
 passed during the Civil War? What method did the new national 
 banks follow when they wished to obtain fresh currency? 
 
 7. ^^ hat were the advantages of the new system ? How was 
 the government benefited through the aid of the banks? How was 
 the public at large benefited by the new system? 
 
 8. \\'hen the government bonds were gradually paid off and 
 refunded, what was the effect on the banks ? How was their currency- 
 issuing power hampered? What defect then appeared in the 
 national bank currency? Why was it not considered elastic enough? 
 What famous law was passed by Congress to provide a remedy? 
 
 9. What was the new basis of security for bank currency? 
 Describe "commercial paper." For what purposes is money borrowed 
 from the banks on commercial paper, or promissory notes? What 
 is the security back of the borrowers? What does the commercial 
 paper held by the banks of a community largely represent? 
 
 10. Was the United States the first country to put in practice 
 the idea of issuing bank currency secured by commercial paper? 
 W^hat was such currency called in Europe and Canada, and why? 
 Give an illustration of the principle of "asset currency." How does
 
 148 New Era Civics 
 
 the new Federal Reserve currency differ from the old national 
 bank currency? 
 
 11. What is the central organization in control of the new sys- 
 tem called? How many members has the Federal Reserve Board, 
 and what are its chief officers? What high officers of the govern- 
 ment are represented on the board? What is the number of the 
 Federal Reserve districts? What is the head bank of each district 
 called? What was each national bank in each Federal Reserve dis- 
 trict required to do? Were other banks permitted to become mem- 
 bers? What must each bank contribute to the Federal Reserve 
 bank when it becomes a member? How many directors has each 
 Federal Reserve bank, and how are they chosen? 
 
 12. How does the system of Federal Reserve currency work? 
 W'hat is the process called by which the member banks obtain money 
 on their commercial paper? Why is the new system considered 
 elastic? To what may the rise and fall in the volume of Federal 
 Reserve currency be compared? What is the chief merit of the 
 system ? 
 
 13. In what respect do the Federal Reserve Issues resemble the 
 old national hank currency? Name the various securities back of 
 the new currency. 
 
 14. What kind of money now has the largest circulation? W^hat 
 process is the old national bank currency now undergoing? What is 
 the character of the issue called "Federal Reserve Bank Notes"? 
 
 15. W here is our gold and silver money coined? Briefly describe 
 the process. 
 
 16. Where is our paper money printed? Tell something of the 
 method by which it is engraved and of the material used?
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 OUR GOVERNMENT IN WAR 
 
 The world must he made safe for democracy. Its peace 
 must be planted upon the tested foundations of political 
 liberty. — Woodrow Wilson. 
 
 1. Transforming a Democracy. — An instructive line 
 of inquiry in civics study relates to the operations of our 
 government after it entered the World War. The story 
 of its military part in the war is a separate branch of 
 study. Yet it is desirable for the civics student to 
 give some special attention to the magical transformation 
 of the Federal government from a peace to a war basis 
 after the signal was given by Congress and the President 
 in early April, 1917. 
 
 It was found that our democratic Constitution put 
 no obstacle in the way of the effective prosecution of 
 our part in the war with Germany and Austria. Expe- 
 rience proved that we could change the whole character 
 of the government over night, as it were, without violat- 
 ing the principles of the Constitution. It was a very 
 radical change, but it was a necessary one, to enable the 
 country to marshal all its powers with unity and without 
 unnecessary delay. To accomplish this result, both State 
 and individual rights had to be subordinated for the 
 time being to the war powers of the government. This 
 was done with astonishing results, and the success of 
 the effort showed us anew that the Constitution was a 
 
 149
 
 150 New Era Civics 
 
 wisely planned charter, and that it is wonderfully elastic 
 in grave emergencies. It is worth while to review some 
 of the main features of this process. 
 
 2. Big Results Measured in Figures. — In his report 
 to Congress in December, 1919, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury stated that the cost of the war to the United 
 States from our entrance in April, 1917, to June 30, 1919, 
 was about $30,000,000,000 more than the ordinary ex- 
 penditures of government would have been in time of 
 peace. This staggering sum does not include our national 
 loans to our European allies, amounting to more than 
 $9,000,000,000. Within the same period, according to the 
 Secretary of War, our army was increased from about 
 200,000 (regular soldiers and the National Guards of the 
 States) to more than 3,700,000, of whom more than 
 2,000,000 were transported to France. These figures 
 measure two of the main objects gained. But while this 
 vital task of raising an army and training, equipping, 
 transporting and financing it, was going on, the whole 
 machinery of government was in active motion, develop- 
 ing the country's home resources. 
 
 3. The War Power Granted by the Constitution. — 
 To acquire a clear idea of how the government worked 
 in the war crisis, we must remember that the Constitu- 
 tion gave Congress the power to "declare war" and "to 
 raise and support armies," and "to provide and maintain 
 a navy." It also made the President "commander-in- 
 chief of the army and the navy of the United States, and 
 of the militia of the several States when called into the 
 actual service of the United States." When we add to 
 these the power of Congress to lay and collect taxes to 
 "provide for the common defense," it will be seen that 
 the Constitution gave the legislative branch and the 
 President, as commander-in-chief, practically unlimited
 
 
 PLi
 
 152 New Era Civics 
 
 authority to wage war, with full discretion as to the 
 ways and means of waging it. 
 
 It was by virtue of this power that Congress passed 
 the various Conscription acts soon after the beginning 
 of our war with Germany. This was but an exercise of 
 the constitutional right of Congress to "raise and sup- 
 port armies." In a word, the Constitution intended that 
 Congress should be the judge of methods in the execution 
 of this great power. 
 
 4. Delegating War Powers to the Executive. — While 
 all the necessary power was lodged in the government 
 by the Constitution, it was evident that a great concen- 
 tration of that power was necessar}'. It would be pos- 
 sible, of course, for Congress, as a body or through its 
 committees, to direct the war in co-operation with the 
 commander-in-chief and the officers subject to his orders. 
 But Congress itself perceived quickly that it would be 
 very unwise for a legislative body holding many different 
 opinions to exercise, in the ordinary legislative way, all 
 the war powers confided to it by the Constitution. Quick- 
 ness of action and absolute unity of purpose and policy 
 are plain necessities in warfare. Realizing all this. Con- 
 gress followed the only sensible course and delegated to 
 the President, the constitutional head of the army, much 
 of the authority which the Constitution conferred upon 
 it for such an emergency. By a series of laws it em- 
 powered the President to perform many acts which he 
 would not think of performing, or wovild have no right 
 to perform, in time of peace. To illustrate this point, 
 the President was authorized to assume and actually did 
 assume control of all the steam railroads in the United 
 States. 
 
 In consequence of this temporary transfer of authority 
 by Congress, the President could undoubtedly be called
 
 Our Government in War 153 
 
 with truth the most powerful executive on earth during 
 the war period. He was enabled to bring about, by simple 
 orders which could be written in less than an hour, 
 changes in the machinery of government and even in our 
 whole social system which affected every citizen of the 
 United States, and which Congress, if it normally had 
 the right to make them, would take a long time \o pre- 
 pare, to consider and to adopt. If Congress, for example, 
 had undertaken to assume, by statute, the management 
 and control of the railroads in time of peace, the measure 
 would have undergone many weary months of discussion. 
 As it was, the President was able to accomplish the same 
 result by a single executive order. In war time the gov- 
 ernment had to act with the greatest possible rapidity, 
 and to this end it was indispensable to lodge, to a great 
 extent, the power of action in a single individual. 
 
 5. The Financial Acts. — The first acts passed by 
 Congress were financial. This was natural, because it 
 was easier for us to make our money power count quickly 
 on the side of the allies than it was to mobilize our man 
 power. Eight days after our declaration of war with 
 Germany the House of Representatives passed a bill 
 authorizing a national loan of $7,000,000,000, the largest 
 ever voted by any legislative body in the world's history. 
 From that time forward appropriations calling for hun- 
 dreds of millions or billions were passed in such rapid 
 order that the pulDlic could scarcely keep track of them. 
 
 A few instances of the kind in 1917 may be cited. 
 The first appropriation for the army exceeded $3,200,- 
 000,000, and it broke all the records of any nation in the 
 matter of army funds. For the building of merchant 
 ships more than $400,000,000 was voted without delay, 
 and for the construction of airships more than $600,- 
 000,000. Our first general revenue act for 1917, as
 
 154 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 finally agreed upon by Congress late in September, 
 called for the raising of more than $2,500,000,000 by 
 taxation. A fund of $50,000,000 was provided for the 
 insurance of American merchant vessels and their crews. 
 On October 6th, Congress passed the Soldiers' and 
 
 Sailors' Insurance bill, al- 
 lowing every man in the 
 fighting service to take 
 out life insurance of from 
 $1,000 to $10,000, accord- 
 ing to his discretion, at 
 a very low rate of pre- 
 mium. This was the gov- 
 ernment's substitute for 
 the old system of military 
 pensions, which had been 
 put in operation after 
 all our other wars, from 
 the Revolutionary to the 
 Spanish-American. Under 
 this law the total of 
 war insurance taken out 
 reached the colossal total 
 of nearly $40,000,000,000. 
 According to the report 
 of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, the total awards 
 for death or disability up to July 1, 1919, already paid or 
 claimed from the government, exceeded $1,000,000,000. 
 
 6. The Liberty Loans. — Few evidences of American 
 patriotism during the war were as impressive as the 
 public response to the four Liberty loans. The first two, 
 those of 1917, called respectively for two and three bil- 
 lions of dollars. The earlier of these was limited to the 
 
 Uiulenvood & Underuood. 
 
 The Lottery of the Draft 
 
 Secretary of War Baker, blindfolded, 
 drawing the first number from the 
 jar. Each young man registered in 
 the first conscription of soldiers for 
 the World War was given a number 
 in his district, and the drawing of 
 the numbers at Washington was to 
 determine what conscripts should be 
 summoned into service on the first 
 draft. The numbers were enclosed in 
 capsules, and placed in a glass jar. 
 The first number drawn by the Secre- 
 tary was 258. This meant that every 
 man in 4,577 districts holding the 
 serial number 258 was the first man 
 in his district called.
 
 Our Government in War 155 
 
 amount named, but the second, in October, 1917, yielded 
 an oversubscription of more than $800,000,000. The two 
 1918 loans were for three billions and six billions respec- 
 tively, but in the first instance there was an oversub- 
 scription of more than $1,100,000,000, and in the second 
 of nearly $1,000,000,000. In addition to the four Liberty 
 loans there was the Victory loan of 1919, following the 
 armistice. On this occasion the $4,500,000,000 called for 
 was also oversubscribed. The following- table tells the 
 storv of the public financing of the war through sub- 
 scriptions for government bonds : 
 
 Amount 
 Titles Subscribed Interest 
 
 First Liberty loan, 1917 $2,000,000,000 ZYz per cent 
 
 Second Liberty loan, 1917 3,808,766,150 4 per cent 
 
 Third Liberty loan, 1918 4,176,516,850 4>4 per cent 
 
 Fourth Liberty loan, 1918 6,989,047,000 4^ per cent 
 
 Victory loan, 1919 5,249,908,300 AVa per cent 
 
 $22,224,238,300 
 
 Here we have a total oversubscription of more than 
 $3,700,000,000 on calls which, as issued by the govern- 
 ment, aggregated some $18,500,000,000. The number of 
 individual subscriptions to the Liberty loans steadily in- 
 creased. It began with four and a half million subscrip- 
 tions for the first Liberty loan, and leaped to ten million 
 for the second. For the Fourth loan there were more 
 than twenty million subscriptions, representing one-fifth 
 of the country's entire population. After the war the 
 Victory loan, though successful, stood for a total of 
 pledges reduced to something less than twelve million. 
 
 7. Publicity and Propaganda. — One of the first orders 
 of the President, dated April 14th, created a Committee 
 on Public Information, including the Secretaries of State, 
 of the War and of the Navy. Its mission was to open
 
 156 New Era Civics 
 
 up the business of government, as far as might be proper 
 and possible, to the inspection of the people, to secure 
 and direct their moral support. It was through the 
 agency of this committee that the famous home army of 
 "four-minute men" was organized, with enrollments in 
 all the States, to appeal for public co-operation in Red 
 Cross, Liberty Loan, War Stamp and kindred under- 
 takings. Through this bureau the services of the press 
 were enlisted, not only in publishing necessary and use- 
 ful information, but in withholding publicity from matters 
 which it was desirable to keep secret. 
 
 8. Domestic Safeguards. — By the Espionage act, 
 passed June 15, 1917, Congress placed in the hands of the 
 President and the Department of Justice full authority 
 for safeguarding the country from its internal enemies. 
 By this law (the title of which means espial, or spying) 
 the government was armed with tremendous power to 
 deal with cases of disloyalty and sedition, especially 
 among aliens, and to expose and counteract all plots and 
 conspiracies of foes within our borders. It was also 
 thus enabled to exercise a strict censorship over news- 
 papers. This act was one of the most extreme examples 
 of the supremacy of the war power of Congress and its 
 executive agents. 
 
 9. Controlling the Nation's Food. — It was on May 
 19, 1917, that the President took the first conspicuous 
 step in the development of our wonderful system of 
 Food Administration during the war, by naming Herbert 
 C. Hoover as the national commissioner for that vital 
 service. Nine days later the House of Representatives 
 passed the first of the Food bills which were afterwards 
 expanded into legislation at once arbitrary and effectual. 
 The leading measures of this class were known as the 
 Food Survey and Food Control bills, both of which re-
 
 Our Government in War 157 
 
 ceived the approval of the Senate and were signed by 
 the President early in August. The more important Food 
 Control law covered not only food but fuel, including oil 
 and natural gas. Its express purpose was "to assure an 
 adequate supply and equitable distribution of food and 
 fuel for the successful prosecution of the war." It gave 
 the President a dictatorship over the country's food 
 supply. 
 
 By virtue of this measure, and particularly through 
 the strenuous exertions of the Food Administration Board 
 and its numerous local branches in all the cities of the 
 country, not only was food production stimulated but 
 economy of consumption was enforced among the people. 
 The prime object in view was to feed our own troops, 
 and the second to provide a sufficient supply for export 
 to our allies. To this end it was necessary to insure the 
 smallest possible consumption at home, especially of 
 meat and, even in a stricter measure, of wheat, which of 
 all the foods was the most valuable for military pur- 
 poses. ^ 
 
 After our troops had begun to assemble in camp in 
 large numbers, the American people were asked to ab- 
 stain from meat on appointed days and from wheat 
 bread for an indefinite period. These orders of the 
 Food Administration were rarely disobeyed. One of the 
 great factors in the triumph of the allies was the food 
 power of the United States. The full effectiveness of this 
 power was largely due to the cheerful and voluntary 
 sacrifices of the people, but the decisive impulse behind 
 it was the autocratic power delegated by Congress to the 
 executive authorities. 
 
 10. Stringent Fuel Orders. — The chief responsibility 
 for the enforcement of the fuel provisions of the Food 
 Control act was confided to Fuel Administrator Harry
 
 158 New Era Civics 
 
 A. Garfield of Massachusetts. The winter of 1917-18 was 
 an exceptionally severe one, and in January, 1918, the 
 power of the Fuel Administration was exercised in a 
 sensational way. The scarcity of coal had become a real 
 menace, by threatening to cripple both land and water 
 transportation, and as the supply could not be quickly 
 increased, it was necessary to cut down the consumption 
 by heroic expedients. An order was issued by the Fuel 
 Administration suspending for five days all industries 
 consuming coal, except those producing materials neces- 
 sary for the prosecution of the war. Thereafter there 
 was a general suspension of business and industry on 
 Monday of each week, which became popularly known 
 as Garfield Mondays. In a month the saving of coal by 
 this means so nearly equalized the supply and the demand 
 that the order was suspended. 
 
 As an additional resource for economizing fuel, city 
 lighting was diminished and "lightless nights" became 
 familiar as a war-time phenomenon. The Daylight Sav- 
 ing law, which went into effect March 31, 1918, was 
 partly intended to serve the same purpose. By advancing 
 the hands of the clock one hour and maintaining the 
 new system until the last Sunday in October, an addi- 
 tional hour of daylight was gained in the waking hours; 
 and this was with the object of lessening the con- 
 sumption of light and therefore of fuel. The daylight- 
 saving system was repeated for approximately seven 
 months in 1919, and the act establishing it was then 
 repealed by Congress. 
 
 In August, 1918, in the critical days of our military 
 operations in Europe, the scarcity of gasoline caused 
 grave alarm, and the Fuel Administration, in order to 
 conserve the supply, directed that the use of motor 
 vehicles, except for necessary purposes, be discontinued
 
 Our Government in War 159 
 
 on Sundays. This rule remained in force until late 
 October, and was generally obeyed. 
 
 11. Taking Over the Railroads. — On December 26, 
 
 1917, the President by virtue of authority conferred upon 
 him by an anticipatory act of Congress dated, August 29, 
 1916, assumed control for the government of all the 
 railroads in the United States, and placed them in official 
 charge of Secretary William G. McAdoo of the Treasury 
 department as Director General. Within five days after 
 our entrance into the war the railroads had voluntarily 
 organized for war effort under the direction of a Railroad 
 War Control Board, composed of five railroad presidents, 
 and agreed to subordinate all their ordinary interests and 
 rivalries to the supreme object of winning the war. But 
 President Wilson and his advisers were convinced as 
 the year waned that it was necessary to employ the 
 whole railroad system as a war instrumentality subject 
 to the government's central power. As a result, a Federal 
 Railroad Administration, with branches in every com- 
 munity reached by a steam road, took the place of the 
 various railroad managements, though their officials and 
 employes remained in the government service in their 
 former capacities. In this order appropriating the rail- 
 roads, the President guaranteed to each corporation a 
 revenue equal to its average net operating income for 
 the three years preceding June 30, 1917; and in March, 
 
 1918, Congress passed the so-called Federal Control act 
 confirming this agreement. This law provided that the 
 railroads should remain under government control until 
 twehty-one months had elapsed after the restoration of 
 peace, unless they should sooner be restored to their 
 former owners by the President's order. 
 
 As it turned out, the railroad companies resumed 
 possession of their lines on March 1, 1920, by virtue of
 
 160 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 an executive order followed by an elaborate act of Con- 
 gress strengthening government supervision over their 
 affairs and helping them, for a time, to repair their dis- 
 organized finances. The war experiment in railroad 
 management involved a net loss to the government of 
 approximately $715,000,000 in the twenty-six months of 
 its duration, despite a substantial increase in the rates 
 for passenger and freight service. 
 
 12. War Councils and Boards. — Among the civil or- 
 ganizations directing the war-time energies of the coun- 
 try the Council of National Defense was from the first 
 conspicuous. Besides six members of the Cabinet, it 
 included as an advisory commission seven leaders of 
 American industry, trade, finance, professional activity 
 and labor. Connected with and subject to it was a 
 number of working commissions, each of which was 
 charged with special functions. Of these perhaps the 
 most important was the War Industries Board, appointed 
 
 in July, 1917. Its mission 
 was to oversee and direct 
 the production of muni- 
 tions, military supplies 
 and all other commodities 
 essential for the uses of 
 our giant army ; to pro- 
 vide for the proper dis- 
 tribution of raw materials 
 among the producing in- 
 dustries, and to give them 
 the right of way over the 
 
 Undenvood & Underwood. , , . ' . . 
 
 _ „ T}^,r. country s ordmary mdus- 
 
 Remembering Our Soldier Boys •' . . . t mio 
 
 Tons of Christmas mail for the men trial aCtlVltlCS. lu 1918 
 at the front. A familiar scene during ^J-^g "War FinaUCC Corpor- 
 war time in all the large postoffices of _ . j i /^ 
 
 the United States. ation was Created by uon-
 
 Our Government in War 
 
 161 
 
 gress, with an enormous fund at its disposal, and its 
 official duty was to furnish needed capital to industries 
 specially created to produce military supplies. 
 
 Whole volumes might be written upon the multiplicity 
 of war services rendered by existing or newly created 
 organizations, from the Red Cross down, in stimulating 
 and making productive the public patriotism and in 
 
 UiiderwuuJ & Uudervvuud. 
 
 America's Pantheon 
 
 The memorinl amphitheatre in Arlington cemetery near Washington, erected 
 
 by Congress in commemoration of the patriotism and valor of American 
 
 soldiers and sailors who died for their country. 
 
 collecting and forwarding funds and other contributions 
 intended to supply the needs of our soldiers. But the 
 examples cited are sufficient to show how the govern- 
 ment was enabled, in strict compliance with the war 
 powers conferred upon Congress and the executive by 
 the Constitution, to bear effectively and honorably its 
 share of responsibility in the greatest ordeal that ever 
 confronted the modern world.
 
 162 New Era Civics 
 
 Our experience proved that the Constitution was as 
 workable for all essential purposes in war as in peace. 
 Every source of authority necessary for this great emer- 
 gency was found in the original Constitution — in the 
 Constitution as it was handed down to us by its framers 
 at Philadelphia one hundred and thirty years before the 
 passage of the historic war resolution of 1917. In a 
 word, the Constitution was found to be perfectly fitted 
 to meet a more severe test of its usefulness than had 
 ever been dreamed of; and we may reasonably expect 
 that public faith in, and affection for, the inspired work 
 of its framers will hereafter be stronger than ever. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter IX 
 
 1. Is the difference in our constitutional form of government 
 specially marked when our country is in a state of war? Was it 
 necessary to change the letter of the Constitution in order to meet 
 conditions? What features of the Constitution were emphasized 
 by our recent war experience? 
 
 2. What was the cost of the war to the United States from 
 the beginning to June 30, 1919? Does this include our national loans 
 to European allies? How was the size of our army increased? Of 
 this number, how many went to France? 
 
 3. Apropos of the war, what part of the Constitution should 
 we keep in mind? What was the great scope of this power? 
 
 4. While all the necessary power was lodged by the Constitu- 
 tion in the government, what was the safest way to insure quick 
 action? How was supreme power conferred upon the President? 
 Give an illustration of the power thus transferred. 
 
 5. What were the first acts passed by Congress? Give an illus- 
 tration in figures of the magnitude of some of the appropriations 
 called for. When was our first War Revenue act agreed upon and 
 what sum did it call for? What purpose was the Insurance bill 
 intended to serve? 
 
 6. What was the amount named in the first call for a Liberty 
 loan? What was the amount of the second? In what respect did
 
 Our Government in War 163 
 
 the second differ from the first? Give the facts about the Third 
 and Fourth Liberty loans. What was the Victory loan? 
 
 7. What was one of the first orders of the President? Wlio 
 were included in the Public Information committee? What was the 
 purpose of this committee? 
 
 8. When was the Espionage act passed? What do you mean 
 by Espionage act? Mention some of the dangers necessary to guard 
 against. 
 
 9. On what date was our National Food Commissioner ap- 
 pointed? Give his name. What was the most important food 
 measure? What was the purpose of this bill? What was its effect? 
 
 10. To whom was the Fuel Administration entrusted? W^hat 
 expedient was necessary to conserve coal? Tell something about 
 the Daylight Saving law? How was the supply of gasoline con- 
 served? 
 
 11. On what date did the government take over control of the 
 railroads? Who was given official charge? W^hat was the Presi- 
 dent's guarantee to each railroad corporation? What was the period 
 named for continuing government control? How long did the rail- 
 roads actually remain under government control? What was the net 
 loss to the government from railroad operation? 
 
 12. How was the Council of National Defense made up? Of 
 the commissions connected with it, which was perhaps the most 
 important? For what was the War Finance Corporation created?
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS 
 
 Let it be remembered that the Constitution of the United 
 States is not unalterable. — Daniel Webster. 
 
 1. The Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth 
 Amendments. — From 1913 to 1919, inclusive, the Con- 
 stitution of the United States was three times amended. 
 The first of these later amendments was to enable Con- 
 gress to impose a direct tax on incomes, the second was 
 to provide for the election of Senators by the people, 
 and the third was to abolish the manufacture and sale 
 of intoxicating liquors throughout the United States. 
 These, as named in their order, were respectively the 
 Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth amendments. 
 
 With the exception of the so-called "slavery amend- 
 ments" following the Civil War, the Sixteenth was the 
 first amendment to the Constitution adopted in more 
 than a century. If we recall that the first ten amend- 
 ments were proposed in a batch as a supplement to the 
 original Constitution, we can see that it has borne in a 
 phenomenal way the test of experience and scrutiny. 
 Hundreds of resolutions for changes in the Constitution 
 have been introduced in Congress, but surprisingly few 
 have been accepted by that body and submitted to the 
 State Legislatures. 
 
 2. Direct and Indirect Taxes. — Taxes are direct or 
 indirect, according to their sources. A direet tax is one 
 
 164
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 165 
 
 directly paid by the person taxed, out of his own pocket 
 and at his own expense, to the government or its agent. 
 The most familiar example of direct taxation is the real 
 estate tax paid by persons to the city government on 
 their own homes. Indirect taxes, on the other hand, are 
 those which are first collected by the government from 
 certain classes of citizens, and are afterwards shifted in 
 various ways to the general public. 
 
 A Federal tax on goods imported from abroad — 
 usually called a duty on imports — is a good illustration 
 of the indirect tax. This tax is first paid to the govern- 
 ment at the Custom House by the person importing the 
 goods, but he, in turn, adds the tax, or duty, to the sell- 
 ing price of the merchandise, and it is therefore really 
 paid by the final purchaser. Hence such taxes are classed 
 as indirect, because they fall indirectly, or in a round- 
 about way, upon the buying public. 
 
 Internal revenue taxes, sometimes called excise taxes, 
 are also indirect taxes. These are levied on domestic 
 products, sales and other transactions. Many of the 
 taxes imposed by Congress during the World War — 
 such, for example, as taxes on soda water and theatre 
 tickets — were internal revenue taxes. The tax on cigars 
 and other manufactures of tobacco is one of the oldest 
 and best knowm kinds of internal revenue taxation. 
 When a man buys a cigar the tax is included in the 
 purchase price. The tax is indirect because it was first 
 paid by the manufacturer when he bought stamps for 
 each box of cigars, then by the dealer when he bought 
 the cigars from the maker, and lastly by the customer 
 at the retail counter. 
 
 Not only the Federal government but the States and 
 cities levy both direct and indirect taxes. The indirect 
 city taxes often take the form of licenses. These are
 
 166 New Era Civics 
 
 indirect, because the person obtaining the Hcense manages 
 to recover the tax he pays from somebody else. 
 
 The Constitution gave Congress power "to lay and 
 collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises." Under this 
 grant, Congress was at liberty to collect indirect taxes 
 in any manner it should please. But with regard to 
 direct taxes the Constitution prescribed a special rule 
 for Congress to follow. "Direct taxes," it reads, "shall 
 be apportioned among the several States . . . according 
 to their respective numbers," or populations. Thus, 
 while Congress had a free hand in the collection of in- 
 direct taxes, like duties on imported goods and internal 
 taxes on tobacco and other articles, it was obliged, in 
 time of peace, to levy and collect direct taxes through 
 the States, or not at all. 
 
 This provision was intended as a concession to States' 
 rights. It proved to be a serious obstacle to the enact- 
 ment of an income tax law, and one that could be re- 
 moved only by amending the Constitution. 
 
 3. Why a Change was Needed. — A tax on personal 
 incomes is a direct tax. It would be unwise and unjust 
 to apportion a national income tax among the States 
 according to their "respective numbers," or populations. 
 The population of a State would not be a fair measure 
 of the total incomes of its inhabitants. This is illustrated 
 by the case of New York. More wealth is massed in 
 New York than in any other State. What is more, it 
 has a larger volume of taxable incomes in proportion to 
 its population than any other State. But under the con- 
 stitutional provision already quoted. Congress could not 
 have directly taxed the personal incomes of New Yorkers. 
 It would have been obliged to reckon New York's share 
 of the tax on the basis of its population. This would 
 not have been fair to the other States, because New
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 167 
 
 York's share of the total incomes of the country is larger, 
 in proportion to its population, than that of any other 
 State. In order to tax incornes directly without regard 
 to State boundaries or populations, it was necessary to 
 amend the Constitution. 
 
 4. Clearing the Way. — During and immediately after 
 the Civil War Congress was free to levy, and did levy, 
 an income tax, because the ordinary restraints of the 
 Constitution may be suspended when our nation is en- 
 gaged in war. Congress then acted under its general 
 war powers. This income tax was abolished in 1867. 
 In 1894 an income tax was attached to the general tariff 
 act of that year, but in the following year the Supreme 
 Court, by a close vote, declared that part of the act un- 
 constitutional, on the ground that it was contrary to the 
 method of apportioning direct taxes prescribed by the 
 Constitution. But in time a strong popular demand was 
 felt for an income tax, its advocates arguing that it would 
 be the fairest kind of Federal taxation, because it would 
 be proportioned to each person's capacity to pay. 
 
 In 1909 Congress yielded to this constantly growing 
 pressure and submitted an amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion, by which it was decreed that "the Congress shall 
 have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from 
 whatever source derived, without apportionment among 
 the several States, and without regard to any census or 
 enumeration." The ratification of this Sixteenth amend- 
 ment four years later cleared away the constitutional 
 impediment, and opened up to the government its most 
 fruitful source of revenue. 
 
 5. The Income Tax Laws. — The first income tax act 
 passed by Congress after the adoption of the amend- 
 ment — that of 1913 — was a comparatively mild measure. 
 It laid a one per cent tax on incomes, but exempted from 
 
 12
 
 168 New Era Civics 
 
 taxation all incomes of single men not over $3,000 per 
 annum and all incomes of married persons not over 
 $4,000. By the act of 1916 the tax on incomes was in- 
 creased to two per cent, with the same exemptions. But 
 the financial needs of the government after our entrance 
 into the war in 1917 compelled Congress to add materially 
 to the income tax rate and to impose extra taxes (or 
 surtaxes, as they are called) on heavy incomes; and also 
 to lower the exemption to $1,000 for single and $2,000 
 for married men. In fixing the exemption it was the 
 purpose of Congress to leave untaxed that part of an 
 income essential for self-support, and, in the case of a 
 married man, for the support of his family. Thus, if a 
 married man had an income of $2,500, he was taxed 
 only on that part of his income above $2,000 — or on $500. 
 Married men could claim a further exemption for each 
 dependent child. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the income tax, though 
 its rate of assessment may be changed from time to time, 
 will hereafter be a permanent source of government 
 revenue. 
 
 6. The Senatorial Amendment. — The Seventeenth 
 amendment, ratified and proclaimed in the same year as 
 the Sixteenth, was simple in form and purpose. It de- 
 creed a new method of electing Senators in Congress, 
 namely, by the direct popular vote of the States. 
 
 For a century and a quarter the Senators had been 
 chosen by the State Legislatures. In theory, the voters 
 took an indirect part in their election, for it was the 
 people who, in the several States, chose the members 
 of the Legislatures to whom this constitutional duty was 
 confided. But in practice the voters had often little or 
 nothing to say about the election of the men who were 
 to represent their several States in the upper branch of
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 169 
 
 Congress. In States that were politically one-sided — 
 that is, in which one party or another was assured in 
 advance of control of the Legislature — candidates for the 
 Senatorship sometimes announced themselves in advance 
 of the voting for legislators, and enough legislators 
 pledged to a specified candidate were chosen to insure 
 his success when the Legislature balloted for Senator. 
 But quite as frequently the campaign for Senator did 
 not begin in earnest, at least to the public knowledge, 
 until after the Legislature charged with the duty of 
 election had been chosen at the polls. 
 
 7. Abandoning the Old Method. — In cases where the 
 party "majority of a Legislature was confronted by more 
 than one candidate for Senator belonging to that party, 
 the rule was for the party in control to hold a caucus 
 and decide by ballot which candidate should have its 
 united support. When a candidate for Senator in the 
 dominant party had no opposition, the process was even 
 simpler. But there were sometimes serious deadlocks in 
 party caucuses where several candidates were in the race, 
 and the favorite was finally beaten by clever combinations. 
 Moreover, disquieting reports were at times circulated of 
 the illegitimate use of money in influencing caucus or 
 legislative action in the interests of wealthy candidates 
 for Senator. In several instances grave scandals resulted ; 
 and more than once since the Civil War Senators- were 
 unseated at Washington because it was shown that they 
 or their friends had purchased the votes of legislators. 
 
 Public dissatisfaction with a system thus open to 
 abuse steadily grew, and it finally developed into an 
 irresistible demand that the Constitution be so changed 
 that Senators would be nominated and elected by the 
 voters, like Governors and other State officers. There 
 was little objection to this reform, excepting the senti-
 
 170 New Era Civics 
 
 mental one growing out of the original decision of the 
 makers of the Constitution that the Legislatures, and 
 not the people, should select each State's representatives 
 in the Senate. But this protest had little effect at a time 
 when the people were disposed to acquire a firmer grip 
 on their party concerns and their official service. 
 
 What added a large measure of strength to the move- 
 ment for the popular election of Senators was the widely 
 prevalent belief that State "bosses" were exercising too 
 much power in the choice of Senators through their 
 legislative tools or followers. Naturally enough, the 
 strongest resistance to the reform was seen in the Senate 
 itself; but both branches of Congress finally yielded to 
 the popular pressure. The amendment was submitted 
 to the States in May, 1912, and hardly a single year 
 elapsed before it was ratified by the necessary three- 
 fourths of the State Legislatures. 
 
 8. The Prohibition Amendment. — The Eighteenth, or 
 Prohibition, amendment to the Constitution was sub- 
 mitted to the States by Congress in December, 1917, and 
 about thirteen months afterwards, or in January, 1919, 
 it was ratified by the last of the necessary three-fourths 
 of the States. Its essential sections are as follows : 
 
 Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this 
 article, the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicat- 
 ing liquors within, the transportation thereof into, or the 
 exportation thereof from the United States and all territory 
 subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes, is 
 hereby prohibited. 
 
 Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall 
 have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate 
 legislation. 
 
 The Eighteenth amendment differs from the other 
 amendments to the Constitution in two respects. Unlike 
 every other amendment, it left a margin of time between
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 171 
 
 the date of final ratification and the date of enforcement. 
 It also confers upon the Congress and the States "concur- 
 rent power" of enforcement. The enforcement of every 
 other amendment calling for legislative action is reserved 
 to Congress alone. The expressed reason for the one 
 year's grace was to give to those engaged in the pro- 
 hibited traffic advance notice and a leeway of time for 
 adjusting their business affairs to the new system. 
 
 9. Climax of a Long Agitation. — The Prohibition 
 amendment was the result of a very long agitation against 
 the production and sale of intoxicating beverages. This 
 crusade was preceded more than a hundred years ago by 
 a temperance movement which afterwards took many 
 forms and which relied more upon moral agencies and 
 religious revivals than upon political action to accom- 
 plish its purpose. In the thirties and forties, however, 
 the question appeared in local politics, and in a number 
 of New England towns licenses were denied to dealers 
 in intoxicants. 
 
 The first prohibitory, or no-excise, law applicable to 
 a whole State was passed in Maine in 1851, and for that 
 reason it was long known as the Maine law. In the 
 next four years several other States followed Maine's 
 example, but their prohibitory laws were soon repealed, 
 and Maine also resumed her old license system for the 
 two years 1856 and 1857. Apparently one reason why 
 the Prohibition tide of the early fifties soon subsided 
 was the intense concentration of public interest upon 
 the slavery question. With the exception of Maine, 
 where the no-license law was resumed in 1858, State 
 Prohibition did not again cut any political figure until 
 sometime after the Civil War. In this interval some of 
 the States had anti-liquor laws on their statute books, 
 but there was scarcely a pretense of enforcing them.
 
 172 New Era Civics 
 
 In 1876 the question was introduced in Congress by 
 Representative Henry W. Blair of New Hampshire with 
 a resokition for a constitutional amendment prohibiting 
 the manufacture of distilled liquors in the States and 
 territories, but leaving the States to decide whether beer 
 and wine should be made and sold within their bound- 
 aries. The Blair proposal came to nought. In the early 
 eighties Kansas adopted a Prohibition amendment to 
 its State constitution, and it may therefore be called the 
 second, in order, of the permanent Prohibition States, 
 while North Dakota, coming into the Union with a "dry" 
 constitution in 1889, may fairly be ranked third. 
 
 Meanwhile local option — that is, the determination 
 by popular vote whether license or no-license for the sale 
 of liquor should prevail in counties, towns and villages — 
 had been increasing. As a result it was claimed as 
 early as 1870 that 3,500,000 people lived in so-called "dry" 
 territory. 
 
 The Prohibition party made its first appearance in 
 Presidential politics in 1872, but it never, from the begin- 
 ning, gained a Presidential Elector. It was in other direc- 
 tions that the Prohibition party was winning its recruits 
 and attaining its ends. The rejection of the Blair amend- 
 ment by a heavy majority showed that in the seventies 
 there was little sentiment for Prohibition by law. In 
 the eighties there was not much visible change in that 
 particular. In 1894 public attention was turned to the 
 general question of liquor regulation by a strange experi- 
 ment in South Carolina introduced by Governor Tillman's 
 Dispensary law. It was in effect a plan for the sale of 
 liquor through State agencies, and it remained in force 
 some thirteen years. 
 
 10. The Spread of the Movement. — A strong impulse 
 was given to the Prohibition movement by the organiza-
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 173 
 
 tion of the Anti-Saloon League in 1895 — a national body, 
 with headquarters at Washington. After twelve years of 
 operation the League claimed forty-two State branches. 
 
 Another powerful influence working to a similar end 
 was the beginning of a crusade in the South for the 
 closing of the saloons in 1907. Georgia then took the lead 
 in legislative Prohibition in that section. In the same 
 year Oklahoma came into the Union with a rigorous 
 no-license system. By 1909 eight States were in the 
 Prohibition column either by constitutional or statutory 
 law, including three Southern States, Georgia, Mississippi 
 and North Carolina. North Carolina, in 1908, was the 
 first Southern State to adopt Prohibition by a special 
 popular vote, or referendum. In 1911 the Anti-Saloon 
 League Year Book claimed that the inhabitants of "dry" 
 territory numbered a full majority of the American peo- 
 ple. By far the greater part of this belt was "dry" in 
 consequence of local option. 
 
 11. Congress Lends Its Aid. — In the ten years fol- 
 lowing 1907 the number of States adopting State-wide 
 Prohibition rapidly increased, and by the dawn of 1917 
 a majority of the States was committed to that policy. 
 Before this time Congress had enacted the Webb-Kenyon 
 law prohibiting the importation of intoxicants from "wet" 
 into "dry" States, and the Supreme Court afterwards 
 upheld the constitutionality of this statute, in spite of 
 the claim that it was a denial of freedom of commerce 
 between the States. 
 
 While the European war was in progress, the crusade 
 for Prohibition, which had hitherto been largely con- 
 fined to the States, assumed the aspects of a movement 
 for the nation-wide abolition of the manufacture and 
 sale of intoxicating beverages. The Sixty-fourth Con- 
 gress, which served from March 4, 1915, to March 4,
 
 174 New Era Civics 
 
 1917, had a majority favorable to Prohibition, as was 
 proved by its act of January, 1917, forbidding the sale of 
 intoxicants in the District of Columbia. 
 
 The Sixty-fifth or War Congress, elected in 1916, 
 was even more strongly inclined in the same direction. 
 After that body had adopted its war resolution in 1917, 
 some of the legislation that followed had the effect of 
 promoting the general Prohibition movement. The 
 National Food Control law, enacted in August, 1917, put 
 an end to the production of distilled spirits, in order to 
 conserve the supply of grain, fruits and other food mate- 
 rial. By the same act the President was authorized to 
 forbid the production of beer and wine, or to order the 
 reduction of their alcoholic content, when he should 
 deem such a step necessary to protect further the food 
 supply. Later President Wilson decreed that the alco- 
 holic content of beer be cut down to two and three- 
 fourths per cent. 
 
 In November, 1918, Congress passed a law providing 
 that after June 30, 1919, the manufacture and sale of 
 beer and wine, as well as of spirits, should cease in the 
 United States, excepting beverages with an alcoholic 
 content of less than one-half of one per cent. The armis- 
 tice had then been signed, but we were still in a state 
 of war with Germany. This legislation was therefore 
 an exercise of the war powers of Congress. It was in- 
 tended to be operative until the American army had been 
 demobilized or dissolved. Demobilization was not com- 
 pleted on July 1, 1919; so the new Prohibition law went 
 into effect on that date. On October 28, 1919, Congress 
 passed, over the President's veto, another and more 
 stringent Prohibition act, which was to remain in effect 
 until the actual conclusion of the war by a formal peace 
 with Germany. The Senate having declined to ratify the
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 175 
 
 peace treaty this statute remained in force until January, 
 1920, when the Prohibition amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion went into effect. 
 
 These various War-Time Prohibition acts, as they 
 were generally called, must be kept entirely distinct from 
 the Eighteenth amendment, or the legislation for its 
 enforcement. In time of peace Congress would not have 
 had the power to make the nation "dry" by law, if the 
 Constitution had remained unchanged. But while we 
 were engaged in hostilities with Germany and while the 
 war condition was technically continued through the 
 absence of a peace treaty, Congress had the constitutional 
 right to enact a general Prohibition law under its war 
 powers. This right would have ended when the peace 
 treaty was ratified were it not that the constitutional 
 amendment had been adopted in the meantime. 
 
 12. A Constitutional Barrier Removed. — Why was 
 a constitutional edict necessary to this end in time of 
 peace? The answer is found in Article X of the Con- 
 stitution, as follows : 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited to it by the States, are reserved 
 to the States respectively, or to the people. 
 
 From the beginning of the government the power to 
 regulate the liquor traffic within the States has been 
 recognized as one of their reserved powers. Many of 
 the States, as we have seen, took advantage of this power 
 to abolish the traffic within their respective borders. But 
 where a State preferred to maintain the license system 
 Congress had no power to interfere with it until the 
 Eighteenth amendment became effective. 
 
 What really happened was this : Through the ratifica- 
 tion of the Eighteenth amendment by three-fourths of 
 the States, it was ordered that the power reserved to the
 
 176 New Era Civics 
 
 States of regulating the liquor traffic should be taken 
 from them and lodged in the Federal government ; while 
 at the same time the manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
 liquors throughout the nation were abolished by con- 
 stitutional decree. 
 
 13. The Provisions for Enforcement. — It was neces- 
 sary for Congress, however, to provide by law for the 
 enforcement of national Prohibition under the amend- 
 ment. Accordingly, it combined with its last War-Time 
 Prohibition statute of October 28, 1919, a National Pro- 
 hibition act, to go into effect when the Eighteenth 
 amendment became operative. Congress created the 
 necessary official machinery for enforcing the constitu- 
 tional mandate, and placed it under the chief direction 
 of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with whom 
 are associated a National Prohibition commissioner, a 
 Deputy commissioner and a number of assistant com- 
 missioners. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter X 
 
 1. What changes took place in the Constitution from 1913 to 
 1919? Name the amendments in the order in which they occurred. 
 Is the Constitution often subject to such change? If not, what does 
 this prove? 
 
 2. How many kinds of taxation are there? What is the dif- 
 ference between direct and indirect taxation? Give illustrations. 
 What power of taxation did the Constitution give to Congress? 
 What was the obstacle to the collection of a Federal income tax? 
 
 3. Explain why an income tax, levied on the States, and not 
 on individuals, would not work fairly? What was it necessary to 
 do in order to enable Congress to tax incomes directly? 
 
 4. When did Congress submit the Sixteenth amendment to the 
 States? In what year was it ratified? 
 
 5. What were the general provisions of the first income tax 
 after the adoption of the Sixteenth amendment? When was this
 
 Recent Constitutional Amendments 177 
 
 tax increased and in what way? How did the war affect income 
 taxes? 
 
 6. When was the Seventeenth amendment ratified and what was 
 its purpose? How had the Senators previously been chosen? Tell 
 how the old method prevented the people from expressing a choice 
 as to Senators. 
 
 7. What abuses developed in the old method of electing Sena- 
 tors? Did scandals arise under the old system? 
 
 8. What is the Eighteenth amendment? When was it submitted 
 and ratified? Give the substance of the amendment. In what way 
 does the amendment differ from other amendments to the Constitu- 
 tion? What reason was given for the one year's grace? 
 
 9. How many years since the first temperance movement was 
 begun in the United States? What organizations promoted this 
 agitation? When did it first appear as a political movement? What 
 State was the first to adopt Prohibition? What was the chief 
 reason for the decrease of interest in the movement? What was 
 Governor Tillman's Dispensary law? Name two States that adopted 
 Prohibition in the eighties. 
 
 10. When was the Anti-Saloon League organized? When did 
 the first Southern States accept Prohibition? What was the first 
 Southern State to adopt Prohibition by popular vote? What progress 
 was claimed by the Anti-Saloon League in 1911? 
 
 11. How did the States stand in 1917? What is the Webb- 
 Kenyon law? What happened to the Prohibition movement during 
 the war? How did the war Congress aid the movement? Name a 
 feature of the National Food Control law? What Prohibition act 
 did Congress pass in November, 1918? When did this bill go into 
 effect? Were the War-Time Prohibition act and the Eighteenth 
 amendment distinct? 
 
 12. Why was a constitutional amendment necessary to estab- 
 lish national Prohibition in time of peace? 
 
 13. When did Congress make provision for the enforcement 
 of the Eighteenth amendment?
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT 
 
 On this line we propose to fight our battle for the ballot — 
 peaceably, but nevertheless persistently — until we achieve 
 complete triumph, and all United States citizens, men and 
 women alike, are recognised in government. — Susan B. 
 Anthony. 
 
 1. The Text of the Amendment.— On May 21, 1919, 
 the House of Representatives, and on June 4th the Senate, 
 adopted by the necessary two-thirds vote a resolution 
 submitting to the State Legislatures the Nineteenth 
 amendment of the Federal Constitution. It reads as 
 follows : 
 
 Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States 
 to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States 
 or by any State on account of sex. 
 
 Section 2. Congress shall have power, by appropriate 
 legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article. 
 
 With this action of Congress, a long advance was 
 made in the crusade for the enfranchisement of women 
 which had been started more than seventy years before. 
 
 2. The Pioneer Suffrage State. — To explain the rea- 
 son and purpose of this amendment, it is necessary 
 to repeat that the Federal Constitution, as originally 
 adopted, included no provision relating to voting quali- 
 fications, and that the regulation of the suffrage was one 
 of the powers reserved to the States by the Tenth 
 amendment. 
 
 178
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 179 
 
 '■fe 
 
 Prior to 1890, no State had conferred the voting fran- 
 chise on women, if we except a brief interval in the early 
 history of New Jersey, in which property owners with- 
 out regard to sex were permitted to cast ballots for all 
 candidates for office. For many years women who paid 
 taxes were allowed to vote in some of the States in school 
 elections or in other elections or referendums calling for 
 unusual expenditures of money. But never until 1890, 
 when Wyoming came into the Union with a Constitution 
 granting the right to vote to all women on the same terms 
 as men, did general suffrage for that sex exist in any 
 State of the Union. Wyoming may therefore be called 
 the pioneer Woman Suffrage State. Indeed, Wyoming 
 territory had broadened the suffrage to include women 
 more than twenty years before it acquired Statehood. By 
 an act passed in 1869 the Legislature of Wyoming en- 
 abled the women of the then existing territory to vote 
 for Delegate to Congress and to perform jury duty. 
 
 3. The Beginning of a Long Struggle. — In the forties 
 a movement for Woman's Rights was launched in New 
 York State. Its general object was to improve the polit- 
 ical, industrial and professional status of womankind, 
 and the demand for the ballot was only one plank in its 
 platform, so to speak. We find it taking organized form 
 at a convention of its sympathizers held in the village 
 of Seneca Falls, Western New York, in 1848. Among 
 the leaders at that convention were Mrs Lucretia Mott, 
 who was noted for her zeal for the abolition of slavery, 
 and Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, afterwards for many 
 years one of the leaders of the suffrage crusade. Among 
 the resolutions endorsed by the Seneca Falls convention 
 was one declaring that "it is the duty of the women of 
 the country to secure to themselves their sacred right 
 to the elective franchise."
 
 180 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 In the movement thus inaugurated another woman 
 soon rose to prominence — Miss Susan B. Anthony — who 
 for nearly sixty years thereafter, or until her death in 
 1906, was perhaps the most devoted and conspicuous 
 champion of the 
 cause. Together 
 Mrs. Stanton and 
 Miss Anthony 
 were for a long 
 time the real lead- 
 ers of the move- 
 ment. But Mrs. 
 Stanton, who was 
 burdened with the 
 cares of a large 
 family, went on 
 record in her later 
 years as saying 
 that her spinster 
 partner was the 
 strong working 
 member of the 
 firm. The first 
 great demonstra- 
 tion of the Wo- Susan B. Anthony 
 
 man's Rights aSSO- The famous Woman Suffrage leader whose name 
 . . 1 is often given to the Nineteenth amendment to 
 
 CiatlOn was made the Constitution. 
 
 at Syracuse, New 
 
 York, in 1852. It was attended by two thousand persons, 
 and it aroused widespread interest. It was here that 
 Miss Anthony made her public debut as a suffragist. It 
 was followed by a Suffrage State Convention at Albany 
 two years later ; and then the movement took a more 
 practical turn with a campaign to induce the New 
 
 Browu Bros.
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 181 
 
 York Legislature to grant the ballot to women. In the 
 course of the agitation for this purpose, Miss Anthony 
 addressed meetings in nearly all the counties of the State 
 in the winter of 1854-5 and the following spring. But 
 the Legislature proved to be overwhelmingly hostile 
 to the proposal. 
 
 By this time the Woman's Rights propaganda was 
 well-nigh eclipsed by the slavery issue ; and, although 
 Woman's Rights, or Suffrage, conventions continued to 
 be held intermittently, the movement languished until 
 after the Civil War. 
 
 4. The First Fight for Recognition by Congress. — 
 In the years following the Civil War, when the Con- 
 stitution was undergoing a process of amendment to 
 safeguard the freedom and political rights of the colored 
 man, the battle for Woman Suffrage was transferred to 
 Washington. Its leaders saw an inviting chance to 
 achieve their ends when the Fourteenth amendment was 
 under consideration by Congress. As finally framed, 
 this amendment provided that "all persons born or 
 naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United 
 States and of the State wherein they reside" ; and it 
 further provided that any State which should deny to 
 its "male inhabitants the right to vote should have its 
 representation in Congress reduced proportionately." In 
 this amendment the word "male" is mentioned in the 
 Constitution for the first time. Its purpose was to pro- 
 tect the rights of citizenship in the case of colored males 
 alone. The Suffragists tried hard to have the word 
 "male" stricken out of the amendment, because, as they 
 contended, this first constitutional reference to sex would 
 raise a fresh obstacle against their enfranchisement. But 
 Congress turned a deaf ear to their plea, and the amend- 
 ment was submitted to Congress in the form it still retains.
 
 182 New Era Civics 
 
 In 1869, when the Fifteenth amendment was sub- 
 mitted, the Suffragists renewed their pressure on Con- 
 gress. This amendment forbade any State to deny its 
 citizens the right to vote "on account of race, color or 
 previous condition of servitude." Again, Congress had 
 the interests of colored males solely in mind, and again 
 it refused to concede the claims of the feminine sex in 
 shaping the amendment. It seems strange now to reflect 
 that white women were still barred from the suffrage by 
 constitutional amendments that recognized the citizen- 
 ship and voting rights of the former slaves. The only 
 explanation for this extraordinary discrimination that 
 historians can offer is that popular sentiment was still 
 strongly hostile to Woman Suffrage ; and that the sup- 
 porters of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments 
 feared that their adoption would be imperiled if the 
 amendments were broadened so as to concede the equal 
 political rights of women. 
 
 5. Miss Anthony's Challenge. — In this same year 
 of 1869 the National Woman Suffrage association was 
 organized, and then another long stage of the agitation 
 set in. Three years later, in the Presidential contest of 
 1872, Miss Anthony forced another crisis by registering 
 and voting in her home city of Rochester, New York. 
 The election inspectors did not resist her attempt to 
 register when she claimed to be a citizen under that 
 provision of the Fourteenth amendment quoted in the 
 last paragraph. Miss Anthony's action was imitated by 
 ber three sisters and by several other women in her ward. 
 A fortnight after the election all of them were served 
 with warrants for violation of the law by a Deputy 
 United States Marshal. The case attracted national 
 attention. Miss Anthony's trial took place at Canan- 
 daigua. New York, in the following June, with Ward
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 183 
 
 Hunt, Jr., an Associate Justice of the United States 
 Supreme Court, on the bench. On the basis of the undis- 
 puted facts, the Justice fined the defendant $100 and the^ 
 costs of the action. 
 
 6. A Senate Defeat and State Victories. — The Suf- 
 frage agitation went on, without practical results, until 
 1886, when a resolution for the Susan B. Anthony amend- 
 ment to the Constitution was introduced in the Federal 
 Senate. It was voted down by a majority of two to one. 
 It was identical with the Nineteenth amendment as it 
 stands today. But the States soon thereafter began, on 
 their own account, to grant women the political recogni- 
 tion which had so far found such little favor in Congress. 
 The example of Wyoming in 1890 was followed by Colo- 
 rado in 1893, with a State constitutional amendment 
 giving the suffrage to women. Utah and Idaho fell in 
 line in 1896, the State of Washington in 1910, California 
 in 1911, Arizona, Kansas and Oregon in 1912, and Nevada 
 and Montana in 1914. 
 
 It will be observed that this original constitutional 
 cluster of eleven Suffrage States was almost wholly con- 
 fined to the extreme West. In all of them women voted 
 in the Presidential election of 1916. But they had one 
 important reinforcement on that occasion, so far as the 
 national contest was concerned. In 1913 the Legislature 
 of Illinois enacted a law, as its State Constitution per- 
 mitted it to do, enabling its women to vote for Presi- 
 dential Electors. Accordingly Illinois completed the full 
 dozen of States in which women were allowed to vote 
 in the contest that ended with Woodrow Wilson's second 
 election. The group of States granting women the bal- 
 lot by an amendment to the State Constitution, was 
 further enlarged in 1917, when the people of New York 
 
 voted for Suffrage. 
 13
 
 184 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 7. The Crusade for National Suffrage. — Before 1916, 
 however, the movement for Suffrage by State action had 
 become a determined crusade for nation-wide enfran- 
 chisement of women by an amendment to the Federal 
 Constitution. This meant a growing pressure on Con- 
 gress for the submission of such an amendment to the 
 States. It was partly successful in February, 1918, 
 when the popular branch of the Sixty-fifth Congress cast 
 the necessary two-thirds vote for a resolution to that 
 
 Liuuerwuoii in Uuderwooii. 
 
 A Woman in High Office 
 
 Helen H. Gardiner, member of the United States Civil Service commission, 
 
 one of the first women appointed by President Wilson to hold important 
 
 trusts under the Federal government. 
 
 effect. But the Senate was not so compliant. It voted 
 on the resolution on October 1st and a minority suffi- 
 ciently large to defeat the proposal was recorded in the 
 negative. In the election of the following November, 
 the Suffragists gained several Senators, and both 
 branches of the new Congress, the Sixty-sixth, joined in 
 submitting the amendment. 
 
 8. The Pressure for Quick Action. — So far as the 
 power of Congress went, the way was thus cleared for
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 185 
 
 the adoption of the amendment by the State Legislatures. 
 The Suffrage leaders now had a double object in view. 
 One was to secure ratification of the amendment by three- 
 fourths of the Legislatures. On this point they were 
 confident. But they also deemed it of the highest impor- 
 tance to have ratification completed in time to enable all 
 the qualified women of the country to vote in the Presi- 
 dential election of 1920. They were here confronted by 
 a serious obstacle, because a majority of the State Legis- 
 latures had finished their regular 1919 sessions when 
 Congress adopted the Suffrage resolution, and they were 
 not to meet again in regular session before 1921. The 
 only way to overcome this difficulty was by calling 
 special sessions of Legislatures for the express purpose 
 of ratifying the amendment. The Governors of a num- 
 ber of States responded to a request to this effect and 
 summoned special sessions. 
 
 Owing largely to this expedient, twenty-two State 
 Legislatures ratified before the close of 1919. Illinois, 
 Wisconsin and Michigan started the ball rolling by ratify- 
 ing on June 10th, only six days after the Federal Senate 
 had confirmed the action of the House of Representa- 
 tives ; and on December 12th Colorado completed the 
 1919 total of twenty-two States. 
 
 Fourteen more States, or thirty-six in all, were then 
 necessary for ratification. Rhode Island and Kentucky 
 ratified in January, and New Jersey in February — all 
 three at regular sessions. Ten other States ratified before 
 April 1st at special legislative sessions called by the 
 respective Governors. When the Legislature of Wash- 
 ington State took favorable action on March 22, the 
 total of ratifying States was raised to thirty-five. Only 
 one more State was needed. The crisis excited con- 
 siderable interest throughout the country.
 
 186 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 The Suffrage leaders had counted upon the Delaware 
 Legislature, which met in special session on March 22d, 
 to supply the lacking vote. But after a long contest 
 
 the lower branch rejected 
 the amendment early in 
 June. In the same month 
 Louisiana followed suit. 
 Only five States remained 
 in which no legislative 
 vote had been taken, 
 either for or against. 
 They were Connecticut, 
 Vermont, Florida, North 
 Carolina and Tennessee. 
 The Governors of Con- 
 necticut and Vermont re- 
 fused persistently to call 
 extra sessions, pleading 
 that the matter was not 
 one of urgent necessity. 
 The Governor of Florida 
 likewise declined. The 
 struggle thus narrowed 
 down to two States. 
 Public interest in the result deepened when it was 
 learned that special sessions of the North Carolina and 
 Tennessee Legislatures had been called. In both States 
 the opposition to Suffrage was strong and well organized. 
 By this time the summer was advanced and the thirty- 
 sixth State was still missing. The time was getting 
 desperately short if the amendment was to be ratified in 
 time for the States to make the necessary arrangements 
 to enable the women of the country to vote at the 
 approaciiing Presidential election. 
 
 ITiiderwood & Underwood. 
 
 While Mother Votes 
 
 A kindly policeman interesting the 
 
 little ones while the mother is in the 
 
 polling booth preparing her ballot.
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 187 
 
 9. The Last Act. — The North Carolina Legislature 
 met in July. It was soon evident that a favoring vote 
 could not be obtained from that quarter. But the long 
 contest for Woman Suffrage was ended in Nashville on 
 August 18th, when, by the extremely close vote of 49 
 to 47, the lower branch of the Tennessee Legislature 
 approved the amendment. The State Senate had ratified 
 four davs before. Eight davs later, on August 26th, Bain- 
 
 IJiiiwn lii'os. 
 
 Some F'uture Citizens 
 
 An Americanization class. First lessons in patriotism and citizenship for the 
 daughters of immigrants. Teaching them the origin of the American flag. 
 
 bridge Colby, Secretary of State, issued the proclamation 
 certifying that the Nineteenth amendment had become 
 a part of the Federal Constitution. 
 
 An effort was made at Nashville to reconsider and 
 reverse the close vote in the Tennessee lower house. 
 Complications followed, and an attack in the courts 
 upon the regularity of the Tennessee ratification was 
 threatened. But all doubts as to the validity of the 
 final ratification were removed by the Legislature of 
 Connecticut, which approved the amendment late in
 
 188 New Era Civics 
 
 September at a special session called by the Governor. 
 It thus clinched the ratification, with one State to 
 spare. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XI 
 
 1. When was the Nineteenth, or Woman Suffrage, amendment 
 submitted by the House, and by the Senate? What are its pro- 
 visions ? 
 
 2. Did the Federal Constitution, as originally adopted, under- 
 take to prescribe voting qualifications? Where, then, was that power 
 lodged? Did any of the States confer the ballot on women prior 
 to 1890? What limited voting right have women exercised in some 
 of the States? What was the first State to grant the full franchise 
 to women? In what year did this occur? 
 
 3. In what broader movement did the fight for Woman Suffrage 
 originate? When and where did the Woman's Rights movement 
 take form? Who were two of its most distinguished leaders at that 
 time? What famous woman later joined the movement? In what 
 city and what year was a great Woman's Rights demonstration held? 
 In what State, and when, did the Sufifrage leaders conduct their 
 first crusade for legislative recognition, and what was the result? 
 
 4. What turn did the movement take after the Civil War? Why 
 did the Sufifragists oppose the wording of the Fourteenth amend- 
 ment? In what later amendment did Congress discriminate against 
 women? Why did Congress acknowledge the claims of race and 
 color in drafting the Fifteenth amendment, and ignore those of sex? 
 
 5. When and where did Susan B. Anthony make a famous test 
 case regarding her right to vote? On what provision of the Con- 
 stitution did she base it? What notice did the government take of 
 her action? What was the sequel? 
 
 6. When was the original Susan B. Anthony amendment intro- 
 duced in the Federal Senate? What disposition was made of the 
 resolution by that body? Wliat was the first State to follow 
 Colorado in giving the ballot to women? How many States had 
 adopted this policy up to and including 1914? What was the twelfth 
 State in which women were allowed to vote in the Presidential 
 election of 1916? By what means did Illinois join the group of 
 Suffrage States in that contest? 
 
 7. What larger object did the Sufifragists seek to gain before 
 this time? What was the result as shown in Congress in 1918?
 
 The Woman Suffrage Amendment 189 
 
 \\ hat branch of Congress blocked the Suflfrage amendment in that 
 year? What was the effect of the elections of 1918 on the amend- 
 ment project? 
 
 8. When Congress finally submitted the amendment, what two 
 objects did the suffrage leaders have in view? Why did they con- 
 sider quick action essential in the matter of ratification? What 
 obstacles were in the way? \\'hat expedient was adopted to bring 
 the question before State Legislatures? Mention some of the in- 
 teresting developments in the struggle for an early ratification of 
 the amendment. 
 
 9. \\hat State Legislature furnished the thirty-sixth vote neces- 
 sary for ratification? What incidents marked the final struggle?
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 OUR NATIONAL DEPENDENCIES 
 
 The people of the United States, as sovereign owners of 
 the National Territories, have supreme pozuer over them 
 and over their inhabitants. — United States Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 1. The Home Territories. — In the history of the 
 RepubHc the term "territory" was originally applied to 
 the land situated outside the States, but owned by the 
 States. When the Federal Constitution was adopted 
 this land covered a great area, which was afterwards 
 vastly extended by purchases and treaties, including our 
 peace treaty with Mexico. All of this region was divided 
 into territories, and these were controlled and governed 
 by Congress under the provision of the Constitution 
 which authorizes that body "to dispose of and make all 
 needful rules and regulations respecting the territory 
 and other property belonging to the United States." 
 This clause shows how the territories differed from the 
 States. The States were in large measure self-governing 
 communities ; but the territories were no more than 
 landed property owned by the United States and gov- 
 erned by laws passed by Congress. 
 
 In due time all the great territories stretching from 
 the original thirteen States to the Pacific ocean were 
 peopled with settlers and admitted into the Union as 
 States. The last of them, Arizona and New Mexico, 
 
 190
 
 Our National Dependencies 
 
 191 
 
 came into the Union in 1912. The whole area was then 
 occupied by States, save only the District of Columbia, 
 in which Washington city is located. 
 
 But our country still has large territorial possessions 
 and responsibilities owing to outside additions, beginning 
 uith the purchase of Alaska. 
 
 2. The District of Columbia. — This district covers 
 about seventy square miles. The site of the National 
 Capital was purposely made neutral ground. It was 
 
 
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 k 
 
 af^f^'^StttlKS^ 
 
 
 
 
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 i» 
 
 mMi 
 
 " ""pl^?» ? 
 
 BlMMfci^"- ' '' fff'i'filftiii^i'firM. ■ 
 
 - 1 ■!;••' 
 
 
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 The Bioice Publishing Co. 
 
 Uncle Sam's Model High School 
 
 This is a reminder that Washington has its city interests, like every other 
 American community. It is the city's Central High School, a notable struc- 
 ture for the ptjrpose, with fine surroundings. 
 
 deemed fitting that Washington, the official home of the 
 Federal executive and legislature, should be forever de- 
 tached from, and politically independent of, the States. 
 The district was acquired by act of Congress in 1790. 
 In the following year the site for the city was chosen 
 by President Washington, and Commissioners were 
 appointed to lay it out. Congress first assembled there 
 in November, 1800. 
 
 The first government of the capital, which lasted some 
 seventy years, resembled that of many American cities
 
 192 New Era Civics 
 
 of today, though it was responsible to Congress. It 
 included a Mayor and Common Council. But in 1871 
 the system was reorganized somewhat after the model 
 in the United States territories of the early days, with 
 a Governor, legislative assembly and various boards or 
 commissioners. The district was also privileged, like 
 each territory, to elect a delegate to Congress. But this 
 plan proved unsatisfactory, and it had a short life. 
 
 In 1874 the government of Washington, which is now 
 in force, was created by Congress. It is in charge of 
 three commissioners appointed by the President, two of 
 them from civil life and one from the army. They exer- 
 cise the powers usually intrusted to city government in 
 the States, with this difference, that Congress retains 
 decisive authority over the district. Each branch of 
 Congress has a committee on the District of Columbia, 
 and through these committee agencies such laws as may 
 be necessary for the government of the district are 
 frarned and follow the general course of legislation. The 
 district, however, has no longer any representation in 
 Congress. Its permanent residents, moreover, have no 
 votes in Presidential elections ; but the government offi- 
 cials temporarily dwelling there do not, of course, forfeit 
 the right to vote in their home districts. The city has 
 its separate judicial system, and its citizens are taxed for 
 half the cost of running their government, the other half 
 being assessed on the Federal Treasury. 
 
 3. The Territory of Alaska. — Of the American pos- 
 sessions beyond the national boundaries, Alaska, pur- 
 chased from Russia in 1867, is the oldest. It is also, by 
 long odds, the largest in area of our foreign territories 
 or dependencies, covering, as it does, nearly 600,000 
 square miles. It cost our government $7,200,000, or at 
 the rate of a little more than $12 per square mile; never-
 
 Our National Dependencies 
 
 193 
 
 theless, it was long regarded by many Americans as a 
 barren waste and a foolish investment. But in time the 
 judgment of William H. Seward, Secretary of State in 
 1867, who strongly favored the purchase and who con- 
 ducted the negotiations with Russia, was vindicated. 
 For the ten years thereafter Alaska was governed by the 
 War department, but its meager customs duties were 
 collected by the Treasury department, which in 1877 
 obtained official control of the region. In 1884 Congress 
 passed a law which extended to Alaska some of the laws 
 of the State of 
 
 Oregon, created a 
 judicial district 
 and a land district 
 there, put in force 
 therein the min- 
 ing laws of the 
 United States and 
 gave the country 
 an administrative 
 system. 
 
 The territorial 
 history of Alaska 
 underwent a sen- 
 sational change in 
 
 1896, when gold was discovered in the Klondike. The 
 rush of new settlers and gold seekers to Alaska and the 
 development of a big American colony there necessi- 
 tated additional laws by Congress. These were followed 
 in 1903 by the Alaska Homestead act — an act for the 
 better regulation of land and mining claims. In 1906 
 Alaska was authorized to send a Delegate to Congress, 
 and in 1912 it was organized by act of Congress as a 
 territorv of the United States. 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 The Alaskan Capitol 
 
 The city of Juneau, in which it is located, nestles 
 at the foot of towering mountains.
 
 194 New Era Civics 
 
 The territory now has a Governor appointed by the 
 President and serving for a term of four years. It has a 
 territorial Legislature with two branches — a Senate with 
 eight members and a House of Representatives with 
 sixteen members. The country is divided into four 
 judicial districts, and in each of them two Senators and 
 four Representatives are elected to the territorial legis- 
 lature, the Senators for a four years' term and the Rep- 
 resentatives for a two years' term. The Legislature 
 meets every two years at Juneau, the capital. Its power 
 extends "to all rightful subjects of legislation not incon- 
 sistent with the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States," the exceptions being enumerated in the act of 
 1912. But the appointive Governor may veto any act 
 passed by the Legislature, and all of its laws are, more- 
 over, dependent upon the approval or disapproval of 
 the Congress at Washington. 
 
 4. The Territory of Hawaii. — The territorial gov- 
 ernment of Hawaii does not differ in any important 
 particular from that of Alaska. The Hawaiian (or 
 Sandwich) islands were annexed to the United States 
 by an act of Congress in 1898. The islands were formerly 
 an independent kingdom, but in 1893 the people over- 
 threw their ruler and established a republic. Five years 
 afterwards Hawaii became a part of the United States 
 on the petition of its inhabitants. 
 
 The Governor of Hawaii is appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, but the Legislature is larger than Alaska's, with 
 fifteen Senators and thirty Representatives, whose re- 
 spective terms are the same. In Hawaii the right to 
 vote is confined to those who are able to speak, read and 
 write the English or Hawaiian language. The Legisla- 
 ture meets at the Capital, Honolulu, and the adminis- 
 trative officers there located, corresponding with those
 
 Our National Dependencies 
 
 195 
 
 •^ikS^^ 
 
 &^ 
 
 ^^0f^ 
 
 
 In Distant Honolulu 
 
 The Capitol building of Hawaii, picturesquely situated as above, was built 
 in the days of the Hawaiian monarchy by King Kalakaua. It was there his 
 sister and successor lived when she was dethroned in the early nineties. 
 The Hawaiian Islands were annexed by the United States in 189S, and since 
 that time the building has been occupied by the territorial legislature and 
 the officers of the territorial government. 
 
 in many of the States, are appointed by the Governor, 
 generally from the resident population. In both Alaska 
 and Hawaii the higher judges are appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, and they are empowered to name the judges for the 
 inferior courts. 
 
 5. The Government of Porto Rico. — Since the admis- 
 sion of Arizona territory into the Union in 1912, Alaska 
 and Hawaii have been commonly classed as our "or- 
 ganized territories," because they follow closely our old 
 territorial model. But Porto Rico is now very close to 
 this status, though it still remains an island possession, 
 as distinguished from a territorial annex of the United 
 States. Like Hawaii and Alaska, it has an appointive 
 Governor and an elective Legislature. 
 
 Porto Rico and some small adjacent islands were 
 acquired by the United States from Spain as a result of
 
 196 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 our war with that country in 1898. Until 1917 its right 
 of legislative self-government was limited, but in that 
 year Congress passed a law which, for all practical pur- 
 poses, placed the island on a political level with our two 
 outlying and organized territories. Under the forriier 
 system the lower branch of its Legislature was elected 
 by the people of the island, but the upper branch was 
 composed of a 
 council appointed 
 by the President. 
 By an act of 1917 
 this council was 
 transformed into 
 a Senate, to be 
 chosen by the peo- 
 ple. The upper 
 branch now con- 
 sists of nineteen 
 members, elected 
 for four years, 
 and the lower of 
 thirty-nine mem- 
 bers, elected for two years. They meet in February of 
 every odd year at the capitol, San Juan. 
 
 The new act further provides that all citizens of 
 Porto Rico "shall be deemed, and held to be citizens of 
 the United States." Under the law all citizens of Porto 
 Rico who can read and write are qualified to vote, but 
 the Legislature is permitted to add such other qualifica- 
 tions as it may consider wise (barring a property quali- 
 fication) though such electoral laws would be subject 
 to approval by Congress. For the purposes of legisla- 
 tive representation the island is divided into thirty-five 
 districts, each of which is entitled to a member of the 
 
 ITnderwood & Underwood. 
 
 In Porto Rico 
 
 A Fourth of July scene in San Juan, the capital 
 city. The San Juan Home Guard on parade.
 
 Our National Dependencies 197 
 
 lower branch. The other four members of this branch 
 are elected by the people on a general ticket. These 
 thirty-five districts are divided into seven Senatorial 
 districts, that is, into a group of five "contiguous and 
 compact" districts, and each of the larger districts thus 
 created is entitled to two Senators. This accounts for 
 fourteen members of the Porto Rico Senate, and the 
 other five are Senators-at-large, chosen by all the voters 
 of the island. 
 
 Aside from the appointive government, Porto Rico 
 is provided with a rather elaborate executive organiza- 
 tion, consisting of a department of justice, headed by an 
 attorney general ; a finance department, headed by a 
 treasurer ; and departments of education, of the interior, 
 of agricultural and of health, all headed by commis- 
 sioners. Of the department chiefs, the Attorney General 
 and the commissioner of education are appointed by the 
 President and the other four by the Governor of the 
 island. The six form an executive council to the Gov- 
 ernor. The Governor has the right of vetoing laws 
 passed by the Legislature, and if a bill is repassed by a 
 two-thirds vote in spite of his disapproval, it must be 
 transmitted to the President at Washington, and his 
 disposition of the matter is final. 
 
 Porto Rico has an excellent judicial organization, with 
 a Supreme Court comprising one Chief Justice and five 
 associates appointed by the President, supplemented by 
 a system of territorial district and local courts created 
 by the Legislature and presided over by judges appointed 
 by the Governor. The island also has a Federal Dis- 
 trict judge. In the administration of Federal, as distinct 
 from local, justice, it constitutes a single Federal dis- 
 trict ; while Alaska is divided into three such districts, 
 and Hawaii into two, with a corresponding number of
 
 198 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 Federal District judges. For Porto Rico, appeals from 
 the Federal District court are made to the First Circuit 
 Court of Appeals Mn the United States. Alaskan and 
 Hawaiian appeals go to the Ninth Circuit Court. 
 
 Porto Rico's representative in Congress is called a 
 Resident Commissioner, and the same title is applied to 
 the two representatives in Congress of our greatest in- 
 sular dependency, the Philippines, 
 
 Our Philippine Lawmakers 
 
 The first native Philippine Assembly under American auspices, organized 
 
 in 1907. 
 
 6. The Philippines. — The government of the Philip- 
 pines has presented a far more complex problem than 
 that of the three outlying possessions already named. 
 This archipelago, acquired from Spain with Porto Rico 
 in 1898, embraces more than three thousand islands and 
 islets, of which some fifteen hundred are unidentified by 
 any name. The inhabitants, chiefly of the Malay race, 
 include some twenty-five different tribes, speaking at 
 least nineteen different dialects, and made up of Chris- 
 tians and Mohammedans, with a wild remnant of idol wor-
 
 Our National Dependencies 199 
 
 shippers. Of the civilized tribes, the Visayans are the 
 most numerous, constituting nearly half of that element ; 
 and Luzon, with 40,000 square miles, is the largest of 
 the islands, as well as the foremost in civilization and 
 political importance. 
 
 F'or four years after the Philippines had passed under 
 American control, the affairs of the archipelago were 
 under military direction, with an American Governor in 
 charge; but in 1902 a civil government was established 
 throughout the greater part of the islands. It was ad- 
 ministered by a Civil Governor (afterwards named 
 Governor-General) and seven Commissioners, of whom 
 three were native Filipinos, with headquarters at the 
 capital, Manila. With occasional changes of no special 
 moment, the islands were thus governed until 1907. Con- 
 gress then enacted a law creating an Assembly of elective 
 members, to constitute a legislative body, with the Philip- 
 pine commissioners appointed by the President, whose 
 number was increased to nine, serving as an upper 
 branch, or provisional Senate. 
 
 This plan worked so well in its effect upon the people 
 and in its assurance of order and popular contentment 
 that in August, 1916, Congress enacted the law now in 
 force, which enlarged the political rights of the Filipinos 
 by giving them an elective Senate. When this law was 
 passed a determined effort was made to incorporate in 
 it a promise that after a lapse of two years (with an 
 extension of two more years in the discretion of the 
 President) absolute independence should be granted to 
 the Philippines ; and a proviso to that effect was adopted 
 by the Senate. But the House of Representatives re- 
 jected it, and the upshot was a compromise preamble to 
 the act in which independence was promised to the Philip- 
 pines when they had fullv demonstrated the capacity to 
 
 14
 
 200 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 maintain a stable government of their own. By the law 
 of 1916 non-Christian tribes of the archipelago were 
 allowed legislative repre- 
 sentation for the first time. 
 
 In the main, the execu- 
 tive, legislative and ju- 
 dicial administration of 
 the islands corresponds 
 with that of our other 
 major possessions. The 
 President appoints the 
 Governor-General and the 
 Supreme Court, while the 
 Governor names the lesser 
 judges. There is, how- 
 ever, no Federal District 
 judge in this far distant 
 dependency. The Philip- 
 pine Supreme Court is the last judicial resort, save in 
 exceptional cases involving large sums of money or con- 
 stitutional or treaty rights ; and in these, appeals can be 
 taken to the United States Supreme Court. One other 
 distinction must be noted. The exercise of local powers 
 is more widely distributed, from the necessities of the 
 situation, than in Alaska, Hawaii and Porto Rico. The 
 island is divided into provinces for this purpose, and 
 each is furnished with a local government ; while the 
 districts peopled largely by Mohammedan and other non- 
 Christian tribes are under the administrative control of 
 a Bureau of Non-Christian tribes. 
 
 7. Our Lesser Dependencies. — The minor depen- 
 dencies of the United States call for only brief attention. 
 The nearest to us is the Panama Canal Zone, the strip of 
 land ten miles wide penetrated through its whole length 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 A Philippine Baseball Team 
 
 These lads belong to a tribe that was 
 savage before the American occupa- 
 tion of the islands in 1898. They have 
 caught the spirit of our national game 
 — a pretty good sign that they will 
 quickly fall into American ways.
 
 Our National Dependencies 
 
 201 
 
 by the Panama Canal and having a total area, land and 
 water, of 441 square miles. It was acquired by treaty 
 from the Republic of Panama in 1904, to serve as a 
 territorial basis for the administration of the afifairs of 
 the Canal. It is now under the direction of a civil Gov- 
 ernor appointed by the President. 
 
 The island of Guam was ceded to us by the Spanish 
 treaty of 1898. Its chief utility is that of naval station. 
 
 The Panama Canal 
 
 The United States battleship Kansas passing through the Middle East 
 
 Chamber of the Gatun locks. 
 
 and its territory, embracing about 225 square miles, is 
 governed by the Navy department, through an officer 
 named by the President. It has some official interest 
 for the Department of Agriculture, which maintains an 
 experiment station there. 
 
 Among our distant dependencies is the diminutive 
 Wake island, which lies in the ocean route from Honolulu 
 to Hong Kong. The American flag also flies over a 
 scattered cluster of small islands in the Pacific, and 
 among them may be named the Christmas, Gallego, Star- 
 buck, Penrhyn, Phoenix, Palmyra, Howland, Baker, John-
 
 202 New Era Civics 
 
 ston, Gardner, Morell, Marcus and Midway islands, the 
 last named occupied by a colony of telegraphers. 
 
 In the remote Samoan group we have an island called 
 Tutuila, which boasts the finest island harbor in the South 
 Pacific — Pago-Pago. Tutuila, with five insignificant 
 islets, became a possession of the United States in 1899 
 by the terms of a treaty between our government. Great 
 Britain and Germany, 
 
 The latest dependency acquired by the United States 
 is the Virgin Islands, of the Danish West Indies — St. 
 Croix, St. Thomas and St. John — purchased from Den- 
 mark in 1916 for $25,000,000. Their total population is 
 something over 26,000, and their administration is in the 
 hands^of officials appointed from Washington. 
 
 S'. Our National Proteges. — It should be added that 
 our government exercises a protectorate over Haiti and 
 the Donlinican Republic, under a treaty agreement by 
 which it collects the import duties of the two countries, 
 applies the proceeds to the payment of their foreign debts 
 and exercises other protective supervisions over their 
 affairs. This arrangement secures them from molesta- 
 tion by any foreign nation. 
 
 The United States maintains close relations with the 
 Republic of Cuba, whose independence it was instru- 
 mental in obtaining. The Cuban constitution gives us 
 the right of intervention in the island for the restoration 
 of order if the necessity arises. This right was estab- 
 lished by an amendment to our treaty with Cuba after 
 the Spanish-American war. 
 
 Our government exercises a similar benevolent super- 
 vision over the Republic of Panama, which we have 
 engaged by treaty to defend from foreign aggression. 
 These two countries may therefore be included among 
 our national proteges in the western hemisphere.
 
 Our National Dependencies 203 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XII 
 
 1. Of what were the original territories of the United States 
 composed? What is the difference between the States and the 
 territories? When were the last of our territories on this con- 
 tinent admitted to the Union. 
 
 2. Tell something about the District of Columbia. How and 
 by whom is the National Capital now governed? Can Washington 
 residents vote in national elections? 
 
 3. When and how did the United States acquire Alaska? What 
 famous American had much to do with its purchase, and what was 
 the price? How was it originally governed? What event greatly 
 increased its importance? When was it organized as a territory of 
 the United States? 
 
 4. When was Hawaii annexed to the United States? Who 
 appoints the Governor of Hawaii as well as of Alaska? How many 
 Senators and Representatives sit in the Hawaiian Legislature? How 
 are the principal judges appointed in both Hawaii and Alaska? 
 
 5. When and for what reason did Porto Rico pass under the 
 control of the United States? What important change in its govern- 
 ment took place in 1917? How were the citizens of the island 
 affected by the act of 1917? Into how many legislative districts is 
 Porto Rico now divided? What is the number of its Senators and 
 of its Representatives? Name its executive departments. Which of 
 the department heads are appointed by the President? How is the 
 executive council made up? What is Porto Rico's representative in 
 Congress called? What other American dependency has representa- 
 tives in Congress bearing the same title? 
 
 6. What conditions have made the government of the Philip- 
 pines exceptionally difficult? IMention some facts relating to the 
 islands. Which is the largest and most important island? When 
 were the Philippine commissioners first named? When did Congress 
 concede to the Filipinos a one-branch Legislature? When was the 
 law passed giving the Filipinos a Legislature of two branches? What 
 promise accompanied the enactment of this law? How do the Philip- 
 pines differ from our other large dependencies as regards the 
 administration of Federal justice? How are the Philippines further 
 distinguished in the matter of local government? 
 
 7. Tell something about our lesser foreign dependencies, begin- 
 ning with the Canal Zone. When did we acquire the Danish West 
 Indies, and what were the terms?
 
 204 New Era Civics 
 
 8. Over what small nations do we exercise a protectorate, and 
 what is its nature? What is the relation of the United States to 
 Cuba and the Republic of Panama?
 
 PART III 
 
 THE STATE
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES 
 
 The powers delegated by the Constitution to the Federal 
 government are fczv and defined. Those which remain in 
 the States are numerous and indefinite. — James Madison. 
 
 1, Powers Denied to the States. — In the United 
 States there are forty-eight different kinds of State gov- 
 ernment. No two State systems of government are 
 ahke, because each State has adopted its own system, 
 independent of the others, by virtue of the power reserved 
 to it by the Constitution. 
 
 Certain powers are denied to the States by the Con- 
 stitution. A reading of that document shows what these 
 forbidden powers are. 
 
 No State is permitted to negotiate a treaty or form 
 an alliance with a foreign country. 
 
 No State may coin money, make anything but gold 
 or silver a legal tender for the payment of debts, or 
 pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts. 
 
 No State may, without the consent of Congress, col- 
 lect any duties on imports or exports at its ports, except 
 in the shape of fees to meet the cost of its inspection 
 and quarantine laws and the like. Even if Congress 
 should authorize a State to levy such duties, the net 
 proceeds would have to go to the United States Treasury. 
 
 No State is allowed, without the consent of Congress, 
 to keep a standing army or maintain a navy in time of 
 
 207
 
 208 New Era Civics 
 
 peace, or to engage in war on its own account unless it 
 is actually invaded under conditions that call for im- 
 mediate defense. 
 
 No State may make or enforce any law which will 
 abridge the privileges of citizens of the United States, 
 or deprive any person within its boundaries of life, liberty 
 or property without due process of law. 
 
 These are but a few of the powers withheld from the 
 States by the Constitution, and with regard to all the 
 powers so withheld the States are absolutely subject to 
 the authority of the national government. 
 
 2. Powers Vested in the States. — But when we check 
 off the powers and rights withheld from the States by 
 the Constitution, it will be found that many of grave 
 importance to the people are still vested in the State 
 governments. The State can determine by law what 
 citizens within its jurisdiction are entitled to vote, sub- 
 ject to certain restrictions named in the Constitution 
 itself. In this regard each State has great latitude. It 
 is a very important one, because the voters of a State 
 can and do determine its kind and method of government. 
 
 The States have full power to organize not only their 
 own governments, according to the will of their people, 
 but to provide governments for their political sub- 
 divisions, such as counties, cities, towns and villages, the 
 only condition being that such governments shall be 
 republican in form, using that term in its broader sense. 
 
 Again, the States can decide how their necessary 
 revenue shall be raised by taxation or by bond issues 
 for the support of their several governments. 
 
 But the power of the State which affects its people 
 most vitally is what is commonly known as its police 
 power. It is this power of the State which enables it 
 to adopt all necessary measures to protect, or to authorize
 
 The Government of the States 
 
 209 
 
 its various local communities to protect, the lives, the 
 health, and the property of its inhabitants, to preserve 
 the peace, to promote the general welfare, and, of course, 
 to prevent and punish crime. 
 
 Another field of opportunity and service is reserved 
 to the State in its control of education. While the schools 
 
 A Famous Senate Chamber 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 The interior of the State Capitol at Albany— noted for its artistic mag- 
 nificence and great cost. The above represents a section of the chamber 
 where the State Senate meets. 
 
 are local, the State directs their general policy of adminis- 
 tration and is the real master of the system. 
 
 The State, also, creates and licenses the various cor- 
 porations which do business within its borders, and as 
 a rule it vigilantly supervises or regulates the operations 
 of the companies organized to serve the people — the so- 
 called public-service corporations, such as railway, light 
 and telephone companies.
 
 210 New Era Civics 
 
 Finally, it provides, through its own courts, for the 
 administration of justice in the multitude of civil and 
 criminal actions arising under State law. 
 
 3. The State Legislatures. — While the governing 
 systems of the States differ in many important details, 
 all of them have certain uniform features. In each the 
 Legislature is composed of two branches, and in each a 
 Governor is the chief executive. The Legislature, like 
 Congress, is divided into two branches, the lower one 
 being the larger. The upper branch differs substantially 
 from the Senate at Washington. One object in creating 
 the Federal Senate was to give all the States, regardless 
 of their populations, equal representation in one of the 
 branches of Congress. No such necessity confronted 
 the States in constituting their respective Legislatures. 
 Apart from this distinction between the two legislative 
 systems, the States have acted on the same principle as 
 the Federal government, namely, of establishing two 
 legislative chambers, one of which, the upper branch, 
 has a limited membership and represents large dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 As a result, we find that the legislative branch which 
 corresponds to the Senate at Washington and which is, 
 in fact, called the Senate in practically all of the States, 
 ranges from less than twenty to more than sixty mem- 
 bers in the various States; while the lower branch runs 
 from nearly forty to more than four hundred members. 
 On the average, the lower branches of the State Legis- 
 latures contain from two to three times as many members 
 as the upper. On account of its smaller membership and 
 the larger constituency back of it, a seat in the State 
 Senate carries more dignity than one in the lower branch. 
 To emphasize this distinction, a majority of the States 
 elect their members of the State Senate for longer
 
 The Government of the States 211 
 
 terms than are allowed to the popular representatives, 
 or members of the lower house. In other States, how- 
 ever, the terms of the two classes of lawmakers are the 
 same. 
 
 No doubt, the original idea back of this system of 
 unequal legislative wings was to make the State Senate 
 a conservative influence. But this object has been 
 realized in practice to only a limited extent. This is 
 because there is no such difference in the representa- 
 tion within the various States, in the terms of the two 
 classes of legislators and the parliamentary rules govern- 
 ing the separate branches of the State Legislatures, as 
 is seen in the election, service and processes of the two 
 branches of the national body. In all the States the two 
 legislative branches must join in the passage of bills as 
 in Congress. 
 
 4. The Legislative Districts. — The members of each 
 State Legislature are elected from districts outlined by 
 the Legislature itself. In most of the States the unit 
 in the districting of the State is the county, the only 
 exceptions to this rule being in New England, where 
 the town is the basis of representation. The State Senate 
 districts are composed of large counties or groups of 
 smaller counties, except in such instances as in New York 
 and Kings counties within the metropolis, where the 
 counties are so populous that they must be divided into 
 a number of Senate districts. The members of the lower 
 branch in each State are elected from smaller districts, 
 but here, too, the county boundaries are respected. 
 
 The theory behind the districting of States for the 
 election of Senators and members of the lower branch 
 is that the division of the population in all the districts 
 of each class shall be nearly equal. But, as in the case 
 of Congress districts, it is impossible to attain this object
 
 212 New Era Civics 
 
 in practice, because the county boundaries, which cannot 
 be changed, must be taken into consideration. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, the State legislative districts vary much more 
 in population than the Congress districts, owing to the 
 requirement in many States that even the smallest coun- 
 ties are entitled to separate representation in the lower 
 branch of the Legislature. In New York State, for 
 example, some of the more populous districts cast a vote 
 for members of the lower branch of the Legislature from 
 four to five times as large as the smallest districts. 
 
 5. The State Executives. — The Governor of each 
 State is elected directly by the people, and exercises the 
 chief executive power. Originally this authority was 
 limited in various ways, but the steady tendency has 
 been to make him independent of the Legislature, and 
 in his smaller field his power is now in many respects 
 similar to that of the President. The power of appoint- 
 ment is lodged with him, as is also, in many cases, the 
 pardoning power, though this latter function is intrusted 
 in some States to commissions or councils, of which the 
 Governor may or may not be a member. He exercises 
 the power of veto, and in most States he is at liberty to 
 use it in striking what he considers objectionable items 
 from appropriation bills. He can call special sessions of 
 the Legislature and address that body from time to time 
 on subjects which, in his judgment, demand considera- 
 tion. 
 
 6. Terms of Service and Compensation. — The terms 
 of the Governors of the several States vary from one 
 year to four years. Massachusetts is the sole State which 
 gives its Governor a one-year term. New Jersey elects 
 its Governor for three years. The other forty-six States 
 are almost evenly divided in their preferences as between 
 a four-year and a two-year term. The great majority
 
 The Government of the States 213 
 
 of the States hold thfiir elections for Governor in even 
 numbered years. In forty-one of the States the Legis- 
 latures hold biennial sessions. That is to sa}-, they are 
 required by the Constitution to meet in regular session 
 every second year. Six of the States have annual legis- 
 lative sessions, among them New York, in which every 
 movement for a change to biennial sessions has been 
 successfully resisted. Alabama has the distinction of 
 maintaining a Legislature which meets in regular session 
 one year in every four. 
 
 It should be noted that a number of the States limit 
 the length of their legislative sessions. This amounts 
 to a command that the Legislature shall finish its busi- 
 ness within a specified period, say, sixty days. Only in 
 States where the legislators are paid by the day does this 
 rule apply, the condition being that their compensation 
 shall cease after the time limit for the session has expired. 
 The pay of legislators ranges, in the several States, from 
 $3 a day, the rate allowed by Kansas and Oregon, to 
 $10 a day, the Nebraska, Kentucky and Montana 
 stipend. Where annual salaries are allowed, the pay is 
 from $200 per year or per session, the New Hampshire 
 salary, to $3,500, granted by Illinois. 
 
 In the States where the regular legislative session 
 occurs every two years, any need of emergency legisla- 
 tion can be met by a special session summoned by the 
 Governor ; but except in cases of great urgency, the 
 Governors are disinclined to call the Legislatures together 
 in the "off" years on account of the expense. Familiar 
 instances of departure from the biennial rule were seen 
 in 1920 when the Governors of several States called upon 
 the Legislatures to meet in special sessions, to act upon 
 the Nineteenth, or Woman Suffrage, amendment to the 
 Constitution.
 
 214 New Era Civics 
 
 7. State Constitutions. — Each State has its own con- 
 stitution, or organic law. The State is at liberty to frame 
 its constitution as it pleases, provided the republican form 
 of government is maintained and the State constitution 
 includes no provision which conflicts with the mandates 
 of the Federal Constitution. 
 
 In most of the States the constitutions are frequently 
 amended, and in all of them there is some provision for 
 amendment or revision. In thirty-six States express 
 constitutional provision is made for the assembling of 
 conventions to amend the constitution, and in a majority 
 of States the calling of such a convention depends upon 
 a preliminary vote of the people to that effect. In New 
 York, for example, the Legislature is empowered to order 
 an election at any time to decide whether a convention 
 shall be called to revise the constitution. If the vote is 
 an affirmative one, the people choose the delegates to 
 the convention at the next general election and the con- 
 vention itself meets in the April following. The new or 
 revised constitution framed by the convention is next 
 submitted to the voters, who either adopt or reject it. 
 This rule of procedure is substantially that followed in 
 most of the States. 
 
 The last State constitution framed in New York was 
 rejected by the people. This case was, however, excep- 
 tional. It is stated on good authority that fully nine- 
 tenths of the general revisions of constitutions submitted 
 to the people for approval in all the States have been 
 accepted by a majority of the voters expressing a choice. 
 This record speaks well for the success of such conven- 
 tions in answering public demands. 
 
 Where one or more special amendments to the con- 
 stitution are proposed, the Legislature is usually em- 
 powered to submit them directly to the people. In twelve
 
 The Government of the States 215 
 
 States there are no constitutional provisions in force for 
 the calHng of constitutional conventions. In such in- 
 stances, the Leg-ishiture uses its discretion in starting- the 
 machinery for revisions of the constitutions. Only in 
 nineteen States is it required by the constitution itself 
 that a general constitutional revision must be submitted 
 to the people. In the majority of the States, the action 
 of the convention is final, and in this class it often happens 
 that the Legislature expressly orders that it shall not be 
 necessary for the people to act upon the revised constitu- 
 tion. The disposition of the States to alter their con- 
 stitutions varies greatly. It has been more marked, as 
 a rule, in the Western than in the Eastern States. 
 
 STATE JUSTICE AND PUBLIC WELFARE 
 
 8. State Courts and Judges. — The importance of the 
 judicial branches of the State governments can be appre- 
 ciated vv^hen one reflects that by far the most of the civil 
 actions and criminal proceedings brought in each State 
 are of necessity tried before State magistrates and under 
 State laws. 
 
 The judicial business transacted before the Federal 
 courts is small in the mass compared with that which 
 engages the attention of the State courts. There are 
 many villages in the United States in which an offense 
 against the laws of the United States is never or rarely 
 known ; but all villages are familiar with trials for various 
 offenses or minor suits at law conducted before their local 
 courts. Every American community maintains a court 
 of some description to deal with violations of local or 
 State laws. The lowest in rank of the United States 
 courts, on the other hand, serve large districts. For 
 this reason the administration of State justice is 
 more familiar to the great majority of American citi-
 
 216 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 zens than that of Federal justice. It is under the au- 
 thority of the State that ordinary breaches of the law 
 are punished, and the legal complaints, grievances and 
 claims of the people are heard and settled by the courts. 
 In every State the judicial system ranges from humble 
 neighborhood courts to dignified courts of last resort, 
 and we find comparatively little difference in the prin- 
 ciples and methods of the State judiciaries, however their 
 
 titles may vary. In com- 
 paring the State with the 
 Federal courts two impor- 
 tant distinctions must, 
 however, be emphasized. 
 As we have already seen, 
 all of the regular Federal 
 judges, from the Supreme 
 Court down to the district 
 benches, are appointed by 
 the President and hold 
 ofiice for life — that is to 
 say, during good behavior. 
 In the great majority of States, however, the judges are 
 elected by the people and for limited terms. 
 
 As a rule the judges are chosen in the States for much 
 longer terms than are the executive and legislative 
 officers. The object is to make them more independent 
 of popular influence than the ordinary public servants, 
 and in this respect the Federal principle is at least partly 
 imitated by the States. In a few of the States the judges 
 are elected for comparatively short terms, but the general 
 practice lies in the other direction. Only in six States 
 are the judges of the highest courts appointed by the 
 Governor, and only in four are they chosen by the Legis- 
 lature ; so that the system of an elective judiciary of the 
 
 Underwuud iSi: UiiderwuoU. 
 
 A Seat of State Justice 
 
 View of the imposing court house at 
 Hackensack, N. J.
 
 The Government of the States 
 
 217 
 
 highest rank is maintained by no less than thirty-eight 
 of the States. In the length of judicial service the varia- 
 tion runs from the extreme of a hfe term, which is 
 favored by Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, 
 down to the two years term of Vermont. In the great 
 majority of States the terms range from six years to 
 twenty-one. Generally speaking, leading judges of the 
 State courts are better compensated than the ordinary 
 civil servants of the highest grade. 
 
 9. Administration of State Justice. — The standard 
 judicial system in the States calls for a court of last resort, 
 variously known as the Court of Appeals, the Supreme 
 Court and by other titles; for intermediate appellate 
 courts, w^hose judgment is final in many cases of lesser 
 magnitude ; for trial courts, representing fairly large dis- 
 tricts ; for city and 
 county courts, and 
 finally for village 
 or town courts, 
 presided over by 
 justices of the 
 peace. The trial 
 courts mentioned 
 here transact the 
 bulk of the impor- 
 tant judicial busi- 
 ness of each State, 
 and their juris- 
 diction covers the 
 more serious 
 crimes, including murder, and civil actions involving large 
 sums. Aside from these general classes, the States main- 
 tain probate or Surrogates' courts to see that the wills 
 of deceased persons are properly carried out. 
 
 liruun liius. 
 
 Where a State Court Sits 
 
 The Chamber of the New York Court of Appeals 
 at Albany.
 
 218 New Era Civics 
 
 The decisions of the highest courts of each State in 
 matters of grave moment are nearly always final, and 
 they can be appealed from to the United States Supreme 
 Court only in matters involving constitutional principles 
 and the relations of the States to the Federal govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Aside from the courts, each State is provided with 
 the necessary official machinery for the prosecution of 
 crime. All the counties have their prosecuting attorneys, 
 who safeguard the interests of the people in criminal 
 cases precisely as the attorney for the defense takes 
 care of the interests of the prisoner at the bar. There 
 are, moreover, separate local officers intrusted with such 
 duties as the summoning of juries and other services 
 incidental to administration of justice. 
 
 In all criminal proceedings, the first reliance of the 
 States and the Federal government alike is the Grand 
 Jury. It is this body that indicts, or accuses. The pro- 
 ceedings before it are secret. 
 
 In each State the Grand Jury is subject to the instruc- 
 tions and general supervision of the court, but the official 
 who directs its inquiries is the District Attorney, or public 
 prosecutor. It is the function of the Grand Jury to listen 
 to the evidence against an accused person and to deter- 
 mine whether it is sufficient to warrant an indictment. 
 If an indictment is brought, the next step is the arrest 
 of the accused person and his arraignment before the 
 court. If he pleads guilty, sentence is imposed and the 
 case ended. If not, his trial follows in due time before a 
 judge and petit jury. The whole course of justice at the 
 regular trial is strikingly different from that which 
 marked the Grand Jury formalities. The proceedings are 
 now public ; and the petit jury, unlike the Grand Jury, 
 hears the evidence both against and for the defendant.
 
 The Government of the States 
 
 219 
 
 On a State Highway 
 
 Mounted State policemen halting a 
 motor car. These men do duty in the 
 rural sections of New York State, and 
 they daily cover many miles of ground. 
 
 10. The Defense of 
 the State. — Every State 
 has its own military or- 
 ganization, which carries 
 the time-honored title of 
 militia, and the Governor 
 is its commander-in-chief, 
 though it is equipped with 
 State military officers ap- 
 pointed by him and sub- 
 ject to his authority. The 
 mission of the militia is to 
 protect the State and its 
 people from disturbances 
 
 and dangers too formidable to be dealt with by local 
 police. Usually it is so employed by order of the Gov- 
 ernor at the request of the executives of cities or other 
 local authorities. The officers of the militia, as well as 
 the privates, have no regular official pay. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the militia is not 
 
 a professional body of 
 fighters, but only a citizen 
 soldiery, and it is there- 
 fore not affected by the 
 provision of the Federal 
 Constitution that no State 
 shall maintain a standing 
 army without the consent 
 of Congress. 
 
 In addition to the 
 militia, a few of the States, 
 notably Pennsylvania and 
 New York, maintain 
 State police organizations. 
 
 C. Tracy, Wyoming. Pa. 
 
 State Policemen on Wheels 
 
 This is a motorcycle squad from the 
 
 State Constabulary of Pennsylvania, 
 
 the first regular organization of its 
 
 kind.
 
 220 ■ New Era Civics 
 
 Their function is the poHcing of the State and the pro- 
 tection of Hfe and property, more particularly in sparsely 
 settled sections which cannot be adequately covered by 
 town constables. 
 
 11. Diversity of State Methods. — The State, like the 
 Federal government, has its important departments of 
 public service, and these are directed by official chiefs 
 or commissions. The heads of these departments may 
 be either elected by the people or appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor, according to the different systems of State govern- 
 ment in force. 
 
 In practically every State there is a Secretary of 
 State, who has charge of what may be called its docu- 
 mentary work, such as the publication of new laws, the 
 issuing of various kinds of licenses, the certifying of 
 the charters of corporate and other associations, the 
 announcement of election returns and the like. 
 
 The custody of the public funds is confided to State 
 treasurers, and the accounting of expenditures to State 
 auditors, but the State methods in vogue in these branches 
 of the service greatly vary. 
 
 Each State has a legal officer or Attorney General 
 whose duty it is to defend the State in legal actions 
 wherein it is the defendant, to uphold the constitutionality 
 of laws when it is challenged and to serve as prosecutor 
 at times in cases of State import. 
 
 The public works and engineering operations of the 
 States are all in charge of officers, or boards, under dif- 
 ferent systems. 
 
 12. Caring for the Public Welfare. — These various 
 departments control the business proper of each State, 
 but their official fields are far from measuring the extent 
 and variety of its public service. While the cities assume 
 responsibility for the public health and for the dispensing
 
 The Government of the States 221 
 
 of charity within their own hmits, it is essential for the 
 State to maintain systems and estabhshments for similar 
 objects, especially to meet the wants of rural or semi- 
 rural communities which lack facilities or organizations 
 for the purpose. 
 
 For example, the authority of the State is necessary 
 to enforce the sanitary codes framed to conform to the 
 latest decrees of science. The health interests of States 
 are confided to boards or single executives. Among its 
 State charities, each State necessarily maintains hospitals 
 for the insane and these are generally supplemented by 
 State institutions for idiot children. The prisons and 
 reformatories are included among the establishments 
 under State control, and here^the systems of manage- 
 ment are far from uniform. 
 
 The license systems of the State cover not only per- 
 mits for corporations, but also the examination of candi- 
 dates for professional service (of whom physicians and 
 lawyers are the most familiar types) and the official 
 approval of their training and fitness. The followers 
 of other occupations, whose work is related to the health 
 and safety of citizens, are subjected to similar official 
 requirements before receiving permission to enter upon 
 their duties. Licenses, whether issued by the State or 
 by the city, are of many kinds. In every case, a license 
 is a written or printed document issued by the proper 
 official or officials, giving permission to the holder to 
 conduct some business or perform some service. 
 
 State commissions charged with the supervision of 
 forestry, fisheries, mining and the like are common in all 
 the States ; while others are vested with large powers 
 for the promotion of agriculture and the inspection of 
 food. The organization and functions of many State com- 
 missions are determined by the special character of the
 
 222 New Era Civics 
 
 natural resources and chief industries of the several 
 States, which vary immensely in our broad domain. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XIII 
 
 1. How many different kinds of State governments are there 
 in the United States? Name some of the powers withheld by the 
 Federal Constitution from the States. 
 
 2. Where is the power lodged regulating the right to vote? 
 Why is this an important power? What minor divisions of govern- 
 ment are controlled by the States? How is the revenue of States 
 provided? What power do the States possess most vital to the 
 people? Name some of the other State functions. 
 
 3. While the State systems of government differ, what special 
 feature is common to all? Explain the range of membership in the 
 various State Legislatures. 
 
 4. ^^'hat is the basis of legislative representation in the States? 
 Of what are the State Senate districts usually composed? Name 
 exceptions to this rule. Mention one of the difficulties met in shap- 
 ing the districts. 
 
 5. How is the Governor of each State elected? Tell somethmg 
 of his authority. 
 
 6. How do the terms of Governors vary? How many States 
 favor the four-year term? How many State Legislatures are re- 
 quired to meet every other year? How do the legislative sessions 
 differ in the States? How do the salaries vary? How is the need 
 of emergency legislation met? Cite an example. 
 
 7. What must be kept in mind by all States when framing their 
 constitutions ? What common provision do the constitutions con- 
 tain? What method is employed in many States in revising the 
 constitution? ^Mention some of the processes. 
 
 8. Tell why the judicial branches of the State governments are 
 of great importance. What is the volume of judicial business in 
 the States, as compared with the Federal government? What impor- 
 tant distinction must be noted between the Federal and State 
 judiciaries? Why are judges usually chosen for longer terms than 
 other officers of the State? What is the most approved method of 
 selecting the State judges? How does the length of their terms vary? 
 
 9. What does the standard judicial system of each State call 
 for? Which court handles the largest judicial business of the States? 
 What crimes are within its scope? For what are probate or Sur-
 
 The Government of the States 223 
 
 rogates' courts created? When can the decisions of the highest 
 State courts be appealed from? What county officials co-operate 
 with the trial courts? In what famous body do prosecutions for 
 crime originate? \\'hat is the Grand Jury's function? After an 
 indictment is brought, what are the next steps taken? Before what 
 jury are criminals tried? 
 
 10. \\ hat military organization exists in every State? Who is 
 the commander-in-chief of the militia? What other protective bodies 
 do some of the States maintain? 
 
 11. Name some of the business departments of the States, elec- 
 tive or appointive. 
 
 12. \\ hat are some of the public institutions conducted in the 
 various States? For what activities or services are the States accus- 
 tomed to issue licenses or certificates? Suggest the objects and 
 functions of some of the State commissions. 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. Who is the Governor of 3'our State? How long is the term 
 of office for which he is elected? What is his salary? 
 
 2. How often does your State Legislature assemble in regular 
 session? Is the length of its session limited by law? How many 
 members has the upper branch, or Senate, of 3^our Legislature? How 
 many has the lower branch ? How often are the members of each 
 body elected? Are they paid by the day, by the session or by the 
 year? \\hat is the pay of the members of each branch? 
 
 3. What other State officers besides the Governor are chosen 
 by all the voters in your State elections? 
 
 4. Is the pardoning power in your State exercised by the 
 Governor or by a pardoning board or commission? 
 
 5. Ascertain what provision is made in your State constitution 
 for its amendment or general revision. 
 
 6. What is your highest State court called? How many judges 
 are members of it? What is the length of their terms and how are 
 they chosen? What are the principal trial judges in your neigh- 
 borhood called — the judges who try important crimes or civil actions? 
 
 7. Xame some of 3-our most important State institutions, such 
 as State prisons and hospitals for the insane. Are they in charge 
 of commissions or of single executives? 
 
 8. Is there a commission or other ofificial agency in your State 
 for legulating public service corporations or for fixing their rates?
 
 CHAPTER XIV . 
 
 STATE REFORMS AND PROBLEMS 
 
 Popular government is organised self-control. — Elihu 
 Root. 
 
 1. Changing Old Methods. — In the late nineties there 
 was much public discontent with old party methods, and 
 it produced interesting results, particularly in the West 
 and Southwest. Among the most notable of these results 
 was the gradual adoption in the States of the system now 
 known as "direct primary nominations" for office. 
 
 The old method of naming candidates was through 
 the agency of conventions. The most common plans for 
 electing delegates to these conventions in the State at 
 large and in its districts, counties or cities were so de- 
 signed that party voters had comparatively little to do 
 with them. The State itself exercised only a loose con- 
 trol over them, and as a result many of the conven- 
 tions passed under the control of party bosses. At the 
 time referred to a revolt began, and steadily grew, against 
 the powerful influence of the bosses in the several States. 
 It was finally successful, in nearly the entire country, to 
 the extent that the convention system of nominations 
 was largely abandoned, and the voters assumed for them- 
 selves the duty of naming candidates for office at primary 
 elections. 
 
 This movement was not aimed at the national con- 
 ventions, for two reasons. One was that the national 
 
 224
 
 State Reforms and Problems 225 
 
 convention was considered a body too numerous and 
 too broadly representative to be subject to anything like 
 arbitrary control by a single man or small group of men. 
 The other was that no working substitute could be 
 devised for a convention representing a great federation 
 of States. At all events, there has never been a serious 
 agitation for the abolition of the national convention, 
 as a fair, representative and time-honored agency of 
 choosing national candidates to be voted for through 
 the Presidential Electors in all the States. 
 
 2. How the Old Plan Worked. — The primary sys- 
 tem, as it is known in all the States today, is new only 
 in the sense that it is direct. When the old nominating 
 conventions were in fashion, the delegates, at least to 
 the minor conventions, had to be chosen by the voters 
 at primary elections. But these elections were ill regu- 
 lated and to the comparatively few who attended them 
 they meant little or nothing, as a rule. There were 
 dififerent conventions for the nomination of Mayors and 
 other city officers, of county officers, of candidates for 
 the Legislature, for Congress and for the bench ; and 
 there were also larger conventions for the nomina- 
 tion of State officers. In many States the convention 
 systems consisted of wheels within wheels ; and minor 
 conventions chose the delegates to State conventions 
 and also to Congress and judicial conventions, where 
 several counties were represented in the nominating 
 bodies. 
 
 At the loosely controlled primaries of those days the 
 voter could not see very far ahead when he was called 
 upon to assist in electing delegates to the minor conven- 
 tions. His work was done when he voted his delegate 
 ticket; and from that stage onward the machinery of 
 naming candidates for public office was in the hands
 
 226 New Era Civics 
 
 of the party organizations, or, in most cases, of the bosses 
 who controlled them. The natural consequence was that 
 the party tickets, or lists of nominations for office, were 
 made up by individual politicians or inner circles of 
 politicians. In the great majority of cases there was 
 little or no pretense of consulting party sentiment when 
 these tasks were performed. In the case of State con- 
 ventions, and especially in the nomination of candidates 
 for the governorship, the party bosses or leaders very 
 often exercised an autocratic powder. 
 
 3. The Anti-Boss Revolt. — In the ten years follow- 
 ing 1895 there were signs of a radical change. In some 
 of the States, chiefly in the West, laws were passed for 
 the direct nomination of local candidates at party pri- 
 maries. But this was only the beginning of a reform 
 that spread through the States. The next step was the 
 abolition of the State convention, as a blow at the power 
 of the bosses. Wisconsin and Oregon took the lead in 
 establishing this reform on a large scale. In 1903-4 
 these States adopted laws for State-wide direct pri- 
 maries — that is, for primaries at which all the candidates 
 for office from Governor down to the most insignificant 
 local offices were to be nominated directly by the people, 
 on some date before the regular election day. The 
 Oregon act contained a declaration setting forth that 
 "the method of naming candidates for elective offices by 
 political parties and voluntary political organizations is 
 the best plan yet found for placing before the people the 
 names of qualified and willing citizens from whom the 
 electors may choose the officers of our government." 
 This statute not only introduced direct primaries for 
 nominations for office, but provided for their strict regu- 
 lation under State supervision. The direct primary was 
 simply an application of the old method of election by
 
 State Reforms and Problems 227 
 
 ballot to the nomination of party candidates to be voted 
 for on election day. 
 
 4. The Reform Spreads. — In 1907-8 Wisconsin and 
 Oregon were followed in the same direction by several 
 other States. Oklahoma took a step in advance of 
 all of them by coming into the Union in 1907 with a 
 State constitution making it obligatory for the Legisla- 
 ture to establish a system of State-controlled direct pri- 
 maries. Finally the system obtained a foothold in nearly 
 all the States, with the result that the nominating con- 
 vention almost entirely disappeared as an American in- 
 stitution within State boundaries. 
 
 In relation to the direct primary reform, it should be 
 observed that in the one-sided States, the States in which 
 one party enjoys an ascendancy rarely if ever disturbed, 
 the party primaries are often more actively contested 
 and excite more interest than the regular elections. This 
 is particularly true in the sure Democratic States of the 
 South, where nominations for Governor, Senator and 
 other high officers at the primaries are usually equivalent 
 to election. Some of the States have retained a sort of 
 compromise convention for recommending (not nominat- 
 ing) candidates. New York was one of these States. 
 But in New York a law was passed in 1921 restoring the 
 nominating convention for State and certain judicial 
 officers. 
 
 5. Safeguarding the Primaries. — In holding primaries 
 it is deemed necessary in most cases to provide some 
 guaranty that the voters are what they profess to be, 
 members of the party holding the primary. In most 
 States it is considered unreasonable and unwise to permit 
 opposition voters to have anything to do with the primary 
 nominations of a given party. To meet this difficulty 
 voters are usually required to attach themselves to their
 
 228 New Era Civics 
 
 party by enrollment. It follows in such instances that 
 if a man is unwilling to enroll with some party he must 
 forfeit the right to vote at the primaries. 
 
 6. Effects of the New System. — As stated, the chief 
 object of the direct primaries was to diminish the power 
 of the bosses by abolishing the nominating convention. 
 The theory was that it would be much more difficult 
 for the boss to influence the action of the masses of a 
 party at the primaries than it had been for him to con- 
 trol the comparatively small convention. But while 
 the nominating convention has gone, party bosses sur- 
 vive in most States, though one source of their power has 
 been taken away. Not a few observers insist that the 
 party committees, and therefore the bosses, now influence 
 primary decisions as much as they formerly influenced 
 the actions of conventions. 
 
 However that may be, there is at least this difference : 
 that the voters render their decisions on primary day 
 with the names of all the candidates before them, and 
 that they have the opportunity to reject unworthy or 
 unacceptable candidates recommended by the committee 
 or boss, and to favor more deserving candidates. As it 
 was under the old regime, the nominations were often kept 
 dark until the conventions had made their choice, and 
 the dissatisfied party voter had no remedy except a vote 
 on election day against the candidate or candidates whom 
 he found distasteful. In a number of States, moreover, 
 nominations for office can be made by petition after the 
 primaries, and this system opens up an additional oppor- 
 tunity to discontented voters. 
 
 7. Suggested Drawbacks. — Opposition is often ex- 
 pressed to the new method of nominating candidates. 
 It is charged that it gives an advantage to the wealthy 
 candidate for State office, owing to the heavy expense
 
 State Reforms and Problems 229 
 
 of a primary canvass; that under the convention system 
 the deserving candidate with Hmited means had a better 
 chance. It is also pointed out that where several can- 
 didates enter the race for the same office in a party pri- 
 mary it happens frequently that the leading candidate, 
 chosen by a plurality vote, is far from popular with an 
 actual majority of the party. But in spite of these and 
 other objections, the direct-primary reform has made 
 wonderful headway in the States. 
 
 8. The Initiative and Referendum. — In about one- 
 quarter of the States, largely confined to the West, the 
 direct primary reform has been supplemented by another 
 system calling for a more active participation of the 
 people in public affairs. It is known as the initiative 
 and referendum. It is a plan whereby the voters may 
 be permitted to take part in legislation. 
 
 The initiative consists of a movement by a certain 
 number of voters, who sign their names to petitions, to 
 submit to the State Legislature certain questions for 
 action. In these cases the petitioners ask that a law 
 or several laws named by them shall be passed by the 
 Legislature. The number of petitioners required varies, 
 but it is never more than a comparatively small fraction 
 of the entire vote. 
 
 The referendum is a process for submitting laws 
 passed by a State Legislature for approval or rejection 
 by the voters, as the case may be. In principle the 
 referendum is not new, for this mode of putting State 
 constitutions in force has been long in operation. It is 
 new, or comparatively so, only as applied to obtain popu- 
 lar judgment on ordinary laws. It has long been the 
 occasional practice of States to submit to the people 
 questions of unusual importance, and the referendum is 
 only a form of this custom, extended to include minor
 
 230 New Era Civics 
 
 subjects. Judging by the vote generally cast in such 
 referenclums, it cannot be said that the voters take a 
 deep interest, as a rule, in the questions thus proposed. 
 
 9. The Recall. — The recall is a political device for 
 enabling voters to pass judgment on the records of elec- 
 tive officers before their terms of service have expired. 
 The idea underlying it is that voters should have the 
 power to retire executive or legislative officials from 
 office whenever they lose confidence in them. Relatively 
 few States have put this system in force. Under its 
 operation, a certain number of voters in a State or 
 lesser community may decide that an official is unworthy 
 or incompetent and may sign a petition and protest to 
 that effect. He must then resign his office or submit his 
 cause to the voters at an election, as against one or more 
 opponents, precisely as if he were a candidate for office 
 for the first time. The election of course decides whether 
 he shall remain in office or retire. This right of recall 
 is rarely used in the States in which it is authorized 
 by law. 
 
 10. Curbing Corporations and Monopolies. — The 
 crusade in the States to curb the power of the bosses 
 coincided with a lively, widespread uprising against the 
 trusts and other corporations. It had become formidable 
 when Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the Presidency 
 in 1901, and it was stimulated by his own anti-trust policy 
 and activities in the Federal sphere. His example was 
 followed by leading reformers in the States. The story is a 
 long one, and it is enough to say that the practical result 
 is a stricter regulation, in virtually all the States, of cor- 
 porations chartered to perform various kinds of public 
 service within their boundaries, such as transportation, 
 lighting, the supply of electric power and telegraphic and 
 telephonic communication.
 
 State Reforms and Problems 
 
 231 
 
 In many of the States this newly asserted power in- 
 cludes a control of the rates charged for corporation 
 service, through the agency of commissions especially 
 created for that purpose. 
 
 STATE PROBLEMS 
 
 11. Workingmen's Compensation Systems. — The in- 
 terests of agriculture and of labor are well protected by 
 the States. Their promotion of agriculture usually takes 
 the shape of schools for scientific farming and, in most 
 
 
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 Factory Fire Drill 
 
 An evidence of State interest in the safety of factory operatives. In many 
 States the laws for protecting industrial workers from fire and disease are 
 
 very strict. 
 
 of the large food-producing States, of State expositions. 
 The war and its food necessities gave a fresh impetus 
 to State patronage of agriculture. 
 
 With regard to labor. State progress has been most 
 evident in the passage of acts insuring compensation to 
 injured workmen engaged in hazardous employments, 
 and to their families in the case of fatal accidents. At 
 
 16
 
 232 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 the beginning of 1921, all but a few States maintained 
 systems for workingmen's compensation, as it is called. 
 A common feature of these systems is that they require 
 employers to take out insurance to cover compensation 
 to their workmen for injuries, medical attendance and 
 death benefits. 
 
 The relations of capital and labor are further recog- 
 nized in most of the States by the maintenance of arbi- 
 
 A Factory Interior 
 
 This illustration, furnished by the New York Department of Labor, Bureau 
 of Industrial Hygiene, shows an unobstructed wide aisle leading to an exit. 
 Note clean condition of floor, installed sprinkler system, artificial lights, 
 protected to prevent glare. The walls and ceilings are painted white 
 and thus constitute a good reflective surface affording uniform illumination 
 
 throughout the shop. 
 
 tration commissions of one kind or another to settle 
 industrial disputes and, if possible, to prevent strikes. 
 
 Great progress has been made in recent years in the 
 State systems of factory protection against fire and other 
 dangers to which workers may be exposed. 
 
 The interest of the States in the industrial classes has 
 taken another benevolent turn in their codes of laws 
 relating to child labor and the labor of women. In the
 
 State Reforms and Problems 233 
 
 case of children the best of these laws have provided 
 stringent safeguards against the employment of children 
 below a certain age or under conditions unfavorable to 
 health and growth. Indeed, it may be said that the 
 current of public opinion in the States has been running 
 strongly in favor of more carefully regulated systems of 
 child labor. The same philanthropic impulse is seen 
 in the multiplication of laws reducing the hours of labor 
 for women. Some of the States have gone a step further 
 and enacted minimum-wage laws for women, or laws 
 prescribing rates of wages below which employers can- 
 not legally go in fixing the compensation of women 
 workers. 
 
 12. Civil Service in the States. — The reform of the 
 Civil Service by the introduction of the merit system 
 has not made as rapid headway in the States as under 
 the Federal government. The first elaborate National 
 Civil Service law, known as the Pendleton act, was passed 
 in 1883. A few months afterwards the Legislature of 
 New York adopted a State Civil Service law and among 
 its most zealous supporters were Governor Cleveland 
 and Theodore Roosevelt, who was then serving in the 
 New York Assembly. In the following year, 1884, Massa- 
 chusetts placed a Civil Service law on her statute books, 
 but more than twenty years elapsed before any other 
 State followed suit. Wisconsin adopted such a law in 
 1905, Colorado in 1907, New Jersey in 1908, Connecticut 
 in 1911, Ohio and California in 1912, and Kansas in 1915. 
 Other States have been gradually added to the list. What 
 is more, the reform has been introduced into many 
 cities by special laws, forming parts of their municipal 
 charters. 
 
 13. Prison Reform. — Virtually all the States have 
 made gratifying progress, especially since the beginning
 
 234 New Era Civics 
 
 of the twentieth century in dealing with persons im- 
 prisoned for crime. The general tendency in this respect 
 has been to treat the convict in such a way as to en- 
 courage him to lead a better life after his release from 
 confinement. It has been felt by leading prison reformers 
 that the main object of imprisonment, which is to punish 
 wrong-doers and to warn others, can be accomplished 
 without degrading them unnecessarily and thus robbing 
 them of their remaining self-respect and perhaps stifling 
 their inclination to reform. With this wise theory in 
 mind, progressive States have changed their prison sys- 
 tems by doing away with the old striped uniform for 
 convicts, by making their surroundings more sanitary 
 and livable, by permitting them to form "prison welfare" 
 associations with officers chosen by themselves, and by 
 holding these associations responsible for the enforce- 
 ment of the prison rules. Under this new and better 
 plan, the general aim is to put the inmates "on their 
 honor" and to quicken whatever desire they may have 
 for moral and mental improvement. 
 
 As a further influence to the same end, the courts in 
 a number of the States now give indeterminate sen- 
 tences, as they are called, to persons convicted for the 
 first time. Such a sentence is for a varying term, as, 
 for example, for from two to five years. If the prisoner 
 is well behaved, in such cases, he is released on parole 
 when the minimum, or lesser, period of two years has 
 expired. That ends his punishment if he leads a decent 
 life. But if he breaks his parole by any lawless act he 
 is returned to prison, where he must serve out the max- 
 imum, or longer, sentence. 
 
 The more advanced States have also made good head- 
 way in separating, by confining in different institutions, 
 offenders of different types. In pursuance of this policy.
 
 State Reforms and Problems 235 
 
 every State has its reformatories for youthful law- 
 breakers of both sexes. In such cases the main object 
 of confinement is to remove the inmates from evil in- 
 fluences and associations in their home localities, with- 
 out exposing them to contact with hardened convicts. 
 
 For less guilty offenders of this youthful class juvenile 
 courts and systems of probation are established in the 
 cities by State laws. By this means many wayward 
 boys and girls are saved from moral danger. The culprits 
 are brought before judges who are experienced in this 
 class of cases. If the}' are guilty of some serious offense 
 they are taken under the protection of the court and 
 released on probation. Under this system they are 
 obliged to report from time to time to the judge, and 
 they are also kept under observation by probation officers 
 whose duty it is to see that their conduct is in line with 
 their good promises. Many of these children are only 
 truants from school. In all such cases the probation 
 officers take particular pains to encourage the children 
 to attend school faithfully. Where the children are above 
 school age efforts are made to find employment for them. 
 The whole object of the juvenile courts and probation 
 system is to correct erring boys and girls and direct them 
 in the right path. 
 
 14. State Taxation. — In American cities the prin- 
 ciple source of revenue for public purposes is taxation 
 on real estate — on all buildings and on vacant grounds. 
 Many of the States also derive a part of their revenue 
 from real estate taxation. But the States chiefly rely 
 upon what are known as indirect taxes, because they are 
 not levied directly or generally. These taxes are rather 
 made to fall upon special classes or interests. Good 
 examples of them are taxes on corporations, on railroad 
 and street railway franchises, on the sale of securities
 
 236 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 like shares of stock, and on the estates of deceased per- 
 sons. This last named tax, or tax upon inheritances, is 
 so levied that small estates left to widows and children 
 pay little or nothing to the State. In the case of larger 
 
 inheritances the tax rate is 
 increased by many States 
 according to the size of 
 the inheritance, and such 
 relatives as cousins or 
 nephews, who may receive 
 bequests, have to pay a 
 larger tax, in proportion, 
 than direct heirs. 
 
 Since the World War, 
 which imposed fresh bur- 
 dens upon all the States, 
 as well as upon the Fed- 
 eral government, the prob- 
 lem of State taxation has 
 increased in gravity. In 
 about the same period a 
 number of the States have 
 been obliged to find new 
 sources of revenue to 
 make up for their loss of 
 income through the abolition of the liquor traffic by the 
 Eighteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. In 
 such States the traffic was formerly licensed under excise 
 systems, which yielded considerable revenue. Various 
 substitutes for the excise tax have now been provided, 
 and one of the most common is a State tax on personal 
 incomes similar to that levied by the United States gov- 
 ernment, but calling for a smaller tax rate. In some 
 States, therefore, the residents pay two income taxes. 
 
 The Center of Population 
 
 By the Federal Census of 1920 it was 
 shown that the center of population 
 of the United States is located on a 
 farm eight miles west of Whitehall, 
 Indiana.
 
 State Reforms and Problems 237 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XiV 
 
 1. Tell something about the origin of the movement for "direct 
 primary nominations." 
 
 2. What kind of primaries was in force in the old convention 
 days? Did the voters exercise much power at that time? What 
 class of delegates to conventions were they allowed to select? Who 
 controlled the machinery of the more important conventions? Were 
 the bosses accustomed to consult party sentiment? What was the 
 authority of the boss, as a rule, over State conventions? 
 
 3. How did the people first attempt to lessen the power of the 
 bosses? A\'hat were the first States to adopt the direct primary for 
 State nominations? What was the State-wide direct primary as 
 indicated by the Wisconsin and Oregon systems? 
 
 4. Describe the progress of the reform. In what class of 
 States does the primary excite more interest than the general elec- 
 tion? In what modified form does a species of State convention 
 still survive? 
 
 5. How were the primaries safeguarded under the new system? 
 W'hy were such precautions considered necessary? 
 
 6. How would you describe the chief object of the direct 
 primary reform? Did it succeed in eliminating the party boss? 
 If not, in what respect did the party voters gain an advantage from 
 it? What opportunity is open to voters in many States if they are 
 dissatisfied with party nominations? 
 
 7. Name some of the objections that have been offered to the 
 direct primary. Have these weakened the reform in the public 
 favor ? 
 
 8. What is the initiative? In about how many States is it 
 in force? How is it generally put in operation? What is the nature 
 of the referendum? Is the principle back of it a new one? If not, 
 in what respect may it be called a novelty? Is the popular interest 
 in legislative referendums usually very marked? 
 
 9. What is the recall? Does it prevail in many States? What 
 is the process generally followed in requiring officials to submit to 
 the recall? Is the right of recall frequently exercised by the voters? 
 
 10. What other movement occurred at about the time the direct 
 primary reform for curbing the power of the bosses engaged the 
 public attention? Who became a conspicuous leader of it in the 
 national field? What practical fruit did it bear in State legislation? 
 What effect has the new system on rate regulation?
 
 238 New Era Civics 
 
 11. By what system have nearly all the States protected the 
 interests of labor? What is the purpose of the various Working- 
 men's Compensation acts? What official provision for adjusting 
 labor disputes is in force in many States? 
 
 12. What was the first State to adopt Civil Service Reform? 
 To what extent has it been established in the States and cities? 
 
 13. What change has taken place in the States regarding prison 
 methods and management? How has the effect of it been seen in 
 the treatment of convicts? How does the indeterminate sentence 
 work? Tell something about State reformatories, juvenile courts 
 and the probation system. 
 
 14. Upon what kind of taxation do the States generally rely 
 for their revenue? Give examples of indirect taxation. How are 
 inheritance taxes usually levied? What source of revenue has been 
 lost to a number of States, and what new tax have some of the 
 States adopted in its place? 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. Are all the elective officers of your State, or a part of them, - 
 nominated by direct primaries? 
 
 2. If the nominating convention still exists in your State, what 
 candidates are named by this system? 
 
 3. Are the initiative and referendum employed in j'our State? 
 
 4. Do the laws of your State provide for the recall of public 
 officers by means of petitions demanding a new election?
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 VOTING QUALIFICATIONS AND METHODS 
 
 The freeman casting zvith unpurchased hand 
 The vote that shakes the turrets of the land. 
 
 — Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
 
 ^- 1. Early Voting Restrictions. — The voting privilege 
 is as old as the Republic itself, but the system of man- 
 hood and womanhood suffrage as it now exists is the 
 result of many changes and improvements and presents 
 a striking contrast with the original voting qualifications 
 and methods. The word "democracy" means "govern- 
 ment by the people," but the American democracy of 
 the time of Washington and Jefferson, so far as voting 
 rights were concerned, was very far from a government 
 by the people, as we understand the phrase today. 
 
 The framers of the Federal Constitution imposed 
 various restraints upon the exercise of the power of the 
 people through the ballot in the national field. The new 
 Constitution provided that only one class of Federal 
 officers, the members of the House of Representatives, 
 should be chosen directly at the polls; and that the 
 President and Senators in Congress should be chosen 
 indirectly — ^the President by the Electoral College and 
 the Senators by the State Legislatures. At the time the 
 Constitution was adopted the voting element of the popu- 
 lation was relatively small in numbers — a sort of privi- 
 leged class. The Constitution makers left it to the States 
 
 239
 
 240 New Era Civics 
 
 to decide what the qualifications of their voters should 
 be. The States could bestow the right to vote upon 
 whom they pleased. The framers of the Constitution 
 tnerefore considered it wise to interpose some check upon 
 the voting power of the people in the choice of President 
 and Senators, while leaving them free to select directly 
 their representatives in what has generally been regarded 
 as the popular branch of Congress. 
 
 \^ 2. Property-Holding the First Test. — Up to a period 
 following the Civil War the States had absolute power 
 to decide, each for itself, what classes of their people 
 should have the right to vote. The policies of the original 
 thirteen States in that respect were cautious and con- 
 servative. In none of them did manhood suffrage — the 
 right of every male citizen who had attained his majority 
 to cast a ballot — exist. The almost universal rule was 
 to insist upon a property qualification for voters. That 
 is, no citizen could vote who did not pay taxes on a cer- 
 tain amount of property. The requirement does not 
 seem very tyrannical for that distant time. But in 
 the early days of the Republic, when the country was 
 thinly settled and the means of self-support were not 
 easily wrung from the soil or acquired by other humble 
 occupations, the property test was sufficient to exclude 
 a large number of males from the suffrage. 
 
 The idea of our State authorities at the time when 
 the Union was formed was to confine the ballot to "'solid" 
 citizens — to those who, through their ownership of prop- 
 erty, had some material interest at stake in the conduct 
 of the .government. Thus, in Virginia, the most populous 
 of the original States, no man could vote in a country 
 district unless he owned at least fifty acres of land or 
 twentv-five acres with a house, or in a town unless he 
 owned a house and lot. The Virginia requirements were
 
 Votinsf Qualifications and Methods 241 
 
 't> 
 
 repeated in substance, in several of the other States. In 
 other words, the possession of fifty acres of land or its 
 equivalent was quite common as a voting qualification. 
 In Pennsylvania any man who paid taxes could vote. In 
 Massachusetts, the voter had to own property valued at 
 sixty pounds, while Georgia was more liberal, fixing the 
 sum at ten pounds. 
 
 The number of males who were deprived of the right 
 to vote by these laws can only be roughly estimated. 
 Thomas Jefferson is on record as saying that the majority 
 of the men of his State, "who pay and fight for its sup- 
 port," were unrepresented in the Legislature, because 
 they had no votes. In Massachusetts it was estimated 
 that a quarter of the adult males were denied the right 
 of suffrage because they lacked the property qualification. 
 
 3. The Tests for Office-Holding. — On account of the 
 voting restrictions in the original States, none but prop- 
 erty owners were qualified to hold public office. In some 
 of the States this office-holding test was so severe that 
 only well-to-do citizens could be elected to the Governor- 
 ship. In Maryland no man could be chosen Governor 
 who did not possess five thousand pounds in lawful 
 money, a considerable sum in those days ; and in South 
 Carolina the money requirement was raised to ten thou- 
 sand pounds. In several of the States members of the 
 Legislature were obliged to own more property than the 
 ordinary qualified voter, and in none of them was a man 
 without property eligible to any important office. 
 
 4. Vermont Introduces Manhood Suffrage. — Ver- 
 mont, the first of the new States admitted to the Union 
 (in 1791), set a better example looking toward liberal 
 democracy. Her constitution granted what was prac- 
 tically white manhood suffrage. It conceded the right 
 to vote to every man who was "of a quiet and peaceable
 
 242 New Era Civics 
 
 behavior," to quote its quaint phrase, and who was will- 
 ing to take what was called "the freeman's oath." This 
 was a sworn pledge, according to his conscience, "with- 
 out fear or favor of any man," to vote in such a way as 
 would "conduce to the best good" of the State. 
 
 The two other States that joined the sisterhood before 
 the close of the eighteenth century were Kentucky and 
 Tennessee, which patterned their voting system after 
 Vermont's in this respect. They, too, virtually estab- 
 lished manhood suffrage. After that the further west 
 the new country extended the more democratic it grew. 
 But it took the older States some time to feel this liberal- 
 izing influence. Not only did they retain the property 
 qualification for voting long after the adoption of the 
 Federal Constitution, but some of them provided religious 
 tests for the voter and the office-holder in the first ten 
 }'ears of the nation's existence. 
 
 Finally, one by one the older States fell into line for 
 a broader suffrage and a more consistent democracy. In 
 1820 Massachusetts extended the suffrage to every citizen 
 willing to pay a small fee for the privilege, known as a 
 poll tax. New York established manhood suffrage soon 
 afterwards, and Virginia in 1830. By the mid-forties the 
 right of all adult male citizens to vote was generally 
 recognized throughout the States. 
 
 5. The Colored Vote, — At the beginning colored men 
 were subject to the same voting qualifications as whites 
 in the five States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New 
 York, New Jersey and North Carolina. Afterwards New 
 Jersey and North Carolina withdrew the privilege from 
 colored citizens. Some of the new States, beginning with 
 Vermont, granted the suffrage only to colored owners of 
 property, but most of them confined the ballot to white 
 citizens. When the older States abolished the property
 
 Votino: Qualifications and Methods 243 
 
 't> 
 
 qualification for white voters, all of them, with the excep- 
 tion of Rhode Island, kept it in force with regard to 
 colored citizens. Strictly speaking, therefore, the man- 
 hood suffrage which was prevalent in the whole of the 
 United States for some years before the Civil War was 
 in reality white suffrage. The States had full power 
 under the Constitution to bar the colored man from the 
 ballot box. But the power was extinguished by the adop- 
 tion of the Fifteenth amendment in 1870. 
 
 This amendment does not specifically provide that 
 every man of African descent shall be permitted to vote. 
 It simply decrees that no State shall withhold the suffrage 
 from citizens on account of "race, color or previous con- 
 dition of servitude." The intent of that article was to 
 place the colored men on the same plane as the whites 
 in the enactment of State laws relating to the suffrage. 
 
 6. Limiting the Suffrage Again. — The adoption of 
 this amendment was one of the incidental results of the 
 Civil War. But before that conflict was fought a reaction 
 against full manhood suffrage had taken place in a num- 
 ber of States. The fruit of this change in public senti- 
 ment was seen in the introduction of voting restrictions 
 aimed chiefly at immigrants. The prejudice back of it 
 originated with the heavy immigration from Europe be- 
 ginning in the forties. New qualifications for voting were 
 then created, and the most familiar of them was the edu- 
 cational test intended to exclude from the polls persons 
 who could not read and write. 
 
 Connecticut introduced the first educational qualifica- 
 tion of this kind in 1855 when her voters adopted a State 
 Constitutional amendment providing that every person 
 must "be able to read any article of the Constitution 
 or anv section of the statutes of this State before being 
 admitted as an elector." Two years later Massachusetts
 
 244 New Era Civics 
 
 followed suit with an amendment prescribing that no 
 one could vote who could not read a section of the Con- 
 stitution in the English language and write his own name. 
 Today this simple test of education or literacy is still 
 enforced in a number of States. 
 
 7. Methods of Voting. — The changes in the qualifica- 
 tions for voting have not been more marked than the 
 changes in the methods of voting — an entirely different 
 thing. Up to a period within the memory of our older 
 citizens the laws or customs governing the deposit of 
 ballots on election day were very lax, and as a conse- 
 quence serious abuses of the voting privilege were com- 
 mon. For about a century after the adoption of the 
 Federal Constitution, the chief concern of the politicians 
 was "get out the vote," and the vote itself was a written 
 or printed slip of a primitive kind. John Greenleaf Whit- 
 tier, in his poem "The Eve of Election," long ago called 
 the ballots "the written scrolls a breath might float." In 
 the old days before the Civil War not only did the paper 
 ballots take on a great variety of forms, but there was 
 little pretense of regulating their distribution. Such 
 details as the printing of ballots, where they were actually 
 printed, and their circulation among the voters, were left 
 to the candidates and their friends or to political com- 
 mittees. 
 
 A generation or so ago, the State laws had com- 
 paratively little to do with the preparation of the ballots. 
 Prior to 1889, some of the States had laws on their statute 
 books requiring a standard, uniform size and color for 
 the ballots, but subject to these conditions the party com- 
 mittees and interested persons had a pretty free hand 
 in providing the stationery, as it were, for the voting 
 process. In all the States, laws were in force prohibiting 
 election bribery and fraudulent voting or "repeating" by
 
 Voting Qualifications and Methods 245 
 
 individuals ; but, aside from these legal precautions, the 
 States exercised little supervision over the act or means 
 of voting. The effect of this free-and-easy method of 
 voting was to encourage the corruption and intimidation 
 of many citizens. It can be seen that open voting en- 
 couraged the activities of those who made it their busi- 
 ness to bribe dishonest persons, or to influence weak ones. 
 
 Vic Lambdin. 
 
 Voting in the Old Days 
 
 Before the advent of the secret ballot and the closed polling booth, voting 
 was a rather open process. The polling places were usually vacant stores 
 or shops or the sidewalk fronting a store or shop window, through which 
 the voters handed their ballots to an election clerk. Under the lax laws at 
 that time, the party ballots were distributed before election day, and prudent 
 voters came to the polling places with their voting tickets already prepared. 
 Voters who did not take this precaution were besieged and "buttonholed" 
 by poll workers in the interest of candidates or parties. 
 
 The ballots were distributed on the day or night pre- 
 ceding the election, but many voters were not supplied 
 in this way and waited for their visits to the polls to 
 obtain their ballots from party workers. 
 
 About the only secrecy attending the voting process 
 of those days was that which the voter himself insured
 
 246 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 by preparing his ballots in advance, folding them care- 
 fully and clutching them firmly in his hand as he ap- 
 proached the window or other opening where the election 
 clerk received them and deposited them in the various 
 boxes. At the polls the voter was openly solicited to vote 
 for this or that candidate, and nearly every citizen had 
 
 to undergo an embar- 
 rassing experience in this 
 regard. As may be im- 
 agined, under such con- 
 ditions vote-buyers could 
 ply their criminal trade 
 with considerable assur- 
 ance that the corrupted 
 man would vote as di- 
 rected. On the other hand, 
 those who wished to use 
 persuasion on voters with- 
 out bribery had every op- 
 portunity to do so. 
 
 In time it became evi- 
 dent that the crying evils 
 of this system could be 
 corrected only by two 
 practical reforms. One 
 was absolute secrecy in 
 voting and the other was 
 the publication and dis- 
 tribution of an official 
 ballot by the State under strict safeguards. The idea 
 back of these reforms was borrowed from Australia, and 
 the system by which it was introduced into this country 
 is still known as the Australian ballot. It is also called 
 the Massachusetts ballot, because Massachusetts was the 
 
 The Secret Ballot 
 
 Secret voting is now the universal 
 rule. The above cut represents a 
 voter closing behind him the curtains 
 of a ballot machine. The closing of the 
 •curtains unlocks the small levers on the 
 iTiachine, which he can then shift as he 
 pleases.
 
 Voting; Qualifications and Alethods 247 
 
 first State to adopt it for all elections, by a law enacted 
 in 1889. 
 
 8. The Massachusetts and Other Official Ballots. — 
 The new system did away with open and irregular vot- 
 ing, and put the voting process where it belongs, under 
 the official control of the State. Its chief requirements 
 were four. First, that all ballots should be printed 
 under the direction of public officials and at the public 
 expense, and distributed, under official custody, among 
 the various polling booths at a reasonable time before the 
 opening of the booths on election day. Second, that 
 the names of all candidates for office should be printed 
 on a single sheet (thus 
 displacing the old system 
 of separate ballots for the 
 different candidates, or 
 sets of candidates). Third, 
 that each voter, after his 
 name had been called and 
 his right to vote verified, 
 should receive a ballot 
 and be permitted to retire 
 with it to a private poll- 
 ing booth and prepare it 
 for casting. Fourth, that 
 the list of candidates 
 should be so arranged on 
 
 the ballot that the voter could easily indicate his choice 
 with a penciled cross in a square before the name of each 
 candidate. Such are the main features of the Australian, 
 or Massachusetts, ballot reform. The}- have been varied 
 by all the States adopting it, though the general prin- 
 ciple has been accepted. The vote of every man and 
 woman on election day is their own secret. . 
 
 17 
 
 4 DisxErcT xrmsnm (Vot<> xor wa). 
 
 
 X 
 
 Ct t.vWJ.S A 'kif.J^ 1^5 ............ . KtfwW^ciKi 
 
 KO^^S... .KH,=,S '■•.— YiS^t:^''.. 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 , .mWlriF K-llt»>S ,...,._fiv)M!-im.l,| 
 
 1 '"■' 
 
 Z.J-"—:,,:.-:^,:f^ 
 
 
 I 
 
 .'.W;".l-. Mi-.i: «»:«->: ,.,.. .So.uflafciir 
 
 1,1 
 
 
 The Crossmark 
 
 Section of a Massachusetts ballot 
 showing the squares before the candi- 
 dates named. The voter marks a cross 
 before the name of the candidate he 
 favors. To the left are the party- 
 emblems.
 
 248 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 "Splitting" the Ticket 
 
 A section of an official ballot, on which 
 the voter can vote a "straight" ticket 
 by marking a cross in a circle at the 
 head of his party column. In this in- 
 stance the voter has placed a cross- 
 mark in his party circle, but he has 
 also marked two names in the next 
 column. This means that the two 
 lower crosses must be counted for the 
 Democrats whose names are marked, 
 but all his other votes go for the can- 
 didates in the Republican column. 
 
 The advantages of the new system were so obvious, 
 particularly in the matter of protecting secrecy in voting 
 and therefore discouraging bribery and intimidation, that 
 it gradually made headway throughout the country. On 
 the Massachusetts ballot the names were so grouped that 
 
 the candidates were voted 
 for by offices. Some of 
 the other States, while ac- 
 cepting the official ballot, 
 insisted on grouping the 
 names of candidates by 
 parties and permitting a 
 voter to indicate his pref- 
 erence for an entire set of 
 party candidates with a 
 single crossmark. But 
 the general tendency in 
 all the States has been to 
 introduce some variety of 
 the Massachusetts ballot 
 that secures, by stringent 
 election laws, the right of 
 the citizen to cast his bal- 
 lot unmolested and unob- 
 served and to exercise a 
 deliberate choice in the marking of the official sheet or 
 sheets provided for his use. 
 
 The new system is not without its drawbacks. In 
 many cities and counties, it is necessary to print ballots 
 of enormous size to accommodate all the names, and the 
 task of marking them properly is no light one. The term 
 "blanket ballot" is often used to describe them. But in 
 such cases it is customary to placard the walls of the 
 polling places with sample ballots duplicating the official
 
 Votins: Oualifications and Methods 
 
 249 
 
 ones and containing elaborate instructions for the voter's 
 guidance. 
 
 9. The Registration Requirement. — Voters are iden- 
 tified by the registration records. In practically all the 
 States there are strict regulations for the registration of 
 voters in advance of the elections. This is really a direc- 
 tory of voters, with details as to age, nativity, place and 
 length of residence and the like, and it furnishes the elec- 
 tion clerks with the necessary information for check- 
 ing off the names of 
 voters when they present 
 themselves on election 
 day. 
 
 10. Voting by Ma- 
 
 .T.~, .—, - ... Bim I ...t. 
 
 
 uca ru»iu 
 
 Shifting the Machine Lever 
 
 Registering a vote for a chosen can- 
 didate. While the voter remains in 
 the booth he can move the levers at 
 will, but when he leaves, the levers are 
 automatically locked and his vote is 
 registered on the hidden dial of the 
 machine. This dial is not exposed 
 until the polls are closed. 
 
 chinery, — The paper bal- 
 lot is not the only agency 
 for voting. In a number 
 of cities, particularly in 
 New York State, ballot 
 machines are employed to 
 register the choice of the 
 voters. The original de- 
 vice of this kind was in- 
 vented by Jacob H. Myers 
 of Rochester, and was first 
 put to practical use in 
 1896. In its latest de- 
 velopment votes are regis- 
 
 tered on the machine by 
 the moving of a lever under the name of each can- 
 didate on its dial. The recording of the votes is auto- 
 matic, and the figures cannot be seen by the voter while 
 it is in progress. But after the polls are closed the total 
 vote for each candidate is disclosed by the unlocking of
 
 250 New Era Civics 
 
 a secret register. The chief merit claimed for the machine 
 is its prompt announcement of the result. 
 
 11. Residence Qualifications. — In all the States the 
 election laws require a certain period of residence as a 
 condition for voting. This is called the residence quali- 
 fication, and it varies in the different States from three 
 months to two years. In a majority of the States the 
 requirement is one year. Maine has been a lenient State 
 in this regard, allowing a citizen otherwise qualified to 
 vote after a three months' residence within her borders. 
 Seven States allow the franchise only to those who have 
 resided there at least two years, and in eleven States a 
 six months' residence is deemed long enough. 
 
 In most of the States, moreover, the election laws 
 prescribe that the voter must have been, for some fixed 
 period, a resident of the county, the city or the town and 
 the election district in which he or she registers. The 
 election district is the smallest geographical unit for 
 voting purposes, and it may be within the boundaries 
 of a city ward or a country town. The idea back of this 
 arrangement is to have in each election district about the 
 number of voters that can be accommodated at the poll- 
 ing place of the district within the hours of election day. 
 The different residential requirements for voting in the 
 State and in its counties and election districts may be 
 conveniently illustrated in the case of New York. There 
 it is necessary for the voter to be for one year a resident 
 of the State, for four months a resident of the county and 
 for thirty days a resident of the election district. In the 
 different States the voting requirement for counties, cities 
 or towns varies from one year to ten days, the last 
 named regulation prevailing in Wisconsin. 
 
 It is necessary to insist on these residence qualifica- 
 tions, even in the case of natural born citizens, to prevent
 
 Voting Qualifications and Methods 251 
 
 fraudulent voting. If there were no residence require- 
 ments voters could be transported from one place to 
 another to serve the interests of unscrupulous candidates 
 for office. This species of fraud is sometimes attempted, 
 and is known as the "colonization" of voters, but it is far 
 less practiced now than in the days when the election 
 laws were loosely framed and easily evaded. 
 
 12. Other Voting Qualifications. — Under the election 
 laws in force in a number of the States, no one can vote 
 who is unable to read passages of the Constitution or 
 other printed matter, and in some States this test covers 
 the ability of the citizen to write at least his or her name. 
 In only one State of the Union, Rhode Island, has the 
 property qualification survived. This is not, however, 
 a harsh one, as the amount of property the voter must 
 possess is put at only $134 with an income therefrom of 
 $7 per annum. In six States the voter is required to pay 
 a poll tax of $1 or $2. It is frequently, however, a tax 
 on a political party, rather than individuals, as in the 
 case of many an impecunious voter his committee sees 
 that it is paid. 
 
 13. Disqualifications for Voting. — In nearly every 
 State the election laws impose voting disqualifications 
 of one kind or another. Only two States, Arizona and 
 Iowa, have no specific provision of this kind in their laws. 
 Most of the disqualifications are for conviction of crime, 
 and particularly of offenses against the suffrage, such as 
 the giving or taking of bribes. In three of the States 
 betting on the election disqualifies a voter. A few of 
 the States disqualify professional soldiers and sailors, and 
 also bar duelists. One State, North Carolina, denies 
 the ballot to atheists, and this is the only thing sug- 
 gestive of a religious test in the election laws of the 
 country.
 
 252 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 14. Naturalization. — The next thing to consider is 
 the naturalization laws of the United States — the laws 
 by which foreign born persons are transformed into 
 citizens and voters. The student should carefully dis- 
 tinguish between the two words "citizen" and "voter." 
 In any State of the Union a man can be a citizen with- 
 out being a voter, and in eight States men are legally 
 permitted to vote before they are citizens. 
 
 Brown Brus. 
 
 Lessons in Citizenship 
 
 A mimic registration and election for the benefit of new voters. 
 
 The making of citizens is a function belonging to 
 the Federal government and operating through its 
 naturalization laws. On the other hand, the making 
 of voters is, beyond certain limits prescribed by the Fed- 
 eral Constitution, a State function. In order to be- 
 come citizens, immigrants or aliens are obliged to observe 
 simple rules set down in the Federal law^s. Natural- 
 ization is open to only two races, however, the white
 
 Voting Qualifications and IMethods 253 
 
 and the African. The foreigner who wishes to become 
 a citizen must file a statement of that intention with 
 the nearest court having jurisdiction in such matters. 
 He must at the same time renounce his allegiance to any 
 foreign government, and give all the data regarding his 
 place of birth, the time of arrival here and the like. The 
 person filing such declaration of intention must be at 
 least eighteen years of age. If this application is regular, 
 he receives what are known as his "first papers." Not 
 less than two years afterwards he can advance the process 
 before the proper court, provided he has been five years 
 in this country in all. He then files a petition for citizen- 
 ship in his own handwriting, stating all the facts required 
 to prove his claim and qualifications. Two citizen wit- 
 nesses must certify that he has been a resident of the 
 State for at least a year and that he is morally fit for 
 citizenship. Ninety days must elapse before the court 
 acts on this final petition. When the court grants the 
 petition he is a full-fledged citizen. 
 
 The same naturalization laws apply, of course, in the 
 case of female aliens, with this exception, however, that 
 such females are natural- 
 ized by their marriage to 
 citizens, if they have been 
 residents of the country 
 for the requisite time. 
 
 The law confers upon 
 
 aliens who have served in 
 
 the American army or 
 
 navy a special privilege. 
 
 in the shape of a short cut 
 
 to citizenship. ^"'"" ^'"'■ 
 
 ™, A • 1 The Naturalization Process 
 
 i he American-born . , 
 
 Foreign-born citizens taking out their 
 
 children of naturalized last citizenship papers.
 
 254 New Era Civics 
 
 citizens do not have to be naturalized upon reaching 
 age, for they then enjoy all the benefits of citizenship. 
 Though the law denies naturalization to members of the 
 yellow and brown races, including Japanese, Chinese and 
 Malays, children born to them here become citizens at 
 twenty-one. 
 
 As already noted, eight states confer the suffrage on 
 aliens. This concession is granted as soon as they have 
 filed their declaration of intention after two years resi- 
 dence. 
 
 15. The Compulsory Voting Idea. — Every year, even 
 in the most important elections, some percentage of citi- 
 zens fails to qualify for the suffrage by registration. For 
 that reason reformers have from time to time agitated 
 for a system of compulsory voting, under which each 
 backward citizen could be punished by a fine for neg- 
 lecting to perform his duty as a voter. So far, however, 
 the movement has made no serious headway, and no State 
 has given it legal sanction. The most serious obstacle 
 to this reform is the consideration that it would not fit in 
 with secret voting; that there would be no means of 
 ccrtifving any man's compliance with the law, even 
 though he should visit the polls and apparently cast a 
 ballot, which, in fact, he could purposely leave blank. 
 It is argued that a law under which it would be impos- 
 sible to prove that a man unwilling to vote had actually 
 voted for candidates, would be of doubtful value. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XIII 
 
 1. What is the meaning of democracy? Tell something about 
 the restrictions on voting in Washington's time? Where did the 
 Federal government leave the power to prescribe voting qualifica- 
 tions ?
 
 Voting Qualifications and Methods 255 
 
 2. What is manhood sufifrage? What was the most common 
 voting qualification adopted by the original States? Why was this 
 considered expedient? Name some of the States and specify the 
 voting conditions peculiar to them. 
 
 3. What was the original test for officeholders? Give illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 4. Name the first new State admitted to the Union? In what 
 year? What voting system was adopted by this new State? What 
 two States were admitted to the Union and adopted the Vermont 
 system before the beginning of the eighteenth century? After that 
 what followed up to the mid-forties? 
 
 5. At the beginning, what States gave equal rights to the white 
 and colored voters? What States first withdrew the privilege of 
 the ballot from the colored voter? What constitutional amendment 
 took from the States the power of discriminating against colored 
 men? In what year was this amendment adopted and what did it 
 provide? 
 
 6. What event preceded the adoption of the Fifteenth amend- 
 ment? What other influence on suffrage was at work before that 
 time? In what year was the first educational requirement for voting 
 introduced? By what State? How did this provision read? 
 
 7. Tell something of the methods of voting prior to 1889. What 
 was the objection to this free-and-easy system? How were the 
 ballots distributed? What evils were attendant upon the open-ballot 
 system? What reform was adopted to correct existing abuses? 
 What State first adopted the reform? In what year? 
 
 8. The new voting system was placed under what control? 
 Name under three heads the main features of this method. What 
 merit had the system to commend it to general use? What form 
 was adopted in [Massachusetts? How has it varied in other States? 
 In substance what is the general method? What is one drawback 
 of the Massachusetts ballot and how is it partly overcome? 
 
 9. What is the purpose of registration laws? How is identifica- 
 tion of voters insured? 
 
 10. When and where was the ballot machine first used? How 
 does it work? What is its chief merit? 
 
 11. What is the meaning of "residence qualification"? What 
 is the time requirement in the majorit}' of States? In most of the 
 States what law is prescribed? What is an election district? What 
 is the object of election districts? Give an illustration of what is 
 meant by residential requirements in a given State. Name a re-
 
 256 New Era Civics 
 
 quirement common to all States. Why are such State requirements 
 necessary? 
 
 12. How many States apply the reading test to voters? 
 
 13. What are the voting disqualifications in a number of States? 
 Cite instances. 
 
 14. What is the meaning of naturalization? Can a man be a 
 citizen without being a voter? To what races is naturalization 
 open? What must an alien or immigrant first do to become a 
 citizen? What age is necessary in making the first application? 
 Mention some proceedings for naturalization. Do the same naturali- 
 zation laws apply to both sexes? What of children born in the 
 United States of naturalized parents? How many States require 
 only two years' residence of aliens before they become voters? 
 
 15. Has compulsory voting ever been considered? Why is it 
 not deemed advisable? 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. How long have women been able to vote for all elective 
 ofiicers in your State? 
 
 2. What is the method of voting in your city or toyi^n — with 
 the paper ballot or with the ballot machine? If the paper ballot 
 is used, is each of the candidates voted for with a separate cross- 
 mark, or is there a way of voting a "straight" party ticket with a 
 single crossmark? 
 
 3. How many voting districts, or polling places, are there in 
 your city or town? 
 
 4. On what date are the elections held for the choice of your 
 city (or town) ofiicers? 
 
 5. What are the dates for the registration of voters in your 
 State? 
 
 6. How long must a person be a resident of your State, and 
 of your county and city, in order to qualify as a voter? 
 
 7. Where is the polling place of the election district in which 
 you reside?
 
 PART IV 
 
 THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 CITY, COUNTY, TOWN AND VILLAGE 
 
 TJie modern city has come to be a huge corporation with 
 many branches. — John Fiske. 
 
 1. Our Interest in City Affairs. — It is a curious fact 
 that in most cities and villages a larger vote is cast in 
 national contests for Presidential Electors than in the 
 elections to decide the choice of local officials. This cir- 
 cumstance is largely due no doubt to the long Presidential 
 canvasses and to the unusual efforts of political com- 
 mittees to get out the vote in Presidential years. But 
 whatever the explanation may be, there are always the 
 best of reasons why a full vote should be cast in local 
 elections, whether one lives in a city, a village or a rural 
 community. 
 
 While it is our duty to bestow the right degree of 
 attention upon national and State concerns, it is the local 
 administration that touches the home most closely. If 
 citizens are educated to the point where they take a con- 
 stant and earnest interest in the political management of 
 their local communities, there will be little danger of the 
 State or the nation suffering from public neglect of 
 civic duty in the broader spheres of government. The 
 city or other community in which we live is, in a very 
 practical sense, but a larger household, and the political 
 student or new voter can make no better resolve than to 
 keep a watchful and critical eye upon local government. 
 
 259
 
 260 New Era Civics 
 
 2. Main Objects of City Government. — Cities are 
 organized political subdivisions of a State. Yet all the 
 cities are allowed considerable liberty in the control of 
 their own affairs. Their methods of government vary 
 much, but all of them have a common purpose, namely, 
 to insure the safety, convenience and comfort of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Necessarily, the prime object in every well-governed 
 municipality is to protect the health, the lives and the 
 property of the people. These aims come under the head 
 of public security. The machinery created to serve these 
 vital purposes is familiar to everybody in the shape of 
 police, fire and health departments. To this group may 
 be added the department or bureau that furnishes the 
 necessaries of life to the destitute. 
 
 Next in order we must rank public utility or con- 
 venience. Among the agencies here at work are various 
 departments for cleaning the streets, laying new pave- 
 ments or repairing old ones, and constructing and main- 
 taining public buildings, and the like. In this class we 
 must also include our schools, for next to the safeguard- 
 ing of health, life and property, no municipal duty is so 
 important as that of fostering education. 
 
 When these practical objects are provided for, the 
 third mission of the city government, to promote the 
 public comfort, must receive attention. This covers 
 every instrumentality or measure for making the city a 
 pleasant place to live in. 
 
 Thus, with three words the objects for which munic- 
 ipal administrations are conducted may be described. 
 They are security, utility and attractiveness. 
 
 It must be observed, however, that the different 
 departments of a city government cannot be entirely 
 separated along these lines. Some of them serve a double
 
 City, County, Town and Village 261 
 
 purpose. The parks add to a city's attractiveness, and 
 they also serve the interests of the public health. Im- 
 posing public buildings are daily put to a practical use, 
 for the transaction of the city's business. If they 
 are wisely planned and constructed they figure to great 
 
 advantage in a city's beau- 
 tification. P'ine pavements 
 are a matter of public con- 
 venience, but they must 
 also be numbered among 
 a city's attractive features. 
 When all these things are 
 set down they supj^ly, in 
 a general way, a good test 
 whereby to measure the 
 efficiency and success of a 
 city government. 
 
 The San Francisco City Hall 
 
 One of the three imposing units of the 
 city's Civic center, the others being 
 the PubHc Library and the Auditorium. 
 
 3. How Vigilant Citi- 
 zens Can Help. — It has 
 been claimed by many wdio travel extensively that the 
 city governments of Europe have been better conducted 
 than our own. We need not stop to inquire how much 
 of truth there is in this comparison. It is enough to 
 know that there is room for considerable improvement 
 in city government in the United States, and that the 
 improvement is bound to come with the growth of a 
 keener interest among our city voters in their municipal 
 concerns. 
 
 Every citizen is better qualified to vote intelligently 
 on local than on State or national questions, because the 
 methods of a city government and their practical results 
 come largely under his or her personal observation. It 
 is this opportunity for close examination, or first-hand 
 inspection, that should fit intelligent. citizens in a special
 
 262 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 degree to vote wisely in municipal elections. The city 
 government is often compared to a business corporation. 
 But in one important respect the city differs from the 
 private business concern. It is not organized to make 
 money. It is maintained by taxation to serve the public, 
 and for no other pur- 
 pose. In spite of this dif- 
 ference, city voters may 
 fairly be expected to take 
 the same kind of interest 
 in their local government 
 as they would in the man- 
 agement of a corporation 
 in which they had in- 
 vested money as stock- 
 holders. 
 
 4, Party Politics in 
 Local Contests. — W h y 
 people should vote so 
 often and to so large an 
 extent as partisans or 
 party adherents, in local 
 contests that relate to 
 their business affairs as a 
 municipal association, is a 
 question often asked and 
 
 never satisfactorily answered. Whatever one may think 
 of it, it is true that the great majority of citizens, per- 
 haps from eighty to ninety per cent, favor, as a rule, 
 in municipal elections, the same party which they are 
 accustomed to support in the State or national field. 
 AVhile there is more independence in local politics, the 
 difference in that direction is not, as yet, strongly 
 marked. 
 
 ^luNiciPAL Safeguards — I 
 
 The backyard of a tenement house 
 
 showing conditions that menace health 
 
 and increase the danger of fire.
 
 City, County, Town and Village 
 
 263 
 
 5. The Public Protection. — The pohce and fire de- 
 partments of our cities have changed but little from the 
 old days in their general functions. But in nearly all 
 cities their organization has been improved by the appli- 
 cation of the merit system in the selection of new mem- 
 bers and the protection of 
 the old ones. Another 
 wholesome tendency has 
 been to put them under 
 the control of single ex- 
 ecutives. The old rule in 
 many cities was to subject 
 them to the authority of 
 commissions, generally bi- 
 partisan. Under the new 
 regime there is less poli- 
 tics and better discipline 
 in the police and fire de- 
 partments of every pro- 
 gressive city. 
 
 In the health depart- 
 ments of our cities there 
 has been an even more 
 revolutionary change for 
 the better. This change 
 is largely due to the great 
 progress during the last twenty years in {he science of 
 public sanitation. Today every well organized health 
 department and bureau is a powerful organization for 
 the enforcement of quarantine in the case of contagion ; 
 for the inspection and certification of food, particularly 
 milk; for the destruction of nuisances menacing the pub- 
 lic health ; and, generally speaking, for the strict enforce- 
 ment of every precaution necessary to guard the people 
 
 18 
 
 Municipal S.afeguards — II 
 
 A companion picture for the last. The 
 
 same tenement area after efficient city 
 
 officials have finished their task.
 
 264 New Era Civics 
 
 against infectious diseases. In the larger cities benevo- 
 lent societies have been formed to co-operate with the 
 official health agencies in providing sterilized milk for 
 the infants and adult invalids of the poor, to raise "fresh- 
 air" funds for children's vacations and to improve living 
 conditions in districts where poverty abounds. Prac- 
 tically all of the States have aided in these wise philan- 
 thropic movements with strict sanitary laws. 
 
 The problem of providing a pure and plentiful water 
 supply is one of the gravest that cities have to solve. 
 It is often necessary for them to incur a heavy bonded 
 indebtedness for this purpose where the sources of an 
 adequate supply are at a distance. The administration 
 of the water service is generally intrusted to a municipal 
 department or bureau, which has charge of the water 
 works, the maintenance of the conduits, reservoirs and 
 distributing mains, the collection of fees and other im- 
 portant duties. The health department, as a rule, 
 necessarily exercises an official supervision over the 
 quality of the water, to guard against possible con- 
 tamination. A healthful and abundant water supply is 
 recognized as one of a city's best assets. 
 
 6. Municipal Service and Franchises. — It is the rule 
 in American cities to group in a public-works depart- 
 ment, whatever name may be given to it, such operations 
 as the paving, repairing and cleaning of the streets ; the 
 public lighting ; the care of the parks ; the disposal of 
 the city's sewage, garbage, ashes and other refuse ; the 
 charge of bridges and docks (if such accommodations 
 are needed) and all other matters relating to the city's 
 convenience. As to the regulating of the public utilities 
 of a city, such as its street car or other traction service 
 and the lighting of its streets and homes, a great variety 
 of municipal systems is in force. Excepting in compara-
 
 City, County, Town and Village 265 
 
 tively few cases, this public service is furnished by com- 
 panies operating under franchises, or formal contracts, 
 granted by the municipal authorities for varied periods 
 of time and on varied terms. 
 
 In the early da} s when the street car service was in 
 its infancy, and later when electric lighting from central 
 plants was first introduced, city franchises for trans- 
 portation and lighting were voted away on conditions 
 exceedingly favorable to the interested companies. We 
 have since reached a stage of municipal development 
 where such privileges have brought large returns to city 
 treasuries. Since 1900 or thereabouts corporations of 
 this character have been subjected to State as well as 
 municipal regulation, and although financed by private 
 capital, they are now generally known as public-service 
 corporations. 
 
 When we pass from the city functions relating to 
 public safety and utility and come to those affecting the 
 city's general attractiveness or beautification, we find 
 that much of this ornamental duty is intrusted to special 
 commissions of public-spirited citizens serving without 
 pay. Some of them are, however, armed with large 
 powers of discretion in the planning of the city's growth 
 along modern lines. For example, the widening, altera- 
 tion and improving of streets are so directed as to con- 
 form to their far-sighted programs. 
 
 7. Municipal Taxation. — The cost of city adminis- 
 tration, as compared with the demands of the State and 
 national governments upon the taxpayer in ordinary 
 times, is very heavy. This is because the city govern- 
 ment performs a variety of services that more directly 
 affect the citizen than the activities of State and nation. 
 Under normal, peace-time conditions the citizen's con- 
 tributions to the support of his local government, city
 
 266 New Era Civics 
 
 or town, and county, are his largest taxation for public 
 purposes. 
 
 The case of the city and the State of New York may 
 be cited as an instructive, though rather extreme, illus- 
 tration of this truth. Taking the years 1919 and 1920 
 as an example, the annual budget of New York city was 
 two and a half times as large as that of New York State. 
 Again, the bonded debt of New York city, which was 
 well past one billion dollars in the years mentioned, 
 was more than five times as large as that of the State 
 government at Albany. At first glance, it may seem 
 strange that it costs less to run a great State than one 
 of its own political subdivisions, but the wonder dis- 
 appears when we consider the many kinds of municipal 
 service requiring appropriations which the State does 
 not have to match. 
 
 In the city the main reliance for revenue is taxation 
 on real estate — a convenient and easily assessed and col- 
 lected revenue. Another common and fruitful source 
 of income to cities has been the excise, or license, for 
 the sale of liquor. But this disappeared with the advent 
 of Prohibition, and various expedients, including sub- 
 stantial increases in the real estate tax, have taken its 
 place. In addition, the cities derive revenue from the 
 taxing of corporations or their franchises, from the sur- 
 plus income from their water service and from the im- 
 position of fees of one kind or another upon theatres, 
 traveling showmen, street vendors and other minor 
 sources. 
 
 In the case of costly undertakings such as new water 
 supplies, public buildings and the purchase of sites for 
 new parks, it is customary for cities to borrow money 
 on bond issues payable after a fixed time. The object is 
 to shift a part of the cost to later taxpayers. But it
 
 City, County, Town and Village 267 
 
 who abboint; 
 the 
 
 is the rule in most States that such bonded indebtedness 
 shall be limited in order that it may bear a reasonable 
 proportion to the entire assessed valuation of the city's 
 real estate. 
 
 8. The Government of Cities. — In the majority of 
 cities a system of government prevails which bears some 
 resemblance to the Fed- 
 eral and State systems. 
 An executive is elected by 
 the people and he is most 
 generally known by the 
 title of Mayor. Other ad- 
 ministrative officers are 
 elected at the same time, 
 the number varying in 
 different cities. A local 
 legislature is chosen, of 
 which the most familiar 
 title is the Common Coun- 
 cil or the Board of Alder- 
 men. Judicial officers are 
 also selected, either by ap- 
 pointment or at the polls, 
 for the administration of 
 civil and criminal justice 
 within local limits. 
 
 Roughly speaking, this 
 form of city government, 
 a widely prevalent one, is 
 a reproduction in minia- 
 
 heads 
 of debartmenlj 
 ond, through 
 them, all 
 subordinate 
 officials. 
 
 ture of the government at 
 Washington or at the 
 State capital. Usually, 
 however, the Common 
 
 The Mayor-and-Aldermen 
 
 System 
 
 This diagram is an outline of the oper- 
 ation of city cliarters under which 
 the government is administered by a 
 Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen, or 
 Common Council, is elected by city 
 wards. The group charier for the 
 second-class cities of New York State, 
 referred to in the text, is a good 
 example of this system. Under it the 
 President of the Board of Aldermen, 
 the City Comptroller (or Auditor) and 
 the City Treasurer are elected by the 
 people.
 
 268 New Era Civics 
 
 Council comprises only one branch, though there are 
 some instances of a two-chambered Council. The admin- 
 istrative officers are chosen on a general city ticket, while 
 the Aldermen, to carry out the representative idea, are 
 selected by the voters in the several wards. In the aver- 
 age city of this class, an Alderman, therefore, may be 
 called a neighborhood representative, and, in fact, he is 
 usually on terms of personal acquaintance with a con- 
 siderable number of his constituents. 
 
 In the old days, the Aldermen in most American cities 
 exercised controlling power, especially where they were 
 dominated by a party or group strong enough to override 
 the vetoes of the Mayor. They not only planned the city 
 budgets and made many of the appointments to office, 
 but they had the right to grant franchises to street rail- 
 way, lighting and other corporations. In the award of 
 franchises they encountered no formidable opposition, 
 because the pu1)lic w^as eager for corporate service and 
 gave little heed to the terms on which it was secured. 
 Aldermen, or Councilmen, who Avere willing to serve as 
 tools for unscrupulous bidders for franchises were thus 
 in clover. The thirty years between 1870 and 1900 
 covered an era of rich harvests for franchise-seekers. But 
 in the light of later events clear-sighted reformers appre- 
 ciated better the disadvantages and dangers that arose 
 from the placing of unlimited power in aldermanic bodies. 
 To make the matter worse, an unworthy Alderman who 
 happened to be popular in his ward was pretty sure of 
 continued re-election, and the voters of the city at large 
 had no chance to pass judgment on his record. 
 
 NEW MUNICIPAL METHODS 
 
 9. An Era of Change. — The late nineties marked the 
 dawn of a better system in many American cities.
 
 City, County, Town and Village 269 
 
 Reforms were introduced into municipal government by 
 which the powers previously exercised by Common Coun- 
 cils were either abolished or subjected to wise restraints. 
 There was, in fact, about this time, a general over- 
 hauling and revision of city charters, with the object of 
 strengthening the grip of the people upon their municipal 
 affairs. The government of each city is determined by 
 its charter. A charter is an act of the Legislature pre- 
 scribing the form of government for some particular 
 city or group of cities. 
 
 In the nineties a wave of municipal reform swept the 
 country. One of its practical consequences was the 
 adoption of many city charters in which the power of 
 the Mayor was strengthened at the expense of the legis- 
 lative branch, the Board of Aldermen. An influence 
 which had much to do with popularizing this reform was 
 the creation of the Greater City of New York in 1897. 
 It received a charter wdiich clothed the Mayor with large 
 authorit}'. It lodged in him and also in boards or com- 
 missions important powers that had been exercised by 
 the Aldermen of the cities of New York, Brooklyn 
 and Long Island City. By far the most powerful of these 
 municipal bodies was the Board of Estimate, made up 
 entirely of officials elected by the people of the entire 
 city or of its boroughs. The greatest responsibility con- 
 fided to this body was the framing of the heavy munic- 
 ipal budget. The Board of Estimate was composed of the 
 Mayor, the President of the Board of Aldermen and the 
 Comptroller, all elected on a general city ticket, together 
 with the respective Presidents of the five city boroughs, 
 also elected. This New York charter of 1897 illustrated 
 the tendency to increase the power of city executives 
 and thus to centralize local government in a few hands. 
 The same rule was followed in other cities.
 
 270 New Era Civics 
 
 10. An Instance of Group Charters. — Scarcely any 
 two cities of importance have exactly the same machinery 
 or methods of government. Bnt the principle of con- 
 centration of power observed in the Greater New York 
 charter has gained steadily in public favor. New York 
 State also adopted the plan of grouping city charters in 
 classes. 
 
 A good example of this grouping of charters is fur- 
 nished by the second-class cities of New York, those 
 having a population between 50,000 and 175,000. Their 
 charters are alike in most features. The elective officers 
 in each are the Mayor, President of the Board of Alder- 
 men, Comptroller, City Treasurer and Assessors ; and 
 the commissioners in charge of Public Safety and Public 
 Works as well as the City Engineer are made appointive. 
 In each city there is a Board of Estimate and also a 
 Board of Contract and Supply. These boards are com- 
 posed partly of elective and partly of appointive officials. 
 The Mayor makes the appointments. He exercises a 
 decisive control in the making of budgets and of contracts 
 and in city finance in general. He has much to do with 
 granting franchises, which must be approved by the 
 Board of Estimate. Under this charter, which is here 
 emphasized as a t}pe, the power of the Common Council 
 is much restricted. It is largely confined to the purely 
 legislative duty of adopting city ordinances or local 
 laws. 
 
 11. School Administration and Finance. — In the mat- 
 ter of school administration there is a great variety 
 of city systems. School commissioners charged with 
 this duty are very common. In some cities they are 
 elected by the people, and in others they are appointive 
 officials, while in still others a single commissioner, 
 either elective or appointive, administers school affairs.
 
 City, County, Town and Village 271 
 
 There are also marked differences in the methods of 
 providing funds by taxation for the support of the 
 schools. In some cities, as well as in numerous towns, 
 the revenue for this purpose is raised separately by a 
 special school tax. In other cities the appropriations for 
 education are a part of the general municipal budget. 
 
 A POPULAR REFORM 
 
 12. City Government by Commission. — It is desir- 
 able to direct attention to a new^ form of city govern- 
 ment, known as commission government, which has made 
 rapid headway in public favor since the beginning of the 
 twentieth century. The new scheme was the immediate 
 result of a disaster that horrified the wdiole world. On 
 September 8, 1900, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 driven by a violent tropical hurricane, swept over the 
 city of Galveston, Texas, and wrought fearful havoc. 
 A large part of the city, including many public buildings, 
 was demolished and several thousand lives were lost. 
 The old government of Galveston, composed of a Mayor 
 and twelve Aldermen, was paralyzed by the calamity. 
 What was left of the city was plunged into distress. In 
 this dreadful crisis leading citizens met and appointed a 
 provisional committee to take charge of public affairs 
 and also to draft a temporary charter. 
 
 Under this charter the government of Galveston was 
 intrusted to a picked commission of citizens. The plan 
 was suggested, it is said, by the system under which the 
 affairs of Washington are administered by Congress, and 
 by the good work of a commission which had served in 
 Memphis during the yellow fever epidemic of 1879. The 
 new Galveston charter was submitted to the Texas Legis- 
 lature, which promptly authorized the afflicted city to 
 put it into force. Two of the commissioners were elected
 
 272 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 by the people and three others appointed by the Gover- 
 nor. Later the whole live commissioners were made 
 elective. 
 
 Such was the tragic origin of city government by 
 commission. In Galveston it brought order out of chaos, 
 and other communities were soon impressed by its merits. 
 In 1904, Houston, Texas, voted to install a similar sys- 
 tem and three years later 
 Des Moines obtained a 
 charter which carried the 
 commission plan to an ad- 
 vanced stage of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 13. Features of the 
 New Plan. — One of the 
 leading features of mu- 
 nicipal government by 
 commission is that it per- 
 mits, if a city so desires, 
 the elimination of the 
 Board of Aldermen. It 
 may be likened to the ad- 
 ministration of the affairs 
 of a private corporation — 
 as, for example, of a bank. 
 Usually, the government 
 
 — 1he feople 
 
 i 
 
 elecl 
 on a 
 general oty 
 ticket 
 
 A Commission 
 
 or 
 
 Council 
 
 of 
 
 several members 
 
 who 
 
 Obboin^ and coniixl 
 
 I he 
 
 — heads of 
 deborlments 
 
 andj 
 through them, 
 ih« minor city 
 official^- 
 
 Here, as the diagram shows, the peo- 
 ple elect a commission (generally of 
 five members) which exercises all the 
 powers formerly intrusted to the 
 Mayor and Board of Aldermen. 
 
 Commission Government 
 
 of the city in which the 
 plan is adopted is in- 
 trusted to a commission 
 of five, elected by all the 
 people, and having virtually equal powers. To each of 
 the commissioners the direction of an important city 
 department is assigned, and all of them, acting in con- 
 cert and with frequent conferences, constitute a municipal
 
 City, County, Town and Village 273 
 
 council, or board of trustees, whose functions suggest 
 those of the directors of an ordinary business corpora- 
 tion. 
 
 Under some systems of this kind, one of the commis- 
 sioners is elected chairman by the people and bears the 
 title of Mayor. Owing to the existence of the municipal 
 commission, which makes laws and ordinances for the 
 city, the Board of Aldermen is dispensed with. All the 
 minor officials of the city government are subject to 
 the authority of the commission, which takes the place of 
 the elective officers, including the Mayor and Common 
 Council, who served under the old system. 
 
 One argument for the reform is that, because of the 
 fact that several commissioners are voted for on a general 
 city ticket, it tends to discourage stiff partisanship in 
 the choice of municipal administrations. 
 
 The adoption of the plan of government by commis- 
 sion usually follows a local referendum, or vote of the 
 people, calling for a charter of that kind, and by a special 
 legislative enactment granting the request. Most of the 
 cities of this class are located in the West and South. In 
 the East the lead was taken by New Jersey in a similar 
 direction by passing a law which authorizes her cities 
 at any time to establish the new system of their own 
 accord, when a majority of their people so decide. 
 
 In the twenty years after Galveston first adopted the 
 new plan, government by commission, in one form or 
 another, was introduced in nearly five hundred American 
 cities. 
 
 14. The City Manager. — Many of the cities in this 
 large group have varied the original plan of commis- 
 sion government in an interesting and ingenious way. 
 This was done by bringing into existence a new and 
 important official called the city manager. As far back
 
 274 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 as 1908 the municipal officials of Staunton, Va., hired 
 an experienced man to take general charge of the city's 
 business affairs. This general manager, as he was known, 
 gave satisfaction, and he was the forerunner of the city 
 managers now directing public business in a considerable 
 number of American communities. In 1914 Dayton, 
 Ohio, gained the distinction of being the first city of 
 
 more than 100,000 popu- 
 
 lation to put the city- 
 manager scheme in force. 
 In November, 1921, Cleve- 
 land, one of the five most 
 populous American cities, 
 voted for a city-manager 
 charter. 
 
 Under the city-man- 
 ager plan the elective 
 commission, generally of 
 five members, is desig- 
 nated usually as "the 
 council." Its members 
 receive moderate salaries, 
 or none at all ; and, as a 
 rule, they are not ex- 
 pected to give their whole 
 time to their duties. They 
 pass ordinances, supervise 
 the city's business and are 
 held responsible, by the 
 people, who elect them, 
 for the administration of public affairs. But their most 
 serious duty is to appoint a city manager, who, as his 
 title indicates, becomes the chief executive manager of 
 the city's concerns. 
 
 — The Tfeoble 
 
 1 
 
 elect 
 
 on anon-(Dartt5Qn 
 
 ballot 
 
 — a Council of 
 
 bobular rebrcsenlotivci 
 
 who 
 
 hire, subervise and 
 
 control with riciM to remove 
 
 — a City rflanaqer 
 
 Q well paid, full time 
 
 non-boliliLal centrol 
 executive 
 
 ahbomtj Juper- 
 
 vise* removes 
 i 
 
 (he heads o( 
 
 all clebartmenis 
 who 
 
 in turn control 
 
 -=r — lilt rank and 
 --'file of Itie 
 administrotion 
 
 The City-Manager Plan 
 
 A later variation of city government 
 by commission. The first populous 
 city to adopt it was Dayton, Ohio. 
 The above diagram was prepared by 
 the National Municipal League.
 
 City, County, Town and Village 275 
 
 This manager is necessarily intrusted with large 
 powers. Pie can be removed at will by the council. He 
 himself appoints all the other officials and employes of 
 the city government ; they are at his command, and he 
 can remove any of them for causes permitted under the 
 Civil Service laws. In most of the cities trying this plan 
 the rule of the council has been to select as city manager 
 a man of experience and proved capacity in municipal 
 affairs. His salary is generally much higher than that 
 paid to any officer in the same class of cities under the 
 older system. 
 
 The advantage claimed for this scheme of local gov- 
 ernment is that it encourages the efficient transaction of 
 municipal business and tends to separate community 
 affairs from partisan politics. 
 
 15. City Courts. — In all of the cities, no matter what 
 forms their charters may take, police courts are main- 
 tained for the trial of law-breakers whose crimes are not 
 serious enough for attention from the courts of record. 
 In good-sized cities there are also municipal courts for 
 the hearing and disposition of civil actions involving 
 moderate sums. 
 
 Though the cities are created by the State and are 
 therefore subject to the control of State Legislatures, 
 there has been a tendency to concede to them an increas- 
 ing measure of independence in the management of their 
 affairs. Home Rule for cities has always been a popular 
 slogan, and State Legislatures have revealed a growing 
 disposition to recognize the demand for it. 
 
 IN VILLAGE AND COUNTY 
 
 16, Village Government. — The great rural or semi- 
 rural population of the United States is subject to town 
 or village government, and in common with the cities
 
 276 New Era Civics 
 
 they have another political interest in the shape of county 
 government. The people of the towns and villages like 
 those of the cities, have their local problems. Their 
 concern in fire and health protection, in the preservation 
 of the public peace, in the care of roads and bridges, in 
 suitable educational facilities and in other provisions for 
 capacity and convenience does not differ in any material 
 sense from that which leads city people to maintain ex- 
 pensive municipal establishments. 
 
 The towns have their administrative officers, their 
 clerks, treasurers, overseers of the poor and school 
 trustees. The village has its Mayor or President and 
 its administrative council or board of trustees. Natur- 
 ally enough, there is more similarity in government 
 methods in the towns and villages than in the more 
 thickly populated cities, which range in size from com- 
 munities of three or four thousand inhabitants up to the 
 imperial metropolis. The changes in the government of 
 rural communities, therefore, call for no special attention. 
 Only in one respect has it undergone a marked altera- 
 tion, and that is in the precautions for the safeguarding 
 of public health, in which all of the progressive States 
 have rendered valuable aid by the enactment of general 
 health laws and the extension of the authority of State 
 boards of health. 
 
 17. County Affairs. — The counties of the older States 
 are venerable institutions, and in the newer States the 
 prevailing rule has been to copy their time-honored forms 
 of government. Many of the counties of the country 
 include no cities, and the administration of all of them 
 is simple compared with the immense varieties of political 
 systems we find in the city communities. 
 
 The county is nearly always an original constitu- 
 tional division of the State, and in that capacity it is
 
 City, County, Town and Village 277 
 
 used as a basis for the apportionment of districts for 
 the election of members of Congress and of the Legis- 
 lature. The great majority of the Congressional districts 
 are made by the grouping of counties. The members 
 of State Legislatures are chosen from single counties, 
 from the divisions of counties or from combinations of 
 counties. This is determined by the varying sizes of the 
 counties thus represented. 
 
 The county serves an even more serious and dignified 
 purpose as a local district for the administration and 
 execution of justice. It is the field of operation and 
 authority for the holders of two offices that have come 
 down to us through centuries of common law — the Sheriff 
 and the Coroner. These, with the prosecuting attorney 
 serve the whole county, no matter how it may be divided 
 as between cities, villages and rural settlements. It is the 
 county that elects them and maintains the courts whose 
 orders the Sheriff executes. 
 
 The administrative features of a county are so planned 
 that it can perform certain services which affect alike the 
 city or cities and the towns and villages within its bound- 
 aries. Good examples of these services are the con- 
 struction of country roads and the building and main- 
 tenance of court houses, penitentiaries arid county homes 
 for the poor. County government, as a rule, differs from 
 the city government, in the respect that it has no elec- 
 tive executive. The governing body is generally known 
 as the Board of Supervisors or County Commissioners. 
 In size, the board varies from three or five members to 
 forty or more. In not a few States every town elects 
 a county Supervisor, and here the legislative body is 
 unwieldy ; but the system is preserved owing to the 
 unwillingness of the towns to lose their proportional 
 influence.
 
 278 New Era Civics 
 
 The business officers of the county include a County 
 Clerk and Treasurer, and occasionally an auditor, cor- 
 responding to the city comptroller. The counties have 
 their local courts, including probate or surrogate courts, 
 and the presiding judges of these are usually elective. 
 The cost of conducting county government is levied on 
 real property for the most part. The cities within 
 counties have to bear their relative share of county ex- 
 penses in addition to their o.wn tax levies. But the total 
 falls short of the expense of city maintenance. In one 
 other respect, the counties have had an advantage. Their 
 system of government in the past may be called sta- 
 tionary compared with that of the cities. They have thus 
 been spared the agitations for charter revision which 
 have occupied many a chapter in the histor}^ of our cities 
 during the era of rapid growth. 
 
 The dates for holding city and village local elections 
 are almost as varied as their methods of government. 
 Spring as well as autumn elections of local officers are 
 in vogue, but nearly all autumn elections of this class 
 are held in the odd years, thus separating them from the 
 Presidential and Congressional elections, which in- 
 variably fall in even years, as do the State elections 
 with rare exceptions. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XVI 
 
 1. What is a noticeable peculiarity regarding Presidential elec- 
 tions as compared to local elections? What is one cause of this 
 diflference? Which election has the most direct influence over our 
 home interests? 
 
 2. What relation do cities bear to the States in which they are 
 located? What are the main objects of city government? 
 
 3. What has been said of our city governments as contrasted 
 with those of Europe? Why are we better qualified to vote on
 
 City, County, Town and Village 279 
 
 local questions than on State or national ? To what is our city 
 government often compared? How does it differ from private 
 enterprises? . 
 
 4. How does partisanship figure in local contests? 
 
 5. In what way has the organization of our police and fire 
 departments changed? Why is it better to place each department 
 under a single executive? What great benefits are derived from 
 our present S5'stem of health administration? How is this system 
 strengthened, encouraged and aided? What is one of the largest 
 and most difficult problems for a city to solve? When the source 
 of water supply makes large financial demands on a city, how are 
 they met? What executive authority generally directs tlie water 
 service? The source and quality of the water come under the 
 supervision of what official authority? 
 
 6. What are known as the public works of a city? What are 
 public utilities? By what means is such service generally furnished? 
 How do corporations acquire the privilege of operating? What are 
 such corporations called? 
 
 7. How does the individual share of city taxation compare with 
 that of State and national taxation? Give an illustration. How is 
 it explained? What is the city's main source of revenue? Name 
 other sources. In the event of large and unusual expenditures, what 
 method is followed? 
 
 8. In what way does the city government resemble Federal and 
 State government? What are the executive officer and legislative 
 body called in many cities? How are the administrative officers in 
 such cities chosen? How are Aldermen elected? Tell something 
 of the old system and the power invested in the Aldermen? How 
 was this power abused? 
 
 9. In what period was this system widely reformed? What is 
 a city charter? For what purpose is the charter enacted? Give an 
 example of charter reform that had far-reaching influence. Name 
 the most powerful municipal body under the New York city charter 
 and tell how it is created. What important responsibility is confided 
 to this body? 
 
 10. Give an illustration of the plan of grouping city charters 
 as tried in New York State. Name the elective and the appointive 
 cfifices. 
 
 11. Name some varieties of school administration in cities. 
 
 12. Tell something of the origin of commission government 
 
 for cities. 
 19
 
 280 New Era Civics 
 
 13. Explain features of commission government. How many 
 members usually constitute such a commission? What are their 
 several functions? How are they elected? How is this system 
 said to affect party contests? What is necessary to put this form 
 of government in control? Where is this system principally iti 
 force? What Eastern State has taken a lead in encouraging it? 
 
 14. Tell something about the plan of city government known 
 as the city-manager plan. Name two cities of size which have 
 adopted it. What elective body appoints the city manager? Give 
 some idea of his powers. What advantage is claimed for this 
 system ? 
 
 15. What local courts are found in all cities? W^hat progressive 
 tendency is revealed in city government? 
 
 16. Name some administrative offices of towns and of villages. 
 In what respect have rural communities made marked progress? 
 
 17. Tell something about the county as a political institution. 
 What purpose does it serve in legislative apportionments ? W'hat 
 part does the county play in the administration of law? W'hat 
 ancient offices are still filled in the counties ? How are countieo 
 governed as a rule? How is the cost of county government generally 
 assessed ? 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. Is your city administered by a Mayor and Common Council, 
 or Board of Aldermen? If not, has it the commission form of 
 government? If its government is of still another type, briefly 
 describe it. 
 
 2. Name the principal officers of your municipality. Which of 
 them are elected by the people, and which are appointed? When 
 is your city election held? 
 
 3. Are the school affairs of your city directed by a single com- 
 missioner or by a board of commissioners? If by a single com- 
 missioner, how is he chosen? If by a board, how are its members 
 chosen? 
 
 4. Give the number of parks and schoolhouses in your city. 
 How large is its police force and fire department? Where is its 
 water supply located, and what official or board has charge of it? 
 How large was the latest tax budget for the support of your city? 
 
 5. If you are a resident of a village, name its officers. When 
 are they elected? Which of your village officers are elected and
 
 City, County, Town and Village 281 
 
 which appointed? If you live outside of a village or city, who 
 are the officers of your town, and how and when are they chosen? 
 
 6. Who is the Sheriff of your county? What is his term of 
 office and when is he elected ? 
 
 7. What is the board or commission called which has charge 
 of the affairs of your county? How many members are in such board 
 or commission and when are they chosen? If your town or ward 
 has a county supervisor, name him. What are the principal officers 
 of your county and how elected? 
 
 8. What are the local courts of your city, town or village and 
 county? Name the judicial officers sitting in such local courts.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE CITY— ITS SAFETY, HEALTH AND CHARITY 
 
 / believe that a man should he proud of the city in ivhich 
 he lives, and that he should so live that liis city will be proud 
 he lives in it. — Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 1. The Study of Municipal Affairs.^After having 
 examined tlie systems of municipal, or city, government, 
 and seen how they differ in various communities, it is 
 next in order to observe more closely the details of city 
 administration as it affects the citizen and as it, in turn, 
 is affected by the efforts of good citizens to improve it, 
 in every branch. Remembering that the city is but our 
 larger home, and that the city's business is therefore a 
 family concern, students can readily perceive that this 
 is the field in which they can use to the best advantage 
 the knowledge they acquire of public affairs, their powers 
 of observation and their sense of responsibility as com- 
 ing citizens. 
 
 A city administration is as efficient and progressive 
 as the majority of its people choose to make it. Public 
 sentiment determines its standard, sooner or later, and 
 the voting booth is simply an agency for making that 
 influence felt. The students of today are coming voters. 
 To the extent that they prepare themselves for good 
 citizenship by studying the operations of the govern- 
 ment nearest to their vision — the government of the 
 city — will they be able to contribute to the sound public 
 
 282
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 283 
 
 opinion without which no local community can realize its 
 best ideals. 
 
 2. The Municipal Arch. — We have seen that the 
 well conducted city government has three general aims — 
 security, utility and attractiveness. Under the head of 
 security comes everything relating to the safety and 
 health of the people and to the protection of their 
 property. Utility covers every form of service that pro- 
 
 The AIunicipal Arch 
 
 A solid structure illustrating city government and service. The foundation 
 
 stones of the arch represent community safety and health, and the keystone 
 
 is official honesty and efficiency. 
 
 motes the poHtical and social welfare of the citizens and 
 their daily convenience. Familiar examples are public 
 education ; the care of the sick and the poor ; the super- 
 vision of transportation and lighting; the management of 
 the city's ordinary affairs and activities ; the collection of 
 taxes, and the direction of public works. Under the 
 third head, attractiveness, must be included every policy 
 or measure adopted to make the city a desirable place 
 of residence and pleasant to the eye, and to guide its 
 future growth in the right way.
 
 284 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 Soldiers of Peace 
 
 Three city protectors at a perilous 
 task on a burning roof. 
 
 If the principal agen- 
 cies and objects of city 
 government are likened 
 to building stones, we can 
 fashion them into an arch, 
 of which public safety 
 and public health are the 
 foundations. The pre- 
 ceding illustration shows 
 the structural grouping at 
 a glance. The keystone 
 is called "honest, efficient 
 administration," because 
 the usefulness of every 
 municipal system depends 
 
 so much upon the character of the officials we choose on 
 
 each local election day to administer it for our benefit. 
 3. The City's Uniformed Guardians. — The first need 
 
 of every city is protection 
 
 against 
 
 crime and dis- 
 order, and against fire 
 and all other accidental 
 dangers or visitations to 
 which the citizens of the 
 community may be ex- 
 posed. It is to supply 
 this protection that our 
 police and fire depart- 
 ments are maintained, and 
 our municipal laws and 
 ordinances are adopted 
 and enforced. Every 
 American city without 
 exception has its police 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 Useful Hints for a Civics Class 
 
 A fireman teaches how to operate the 
 fire alarm box.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 285 
 
 servants to guard the lives and property of its people. 
 Every American city w^orthy of the name has its 
 trained force of fire fighters, always ready and alert 
 when the electric signal is given to hurry to the scene 
 of an incipient fire or more 
 serious conflagration. 
 
 The observant student 
 is familiar with the ordi- 
 nary work of the fireman 
 and the police. Yet it is 
 the duty of the class in 
 civics to get at the roots 
 of things. Many students 
 and, indeed, many of their 
 elders have much to learn 
 about the latest appli- 
 ances with which science 
 and invention have armed 
 our firemen in their con- 
 stant warfare against the 
 flames. This, therefore, 
 is a useful item of inquiry 
 for civics classes, but it 
 is only one of many items 
 that confront the student who is eager to be well in- 
 formed about the various functions of city government. 
 
 4. The Problem of Street Traffic. — An important 
 duty of the police is to make the streets as safe as pos- 
 sible for the public. The task was an easy one in the 
 days when horse-drawn vehicles were the only kind 
 seen on the pavements. Later the trolley car called for 
 strict municipal regulations for the protection of pedes- 
 trians, especially of children. Still later the jDopular 
 use of the bicycle furnished a new object of police atten- 
 
 Biowu Bros. 
 
 For Fire Prevention 
 
 Students from the civics class putting 
 their lessons to practical use by gather- 
 ing up papers and other inflammable 
 rubbish, to lessen the danger of fire.
 
 286 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 tion. But the problem of street traffic arising from these 
 agencies was light and simple compared with the con- 
 ditions created in every city by the great popularity of 
 the automol^ile as a pleasure vehicle, and by the multipli- 
 cation of motor-trucks of 
 almost endless types for 
 the more serious purposes 
 of transportation. The 
 danger of accidents from 
 these sources is always 
 present. It has made 
 necessary the adoption of 
 stringent municipal ordi- 
 nances, strengthened by 
 State laws. 
 
 Every well managed 
 city now has its traffic 
 squad of police to guard 
 its busy corners and to protect alike pedestrians and the 
 drivers and occupants of motor vehicles. One of the 
 most serious responsibilities of cities is to keep down to 
 the lowest possible limit the number of accidents due to 
 automobile traffic. Constant vigilance is the price of 
 safety in this department of city service. The traffic 
 squads alone are not numerous enough to watch every 
 danger point, and the problem has therefore received the 
 attention of public-spirited bodies of citizens who have 
 enlisted under the banner of "Safety First." 
 
 Street dangers are not the only problem occasioned 
 by the automobile. The question of relieving the traffic 
 congestion in the principal business thoroughfares is 
 alwavs a difficult one ; and so is the question of pro- 
 viding parking space for the hundreds or thousands of 
 motor cars during the business hours. Problems of this 
 
 JJiuuii Dros. 
 
 A Watchful Escort 
 
 In the automobile age the traffic offi- 
 cers are a more and more valuable 
 part of every city police force.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 287 
 
 kind are likely to become more and more trying. Each 
 city has side streets suitable for parking purposes, and 
 convenient to the common centers, but their advantages 
 are sometimes overlooked. 
 
 DEFENSES AGAINST DISEASE 
 
 5. The HeaUh of the City. — No department of com- 
 munity civics is more important in itself, or better de- 
 serving of the student's earnest attention than that which 
 deals with the public health and the modern methods 
 and precautions for safeguarding it. 
 
 It has been said that "within natural limitations a 
 city can determine its own death rate." This truth has 
 been demonstrated beyond question on the greatest of 
 all our municipal stages — the city of New York. The 
 metropolis now stands in the front rank of cities in the 
 lowness of its death rate. Thirty years ago it could 
 present no such honorable claim. Its housing condi- 
 tions, made worse by the monthl}^ arrival of thousands 
 of immigrants, were then a reproach and a peril. Its 
 ratio of infant deaths in periods of oppressive sum- 
 mer heat excited the horror and pity of the entire coun- 
 try. Since that time it has made wonderful progress in 
 the right direction. By the enactment of wise laws and 
 ordinances, through the services of efficient health de- 
 partments, by the bounty of noble philanthropists, 
 through the rapid advance of sanitary science, and by 
 the earnest labors of many civic associations, the teeming 
 city has struggled to a new life. Its diminished mortality 
 rate is the fortunate result. 
 
 In the twenty years' interval from 1897 to 1917 the 
 New York death rate for children under five years of 
 age was cut down from 67 to 29 per 1,000. In 1868 about 
 28 per 1,000 of the whole population died in the me-
 
 288 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 tropolis. In 1917 the rate had been reduced to less than 
 14 per 1,000. 
 
 The functions of every city department, or bureau, 
 of health should cover the following activities : 
 General municipal sanitation. 
 Protection against infectious diseases. 
 Supervision of the water supply. 
 Child hygiene. 
 Food inspection. 
 Public education. 
 
 Maintenance of hospitals and laboratories. 
 
 Careful keeping of mortality and other vital statistics. 
 
 It is evident that no municipal health staff is large 
 
 enough to supervise and enforce in detail every law, 
 
 ordinance or regulation of these various subjects. The 
 
 health authorities must depend, perhaps to a greater 
 
 extent than any other 
 branch of the city gov- 
 ernment, upon the zealous 
 co-operation of citizens. 
 
 6. The Water Sup- 
 ply. — The water supply 
 of each city is in charge 
 of a special administra- 
 tive bureau or officer at- 
 tached, as a rule, to the 
 public works department. 
 To such official agent or 
 agency the management 
 of the water plant is 
 intrusted, and this re- 
 sponsibility includes all 
 the business and me- 
 chanical details of water 
 
 Williams & Hunt. 
 
 A INIoDEL Water Source 
 
 Skaneateles lake, a beautiful body of 
 clear and cold water, from which 
 Syracuse, N. Y., draws its drinking 
 supply. The water is carried to the 
 city, eighteen miles distant, in great 
 conduits connecting the lake with city 
 reservoirs. Tests made by the Na- 
 tional Civic Federation some years ago 
 showed the Syracuse water supply to 
 be one of the purest in the country.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 
 
 289 
 
 Blown Bros. 
 
 The Filtering of Water 
 
 A notable filtration plant, Flint, 
 Michigan. 
 
 distribution, the care and 
 maintenance of the reser- 
 voirs, conduits and mains, 
 and the collections for 
 water service. But the 
 authority of the health 
 department necessarily 
 extends over the water 
 supply, to insure its purity 
 and to protect it from 
 contamination. 
 
 With regard to water 
 administration, questions 
 of deep interest in every 
 community are the purity and abundance of the source 
 of the water supply ; the official regulations for guard- 
 ing the supply against pollution of any kind ; the methods 
 of filtering it, if filters are necessary ; the location and 
 the capacity of the holding reservoirs; the daily con- 
 sumption of the city in gallons, the increase of that 
 
 consumption in the sum- 
 mer months and the pre- 
 cautions taken by the 
 city authorities to prevent 
 or discourage waste. In 
 every city the waste of 
 water is a common of- 
 fense. Sometimes it is 
 due to heedlessness on the 
 part of consumers in neg- 
 Ki.,,,:, j;. , lecting defective plumb- 
 Insuring Pure Water ing, in leaving faucets 
 
 Interior of the Flint, Michigan, filtra- open and iu CXCeSsivC 
 
 tion plant, and some of the mechanism • i i> 
 
 for filtering and testing the supply. Sprinkling of lawnS. A
 
 290 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 pure and plentiful water supply is one of the best guar- 
 antees of the city's health. 
 
 7. The Protection of Milk. — Next comes the ques- 
 tion of food inspection. Here the necessity of insuring 
 
 a wholesome milk supply 
 is first among the city's 
 obligations. Milk is the 
 most familiar and nourish- 
 ing food of young children 
 and invalids. Of late 
 years every well governed 
 city has learned to en- 
 force stringent rules for 
 the inspection of milk, 
 with a view to insuring 
 its cleanliness and testing 
 its nutritious and whole- 
 some quality. Under this 
 system the dairies that 
 supply the milk are from 
 time to time carefully in- 
 spected, and pains are 
 taken to see that the cans and bottles used in distribu- 
 tion are thoroughly cleansed and sterilized. 
 
 In many of the larger cities of the country, an addi- 
 tional precaution is taken against milk infection, in the 
 shape of the pasteurization process. This method of 
 treating milk, now in use in progressive milk plants, is 
 named after Louis Pasteur, a famous French scientist, 
 who first applied it years ago to purify French wines. In 
 the case of milk, it is a simple process of heating the 
 liquid to from 142 to 145 degrees. The heat is care- 
 fully raised to the degree where it will destroy the bac- 
 teria or microbes of disease that have the least power of 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 Safeguarding the Milk Supply 
 
 A section of a modern milk plant 
 where cleanliness is the rule.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 291 
 
 resistance. As it fortunately happens, these are the 
 very germs which are sometimes dangerous in milk as 
 possible carriers of contagion. In 1898, Nathan Straus, 
 the philanthropist, distressed by the high death rate 
 among infants and young children in New York city, 
 built a big pasteurizing plant on Randall's Island. In 
 time the good results were so apparent that pasteurizing 
 plants multiplied in New York and made their advent in 
 other cities. In a number of larger communities the 
 pasteurizing of milk is made compulsory by local ordi- 
 nance. It is the heating or "cooking" process, scien- 
 tifically conducted, that distinguishes pasteurized milk 
 from the ordinary raw milk. 
 
 "Certified" milk is raw milk which is carefully guarded 
 against contamination at 
 every point. It is so 
 called because its purity 
 and quality are certified 
 by official or medical ex- 
 perts. 
 
 The Federal and State 
 governments co-operate 
 in making and enforcing 
 laws to prevent the sale 
 of impure and harmful 
 food, especially meats and 
 canned and bottled prep- 
 arations. But it is the 
 obligation of the city to 
 supplement these laws 
 
 with careful inspection of m.ienvooa & underwood. 
 
 all foods exposed for sale Fighting a Common Pest 
 
 and subject to COntamina- Taking an active part in the warfare 
 
 on the house fly, always a possible 
 tlOn by dust and flies and carrier of disease germs.
 
 292 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 by improper handling. Dealers in food often err through 
 ignorance, and every well conducted health department 
 should supply vendors of this class with printed instruc- 
 tions urging the necessity of constant precautions in dis- 
 playing their commodities. Such circulars should point 
 to the danger of permitting persons who are in any way 
 
 diseased from handling 
 food in the stores either 
 as sellers or would-be 
 buyers. Vigorous cru- 
 sades against fly pests 
 have been of late years a 
 very useful feature of city 
 movements for food pro- 
 tection. Each branch of 
 this movement is of prime 
 interest and concern to 
 every household. 
 
 8. Other Protections 
 Against Disease. — The 
 warfare of the city against 
 contagious diseases is con- 
 stant. In this direction 
 the individual assistance 
 of citizens is particularly 
 valuable to the health 
 authorities. The quarantine of homes afflicted by such 
 diseases is now strictly enforced. The quarantine regu- 
 lations require that each house in which contagion has 
 developed shall be placarded with the name of the malady, 
 and its inmates forbidden to mingle with persons on the 
 outside until the disease is cured and the dwelling 
 thoroughly disinfected by agents of the health depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 The City Bacteriologist 
 
 A vigilant guardian of the com- 
 munity's health. It is his duty to 
 discover the traces of contagion, to 
 examine cultures from the throats of 
 diphtheria suspects, to look for im- 
 purities in the drinking supply, and to 
 co-operate with the health department 
 in many similar ways in the warfare 
 against disease.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 293 
 
 To strengthen its crusade against contagion every 
 health department is expected to maintain a laboratory 
 for bacteriological work — that is, for the examination 
 of disease germs and the analysis of water supposed to 
 contain impurities. The city bacteriologist is now an 
 important official guardian of the public health. It is he 
 who tests the cultures, or throat secretions, taken from 
 patients suspected of having diphtheria ; and it is his 
 report that determines whether the disease exists and the 
 patient is to be quarantined. 
 
 But quarantine alone is not a sufficient safeguard 
 against contagion. Epidemics like the influenza, which 
 are not subject to compulsory quarantine, are often 
 spread by persons who are indifferent to the welfare 
 of their fellow citizens. Municipal ordinances against 
 expectorating in public places are not observed as they 
 should be. Physicians tell us, moreover, that a person 
 suffering with what appears to be a simple cold in the 
 head exposes those in his vicinity to infection unless his 
 handkerchief is properly used, or, better yet, a paper 
 napkin which can be promptly disposed of. In the class 
 in civics the need of continual care and vigilance in such 
 matters cannot be too strongly emphasized. The model 
 citizen is on the alert every day in the year against viola- 
 tion of the health laws and ordinances. 
 
 OTHER SANITARY SAFEGUARDS 
 
 9. The Need of Personal Vigilance. — A clean city is 
 apt to be a comparatively healthful city, and city cleanli- 
 ness begins in the home and its premises. The health 
 authorities see to it that the best methods of fumigation 
 and disinfection are carefully applied in homes visited 
 bv contasfion. But householders are often remiss in not 
 protecting themselves against communicable diseases that
 
 294 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 are less harmful. "The cold ran through our whole 
 family" is an expression often heard ; and it means a 
 lack of precaution on the family's part after the first 
 
 symptom develops. It 
 must be remembered that 
 an ordinary cold is fre- 
 quently the source of seri- 
 ous mischief. 
 
 The spring house- 
 cleaning is an ancient 
 practice ; but it has been 
 within only a compara- 
 tively recent period that 
 the necessity of carrying 
 this good principle into 
 dark cellars and neglected 
 backyards has been vig- 
 orously pressed home by 
 city officials and civic or- 
 ganizations. In clean cel- 
 lars as w^ell as in clean 
 living and sleeping rooms 
 there is health insurance 
 as well as pride. A back- 
 yard in which the refuse of years is allowed to accumu- 
 late may easily spread disease, especially under the rays 
 of the summer sun, and one plague spot of this kind may 
 endanger a whole city block. The owners of vacant lots 
 too often sin in this regard. 
 
 10. Clean Streets as a Health Reliance. — It must be 
 remembered that when individual citizens contribute to 
 the healthfulness and inviting appearance of the city by 
 keeping their own premises in "apple-pie" order, their 
 policy of cleanliness influences the city authorities in the 
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 Every Little Counts 
 
 Lads from the civics class doing good 
 work. They are saying to a careless 
 householder: "Better cover up your 
 rubbish can and help the Board of 
 Health."
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 295 
 
 right way. Upon the latter rests the responsibility for 
 clean streets and squares and for attractive parks and 
 playgrounds. The care of the streets is not merely a 
 question of municipal tidiness. It is an essential part 
 of the general program of health preservation. Sanitary 
 experts tell us that dust is a busy carrier of disease germs. 
 Diligent street sprinkling or periodic street oiling is 
 therefore one of the plainest duties of the municipality, 
 and one that should be marked by a wise liberality of 
 expenditure. 
 
 In American cities within the northern latitudes the 
 spring break-up creates a serious problem for the street- 
 cleaning department. The winter deposits on the pave- 
 ments require vigorous treatment, including flushing in 
 the springtime, not only 
 for the convenience of 
 citizens but in the interest 
 of the public health. The 
 removal of ice and snow 
 from the highways is al- 
 ways an expensive under- 
 taking, but its sure reward 
 is a lessening of the risks 
 of disease. 
 
 11. Garbage and Sew- 
 age Disposal. — An im- 
 portant item in health 
 administration is garbage 
 collection and disposal. 
 If the exact truth could 
 be ascertained, it would 
 
 doubtless be found that the lowering of the death rate in 
 all well managed cities in the past quarter century is 
 partly due to the introduction of wise municipal methods 
 
 20 
 
 lirovvn Bros. 
 
 Clean Streets a Civic AIerit 
 
 The White Wings contribute much in 
 
 their way to make the city healthful 
 
 as well as attractive
 
 296 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *^w^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 Bb3 
 
 W ^ri 
 
 1 
 
 for ridding households of their garbage accumulations. 
 This sanitary process was once left to individual dis- 
 cretion and in many cases neglected. Many smaller cities 
 and villages are still lacking a publicly controlled system 
 
 of this kind, and their 
 carelessness or lack of en- 
 terprise puts a premium 
 on disease. Even in com- 
 munities in which gar- 
 bage collection is a public 
 charge, as it always should 
 be, the methods of dispos- 
 ing of it are sometimes 
 defective. 
 
 Fortunately, the scien- 
 tific use of garbage in 
 reduction plants is now 
 a widespread industrial 
 pursuit. City reduction, 
 plants, many of them run 
 by private corporations, 
 are becoming more and 
 more common. They turn out valuable commercial 
 products by scientific methods, under approved sanitary 
 conditions. Their principal output is stearic acid, used 
 extensively in the manufacture of soap and candles. 
 During the World War glycerine was largely extracted 
 from garbage for the manufacture of explosives, and this 
 special demand encouraged the scientific reduction of 
 garbage in many cities which had previously paid for 
 burning it as waste matter. Besides the greasy content 
 of garbage, when it is reduced in a modern plant, is a 
 dry product called tankage, which is used as an in- 
 gredient of farm fertilizers. 
 
 Scientific Garbage Reduction 
 
 An interior section of a model plant 
 for putting garbage waste to good 
 use. In the enormous ovens along 
 the corridor the garbage is deposited 
 from above and converted by heat into 
 fertilizers, grease and other commer- 
 cial products
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 297 
 
 The disposal of sewage is another serious city prol)- 
 lem. Here the operation is all outgo without com- 
 mercial return, except in some rare cases where attempts 
 have been made to produce commercial fertilizers, and 
 also alcohol for industrial purposes, from the refuse. In 
 the modern plants for sewage disposal, big ''sedimenta- 
 tion" tanks are employed, and also ingenious screening 
 
 Sewage Disposal 
 
 This is a variation of the standard Imhoff system of sedimentation tanks 
 for the sanitary disposal of city sewage. It is located at Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 systems, to separate the "effluent," or liquid content, from 
 the rest, and thus to make final disposal easier. In the 
 work of disposal, cities located near large bodies of water 
 have a great advantage. In cities without this advantage, 
 the sewage must be piped some distance and absorbed 
 into soil set aside for the purpose. 
 
 12. Aids for the Sick Poor. — The public hospital, 
 the free dispensary and free nursing service are valuable 
 adjuncts of the progressive city's system of health preser- 
 vation. Most hospitals, except the strictly private sana-
 
 298 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 toriums or cures, are open for the care of poor patients 
 committed to them and paid for by the city or county ; 
 but special city hospitals are necessary institutions. 
 Every city must have a hospital or hospital annex for 
 the special cure and treatment of contagious diseases. 
 Of late years hospitals or sanatoriums for sufferers 
 from consumption, or tuberculosis, have appeared in 
 many American cities. Medical science has shown that 
 consumption, which claims more victims than any other 
 single disease, can be cured, at least in its earlier stages ; 
 and also that it can be communicated. This increased 
 knowledge of the distressing malady has pointed to the 
 need of tuberculosis sanatoriums, usually located in the 
 citv suburbs. In these the afflicted ones can be isolated 
 and at the same time have the benefit of pure air, care- 
 fully selected diet and the medical and nursing attention 
 essential to recovery. The public generosity and civic 
 spirit which have established these agencies for the 
 care and cure of consumptives are meritorious in a 
 
 double sense. That is 
 because every restored 
 patient represents a be- 
 nevolent service and a 
 working unit restored to 
 the communit}'. 
 
 The dispensary for 
 supplying free drugs to 
 the poor is one of the old- 
 est of municipal benefac- 
 tions within the sphere of 
 health protection. Some- 
 times it is but partly 
 financed by the city, 
 under the offi- 
 
 Browii Bros. 
 
 School Sanitation 
 
 A toothbrush drill for the double pur- 
 pose of teaching habits of cleanliness 
 and of guarding against infection. 
 
 though
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 299 
 
 Broun Bros. 
 
 Guarding Against Trouble 
 
 In many schools the medical super- 
 vision of pupils includes frequent ex- 
 amination of the eyes, ears, throats 
 and teeth. This nurse is making a 
 close scrutiny of the children's eyes. 
 
 cial supervision of the 
 health authorities. The 
 greater part of its revenue 
 comes in the form of pri- 
 vate charity. As profes- 
 sional nursing is beyond 
 the reach of the sick poor, 
 their needs are suppHed 
 in many cities by associa- 
 tions of visiting nurses, 
 whose duty is to minister 
 to the patients of this 
 unfortunate class. Here, 
 too, the funds neces- 
 sary for the philanthropic 
 work are generally made up of charitable offerings. 
 
 13. Sanitation in the Schools. — In all well-governed 
 cities the sanitary condition of the schools and the health 
 of the students are constantly kept in mind by the official 
 authorities. Within the school itself pupils are frequentl}^ 
 reminded of the precautions taken by the city for the 
 protection of their health. They are surrounded by sani- 
 tary safeguards which were unknown to the pupils of 
 the public schools of other days. In up-to-date cities 
 it is now considered a necessary part of school manage- 
 ment to provide a system of school examination by 
 physicians or nurses. This is to shield the pupils from 
 dangers to health, especially from contagious diseases, 
 to which one ailing student might expose a whole 
 class. 
 
 School hygiene is now a very important part of the 
 educational scheme of the State and the city. It began 
 long ago with the laws requiring the vaccination of 
 school children against smallpox, but it has since de-
 
 300 New Era Civics 
 
 veloped into a broad official supervision of the health 
 interests of the whole student body. 
 
 14. Sanitation and Safety in Industry. — The students 
 of today, noting the care taken by the municipality 
 to provide them with healthful school surroundings and 
 to keep watch, as most cities do, upon the health of 
 all pupils through medical and other agencies, must 
 readily understand why well governed cities insist that 
 their workers in factories, shops and stores are protected 
 against unsanitary conditions. In this respect great im- 
 provement has been made in the last thirty years. Vir- 
 tually every State has on its statute books laws requiring 
 that men and women and children who work for a living 
 shall have the advantage of well ventilated and com- 
 fortable quarters, and that factory buildings shall be 
 equipped with fire escapes and with the modern appli- 
 ances for extinguishing fires. In many cases it is the city 
 that is responsible for the enforcement of these laws, 
 through its police, its health department and its civic 
 organizations. 
 
 In no way is the physical welfare of the citizenship 
 of a State or city better guarded than by its special laws 
 relating to women and child workers. In manv States 
 young children are not permitted to labor for pay and 
 the working hours for women are limited. In this direc- 
 tion the State depends upon the city to see that its 
 humanitarian laws are faithfully executed. 
 
 15. Where Citizens Can Help. — While the city is 
 officially accountable for applying all safeguards and 
 carrying out all measures which sanitary experts recom- 
 mend for the public protection, its government must 
 rely, in its turn, upon the citizens, young and old, to lend 
 their aid in attaining the desired end. The opportunity 
 to vote out of power a negligent administration comes
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 301 
 
 only once in every year, two years or four years, as the 
 case may be. But the citizen need not wait for election 
 day to play his or her part in making the city clean and 
 sanitary and healthful. The man or woman or civics 
 student who abates a nuisance or any menace to the 
 public health, or reports it to the city officials who have 
 the power to abate it, renders a valuable service to the 
 community. Occasions for such service frequently 
 arise even in cities where the administration is generally 
 regarded as efficient and satisfactory. 
 
 16. The Care of the Insane. — Under the head of 
 public safety and public health are the provisions for 
 the custody and care of the insane. This important obH- 
 gation rests upon the State, rather than upon the city. 
 Insanity is nothing but mental disease. Its victims 
 are peculiarly entitled to protection and pity, and, espe- 
 cially in curable cases, to the best of expert attention. 
 But while the care of the insane is within the province 
 of the State, many good-sized cities maintain places of 
 detention and examination for patients who have shown 
 symptoms of mental disease but are not definitely pro- 
 nounced insane. These are known as psychopathic hos- 
 pitals or hospital wards. The inmates are put under 
 temporary observation to determine whether or not their 
 condition requires their transfer to a State hospital for 
 the insane. Frequently a course of treatment in these 
 city institutions results in a cure, and patients are saved 
 from confinement in the State retreats. 
 
 17. The City's Charities. — In the tax budget of every 
 city a heavy item is the appropriation for charitable pur- 
 poses. The city, like the individual, is expected to live 
 up to the Christian precept which commands us to feed 
 and shelter the destitute and care for the orphan. In 
 several departments of charity the city does no more
 
 302 New Era Civics 
 
 than contribute to enterprises which are financed by 
 private generosity. Our orphan as} kims are, as a rule, 
 institutions of this class. These asykims are usually con- 
 ducted by benevolent organizations, and the city makes 
 a fixed allowance for each little inmate. Such grants 
 from the municipal treasury are no more than a part 
 of the total cost of supporting the orphan wards. In 
 the larger cities as}lums for foundlings, or deserted 
 infants, are maintained on a similar basis. 
 
 The needs of poverty-stricken families are met with 
 so-called poor funds, and the dispensing of aid in this 
 way is a familiar function of every charity department. 
 The usual method of the department is to investigate 
 carefully such cases of destitution, and to issue to the 
 destitute ones orders for food, clothing or fuel, which 
 are duly filled by merchants and afterwards paid from 
 the city treasury. In the case of city poor who need 
 shelter or of homeless wanderers, the police generally 
 supply temporary accommodations. Almshouses and 
 homes for the aged poor are mainly county institutions, 
 but inmates are sent to them by the city and are, of 
 course, a city charge. 
 
 The share of the city government in relieving the 
 wants of poor persons is necessarily quite limited, owing 
 to the natural reluctance of unfortunates to accept public 
 charity. Hence, a very large proportion of such relief 
 is furnished through church and other charitable societies. 
 Through these agencies a good many men and women 
 are able to render benevolent services in the ways least 
 calculated to wound the pride of the poor. The Salva- 
 tion Army is a familiar type of the associations which are 
 organized to help the homeless and destitute. Most 
 churches have auxiliary societies devoted to the aid of 
 needy people.
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 303 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XVII 
 
 1. Why should the class in civics make a special study of city 
 affairs ? Give the reason why the details of city government should 
 be studied in the classroom. 
 
 2. Repeat the three chief aims of city government. What is 
 meant by the security of a city? What general objects and measures 
 come under the head of utility? What does city attractiveness in- 
 clude? What do the several stones in the Municipal Arch repre- 
 sent? What do the foundation stones of the arch stand for? Why 
 is "honest, efficient administration" the keystone? 
 
 3. What is the city's first need? What features of fire protec- 
 tion are worthy of study? 
 
 4. In what respect has police protection been specially necessary 
 in recent years? How has the popularity of the automobile affected 
 police duties? What is the function of the "traffic squad" of the 
 police force? Describe the problems created by motor car traffic. 
 
 5. What class of questions merit particular attention in the 
 study of community civics? Tell something about the example set 
 by New York city in diminishing its death rate. Cite figures show- 
 ing the success of its efforts. How are the activities of the city 
 health department or bureau divided? Upon what reliance do the 
 health officers count in the performance of their duties? 
 
 6. What is the relation of the health department to the water 
 supply? 
 
 7. What kind of food inspection comes first in the order of 
 importance? What precautions are taken by the city to insure pure 
 milk? Tell something about pasteurized milk. Name some of the 
 city's other responsibilities for protecting the food supply, and the 
 precautions taken in that direction. 
 
 8. What is the most familiar measure taken to prevent the 
 spread of contagious diseases? What are the quarantine regula- 
 tions? What are the duties of the city bacteriologist? How should 
 some of the milder epidemics be guarded against? 
 
 9. Mention some of the respects in which personal care and 
 vigilance can help to make a community healthful. What kind of 
 home cleanliness is held in special favor? Why should the cellars 
 and backyards be thoroughly cleaned? 
 
 10. How is the public health benefited by an energetic policy 
 of street cleaning? Why is the dust nuisance considered dangerous?
 
 304 New Era Civics 
 
 At what season should the city government devote particular atten- 
 tion to the streets? 
 
 11. Name a branch of city cleanliness in which great progress 
 has been made. Should garbage removal be left to individual house- 
 holders or be made a public charge? Tell something about modern 
 methods of garbage reduction and sewage disposal. 
 
 12. What familiar provisions are made for the care of the sick 
 poor? Name one special reason for maintaining city hospitals. Tell 
 something about sanatoriums for consumptives? What is tuber- 
 culosis, the most dreaded of familiar diseases, and what is the 
 double advantage gained by the organized efforts to save its victims? 
 What is the free dispensary, and how is it usually supported? What 
 form does free nursing for the poor frequently take? 
 
 13. Why is a system of medical examination maintained in 
 the schools? 
 
 14. In what other quarter is the city's system of sanitary inspec- 
 tion and supervision extended? What is the general purpose of 
 factory inspection? What classes of workers receive the special care 
 of the State and its cities? 
 
 15. What does the city expect from its good citizens, and how 
 can they best discharge their obligations? By what simple service 
 can the citizen contribute to the cleanliness and health of the com- 
 munity? 
 
 16. What provision is made by some cities for persons showing 
 symptoms of mental disease? 
 
 17. For what object does the city annually make large pro- 
 visions in its budget? Why is public charity considered a com- 
 munity need? To what extent does the city support its orphan 
 children? In what other ways does the' city attend to the needs of 
 the very poor ? What are the most common measures taken to 
 serve those who depend upon the city for the necessaries of life? 
 In what class of cases does private charity serve the poor to better 
 advantage than public charity? 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. Have you noticed any nuisance, whether in the street, in a 
 vacant lot or on private premises, which you consider dangerous to 
 the public health?
 
 City Safety, Health and Charity 305 
 
 2. Have you visited any place of entertainment or other public 
 assembly where the methods of ventilation or the means of exit in 
 case of fire seemed to be defective? 
 
 3. Do you find the policemen whom you happen to meet watch- 
 ful on their beats and courteous in answering questions? 
 
 4. Do you know of any homes bearing quarantine placards in 
 which the inhabitants seem to be careless? 
 
 5. Do you know any destitute sick who ought to receive the 
 attention of the city poor department or of a charitable organiza- 
 tion? 
 
 6. Do the vehicles for milk delivery which come inider your 
 observation measure up to the proper standard of neatness and 
 cleanliness ? Do the retailers of food of whom you have knowledge 
 take suitable precautions for protecting their food exhibits from 
 contamination ? 
 
 7. Do the residents in your neighborhood keep their yards in a 
 clean and presentable condition? 
 
 8. Are the city garbage collectors regular in their visits to your 
 neighborhood; are they careful in transferring the garbage to their 
 wagons and are their wagons properly covered? 
 
 9. Have you noticed any instances of a heedless waste of city 
 water ? 
 
 10. Do you consider your city government careful or careless 
 in its street cleaning operations, and particularly, do you believe it 
 does all that it can to abate the dust nuisance? 
 
 11. Are there unguarded street corners in your neighborhood 
 which automobile traffic has rendered dangerous. Has any way 
 occurred to you by which the parking facilities for motor cars in 
 the business sections could be improved? 
 
 12. How many hospitals of all kinds does your city contain 
 and how many can you name? If your community has a public 
 hospital, or more than one, name location. What provision does 
 your city make for the confinement of patients suffering from con- 
 tagious diseases ? Has your city a psychopathic hospital or hospital 
 ward for the temporary care and observation of persons giving 
 signs of insanity? 
 
 13. What is the title of that branch of your city government 
 which supplies aid to the poor? What provision does your city make 
 for temporary sheltering of the homeless? Name the principal 
 organizations of your city that give needed help to the destitute.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE CITY— ITS SCHOOLS, SERVICE AND 
 ATTRACTIONS 
 
 Schools are necessary in order that each succeeding age 
 may he well supplied with men qualified to serve. — Benja- 
 min Franklin. 
 
 1. The Schools and Their Mission. — Next in impor- 
 tance to the health and safety of the city and the care 
 of its destitute poor, the provisions for education through 
 ample school facilities should appeal to the interest of 
 the student in community civics. While school adminis- 
 tration varies greatly in our American cities, public edu- 
 cation has but one common purpose, namely, the proper 
 mental training of our future citizens. With the ex- 
 ception of the church, the schoolhouse is the most im- 
 pressive and familiar symbol of modern civilization. 
 Unlike the church, the school is maintained by public 
 taxation. As a department of government. State and 
 local, education deserves the earnest attention of all 
 who are preparing for the duties and responsibilities of 
 the citizen. 
 
 Formerly, the school training of children was a matter 
 of choice with the parents. That is still true to the 
 extent that parents who so desire and who have the 
 means to gratify their wish, can have their boys and 
 girls educated in private schools or by private tutors. 
 But the education of the children, in some form or 
 
 306
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 307 
 
 other, is no longer left to 
 the discretion of parents 
 or guardians. The child 
 must receive reasonable 
 intellectual training. The 
 principle of compulsory 
 education, as it is called, is 
 generally applied through- 
 out the country. For a 
 specified period, at least 
 long enough to acquire 
 knowledge of the elemen- 
 tary studies, the boy or 
 girl must be educated. 
 In most of the States failure to comply with the com- 
 pulsory laws is made a legal offense for parents, while 
 children who evade the duty of school attendance are 
 dealt with as truants. In a word, our whole educational 
 system is based on the sound theory that the proper 
 
 Linlfiuuud .X: LiiULiwuuU. 
 
 The Little Red Sciioolhouse 
 
 An elementary school of other days. 
 
 Types of it still linger in the rural 
 
 districts. A contrast with the modern 
 
 High School. 
 
 Bruce Pub. Co. 
 
 City Progress in Education 
 
 A noble school building "'way down South." The junior-senior High School 
 
 at Fort Worth, Texas.
 
 308 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 mental training of children is not merely a convenience 
 and a privilege for parents and their offspring, but a civic 
 obligation which they must not shirk. 
 
 2. Where State and City Join Hands. — The cost of 
 maintaining public schools is among the heaviest tax 
 burdens in every community, and as it is met by taxa- 
 tion the payment is not confined to the parents of the 
 
 liruce i'ub. Co. 
 
 For Special Training 
 
 The Carter H. Harrison Technical High School in Chicago. A fine example 
 of the modern advanced public schools devoted to technical or vocational 
 
 training. 
 
 children benefited. By making the school tax a general 
 one, either by a separate collection, as in some cities, or 
 as an item of the annual budget, the city wisely recog- 
 nizes the fact that education is a public concern. 
 
 In its provisions for education the city acts as the 
 political representative and agent of the State. In all the 
 States the educational system is administered from 
 the capital under a carefully devised code of school laws. 
 No two of these State systems are exactly alike. Some 
 of them intrust their educational interests to State boards 
 and others to single commissioners. Still others com-
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 309 
 
 bine the two administrative factors. Generally speak- 
 ing, the State keeps to itself the power of supervision 
 over all the public schools within its boundaries. In 
 the exercise of this power it prescribes, through its 
 State board or other administrative agencies, the rules 
 and regulations governing education, the grading of the 
 
 A Famous Library 
 
 In this library there are 14 miles of bookshelves and 4,000,000 books. All 
 
 progressive cities are now actively interested in the steady development of 
 
 their library facilities. This is sound policy, as the public library is the 
 
 great continuation school after youthful school days are over. 
 
 schools, the courses of study therein and such other mat- 
 ters as encourage uniformity of method. At the same 
 time, the State must needs transfer a large authority to 
 the communities that erect the school buildings, provide 
 for their maintenance and employ and pay the teachers. 
 In consequence public education, though supervised and 
 directed from the State capital, is also a part of the city's 
 political responsibilities.
 
 310 New Era Civics 
 
 3. The Public Library. — An admirable educational 
 agency in every city is the pubHc Hbrar\-. It may be 
 called the university of the common people, for it opens 
 to every one the opportunity for mental improvement 
 after school days are over. In all public libraries works 
 of fiction are more widely sought for than any others ; 
 but the circulation of more serious volumes, such as 
 history, biography, science and travel entitles these in- 
 stitutions to an honorable place in our educational sys- 
 tem. 
 
 4. Social Service. — During the World War, when the 
 food problem became acute, local agencies were organized 
 for the better education of housekeepers in domestic 
 science, particularly in more economical methods in the 
 purchase of food and its preparation for the table. In not 
 a few cities these agencies of social service have survived 
 the war. Among them are numerous "thrift" kitchens 
 where lectures and demonstrations are given free of 
 charge. They are maintained by public and private aid 
 or both. Wherever they exist, they may fairly be in- 
 cluded in the city's educational system. 
 
 5. The Public Utilities. — This is the name often 
 given to various forms of public service supplied by 
 privately owned corporations under city regulation or 
 supervision. In the average city it includes railway 
 transportation, lighting, heating by artificial gas, the 
 furnishing of electric power to industries, and telephone 
 and telegraph service. 
 
 Water distribution is, of course, a public utility ; but 
 this service is solely controlled b}' the municipal govern- 
 ment in the great majority of cases. In some cities, 
 however, the water supply is owned and distributed by 
 private companies, under municipal regulations for pro- 
 tecting the public health and insuring reasonable prices.
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 311 
 
 In such instances the water service belongs in the same 
 class with other kinds of corporate service, like trans- 
 portation and lighting. 
 
 Many cities have access to supplies of natural gas, 
 distributed through mains and pipes, like the more 
 familiar artificial gas, both for heating and illuminating. 
 In some cities, especially the more populous, steam 
 heat is generated in central stations and forced through 
 underground piping into business blocks and other 
 structures whose owners prefer that form of heating 
 service. 
 
 All these varieties of service come under the head of 
 public convenience. The public-service, or public-utilities 
 corporations conduct their business under the municipal 
 franchises already referred to. What is a franchise, as 
 the term is here used ? It is a written contract between 
 the public-service company and the city. Each city 
 charter specifies the municipal officers who shall have the 
 power to make and sign such agreements. By the terms 
 of the contract the city gives or sells to the public-service 
 company the use of its streets for the laying of tracks 
 or of underground conduits or mains, for the raising of 
 poles and the stringing of wires, or for any purpose re- 
 lated to 'the service the corporation proposes to render. 
 This permit is known as a franchise, and it is usually a 
 valuable privilege. 
 
 There was a time when such franchises were granted 
 too freely and too cheaply ; but all well managed cities 
 have since learned to appreciate their value and to drive 
 hard bargains with the public-service companies. The 
 corporation is now usually required to pay the city a 
 round sum or a percentage of its annual earnings, or 
 both, for the privilege it seeks. It further agrees to 
 be bound by the conditions named in the contract. Under 
 
 21
 
 312 New Era Civics 
 
 these conditions the city is able to limit, or to invoke 
 the State's power to limit, the company's charges for 
 service and to enforce such regulations as may be neces- 
 sary for the public protection. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 
 
 6. Street Car Service. — Street car service has been 
 very stimulating to city growth, especially since the in- 
 troduction of electric power through the familiar trolley. 
 It has encouraged the spread of city life toward the 
 suburbs in ways that were undreamed of in the old days 
 wdien horse-drawn cars were the main reliance of city 
 people for transportation purposes. In every growing 
 city the routing of street railway lines to serve the needs 
 of the people in the newer sections has been a serious 
 problem. Still more serious has been the problem of 
 providing adequate service in the "rush hours" — the 
 hours at the beginning and close of the business and 
 the industrial day. 
 
 The World War brought another problem in this line 
 of public service. The increased cost of operation, in- 
 cluding materials, equipments and wages to employes, 
 was severely felt by railway companies. They also 
 found it difficult to finance their service and improve- 
 ments. In consequence, the companies, as a rule, in- 
 sisted that they must have additional revenue. They 
 increased their fares or demanded such increase in cities 
 where the franchises left the matter to city authorities 
 or State boards. There has been much agitation of the 
 issues thus raised in the cities affected. In most cases 
 the disputes between the railway companies, on the one 
 hand, and the city authorities and the public, on the 
 other, have hinged on the question whether or not the 
 railway properties were "over-capitalized."
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 313 
 
 Let us suppose that a railway company has issued 
 stock and bonds to the amount of $2,000,000. That is 
 the valuation it puts on its properties, and it claims the 
 right to earn a certain dividend, or income, let us say 
 eight per cent, on that amount. This would be $160,000 a 
 year above all expenses. But the city authorities may 
 claim that the securities of the company, namely, its 
 stock and bonds, have been inflated (or "watered") to 
 show an excessive value. They demand that a much 
 lower estimate be made of the value of the railway prop- 
 erty on which the company claims its eight per cent earn- 
 ings. By the decision of such questions the company's 
 right to increased fares must be determined. 
 
 7. The Agitation Over Fares. — In some cities a solu- 
 tion of the problem has been worked out through what 
 is known as a Service-at-Cost arrangement between the 
 company and the city. The two agree on a reasonable 
 valuation of the company's property. On that basis the 
 company consents to accept a certain revenue each year, 
 and to fix its fares at such a rate that the revenue will 
 be supplied. Beginning wdth a five or six-cent fare, if 
 the returns show after a stated period that the company 
 cannot earn the fixed revenue, or dividend, it can raise 
 its fares. If, on the contrary, it has earned a surplus 
 above the dividend named, it must reduce its fares. 
 
 The principle underlying this agreement is that the 
 company will furnish its service at cost to the public, 
 "Cost" here means all expenditures for operation, for 
 materials, equipments and necessary improvements, for 
 interest on its bonds and for a fair dividend to its stock- 
 holders. The bonds are so many mortages on the rail- 
 way properties and the interest on them must be paid 
 if the road is to be kept out of bankruptcy. The stocks 
 are shares in the business, and their market price, or
 
 314 New Era Civics 
 
 value, is determined, under ordinary conditions, by the 
 earnings of the road. When the Service-at-Cost scheme 
 is adopted, the city allows a fair dividend on the value 
 of the property as a part of the legitimate cost of run- 
 ning the road. 
 
 The chief obstacle to the Service-at-Cost plan is the 
 difficulty of reaching an agreement between the city and 
 the railway company as to what constitutes a fair value 
 of the company's property. 
 
 Regarding all forms of public service by corporations 
 in our cities, the effort of late years has been to settle 
 the basis of capitalization — that is to say, the property 
 value on which fair earnings, or dividends, may be 
 allowed — in such a way that the interests of the stock- 
 holders and of the people who pay for the service will 
 be safeguarded. 
 
 In practically all the States are laws requiring the 
 fullest publicity of the affairs of corporations, and the 
 municipal authorities are thus placed in possession of 
 the facts relating to the management of the public-service 
 companies. Such facts take the form of reports regularly 
 filed with a specified State official. By this means the 
 city officials can scan the balance sheet of each local cor- 
 poration, whether railway or other, and ascertain the 
 amount of its revenues and expenditures. Where an 
 honest basis of capitalization is determined upon by the 
 city and the corporation, it is easy enough to decide 
 what constitutes a reasonable charge for transportation 
 or lighting or any other service a company may render. 
 
 The city government can set a good example to its 
 subordinate corporations by performing its own duties 
 with constant fidelity. Most students of the subject 
 believe that such service as transportation and lighting 
 can best be intrusted to well regulated corporations.
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 315 
 
 The cases where the community itself renders these par- 
 ticular services are as yet few in number. 
 
 8. The City's Business Concerns. — The city adminis- 
 tration has a great variety of responsibilities in addition 
 to those which we have already considered. It maintains 
 a business establishment in which the municipal taxes 
 are assessed, collected and expended. Associated with 
 it is an auditing department in which every disburse- 
 ment of the city is checked off and verified and every 
 claim against it undergoes careful scrutiny before it is 
 allowed. 
 
 The city, like the thrifty business man, makes con- 
 tracts for labor and material when expenditures are con- 
 templated outside of the regular routine, as for public 
 buildings and improvements. All outlays or intended 
 outlays of that character are matters of public record, 
 no matter what special form of government a city may 
 have. Hence if inefficiency or extravagance in such un- 
 dertakings goes unheeded, it is generally the fault of 
 the citizens, and not of their municipal system. If for 
 any reason the important transactions of a city govern 
 ment are kept secret for any length of time, it is because 
 public opinion is asleep or indifferent ; and such draw- 
 backs are becoming more and more rare in American 
 communities. 
 
 CITY ATTRACTIONS 
 
 9. The Pavement Problem. — The provisions of each 
 city government for the convenience and comfort of the 
 citizens are necessarily subject to daily inspection. 
 Under this head good pavements must be included, and 
 not only well constructed, but well kept pavements. The 
 visitor to a city often derives his first estimate of its 
 enterprise from the quality and general appearance of
 
 316 New Era Civics 
 
 its pavements. It is needless to say that neglected 
 and damaged roadways are an unfailing sign of careless 
 local government and perhaps of deficient civic pride. 
 
 Pavements littered with waste paper or other refuse 
 are as unsightly, if not as dangerous, as broken pave- 
 ments. A city's care of the streets does not end when 
 the winter's deposits are removed from them in the 
 spring and they are sprinkled in the summer. Thorough 
 street sweeping by gangs of "white wings," as they are 
 often called, is one sure sign of good municipal house- 
 keeping. A famous street commissioner in New York 
 City, Col. George Waring, once upon a time startled 
 that big community by dressing his sweeping force in 
 white working uniforms. At first the costume seemed 
 out of place in the midst of the dirt accumulations and 
 scattered rubbish on a city's pavement. But, as a symbol 
 of cleanliness, it probably gave the men a better sense of 
 diligence and discipline, and it put an entirely different 
 aspect on the operation of street cleaning. Some news- 
 paper wag christened the newly uniformed workers 
 "white wings" ; and so they were termed in the many 
 other cities that adopted Colonel Waring's ingenious 
 plan. The "white wings" do not always remain spotless, 
 but they help wonderfully to make a city presentable, 
 and a pride to its people. 
 
 10. The City Parks. — The parks of the city are 
 among its most valued possessions. Some of them are 
 inheritances from the days of village infancy, but in most 
 communities the parks are comparatively new creations, 
 purchased and laid out in pursuance of the sound policy 
 of keeping the city's attractiveness and healthfulness 
 abreast of its growth. 
 
 As the city broadens out, one of the first concerns of 
 its officials, if they are of the right sort, is to acquire
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 317 
 
 
 L 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 13i()wn Bros. 
 
 Where Play Varies Study 
 
 A spacious city playground of the 
 right sort. 
 
 park lands, generally in 
 the suburbs where the 
 cost per acre is relatively 
 cheap. Fortunate are the 
 cities where such sites, 
 favored with a generous 
 proportion of trees and 
 shrubbery, are obtainable 
 at a moderate outlay. The 
 city usually pays for new 
 park lands with the pro- 
 ceeds of special bond is- 
 sues. This is one of the 
 safest financial ventures of a progressive community, 
 because the lading out of a new park always encourages 
 the building of homes in the vicinity and the value of 
 the park increases in proportion to the drift of population 
 
 toward its neighborhood. 
 Unlike public buildings 
 or other city structures, a 
 park becomes more and 
 more useful with age for 
 the purpose to which it 
 is devoted. Hence, when 
 long-time bonds issued 
 for park reservations are 
 finally paid off, the citi- 
 zens have the satisfaction 
 of knowing that the in- 
 vestment is far more val- 
 uable than it was at the 
 beginning. 
 
 Parks not only add im- 
 mensely to the beauty of 
 
 iJl'OHU JJlOS. 
 
 Taking a Hand 
 
 These lads from a civics class are co- 
 operating with the street department 
 in preparing some back lots for use as 
 a playground for the benefit of the 
 small children of the neighborhood.
 
 318 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 the city, but they are particularly to be priced as resorts 
 for rest and recreation in the seasons of fine weather, 
 especially for the poor, who are denied any opportunity 
 to enjoy summer vacations. 
 
 11. The Advent of the Playground. — In the old days 
 parks were used by young people for baseball and other 
 games, and this interfered, in the case of the smaller 
 parks, with the proper care of the grass plots, flower beds 
 and the other natural attractions that make such resorts 
 
 inviting. But the recrea- 
 tion needs of youth had to 
 l)e provided for. To meet 
 this want public play- 
 grounds have been estab- 
 lished in up-to-date cities. 
 Here the youngsters can 
 indulge in outdoor sports 
 and exercises to their 
 hearts' content without 
 fear of damaging park 
 lawns, shrubbery and gar- 
 dens. The policy of pur- 
 chasing blocks or parts of 
 blocks covered with cheap 
 buildings in congested 
 sections of cities, and converting them into playgrounds 
 for the benefit of the children who would otherwise do 
 their playing in the streets, is now a popular one with 
 enterprising municipal governments. 
 
 12. The Trees of the City. — Consideration of the 
 parks brings us to a closely related question — the care 
 of the city's trees. Stately shade trees, set at proper 
 intervals, are objects of beauty and sources of public 
 comfort on residence streets, and they cannot be prized 
 
 Brovvn Bros. 
 
 Sprucing up the School Grounds 
 
 Civics students of both sexes give 
 
 their attention to beautifying the High 
 
 Scliool surroundings.
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 319 
 
 too highly, inasmuch as they cannot be replaced if they 
 are permitted to die from neglect. In cities that are 
 efficiently governed it is a part of the duty of the park 
 department or bureau to keep watch on the condition 
 of the trees, to require the cutting down of selected trees 
 where the street row is overcrowded and to guard against 
 the insect pests that too often destroy valuable trees. 
 This is a duty in the performance of which the city 
 officers are entitled to the zealous assistance of private 
 householders. 
 
 13. The Need of City Planning. — In the matter of 
 general attractiveness the city can attain the best ideals 
 only by scientific planning. The city that "just grows," 
 like Topsy, may struggle along in a way, but it is never 
 a model city to live in. There are few American cities 
 now-a-days that do not follow some well-considered plan 
 for the laying out of new streets. When you see an 
 abnormally narrow street in a city, or a street that leads 
 nowhere, you can make up your mind that it is a relic 
 of certain old days when the community was no more 
 than a group of homes assembled without much regard 
 to the width or direction of its roadways. Such cities 
 have learned by past experience that their further de- 
 velopment, at least, must be planned on proper lines if 
 they are to expand in the right way. The newer cities 
 have profited in this respect from the examples of their 
 older sisters. 
 
 The modern system of city planning began with the 
 modest efforts of far-seeing officials to map out new 
 streets, or extensions of existing streets with greater re- 
 gard for the city's residential needs and to insure correct- 
 ness of outline and symmetry of future growth. In time 
 this sensible practice of looking ahead was broadened so 
 as to include other city activities, among them the laying
 
 320 New Era Civics 
 
 of sewers, the location of parks, the regulation of new 
 building, the removal or prevention of street obstructions 
 and of defacements like offensive bill-board advertising. 
 It is said that the enchanting White City at the Chicago 
 World's Fair in 1893, which was viewed with delight by 
 hundreds of thousands of visitors from every section of 
 the country, gave a great impetus to the movement for 
 wiser city planning. 
 
 14. Commission Powers and the Zoning System. — 
 The duty of city planning wherever the policy is adopted 
 is intrusted to a commission of public spirited citizens, 
 who usually serve without pay. In most of the cities 
 where such commissions exist, their power is limited to 
 suggesting plans for city improvement and beautification 
 which the responsible authorities, elected by the people, 
 can adopt or reject as they may desire. But in other 
 cities, in which public opinion is more particular on the 
 subject, the city planning commission is armed with 
 larger authority, which enables them to enforce the re- 
 forms and regulations necessary for carrying out their 
 programs. 
 
 The commission thus organized has power to locate 
 public buildings, monuments, highways, parks and play- 
 grounds. It exercises a still greater power under what 
 is known as ''the zoning system." By this system the 
 city is divided into zones, each of them reserved for 
 certain kinds of buildings. For example, some zones are 
 set aside chiefly for residences, though churches, hos- 
 pitals, libraries, schools and museums are admitted. 
 From these zones, all forms of business and manufacture 
 are excluded. Other zones are restricted to business or 
 commercial purposes, and factories are barred. The 
 zones of the third class are open to factories and shops 
 of every description, and any kind of legitimate industry
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 321 
 
 can be here established. The advocates of the zoning sys- 
 tem claim that its chief merit is that it protects fine 
 residence districts from invasion by structures or occupa- 
 tions that would detract from their beauty and value. 
 The division of cities into zones that permit the separa- 
 tion of its various activities and at the same time allow 
 proper seclusion to the home sections is now regarded by 
 many as one of the best achievements of the city-planning 
 reform. 
 
 The general mission of the city-planning commission 
 is to direct city development according to the most ap- 
 proved principles of beauty and utility. The whole sys- 
 tem, in its modern development, seems destined to grow 
 in public favor. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XVIII 
 
 1. For what vital purpose are the public schools supported by 
 the city? Is the mental training of children a matter of choice 
 with parents and guardians? What is the theory underlying the 
 system of compulsory education? 
 
 2. How are the funds provided for the support of the schools? 
 Why is school taxation made general instead of falling on the parents 
 benefited ? 
 
 3. State the reason why the public library is a valuable agency 
 of education? 
 
 4. Mention an example of useful social service that became 
 familiar during the war days. 
 
 5. To what class of service is the term "public utilities" applied? 
 Name some of the forms of public service that come under this 
 head. Are they rendered, as a rule, by city governments or by 
 privately owned corporations? How does the water supply usually 
 differ from other kinds of public utilities? What is the contract 
 called under which the privately owned companies, such as railway 
 and lighting companies, serve the public? What is the nature of 
 the agreement; and what are some of the privileges it confers on 
 the companies? What right does the city or the State assume with 
 regard to the charges of such companies for service?
 
 322 New Era Civics 
 
 6. What is the relation of street car service to city growth? 
 What problems have arisen in connection with this service? What 
 difficulties have confronted the street car companies during and since 
 the war time? When the companies have asked for an increase of 
 fare, what question has come to the front? 
 
 7. Explain the Service-at-Cost agreement which some cities 
 have adopted in determining street car fares. What is the principle 
 back of this arrangement, and how does it work? What is the 
 difference between the bonds and stocks of railway companies? 
 What merit is claimed for the Service-at-Cost system? What regu- 
 lation do the States enforce in the interest of corporation publicity? 
 What advantage do the city authorities gain from these publicity 
 laws? 
 
 8. Tell something about the city's system of business and 
 accounting. For what class of public undertakings are written con- 
 tracts required? 
 
 9. \\ hat can be said of the city's duty in the matter of street 
 paving? What special street operation is considered a sign of good 
 municipal housekeeping? What is the origin of the term "white 
 wings," as applied to street cleaners? 
 
 10. How do the public parks rank among the city's possessions? 
 What is the policy of progressive cities with regard to new park 
 sites? How does the city generally raise funds for the purchase of 
 park lands? Why are public parks considered desirable investments? 
 What double benefit does a city derive from its park reservations? 
 
 11. \\ hy is it considered wise to supplement the parks with 
 public playgrounds? 
 
 12. What feature of street attractiveness in the residential sec- 
 tion calls for the attention of the city authorities? What is their 
 responsibility in this respect? 
 
 13. What system is now widely adopted for directing the city's 
 growth? In what way is city planning especially valuable in mapping 
 out the city's expansion? To what kind of official agency is city 
 planning commonly entrusted? What is the present scope of city- 
 planning operations as a rule? From what source did the city-plan- 
 ning movement receive a powerful impulse? 
 
 14. How are city-planning commissions usually made up and 
 how do their members generally serve? Indicate the difference in 
 the powers of such commissions. What general power is possessed 
 by commissions of the more advanced type? Describe the "zoning 
 system." What is the advantage claimed for it?
 
 City Schools, Service and Attractions 323 
 
 Test Questions and Hints 
 
 1. Prepare a brief composition setting forth your own idea of 
 the public school system and its benefits. 
 
 2. Do you think there is any injustice in levying a general tax 
 for the support of the schools, in preference to a tax only on the 
 parents or guardians of the children attending school? [This might 
 be an interesting subject for debate by a civics class.] 
 
 3. How many schools does your city conduct? How are they 
 graded? What is the total attendance, according to the latest report 
 of the Superintendent of Schools? What is the number of high 
 schools and the enrollment of pupils in each? 
 
 4. How and by what official authorities are the school affairs 
 of the city managed? H by a board of education, state the number 
 of members. 
 
 5. How are the Superintendent of Schools, the Assistant Super- 
 intendent or Superintendents, and the principals and teachers of the 
 various schools appointed? 
 
 6. What forms of social service, if any, such as thrift kitchens 
 and lecture courses in domestic, or household, economy, have been 
 established in your city? Are annual movements for spring garden- 
 ing included in this line of local work, under newspaper auspices 
 or otherwise? 
 
 7. What drawbacks in the transportation, lighting or other 
 corporate service of the city have come under your observation? 
 
 8. Do you consider the pavements of your city well constructed 
 and well kept? What in your opinion is the best paved street in 
 your city? Is the local street-cleaning force uniformed? What do 
 you think of Colonel Waring's plan of garbing them in white? 
 
 9. Which is your favorite city park, and why? Would you 
 say that your city is sufficiently equipped with park and playground 
 space? 
 
 10. Do you know of any street in which the trees are too 
 crowded? 
 
 11. If there is a city-planning commission in your community, 
 can you name its members? Do you know of any sections of your 
 city that might be improved in appearance by reasonable attention 
 from the commission? 
 
 12. Has the zoning system been introduced in your community? 
 What residence blocks of your city include structures which you 
 consider out of place there?
 
 324 New Era Civics 
 
 13. Does your own city compare favorably in general attrac- 
 tiveness with other cities you have visited? Are there tenement 
 or cheap apartment houses in your city so overcrowded and unsani- 
 tary as to be unfit for occupancy? 
 
 14. What is the population of your city according to the United 
 States census of 1920, and what is the amount of the increase over 
 1910? Can you think of any way by which the municipal authorities 
 or civic organizations might induce more outsiders to settle in your 
 city ?
 
 PART V 
 
 THE PARTIES
 
 Brown Bros. 
 
 The First Inauguration 
 
 George Washington Taking the Oath of Office as President 
 of the United States
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 HOW PRESIDENTS ARE NOMINATED 
 
 The choice of a candidate for the Presidency is so strik- 
 ing a peculiarity of the American system that it deserves a 
 full examination. — James Bryce ["The American Democ- 
 racy"]. 
 
 1. The National Party Convention. — The national 
 convention for the nomination of candidates for Presi- 
 dent and Vice President is, in the case of the leading 
 parties, among the most interesting and dramatic of our 
 political institutions or processes. It is also unique in 
 the sense that it is under the control of no written law, 
 except so far as the election of its delegates is governed 
 by the primary laws of the States. 
 
 The machinery of the national convention is first set 
 in motion by the existing national committee of each 
 political party. All the States are represented on each 
 national committee. The custom of the leading parties 
 up to 1920 was to choose one member of the committee 
 from each State, but in that year the Democratic party 
 doubled the membership by adding a woman member 
 from each State to the committee. The national com- 
 mittee usually meets some time in the winter months 
 preceding a political campaign, and issues its call for 
 the national convention, naming the date and selecting 
 the city for its assembling. In this call the party in 
 every State is requested to select its allotted number of 
 delega:tes to the convention. 
 
 ^27
 
 328 New Era Civics 
 
 2. The Membership of Conventions. — In the choice 
 of delegates the general principle of selection is the same 
 in the two leading parties, but on the Republican side 
 it has been modified in practice. For a long time the 
 plan for each party was to select four delegates-at-large 
 for each State, two for each Federal Senator ; and to 
 name two other delegates, who are called district dele- 
 gates, for each Congress district. Thus, in theory, the 
 entire number of delegates from each State is exactly 
 double the number of its Senators and Representatives 
 in Congress. 
 
 The Democratic party has adhered to this rule of 
 selection, but the Republican party has changed it to 
 some extent by allowing only one delegate, instead of 
 two, to districts in which the Republican vote is less than 
 7,500. The purpose of this change was to limit the 
 representation in Republican conventions from eleven 
 Southern States, in which the party vote is small. 
 
 To illustrate the effects of these two different rules, 
 it may be stated that the Democratic national conven- 
 tion of 1920 was composed of 192 delegates-at-large, four 
 for each of the 48 States, and 870 district delegates, two 
 for each of the 435 Congress districts in the country ; 
 and to these were added thirty delegates from Alaska, 
 Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippines and the District of 
 Columbia — six to each territory or dependency. The 
 total was thus 1,092. The total for the Republican con- 
 vention was 984. Under the Republican rule referred to, 
 88 Congress districts were allowed only one delegate 
 each. Of these two were in New York city, one was in 
 Boston and the other 85 were in the South. In the 
 Republican convention the territories were represented 
 by ten delegates — two from each — or twenty less than 
 the Democratic territorial quota. These figures account
 
 How Presidents Are Nominated 329 
 
 for the difference of 108 in the membership of the two 
 national conventions of 1920. 
 
 3. How Delegates Are Chosen. — The delegates pro- 
 portioned to the Representatives are chosen by Con- 
 gress districts. Formerly the delegates-at-large were 
 appointed at State conventions and the district delegates, 
 usually, at conventions held in Congress districts. But 
 of late years, with the spread of the direct-primary re- 
 form, all of the delegates have been selected in most of 
 the States by the party voters at the primaries. In a 
 number of States not only are the delegates elected by 
 direct primaries, but under a system known as "Presi- 
 dential preferential primaries" the voters are expected to 
 indicate their choice for President, and the delegates 
 elected are bound, at least in the early convention ballot- 
 ing, by the instructions thus given. Thus, when a 
 national convention assembles, some of the delegates are 
 pledged in advance to specified candidates under the 
 orders they have received from their home constitu- 
 encies. 
 
 It is the custom of the parties to elect an "alternate," 
 or substitute, for each regular delegate, to take the 
 latter's place if he should be kept away by illness, or for 
 some other reason absent himself, from the sessions. 
 
 4. Convention Sites and Scenes. — The leading con- 
 ventions are held in cities of the first rank, and the 
 national committee generally gives its preference to some 
 conveniently located city. For sixty years past Chicago 
 has thus been favored more than any other city. In 1920 
 the Democratic National Committee made an extreme 
 departure from the rule by choosing San Francisco as 
 the place for its party gathering. Of necessity the lead- 
 ing party conventions are held in large auditoriums, 
 which are either permanent structures in big convention
 
 
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 How Presidents Are Nominated 331 
 
 cities or temporarily built for the purpose. The pubHc 
 attendance at such affairs measures up to the full capacity 
 of the hall, which is usually built to accommodate from 
 12,000 to 20,000 persons. 
 
 Owing to the popular interest excited by these con- 
 ventions and the gravity and importance of their pro- 
 ceedings, they rank high among the dramas of real life 
 in the United States. The great crowds are wrought 
 up to an extreme pitch of fervid enthusiasm by occasional 
 and prolonged outbursts of cheering for popular candi- 
 dates. This intensity of emotion and the variety of 
 human coloring in a mighty assembly, together with the 
 music, action and thrilling excitement, are features of a 
 spectacle rarely equaled, and never forgotten by the par- 
 ticipants and witnesses. Convention week in a great city 
 is always a red-letter week. There is no mystery in the 
 eagerness with which civic committees from such com- 
 munities bid for convention privileges, or in the large 
 funds they pledge to provide conveniences and attractions 
 for the throngs of visitors. 
 
 5. Convention Proceedings. — A convention is called 
 to order by the chairman of the national committee of the 
 party conducting it. Its session is then opened with 
 prayer, after which comes the roll-call of delegates. The 
 committee chairman also names the temporary chair- 
 man of the convention, who makes what is called the 
 "keynote" speech. This committee's choice for chair- 
 man — a sort of recognized committee right — is generally 
 accepted by the convention, but in some notable cases 
 a rival nomination has been made for the post of presid- 
 ing officer. One noteworthy incident of this kind oc- 
 curred at the Republican convention in Chicago in 1884, 
 when the committee selection was voted dov/n by the 
 convention ; and another at Baltimore in 1912, when the
 
 332 
 
 New Era Civics 
 
 Democratic committee's choice was opposed, but was 
 sustained by a majority vote. 
 
 Another feature of the opening parHamentary pro- 
 ceedings is the appointment of committees — one on 
 credentials, a second on resohttions, and a third on per- 
 manent organization. The last named committee has 
 
 - - iPtv 
 
 I s s % 
 
 li,- "".f a m « 
 
 t t 
 
 %rM. ' ' P^^ 
 
 Underwood & Underwood. 
 
 A Pacific Coast Convention 
 
 In the summer of 1920 the Democrats held their national convention in the 
 Civic Auditorium at San Francisco. This convention was the first important 
 national party gathering held on the Pacific slope. Prior to 1920 the most 
 western site for a national convention of one of the great parties was Denver, 
 where the Democrats met in 1908. 
 
 the easiest task, particularly as the temporary organiza- 
 tion is often made permanent. It is the duty of the 
 resolutions committee to draft and submit the platform 
 of party principles, or the statement of claims and issues 
 on which the party appeals to the country. It is the duty 
 of the credentials committee to decide contests that may 
 have occurred for seats in the convention. Both of these
 
 How Presidents Are Nominated 333 
 
 committees are charged with serious responsibilities. In 
 nearly every convention there are rival claimants for 
 some of the convention seats, and the settlement of 
 their claims sometimes affect the interests of Presidential 
 candidates. In the Chicago convention of 1912 more than 
 seventy seats were strenuously contested by the Taft 
 and Roosevelt factions, and the chief interest in the early 
 stages of the convention centered in the decisions of the 
 committee on credentials. Convention contests for seats 
 arise from the disputed elections of delegates in the home 
 districts. For a long time they have been most numerous 
 in the Republican minority party in the Southern States. 
 
 It is important to note that members of convention 
 committees are usually designated by the State delega- 
 tions. Each delegation forms its own organization be- 
 fore the convention opens, choosing a chairman who 
 serves as its spokesman at the sessions of the convention. 
 Though the delegations are supposed to name the mem- 
 bers of the various committees, these members are some- 
 times chosen in advance by conventions or State com- 
 mittees in the respective States long before the meeting 
 of the convention. 
 
 6. Naming and Voting for Candidates. — Except in 
 conventions where the result is clearly indicated in 
 advance, the most exciting stage is reached when the 
 balloting for Presidential candidates begins. The various 
 candidates are first placed in nomination with set 
 speeches. The roll of States is called in alphabetical 
 order for nominations, beginning, of course, with Ala- 
 bama. If the first State makes no response, the next 
 one is called, and so on. As soon as a name of a State 
 is reached which has a candidate to ofifer, a delegate 
 from that State rises and nominates its candidate. It 
 often happens, however, that the delegation from a State
 
 334 New Era Civics 
 
 gives way to a delegate from the State in which its pre- 
 ferred candidate resides, and the spokesman from this 
 second State deHvers the nominating speech. For 
 example, if the Arkansas delegation favors Mr. Brown 
 of Indiana for President, the chairman of the Arkansas 
 delegation may announce that his State yields to Indiana ; 
 and this concession gives Indiana its chance to make its 
 Presidential entry early. But these are simply parlia- 
 mentary agreements which have little to do with the 
 result. 
 
 When the nominations have all been made and 
 seconded, the roll is again called by States. For each 
 State the vote of the delegates is cast as a unit by the 
 chairman of the delegation, or the delegation is divided 
 between two or more candidates. 
 
 7. The Two-thirds Rule and Unit Rule. — At this 
 point we must note a marked difference in the Demo- 
 cratic and Republican methods of choosing Presidential 
 candidates by ballot. Since the introduction of the con- 
 vention system back in the thirties, the Democratic party 
 has maintained a rule requiring a two-thirds vote of the 
 convention delegates for nomination for President and 
 Vice President. The theory underlying this arrange- 
 ment was that by insisting upon this two-thirds rule, as 
 it has always been called, there would be a better assur- 
 ance that the will of the party would prevail than if a 
 bare majority should be permitted to nominate. Another 
 reason for the original adoption of this rule was the 
 rivalry between the Northern and Southern sections of 
 the party, which inspired each section to guard against 
 giving the other a strategic advantage. The Republican 
 party, on the other hand, has adhered steadily to the 
 majority rule in making nominations. One would 
 naturally suppose that the Republican conventions would
 
 How Presidents Are Nominated 335 
 
 require less time for their balloting on that account ; but, 
 as a matter of fact, there has been little difference in the 
 experiences of the two parties in that respect. Where 
 party sentiment strongly favors the nomination of a 
 given candidate for the Presidency his vote in the con- 
 vention naturally exceeds two-thirds on the first or on 
 a later ballot. In the case of a close rivalry for the 
 nomination among several candidates, a considerable 
 number of ballots is generally taken, whether the nomina- 
 tion is made by a majority or by two-thirds. 
 
 The unit rule is one requiring all the delegates from 
 a State to cast the same vote for a candidate who may be 
 favored by the majority of them. Let us suppose that 
 there are ten delegates from a State and six are for 
 Mr. Brown and four for Mr. Smith for President, and 
 that at a meeting of the delegation the six Brown dele- 
 gates carry a motion that the entire delegation vote in 
 the convention as a unit. In that event, the chairman 
 during the balloting casts the ten votes of the State for 
 Mr. Brown, and the Smith minority has no right of 
 protest. Of late years the unit rule has been abandoned 
 by Republican conventions. It was still prevalent to 
 a great extent in Democratic conventions up to 1916. In 
 such cases the convention itself adopted the unit rule for 
 delegations, or the delegations were ordered by home 
 conventions to adopt it, or the delegations themselves 
 adopted it, according to circumstances. 
 
 Even in Democratic conventions, however, many dele- 
 gates are now left free to declare their individual prefer- 
 ences. Sometimes when the balloting for President 
 is prolonged the State delegations may vote to rescind 
 the unit rule. In the Baltimore convention of 1912, 
 which gave Woodrow Wilson his first nomination for 
 President, comparatively few of the State delegations
 
 336 New Era Civics 
 
 clung to the unit rule to the end, and some of them 
 divided from the very beginning of the balloting. In 
 1920 the Democratic national convention adopted a reso- 
 lution abolishing the unit rule for States in which the 
 district delegates are chosen by the party voters under 
 direct-primary law^s, 
 
 8. Convention Contests. — Contests over the reports 
 of credentials and platform committees are uncommon 
 in national conventions. The convention generally 
 accepts them without debate. But like other convention 
 rules this one has been broken on memorable occasions. 
 
 For example, at the Democratic national convention 
 in Chicago in 1896, there were two reports from the 
 committee on platform (the declaration of principles). 
 The majority report declared for free silver and the 
 minority report strongly opposed that stand. In the 
 heated controversy which followed William J. Bryan 
 delivered a remarkable address on behalf of the majority 
 report. To the powerful effect he produced upon the 
 delegates to the convention he chieflv owed his first 
 nomination for the Presidency, though his name had 
 been scarcely mentioned in that connection before the 
 convention met. 
 
 At the Republican convention of 1912, which was 
 the scene of the historic party breach that led to Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt's nomination by the Progressive party, 
 the report of the committee on credentials (or contested 
 seats) was the principal bone of contention. It was 
 severely condemned by the Roosevelt delegates. 
 
 Our leading national conventions have been the 
 scenes of stirring displays of oratory, but in late years 
 this rhetorical feature has not been so marked as it was 
 from twenty to fifty years ago. This we may partly 
 attribute to the decline of oratory as a moving force in
 
 How Presidents Are Nominated 337 
 
 American politics, with the spread of newspaper and 
 magazine reading and the growing importance of literary 
 propaganda in Presidential contests. 
 
 9. The "Dark Horse." — When a man is nominated 
 by a national convention of one of the great parties whose 
 name has not been previously canvassed in connection 
 with that honor, he is known in political parlance as a 
 "dark horse." There have been many unexpected Presi- 
 dential nominations by party conventions, but not more 
 than five real "dark horses" have been discovered. 
 
 The first appeared in the convention arena in 1844, 
 when Martin Van Buren was defeated for the Presi- 
 dential nomination by James K. Polk. Polk had been 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor 
 of the- State of Tennessee, but there had been no movement 
 in his behalf for the Presidential nomination, which was 
 generally expected to go to ex-President Van Buren. 
 The two-thirds rule prevented the success of Van Buren, 
 who had a majority of the delegates on the first ballot; 
 and Polk was subsequently pressed as a compromise can- 
 didate and nominated. 
 
 Franklin Pierce, nominated by the Democrats in 1852, 
 was the second "dark horse." The candidates leading 
 in the early convention balloting were James Buchanan 
 (afterwards President), Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, 
 and William L. Marcy. Not until the thirty-sixth ballot 
 was Pierce's name presented to the convention. He was 
 nominated on the forty-ninth ballot. 
 
 In 1868 the Democratic national convention nomi- 
 nated its chairman, Horatio Seymour of New York, by 
 a stampede of the delegates on the twenty-second ballot, 
 though he was not a candidate and at first declined the 
 honor. He had received no votes of delegates in the long 
 balloting, except nine stray ones on the fourth roll call.
 
 338 New Era Civics 
 
 The fourth "dark horse" was General James A. Gar- 
 field of Ohio, who was nominated by the Republican 
 convention at Chicago on the thirty-sixth ballot, after 
 a stubborn contest, chiefly confined to General Grant 
 and James G. Blaine. Garfield himself had supported 
 John Sherman, whom he placed in nomination in an 
 eloquent speech. Before the convention there had 
 scarcely been a serious suggestion of Garfield's can- 
 didacy, though he had been an influential leader of his 
 party in Congress. Sherman was then the "favorite 
 son" of his home State. On nearly all of the various 
 ballots Garfield received but one or two votes, and on 
 some none at all ; but on the thirty-fourth ballot seventeen 
 delegates voted for him, and this proved to be the signal 
 for the whirlwind of ballots in his favor which gave him 
 the nomination. 
 
 Mr. Bryan may be called the fifth of the dark horses. 
 He was such in the sense that there was scarcely a 
 mention of his possible candidacy, at least outside of 
 his own State, before the Democratic convention of 1896 
 met. His experience differed from the others cited in 
 the respect that he received 119 votes on the first ballot. 
 
 In addition to these surprising developments, there 
 have been instances where candidates with only a mod- 
 erate backing on the earlier ballots have steadily gained 
 strength and finally won the prize from leading com- 
 petitors. Such was the case with Rutherford B. Hayes 
 of Ohio in 1876 and Benjamin Harrison of Indiana in 
 1888, both Republican nominees. The nominees of 1920, 
 Senator Warren G. Harding and Governor James M. 
 Cox, also belong in this group. But candidates of this 
 type cannot be classed among "dark horses." 
 
 10. The Second Place on the Ticket. — After the main 
 business of a convention is completed by the choice of
 
 How Presidents Are Nominated 339 
 
 a Presidential candidate, the naming of his ' running 
 mate," the nominee for Vice President, excites only a 
 limited interest. In assigning this honor the aim of the 
 convention is generally to select a candidate who is 
 strong in a doubtful State — a State in which the political 
 parties are closely matched — from another section of the 
 country than that in which the home of the Presidential 
 nominee is located. When an Eastern man is chosen 
 for the Presidency, the second place on the ticket almost 
 invariably goes to the West ; and the reverse of this rule 
 is followed when the Presidential candidate hails from 
 the West. Since the Civil War, conventions have shown 
 a strong preference for New York and Indiana in choos- 
 ing their Vice Presidential nominees. 
 
 11. The National Committee. — With the selection of 
 the national tickets, the campaign work of the parties is 
 fairly begun. One important task in this relation is the 
 selection and organization of a new national committee, 
 Avhich is the directive force in the canvass. Its member- 
 ship is determined upon by the State delegations to the 
 national convention, but the wishes of each candidate for 
 President are decisive in the selection of the chairman 
 of the committee. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XIX 
 
 1. What body makes the preliminary arrangements for national 
 conventions ? 
 
 2. What was for many years the plan followed by the leading 
 parties in their selection of convention delegates? How many con- 
 vention delegates are named from each State? The four delegates 
 representing the two Senators are known as what? What do the 
 district delegates represent? How was the rule modified by the 
 Republican party? As a result, what was the difference in size of 
 the Democratic and Republican National conventions in 1920?
 
 340 • New Era Civics 
 
 3. How are the district delegates chosen? How are the dele- 
 gates-at-large appointed or elected? What is the purpose of the 
 Presidential preferential primaries adopted by some States? 
 
 4. Where are conventions held? Name some of the striking 
 features of a convention. 
 
 5. How is the convention called to order and opened? What 
 are the principal convention committees? What is the duty of the 
 resolutions committee? Of the credentials committee? Are the 
 claims to seats in the convention ever disputed? Cite a conspicuous 
 incident. By whom are the members of the various committees 
 generally named and what representative acts as spokesman of each 
 State delegation? 
 
 6. How are the Presidential candidates first placed in nomina- 
 tion? How does the convention proceed? When a State has a 
 candidate, how does it answer to the roll call? When is the next 
 roll called? How does each State cast its vote? 
 
 7. What is the Democratic system of voting at conventions? 
 Give reasons assigned for the adoption of the two-thirds rule. 
 How does the Republican convention rule differ from the Demo- 
 cratic? Is this method necessarily time-saving? What do you 
 understand by the "unit rule"? By which party is it largely en- 
 forced? In what ways may the delegates be instructed to adopt this 
 rule? 
 
 8. Are the reports of platform committees ever disputed? Give 
 an example. 
 
 9. What is a "dark horse" candidate? Who was the first 
 nominated? Name some of the other so-called "dark horses" and 
 give some of the circumstances connected with their nomination. 
 
 10. What policy is usually followed in nominating the Vice 
 President? What States have frequently been favored in this con- 
 nection? 
 
 n. What is the first important party task when the campaign 
 is launched? By whom are the members of the national committee 
 appointed? How is the chairman of the national committee generally 
 chosen?
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 HOW PRESIDENTS ARE ELECTED 
 
 The mode of the President's appointment presented one 
 of the most difficult and momentous questions that occupied 
 the deliberations of the assembly that framed the Constitu- 
 tion. — Chancellor James Kent. 
 
 1. The Electoral College. — Presidents are in effect 
 elected by the votes of the people in the different States. 
 But the method of election prescribed by the Constitu- 
 tion is curiously indirect and also ingenious. The 
 method itself and the reasons for it are an interesting 
 and necessary branch of political study. 
 
 The easiest and simplest way to provide for the elec- 
 tion of Presidents would have been by direct vote of 
 the people. But this plan did not find favor with the 
 makers of the Constitution. They decided that it would 
 be safer in a republic which was of the nature of a bold 
 experiment in popvilar self-government, to establish an 
 intermediate agency for the choice of the President. 
 Hence the creation of the body known as the Electoral 
 College. 
 
 In pursuance of this purpose, the Constitution or- 
 dained that "each State shall appoint in such a 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 
 Congress." It was to these electors that the choice of 
 
 341
 
 342 New Era Civics 
 
 the President was confided. They were originally re- 
 quired to meet in their respective States and to vote, 
 each of them, for two persons. The person who should 
 receive the largest number of votes of Electors was to be 
 the President and the person having the next largest 
 number, the Vice President ; provided, however, that a 
 clear majority of all the Electors had voted for the two 
 leading candidates. In cases where the two leading 
 candidates were tied, or where none of the candidates had 
 a majority, it was required that the House of Represen- 
 tatives should elect the President and the Senate the Vice 
 President. 
 
 In 1804 this provision was altered by the Twelfth 
 amendment, by which each Elector was obliged to cast 
 separate ballots for President and Vice President. The 
 need of this change was felt in 1800, when Thomas Jef- 
 ferson and Aaron Burr received the votes of exactly the 
 same number of Electors. As a result, the election went 
 to the House of Representatives where the strife aroused 
 much excitement and bitterness. Fortunately for the 
 country, Burr was defeated in the House; but this un- 
 pleasant experience pointed to the desirability of a sep- 
 arate vote in the Electoral College for President and 
 Vice President. 
 
 2. The Original Plan. — Inasmuch as the Legislature 
 of each State was authorized to decide how the Presi- 
 dential Electors should be appointed, the system was 
 far removed from direct election of President by the 
 people. Furthermore, there was nothing in the Constitu- 
 tion to keep the Electors from exercising absolute free- 
 dom of choice. Their very title of "Electors" implied 
 such freedom. They were to be appointed to discharge 
 a certain duty, to-wit, the election of a President and 
 Vice President. No limit was set to their discretion
 
 How Presidents Are Elected 343 
 
 except that the men for whom they voted should possess 
 certain quaHfications of age, nativity and residence in 
 order to be eligible for the office. The Legislature in 
 each State was, of course, chosen by its voters, but the 
 voters had nothing to say about the method of appointing 
 the Electors and no way of controlling them. Theo- 
 retically, therefore, the Electoral College was an inde- 
 pendent body created every four years, by methods 
 designated by the Legislatures, to perform a specified 
 task. 
 
 3. A Radical Change. — But it was not very long 
 before the plan of giving the Electors discretionary power 
 to elect Presidents was quietly changed. Today the 
 Presidential Electors are chosen directly at the polls in 
 all the various States. They are pledged in advance to 
 specified candidates for the Presidency. When they 
 are chosen at the polls they are bound by every con- 
 sideration of honor, though not by any constitutional 
 mandate, to carry out their pledges. 
 
 At the beginning the methods of appointing Electors 
 adopted by the State Legislatures varied. In some States 
 the Legislatures named the Electors directly. In others 
 it passed laws providing for the choice of Electors by 
 the voters in Congress districts. In still others, the 
 Legislature authorized the voters to name the Electors 
 on a general State ticket. For some years the three dif- 
 ferent methods were in force. Gradually the first two 
 were abandoned, and finally the third became universal. 
 
 4. Electors as Mere Agents. — In the meantime the 
 Electors had given up every right of personal preference 
 in the choice of President. Indeed, it may be said that, 
 although the Constitution conferred upon them full power 
 of decision — at least to the extent of opposing no bar to 
 its free exercise — the Electors were always responsive to 
 
 23
 
 How Presidents Are Elected 345 
 
 public or party opinion. In 1788 and 1792, they registered 
 the popular demand by voting unanimously for Wash- 
 ington. In 1796, the first Electoral contest for President 
 arose, and the Federalist Electors supported Adams, then 
 clearly the choice of the new party. In 1800 the Repub- 
 Hcan party of that day was similarly committed to Jef- 
 ferson, and the Jefferson-Burr tie was an accident. 
 Thereafter, the chosen Electors were generally regarded, 
 and regarded themselves, as mere registers of the popular 
 will in their respective States. 
 
 5. How the Electors are Assigned. — It is seen that 
 bv the constitutional provision each State is entitled to 
 a number of Electors equal to the total number of its 
 Senators and Representatives in Congress. This point 
 may be illustrated by reference to three States, New 
 York, Nevada and Ohio — the most populous State, the 
 least populous State, and a State of the middle class, re- 
 spectively. In 1920 New York had forty-three Represen- 
 tatives in Congress, in addition to its two Senators, and its 
 electoral vote was therefore forty-five. Nevada had two 
 Senators and only one Representative, and its electoral 
 vote was three ; while Ohio, with twenty-two Representa- 
 tives and two Senators, was credited with twenty-four 
 electoral votes. At that time the entire membership of 
 the Senate, representing forty-eight States, was 96 and 
 of the House of Representatives 435. The total electoral 
 vote for the entire country was therefore 531. 
 
 6. Where the Smaller States Benefit. — One effect of 
 this ingenious system of Presidential selection is to give 
 the smaller States of the Union a larger influence in the 
 choice of President than they could claim if their num- 
 ber of Electors should be determined by population alone. 
 Whatever its size, each State is entitled to two Electors 
 for its two Senators, and this confers upon the little
 
 346 New Era Civics 
 
 States an advantage in the Electoral College similar to 
 that which they possess in the matter of representation, 
 in the Senate. 
 
 7. Plurality Versus Majority. — Another important 
 and exceptional feature of the electoral system is still 
 to be considered. The Electors for each State are chosen 
 by a plurality vote at the polls. 
 
 It should here be explained that the plurality vote 
 is that which leads all the others ; while a majority 
 vote exceeds all the others combined. Thus, if Mr. A. 
 has 50,000 votes for a certain office, and Mr. B. has 
 45,000 and Mr. C. 40,000, ^Ir. A. is elected by a plurality 
 of 5,000, his lead over his nearest competitor. But Mr. A. 
 lacks a majority. Why? Because the total vote for his 
 two rivals is greater than his. But suppose that Mr. A. 
 has 80,000, Mr. B. 35,000, Mr. C. 20,000. In that event 
 Mr. A. has a plurality of 45,000 (his lead over Mr. B.) ; 
 and he also has a clear majority of 25,000, because he has 
 that many votes more than Mr. B. and Mr. C. put to- 
 gether. The political student should always keep in 
 mind this distinction between majority and plurality in 
 examining election returns. 
 
 No matter how small the plurality for the Electors 
 in a given State, the candidate receiving it is credited 
 with the full electoral vote of the State, This leads to 
 some very curious results. To cite an extreme case, 
 in 1884 the Electors for Grover Cleveland carried New 
 York State by only 1,047 plurality against the Elec- 
 tors for James G. Blaine, in a total vote of nearly 1,200,- 
 000. In the same contest the Blaine Electors led the 
 Cleveland Electors in Vermont by more than 22,000 in 
 a total vote of less than 60,000. In consequence, the 
 entire number of Electors in New York — thirty-six at 
 that time — was given to Cleveland, while Blaine gained
 
 How Presidents Are Elected 347 
 
 only the four Electors of Vermont. In that election, by 
 the way, New York was a so-called pivotal State — that is 
 to say, Cleveland could not have been elected without 
 it — so that a change of only 600 votes of his small New 
 York plurality would have lost him the Presidency. 
 
 8. State Influence in Electoral Contests. — This inci- 
 dent is worth recalling because it illustrates what is con- 
 sidered one of the merits of the electoral system. This 
 merit insures to the larger States their due influence in 
 deciding the results of Presidential elections, even where 
 they are almost evenly divided politically. We have 
 already seen that Vermont, a one-sided State politically, 
 cast a much larger plurality for its favored Electors than 
 did New York in 1884. But New York had nine times 
 as much influence as Vermont in determining the national 
 outcome. This inequality was justified by the difference 
 in their total votes at the polls and also of their total 
 populations. In a word, the electoral plan has this recom- 
 mendation, that it respects the claims of all the States to 
 representation in the Electoral Colleged based on popu- 
 lation. 
 
 9. Elections by the House. — To fully comprehend 
 the past exi^erience of the country with the electoral 
 system, it is necessary to dip a little more into history. 
 It must always be kept in mind that a majority of the 
 Electoral College is necessary for the choice of a Presi- 
 dent and Vice President. We have already seen that as 
 a result of the election of 1800, Jefferson and Burr were 
 tied in the Electoral College, and the contest was there- 
 fore transferred to the House of Representatives, where 
 Jefferson was finally chosen. Incidentally, it mvist be 
 stated that when the election is thus shifted, the Con- 
 stitution requires that the vote of the House must be 
 taken, not by individual members, but by States, the
 
 348 New Era Civics 
 
 vote of the majority of each State delegation being 
 counted as a single unit. 
 
 On another historic occasion, the Electors failed to 
 make a majority choice, and the House was again called 
 upon to elect. In the Presidential contest of 1824, the 
 chosen Electors were divided among no less than four 
 candidates of the dominant Republican party — Andrew 
 Jackson of Tennessee, John Quincy Adams of Massa- 
 chusetts, William H. Crawford of Georgia and Henry 
 Clay of Kentucky. They had been placed in nomination 
 by Congressional or State legislative caucuses, as the 
 custom then was. In six States the Electors were ap- 
 pointed by the Legislatures, and in the rest of the States, 
 eighteen in number, they were chosen by popular vote, 
 either on general tickets or by Congress districts. When 
 the result became known in December following the 
 November election — for those were days of slow com- 
 munication by mail coaches or other primitive agencies — 
 it was found that Jackson had 99 Electors, Adams 84, 
 Crawford 41, and Clay Z7 . As the number necessary to 
 a majority choice was 131, there was no election by the 
 Electors ; and in the House of Representatives Adams 
 triumphed. 
 
 As the first miscarriage of this kind led to the adop- 
 tion of the Twelfth amendment, so the second resulted 
 in two important changes in our political system. One 
 was a marked progress toward uniformity in the method 
 of naming Presidential Electors. Eight years later, all 
 of the States but South Carolina and Maryland chose 
 their Electors on a general State ticket. The other inno- 
 vation was the appearance in 1831 of the first national 
 nominating convention, of the kind with which we are 
 now familiar. With the advent of the nominating con- 
 vention, the danger of any mishap in the Electoral Col-
 
 How Presidents Are Elected 349 
 
 lege was immensely lessened. In fact, the election of 
 John Quincy Adams was the last occasion on which the 
 House was required to perform its contingent function 
 of electing a President. 
 
 10. The Electoral Commission of 1877. — There was 
 one other grave interruption of the normal processes of 
 the electoral system. In 1876 the memorable contest 
 between Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, Republican, and 
 Samuel J. Tilden of New York, Democrat, for the Presi- 
 dency, resulted in a threatening conflict of party claims. 
 There were 369 Electors, of whom 184 were conceded to 
 Tilden and 166 to Hayes; but both parties claimed the 
 nineteen remaining Electors — from Florida, Louisiana 
 and South Carolina. The dispute was bitter and stub- 
 born, and for a time menacing. It related not only to 
 the validity of the respective party claims but also to the 
 method by which the electoral votes should be counted in 
 Congress. Finally, the moderate men on both sides agreed 
 to, and carried through, a plan for an Electoral Commis- 
 sion composed oi five Justices of the Supreme Court, 
 five Senators and five Representatives, to review the 
 returns from the contested States. The commission, as 
 chosen by each of the interested bodies, comprised eight 
 Republicans and seven Democrats, and it was by this 
 party division that the disputed electoral votes were 
 awarded to Hayes. Hayes's total was thus advanced to 
 185, exactly the number necessary to a choice. 
 
 This was the only time when a Presidential election 
 was decided by an agency outside of the Constitution. 
 With the three exceptions mentioned, the result has 
 always been determined by the majority vote of the 
 Electors. 
 
 Only in one instance has the Federal Senate per- 
 formed the function of electing a Vice President. That
 
 350 New Era Civics 
 
 was in 1837, when Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, Van 
 Buren's running mate, received exactly one-half of the 
 votes of the Electoral College — 147, or 23 fewer than 
 were cast for Van Buren for President. As there was 
 no majority choice for Vice President, the contest went 
 to the Senate, which elected Johnson. 
 
 11. Two Odd Developments. — The records of our 
 national contests show, among other things, that it is 
 quite possible for a President to be declared elected who 
 has failed to obtain, through his Electors, a plurality of 
 the voters of the entire country at the polls. In the 
 Tilden-Hayes contest, 250,000 more votes were cast for 
 the Tilden Electors than for the Hayes Electors. Again, 
 in 1888, Benjamin Harrison was victorious with 233 Elec- 
 toral votes to 168 for President Cleveland ; but the popu- 
 lar vote for the Cleveland Electors in all the States 
 exceeded that for the Harrison Electors by nearly 100,- 
 000. In every other Presidential election since the system 
 of nominating conventions was introduced, the candi- 
 date who led in the Electoral College also led, through 
 his Electors, at the polls — that is to say, in the popu- 
 lar vote as it appeared in the returns from all the 
 States. 
 
 In the various States the names of the Electors are 
 grouped on one ballot. The almost universal custom 
 of the voter is to vote for the entire set of Electors rep- 
 resenting the party he prefers. But it occasionally hap- 
 pens that some of the voters, owing to personal prejudice 
 or from another motive, refuse to vote for one or more 
 of the Electors on their party ticket. As a result, when 
 the State is very closely divided, the electoral vote is 
 sometimes "split." In 1916, for example, the supporters 
 of Hughes carried the State of West Virginia against 
 President Wilson. But one of the Democratic Electors
 
 How Presidents Are Elected 351 
 
 led the opposing Republican Elector and later cast his 
 vote lor Wilson. 
 
 12. The Electoral Canvass. — The Constitution pre- 
 scribes no time for the meeting of the Electors and the 
 recording of their votes. It simply requires them to 
 meet in their respective States ; to name by ballot their 
 preferences for President and for Vice President; to pre- 
 pare lists of such votes, and to transmit them signed and 
 sealed "to the seat of government," directed to the Presi- 
 dent of the Senate. That officer, says the Constitution, 
 "shall in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
 then be counted." The dates and methods of the whole 
 procedure are determined by an act of Congress. This 
 law directs that the Presidential Electors shall meet and 
 cast their votes on the second Monday in January follow- 
 ing their election, and that the two branches of Congress 
 shall assemble in joint session to count the ballots on the 
 second Wednesday in February succeeding the meeting 
 of the Electors. 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XX 
 
 1. In what document is the method of electing a President pre- 
 scribed? What body decides how the Electors shall be chosen? 
 How many Electors are there to each State? How were the Electors 
 originally instructed to vote for President? ^^■hat determined his 
 election? In the event of a tie or lack of majority, what was the 
 proceeding? When was this provision altered and by what means? 
 How were the Electors then instructed to vote? Give reason for 
 this change in the Constitution. 
 
 2. What was the power originally conferred upon the Electors? 
 
 3. \^■hat is expected of the candidate for Elector when the peo- 
 ple vote for such candidate? Under the original system of selecting 
 Electors, what methods were employed? Which method is now 
 used exclusively?
 
 352 New Era Civics 
 
 4. Did the first Electors exercise absolute discretion in their 
 choice of President or were they influenced by public sentiment? 
 Cite an example. 
 
 5. How do the Electors compare in number with the Senators 
 and Representatives in Congress? How is a proper proportion 
 maintained? Give three illustrations of State representation in 
 the Electoral College. 
 
 6. What advantage is derived by the smaller States from the 
 electoral system and how is this apparent? 
 
 7. When are the Electors for each State chosen at the polls — 
 that is, by the voters? What is a plurality vote? Indicate the 
 difference between a majority vote and a plurality vote. State 
 the contrast between the New York and Vermont votes in 1884. 
 
 8. How does the system of Electors protect the political in- 
 fluence of States according to their populations? 
 
 9. Does the Electoral College elect the President by a majority 
 or by a plurality vote? When the Electoral College fails to elect, 
 how is the vote of the House of Representatives taken? In what 
 year was the first national nominating convention held? 
 
 10. Tell of the one instance in which a President was elected 
 outside of the Constitution and tell the method of reaching a 
 decision. 
 
 11. Is it possible for a President to be elected who has not 
 received the entire plurality of the votes of the country cast for 
 the Electors at the polls? How are the names of the Electors to 
 be voted for presented to the people? What is the usual custom 
 of the voter and when this method is not adopted what is sometimes 
 the result? 
 
 12. Does the Constitution assign a time for the meeting of 
 Electors or the recording of their votes ? What is the Constitution's 
 simple requirement? Quote verbatim the mandate of the Constitu- 
 tion as to the counting of the Electoral vote in Congress.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 PARTY HISTORY— I 
 
 All free governments are party governments. — ^James A. 
 Garfield. 
 
 1. The Original Parties. — In every government of 
 the earth where the right of suffrage is exercised and 
 where the will of the people is heeded in the shaping of 
 national policies or the making of national laws, the 
 tendency of voters is to divide into political parties. It 
 was therefore natural that our American forefathers, after 
 winning their independence and assuming the responsi- 
 bility of self-government, should find reason for political 
 disagreement. 
 
 The first two American parties have gone into history 
 as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Their orig- 
 inal dividing issue was whether the new Constitution 
 was a good thing in itself, and whether it should be 
 ratified. Nine of the twelve States represented in the 
 Constitutional convention, or three-fourths, were neces- 
 sary to adopt the Constitution. The crusade for and 
 against ratification was really the first of our party con- 
 tests. Those who favored ratification were classed as 
 Federalists. Standing firmly on the principle that the 
 need of the hour was "a more perfect union," they 
 formed a pretty united body. The Anti-Federalist op- 
 position was equally resolute, but was far from har- 
 monious. Some of its leaders, like Patrick Henry of 
 Virginia, attacked the Constitution because they honestly 
 believed that it endangered State rights and therefore 
 
 353
 
 354 New Era Civics 
 
 popular liberty. Others did the same because, as advo- 
 cates of paper money, they feared that the Constitu- 
 tion, by forbidding- any State to make anything but gold 
 and silver a legal tender for the payment of debts, would 
 work to the disadvantage of the debtor class. There 
 were still other opponents, big men in their States, who 
 imagined that their political influence would be destroyed 
 under a central government. 
 
 But although the Anti-Federalists looked at the matter 
 from different angles, and were inspired by different 
 motives, they were at least strong enough to imperil 
 the Constitution. They were particularly strong in the 
 leading States. In the Massachusetts convention the 
 majority for the Constitution was only nineteen ; in 
 the New York convention it was saved from rejection 
 by a majority of three, while in Virginia the majority 
 for approval was only ten. A change of eighteen votes 
 in these three States would have blocked ratification. It 
 might easily have shipwrecked the Constitution, as North 
 Carolina first rejected it and Rhode Island hung back 
 until 1790. But when the ratification was completed, the 
 Anti-Federalists ceased to be a distinct political force, 
 though the name survived for a time. 
 
 2. The Democratic-Republican Party. — Washington 
 was elected and re-elected without opposition as a Feder- 
 alist. During his first administration, in 1791, a new 
 political party took form, with Thomas Jefferson and 
 James Madison as its leaders. It accepted the Constitu- 
 tion loyally, but it disagreed with the Federalist inter- 
 pretation of the Constitution embodied in Hamilton's 
 policy as the first Secretary of the Treasury, particularly 
 in his creation of a national bank. Hamilton made no 
 secret of his preference for a strong Federal power. 
 It was on this general issue that his opponents united to
 
 Party History 355 
 
 resist him. The new party was variously known as 
 RepubHcan and Democratic-Republican. We may call 
 it by the shorter title, though the student must not con- 
 fuse it with the Republican party of our own day. As 
 it was formed to combat principles of which Hamilton 
 was the chief exponent, we may consider him as distinctly 
 the leader of the Federalist party in 1791 as Jefferson 
 was the leader of the Republican opposition. 
 
 The antagonism of the two parties was hot from the 
 start. By 1796 the Republican party had become a dan- 
 gerous rival of the Federalists. Washington had de- 
 clined a third nomination. In the Presidential contest of 
 that year the Republican leader, Jefferson, was the first 
 choice of 68 Electors, against 71 for the Federalist can- 
 didate, John Adams. Not only was it an exceedingly 
 close race, but it was the last Federalist victory. During 
 Adams' term public opinion ran strongly against his 
 party, for two chief reasons. One was the alleged sym- 
 pathy of his administration with Great Britain, and 
 against revolutionary and republican France. The second 
 was an unpopular measure passed by a Federalist Con- 
 gress, known as the Alien and Sedition act, which the 
 Republicans violently denounced as a wanton interference 
 with free speech and personal liberty. 
 
 This law, which was harshly enforced against out- 
 spoken newspapers and pamphlet writers hostile to the 
 Adams administration, proved too heavy a load for the 
 Federalist party to carry. In 1800 the defeat of Adams 
 by Jefferson marked the beginning of the Federalist 
 downward grade. Resistance to Jefferson's principles 
 and policies held the Federalist party together through 
 his two administrations. In 1808 and 1812, the years of 
 James Madison's two elections, it was able to make a 
 respectable showing in the Electoral College. Its opposi-
 
 356 New Era Civics 
 
 tion to the War of 1812 with Great Britain proved to 
 be its final undoing, and in the contest of 1816 its in- 
 fluence was Httle felt. It then disappeared, and the 
 Republican party was left in undisputed possession of 
 the field, with no visible rival. 
 
 The electoral figures of the campaign of 1820 tell the 
 story. President Monroe, Republican, was re-elected 
 without opposition. The record of that contest shows 
 that 231 Electors voted for him, and one for John Quincy 
 Adams of Massachusetts. That single dissenting vote 
 had a pleasant sentimental meaning. All of the Electors 
 were chosen in Monroe's interest, but one of them, a 
 New Hampshire Elector, cast his ballot for the younger 
 Adams because, as he explained, he was unwilling that 
 any other man should match Washington's distinction 
 as the unanimous electoral choice. As it was, Monroe 
 had the credit of an uncontested election. It was what 
 he himself w^as quoted as pronouncing "an era of good 
 feeling." Not since 1820, however, has the phenomenon 
 of a one-candidate campaign for the Presidency been wit- 
 nessed in the United States. 
 
 3. Division Among the Republicans. — But the "era 
 of good feeling" was too strange to last. In 1824 the 
 Republican party, lacking an outside competitor, treated 
 itself to a spirited contest within the family. It developed 
 no less than four serious candidates for the Presidency. 
 They were General Andrew Jackson, the hero of the 
 battle of New Orleans ; John Quincy Adams, Monroe's 
 Secretary of State ; Williain H. Crawford, Monroe's Sec- 
 retary of the Treasury, and Henry Clay, then Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives. None of the four dis- 
 tinguished candidates obtained the votes of a majority of 
 the Electors. Adams was chosen by the House of Rep- 
 resentatives through the powerful influence of Speaker
 
 Party History 357 
 
 Clay. Clay later entered Adams' Cabinet as Secretary 
 of State. Jackson's supporters boldly charged that the 
 Clay appointment was the fruit of a political bargain. 
 This suspicion, for which no proof was furnished, in- 
 flamed their resentment at the defeat of their candi- 
 date, who had won a plurality of the Electors and of the 
 popular vote. Four years later they had their revenge. 
 
 4. New Party Groupings. — Another change in the 
 names and alignment of the political parties must now 
 be recorded. The faction enlisted under the banner of 
 Jackson and in opposition to the Adams administration 
 began to call itself Democratic, for mere distinction more 
 than for any other cause. The Administration party, 
 slightly rechristened, was known as "National Repub- 
 lican." It was by these titles that the two parties entered 
 the Presidential contest of 1828, in which Jackson was 
 triumphantly elected. For the next eight years party 
 conflict raged around the towering figure of President 
 Jackson. He strengthened his hold upon the public favor 
 by two notable policies and acts. These were his long 
 and successful fight against the United States bank, which 
 had become a powerful financial institution ; and the firm 
 stand he took against the threat of South Carolina to dis- 
 regard, or nullify, the tarifif acts of 1828 and 1832. South 
 Carolina's menace and Jackson's official declaration that 
 he would use the whole power of the Union to maintain 
 its authority, promised serious trouble for a time. 
 
 5. The Tariff Issue Makes Its Appearance. — The 
 tariff issue has influenced the course of American politics 
 in more than one exciting national campaign. From the 
 first days of the Republic a tariff or tax was collected for 
 revenue upon articles imported from foreign countries. 
 It was a part of the financial program presented to the 
 First Congress by Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander
 
 358 New Era Civics 
 
 Hamilton. In this memorable report Hamilton not only 
 urged a tax on imported articles, but pointed out that, 
 while revenue was the principal object of such a tax, it 
 would also have the effect of encouraging domestic manu- 
 facture. "Duties of this nature," he wrote, "evidently 
 amount to a virtual bounty on the domestic fabrics, since 
 by enhancing the charges on foreign articles they enable 
 the national manufacturers to undersell all their foreign 
 competitors." He added that such taxes, or duties, there- 
 lore, "wore a beneficent aspect towards the manufac- 
 turers of the country." In this report are revealed the 
 germs of "the American System," as it was then called, 
 of protection to home industry. 
 
 Hamilton's idea was to make the modest scale of 
 duties which the First Congress imposed upon merchan- 
 dise imported from Europe serve the double purpose of 
 a revenue producer and a barrier against outside com- 
 petition. During the War of 1812 the existing duties 
 were doubled to supply the revenue needs of the Govern- 
 ment, with the result of stimulating the country's indus- 
 trial activities. After the war there was a strong demand, 
 particularly in the New England States, for the retention 
 of this system of Protection. A general tariff act passed 
 in 1816 partly satisfied this demand. But a period of hard 
 times followed, and the public opinion of that time was 
 divided as to the value of the experiment. 
 
 In 1823-24, the subject of tariff legislation was revived 
 in Congress, with Henry Clay as the foremost champion 
 of "the American System." The Tariff of 1824 was 
 framed to carry out in some degree Clay's principle that 
 protection should be a paramount purpose of our tariff 
 policy. Four years later it was followed by a measure 
 called by its opponents "the tariff of abominations," be- 
 cause many of its heaviest duties were designed to favor
 
 Party History 359 
 
 special interests, principally the manufacture of woolen 
 goods. This act was revised in 1832, but by this time 
 opposition in the South, largely a cotton-growing and 
 agricultural section, had developed into a bitter prejudice 
 against the tarifif, which was held to be chiefly helpful 
 to industrial New England. The antagonism of South 
 Carolina, as we have seen, flamed into open resistance, 
 which was answered with a counter-demonstration from 
 President Jackson. But a more serious collision was 
 averted by a compromise tariff enacted in 1833 under 
 Clay's guidance. There were three more general re- 
 visions of the tariflf before the Civil War. 
 
 Before the South Carolina agitation had reached a 
 crisis another event of real historic importance was 
 recorded. It was the first national convention of any 
 American political party. The distinction of holding this 
 convention belongs to the so-called Anti-Masonic party — 
 an organization formed to combat secret orders. This 
 convention assembled at Baltimore on September 26, 
 1831, and nominated William Wirt of Maryland for the 
 Presidency. Later the same year a National Republican 
 convention met in the same city and nominated Henry 
 Clay for President. (Baltimore was also the scene of the 
 first Democratic National Convention, held in March, 
 1832.) Its only function, however, was to name the Vice 
 Presidential candidate, Martin Van Buren, inasmuch as 
 the renomination of President Jackson had already been 
 decreed by the action of his party followers in the several 
 States. Thereafter all the Presidential candidates of the 
 several parties were placed in nomination by national 
 gatherings commissioned for the purpose. 
 
 6. Advent of the Whig Party. — In the ensuing con- 
 test Jackson was easily re-elected over Clay. The Na- 
 tional Republican party then made its exit from the 
 
 24
 
 360 New Era Civics 
 
 political stage, and it was succeeded by a new rival of 
 the Jacksonian Democracy, in the shape of the Whig 
 part}-, organized in 1834. It was a strange combination 
 of varied political interests, including as it did not only 
 the advocates of "the American System" of protection, 
 but many who sympathized with the South Carolina 
 attempt to nullify tariff laws. Aside from its tariff 
 policy, which was Clay's chief contribution, the new 
 organization owed its strength at the beginning to a 
 formidable rally of political enemies of Jackson. But 
 the time had not yet come, nor was it to come until over 
 forty years had passed, for the tariff to serve as a fore- 
 most issue in American politics. The tariff issue was not 
 without its influence in the Whig campaigns that fol- 
 lowed, but it was soon overshadowed by the far more 
 disturbing question of slavery. 
 
 The Whig party made its Presidential debut in 1836, 
 and it sustained a severe defeat. Jackson had bowed to 
 the unwritten law against a third term, but he was strong 
 enough to name his own successor as the Democratic 
 standard-bearer, Martin Van Buren, who received 170 
 Electoral votes against a divided Whig opposition. There 
 were no less than four Whig candidates, including Daniel 
 W^ebster, who was credited with fourteen Electoral votes. 
 The leading Whig Avas William Henrv^ Harrison, a popu- 
 lar hero of the War of 1812 and of the later Indian 
 wars, who had derived his familiar title of "Tippecanoe" 
 from his victory over the Indians in the battle of that 
 name. 
 
 In 1837 occurred the most violent financial panic in 
 our history up to that time, and it was followed by a 
 long business depression. From this the Whig party 
 benefited. It is the uniform rule of politics that the party 
 in power suffers from a period of "hard times." With
 
 Party History 3j61 
 
 Harrison as a candidate and John Tyler as his running 
 mate, the Whigs marched to a decisive victory in 1840 
 under the slogan of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." The 
 death of Harrison a month after his inauguration was 
 followed by a breach between President Tyler and the 
 Whig party; but in 1844 it was able to make a strong 
 bid for popular support by the nomination for President 
 of its leader and idol, Henry Clay. Van Buren was again 
 the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination. 
 The party selected in his stead James K. Polk of Ten- 
 nessee, who had scarcely been mentioned in advance for 
 the honor and who therefore became the first "dark horse" 
 of our Presidential politics. 
 
 7. The Slavery Issue. — By this time the slavery issue 
 had become acute. In the late thirties an agitation for 
 the abolition of slavery had been launched in the 
 Northern States, and- particularly in Massachusetts, 
 though it had made little headway as an independent 
 movement. But the question assumed a deeper gravity 
 with the demand for the annexation of Texas, to which 
 the Democratic party was committed in the campaign of 
 1844. To all observers the annexation of Texas meant the 
 extension of slavery in the largest State of the Union, 
 and it was fiercely opposed by the anti-slavery elements 
 in both parties. On this issue Clay had wavered, and he 
 probably lost more than he gained by his course. Both 
 the Whig and Democratic parties, it should be remem- 
 bered, had powerful Southern factions which were 
 strongl}- bent on protecting slavery at all points. It was 
 not until 1856 that a distinct line of separation appeared 
 between the leading parties on the slavery issue. 
 
 Clay was defeated, and during the Polk administra- 
 tion our war with Mexico took place. One of its results 
 was to give the Whig party in 1848 a military hero for
 
 362 New Era Civics 
 
 a Presidential candidate in the person of General Zachary 
 Taylor. Meanwhile, there were signs of disruption in 
 the Northern Democracy growing out of the controversy 
 of the extension of slavery — a controversy made more 
 troublesome by the Mexican war and our acquisition of 
 hundreds of thousands of square miles of fresh territory 
 in the West and Southwest. This condition, added to his 
 own popularity, insured Taylor's election. It was the 
 second and the last of the Presidential triumphs of the 
 Whig party. President Taylor died in July, 1850; and 
 in 1852 the Whigs conducted their final campaign with 
 another Mexican W'ar hero. General Winfield Scott, as 
 their unsuccessful candidate. 
 
 8. Questions of Great Moment. — From 1848 onward 
 the slavery question held the center of the political stage, 
 until in 1861 the growing agitation culminated in the 
 Civil War. In the fifteen years before the firing on Fort 
 Sumter many critical developments occurred. The 
 Northern States resisted the return of escaped slaves. 
 There was a contest over the admission of California 
 (acquired from Mexico) as an anti-slave State. Con- 
 gress passed the famous Clay Compromise bills of 1850, 
 admitting California as a free State, organizing New 
 Mexico and Utah into territories, without reference to 
 slavery, abolishing the slave trade in the District of 
 Columbia and strengthening the Fugitive Slave laws. 
 The pro-slavery and anti-slavery interests struggled for 
 the possession of Kansas territory. Finally, in 1854 the 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed, giving resident voters 
 the right to decide for themselves whether slavery should 
 be established in or excluded from the territories. Dur- 
 ing the last stormy decade before the Civil W^ar, the 
 Democrats elected two Presidents — Franklin Pierce in 
 1852, and James Buchanan in 1856.
 
 Party History 363 
 
 9. A New Republican Party. — A new political era 
 was opened, however, with the birth of the Republican 
 party in 1854. That event followed hard upon the enact- 
 ment of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which had stirred much 
 indignation in the North. Even while it was under dis- 
 cussion a mass meeting of former Whigs and Free Soil 
 Democrats assembled at Ripon, Wisconsin, resolved that 
 if the Kansas-Nebraska bill were passed they would "or- 
 ganize a new party on the sole issue of the non-extension 
 of slavery." The measure became a law in May, and a 
 few weeks later, or on July 6th, the Republican party 
 was launched by name at a State convention held in 
 Jackson, Michigan. This example was followed by other 
 Western conventions in the same month. 
 
 The general purpose of the new organization was to 
 furnish a resting place and rallying ground for the anti- 
 slavery elements of the older parties, and outside of them. 
 Among those were the dissatisfied Whigs, the Free Soil 
 Democrats, the Abolitionists, and the anti-slavery wing of 
 a recently credited body known as the American party. 
 The Republican party grew rapidly. But like its Whig 
 parent it had to experience one Presidential defeat before 
 it struck the highway to victory. Four years later it 
 faced a Democratic opposition split on the rock of 
 slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the successful Republican 
 candidate, entered the White House on IMarch 4, 1861, 
 and then came the Civil War. 
 
 10. The Early Minor Parties. — While the leading 
 parties were making their early struggle for control, 
 several minor parties flitted across the political stage. 
 Of these only the Anti-Masonic party, the Abolition 
 party, the Free-Soil party, and the American, or Know- 
 Nothing, party, need be mentioned. The Anti-Masonic 
 party, which was pledged to overthrow the order of Free
 
 364 New Era Civics 
 
 Masons, started in Western New York in 1826, but it 
 never developed serious strength. 
 
 The Abolition party, organized for the extermination 
 of slavery, named a candidate for President in 1840 and 
 1844, and then it disappeared as an independent political 
 factor, after having contributed to Clay's most bitter 
 defeat. 
 
 The Kree-Soil party was primarily an ofifshoot of the 
 Democratic party in New York. It took a stand against 
 the extension of slavery and adopted the attractive slogan 
 of "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men." 
 At a convention held in Buffalo in 1848 it nominated 
 Martin Van Buren for President and Charles Francis 
 Adams of Massachusetts (afterwards our Minister to 
 England during the Civil War) for Vice President. The 
 Free Soilers polled nearly 300,000 votes on election day, 
 but gained no Presidential Elector. Four years later they 
 cast about half as many votes for John P. Hale of New 
 Hampshire. Before the election of 1856 came around, 
 the party was dissolved, many of its members joining 
 ■the new Republican party and the rest returning to their 
 former Democratic allegiance. Former Free Soilers at- 
 tained great prominence and influence in the Republican 
 party not only in Congress but in all of the Northern 
 States. 
 
 Of the minor organizations the Know-Nothing party 
 was the most formidable. It first showed signs of vitality 
 in New York and Pennsylvania in the mid-thirties, as a 
 secret society formed to oppose the election of other than 
 native citizens to political office. In 1854 and 1855 this 
 curious American party was victorious in nine State elec- 
 tions, and in the former year it sent forty of its members 
 to the House of Representatives.
 
 Party History 365 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XXI 
 
 1. What were the first two political parties called? What was 
 the cause of their first differences? When did the Anti-Federalists 
 cease to be a factional force? 
 
 2. What party elected Washington? Tell something of the 
 origin of the Democratic-Republican party. Give names of leaders 
 of each party in 1791. When was the last Federalist victory? What 
 were the chief reasons for disruption of the Federalist party? What 
 was the peculiarity of the Presidential election in 1820? 
 
 3. Give some of the facts relative to the division in the Repub- 
 lican party. 
 
 4. When did the Democratic party appear? What was the 
 Democratic-Republican party then rechristened? In what year did 
 the two new parties enter their first Presidential contest? 
 
 5. What was the tariff issue? When was the first tariff revenue 
 collected? What special benefits did Hamilton foresee from this 
 taxation? How was this taxation affected by the war of 1812? 
 In what year after that was the first general tariff act passed? 
 What followed? When was the tariff controversy again revived? 
 Give a resume of tariff legislation before the Civil War. 
 
 6. When was the Whig party organized? In what Presidential 
 year did it first figure? Name the candidates and some of the cir- 
 cumstances connected with this campaign. 
 
 7. What vital issue entered into national politics during the 
 existence of the Whig party? 
 
 8. During what years did the slavery issue absorb political 
 attention? Name some of the serious developments of the fifteen 
 years previous to the Civil War. 
 
 9. Tell something of the origin of the Republican Party and 
 the circumstances attending it. What was the general purpose of 
 its organization? Mention some of the various elements that joined 
 its forces. 
 
 10. Name some of the minor parties that sprang into existence 
 before the Civil War. Which was most important of the minor 
 parties? What was its purpose?
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 PARTY HISTORY— II 
 
 In a vigilant, jealous and active opposition there is great 
 security against the misuse of power by those zvho hold 
 it. — George Ticknor Curtis. 
 
 1. The Republican Lease of Power. — With the in- 
 auguration of Lincoln, the Republican party entered upon 
 a lease of power at Washington, which, so far as the 
 control of the executive departments was concerned, 
 lasted for twenty-four years. The story of the Civil 
 War belongs to the domain of general history and only 
 its effect upon the fortunes of the two leading parties 
 need be sketched here. During the war the Republican 
 party held its ground without difficulty against an opposi- 
 tion hopelessly weakened by the secession of the Con- 
 federate South. In 1864 the Democratic party had no 
 political program to offer that could prevail against the 
 confidence of the people of the Northern States in Lin- 
 coln and against their determination to push the war 
 to a successful ending. The Democratic candidate for 
 President, General George B. McClellan, received only 
 21 Electoral votes to Lincoln's 219. In this division the 
 eleven States of the Confederacy were, of course, unrep- 
 resented. After Lee's surrender at Appomattox, new 
 political issues were created by Democratic opposition 
 to Republican measures. One of these was the military 
 rule established by the Republicans in the Southern 
 
 366
 
 Party History 367 
 
 States. Another was the Republican plan of Reconstruc- 
 tion, as it was called — meaning, the gradual restoration 
 of the Southern States to the Union. In the years that fol- 
 lowed, party strife was largely centered in the three Con- 
 stitutional amendments, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and 
 Fifteenth, which were intended, respectively, to abolish 
 slavery, to confer upon the colored men the status of 
 citizens and to forbid any State to deny them the voting 
 privilege on account of their "race, color, or previous con- 
 dition of servitude." 
 
 The work of Reconstruction went on apace, and in 
 the spring of 1870 the last of the seceding States, Texas, 
 was readmitted to the Union and to representation in 
 Congress. Meanwhile, the public agitation over the ques- 
 tions growing out of the Civil War was aggravated by 
 a bitter controversy between President Andrew Johnson, 
 Lincoln's constitutional successor, and the Republican 
 majority of Congress. Partly as a result of the Presi- 
 dent's resistance to the general Reconstruction policy of 
 Congress, the House instituted impeachment proceedings 
 against him, but the Senate failed to convict by a vote 
 which lacked only one of the constitutional two-thirds 
 majority. This was in 1868; and in the same year the 
 Republicans nominated for President the chieftain of the 
 Union armies in the late war, Ulysses S. Grant, who won 
 an overwhelming victory over his Democratic opponent, 
 Horatio Seymour of New York. 
 
 Under the first administration of General Grant 
 policies were developed and political scandals occurred 
 which led to a revolt in his party. The discontented 
 faction, which was known as Liberal Republican, named 
 Horace Greeley as its Presidential candidate. The Demo- 
 crats endorsed this choice, though Greeley had until 
 recently been recognized as one of their fiercest enemies.
 
 368 New Era Civics 
 
 For a time the fusion of interests promised well, but 
 President Grant's popularity and prestige carried him 
 through easily. He was elected for a second term by 
 heavy majorities both at the polls and in the Electoral 
 College. 
 
 2. The Democratic Revival. — The time was now at 
 hand for a break in the continuity of Republican power. 
 Several causes contributed to this result, among them the 
 weakening of the war issues with time, and the spread 
 of a more kindly Northern feeling toward the South. 
 But the most powerful, no doubt, was the financial panic 
 that broke out in 1873 and the hard times that followed 
 it. In 1874 a Democratic House of Representatives was 
 chosen, the first in more than fifteen years. The same 
 party elected Governors in all the doubtful States of 
 the North. 
 
 One of these Governors, Samuel J. Tilden of New 
 York, was the Democratic candidate for President in 
 1876, and the convention which nominated him adopted 
 "Reform" as its slogan, with particular reference to the 
 exposure of certain corrupt rings. Incidentally, the tariff 
 issue again made its appearance, owing to the demand 
 in the Democratic platform that "all custom-house 
 taxation shall be only for revenue." This meant that 
 duties on imports should be imposed without regard to 
 the Protection which was the keynote of Henry Clay's 
 policy fifty years before. The Republicans nominated 
 Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, and their chief 
 issues were an appeal to Northern distrust of Democratic 
 sympathies with the South, and a series of attacks upon 
 the political and business record of the Democratic can- 
 didate. 
 
 One of the most exciting campaigns in the country's 
 history followed. On account of the disputed canvass
 
 Party History 369 
 
 for Presidential Electors in the Stcates of South Caro- 
 lina, Louisiana and Florida, the anxious interest of the 
 public in the final outcome continued for three months 
 or more after election day. Then an Electoral Commis- 
 sion, especially created by Congress to pass upon the 
 returns, awarded the victory to Hayes. 
 
 In the next twelve years the two great parties com- 
 peted on nearly equal terms for success in the national 
 contests. So closely were the Presidential battles waged 
 that the returns from the single pivotal State of New 
 York were the determining influence. That State gave 
 its vote to James A. Garfield, Republican, over General 
 Winfield Scott Plancock in 1880 ; to Grover Cleveland, 
 Democrat, over James G. Blaine in 1884 ; and to Benjamin 
 Harrison, Republican, over President Cleveland in 1888. 
 In each case the candidate who led in the Electoral 
 College would have been defeated if New York had voted 
 the other way. 
 
 In the conflicts of 1880 and 1884 the tariff question 
 was agitated by both parties to some extent, but not 
 until 1888 did it become really decisive. In his regular 
 message to Congress in December, 1887, President Cleve- 
 land took a bold stand for a radical reduction of the exist- 
 ing tariff and particularly for the removal of the duty 
 from raw wool. The Republican party accepted the chal- 
 lenge. In the Presidential election of the following 
 year the voters were required to pass judgment upon 
 the sharply defined issues of Protection and Tariff Re- 
 form. They pronounced for Harrison and a high tariff. 
 
 It is necessary to recall here that customs duties 
 had been materially advanced during the Civil War to 
 increase the government's revenues, and that the war 
 rates had been revised by a tariff bill enacted in 
 1883. Under the operation of this measure, the yield
 
 370 New Era Civics 
 
 of revenue was greater than the needs of the Federal 
 Treasury, and the resulting surplus was one of the rea- 
 sons given by President Cleveland for a reduction of 
 duties. In 1890 the Republican Congress, acting upon 
 the people's instructions involved in the election of Har- 
 rison, passed the McKinley Tariff act, thus named in 
 recognition of the Representative who introduced it, 
 William McKinley, Chairman of the Ways and Means 
 Committee of the House. The immediate effect was an 
 advance in the prices of many commodities, and the re- 
 sult was disastrous to the party in power. The Demo- 
 crats swept the country in the Congressional contests of 
 1890. Two years later, Cleveland, a Presidential can- 
 didate for the third time, defeated Harrison. 
 
 3. The Panic of 1893. — Scarcely was Cleveland in- 
 augurated for the second time when clouds appeared on 
 the national horizon. In the spring of 1893, the Treasury 
 surplus had been converted into a shortage, and another 
 financial storm broke. It was at least partly charged 
 to the operation of a law enacted in 1890 and known as 
 the Sherman Silver Purchase act. Under this act the 
 Treasury was obliged to purchase a vast quantity of 
 silver bullion every month and issue silver certificates 
 against it for general circulation. In the last weeks of 
 the spring there were ominous signs of public distrust 
 of the new currency system. The demand for gold at 
 the Treasury and the New York Sub-Treasury in ex- 
 change for silver certificates, and heavy exports of the 
 yellow metal, caused a rapid shrinkage of the $100,000,000 
 gold reserve which the government was required to carry 
 for the partial redemption of its paper currency. 
 
 A destructive financial panic set in, with a run on 
 the banks, particularly in New York and other large 
 cities. Hard-pressed banks by the score closed their
 
 Party History 371 
 
 doors. The violent stages of the panic lasted for several 
 weeks. Its severity lessened somewhat when it was 
 learned that the President would call a special session 
 of Congress and urge the repeal of the Sherman act. 
 This promise was carried out, and the law was revoked ; 
 but the panic left its effects in the shape of a business 
 and industrial depression from which it took the country 
 some four years to recover. The Democracy, as the 
 party in power, now suffered, in its turn, from the "hard 
 times." Its loss of strength was aggravated by the 
 passage of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff act of 1894, and 
 the Republicans regained control of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives in the elections of that year. 
 
 4. Free Silver and Republican Restoration. — The 
 campaign of 1896 was in every respect a memorable and 
 exciting one. The Republicans charged that the Wilson- 
 Gorman Tariff law was the chief provocation of the hard 
 times, both by the advance fears the Democratic policy 
 had aroused and by the results of the act itself. This 
 brought the tariff issue to the fore again, and made 
 William McKinley, the backer of the last Republican 
 tariff measure, the logical candidate of his party for the 
 Presidency. He was accordingly nominated ; but the 
 tariff was not the dominant issue of the remarkable can- 
 vass that followed. 
 
 For nearly twenty years, or since 1878, when the 
 Bland bill, ordering an extensive coinage of standard 
 silver dollars every month, was enacted, there had been 
 an almost constant demand in and out of Congress, and 
 especially in the silver-mining States of the far West, 
 for a more liberal policy of silver coinage. It was in 
 response to this agitation that the Silver Purchase act 
 of 1890 was adopted. The "hard times" beginning in 
 1893 encouraged the champions of silver to put fresh
 
 372 New Era Civics 
 
 vigor into their efforts and appeals. They took the 
 ground that it was not the heavy purchases of silver by 
 the government, nor yet the tariff, but the single gold 
 standard of value that had crippled production and in- 
 jured the farmer and wage-earner alike. To this they 
 charged the great non-employment of labor and the 
 low prices of all commodities, especially of wheat and 
 other agricultural products. 
 
 The idea made rapid headway, and several of the 
 former Republican States in the far West proved to be 
 fertile soil for its spread. As a climax, the pro-silver 
 men controlled the Democratic national convention at 
 Chicago. They nominated a candidate for the Presidency 
 whose name had been scarcely mentioned in that rela- 
 tion — William J. Bryan of Nebraska. He was then only 
 thirty-six }ears of age, and long an earnest advocate of 
 the free coinage of silver. He had captivated the conven- 
 tion by his oratory. In the stirring and heated political 
 battle that ensued, party lines were recast in the so-called 
 silver States of the far West. The conservative business 
 interests of the country were gravely disquieted by what 
 they denounced as a mischievous attack on the existing 
 standard of value and a dangerous crusade for cheap 
 money. Mr. Br3-an toured the country in support of the 
 opposite view. For a few weeks his canvass promised 
 well, but a reaction then set in, and McKinley triumphed 
 with a majority of 95 in the Electoral College and a 
 popular plurality of more than 600,000. 
 
 Bryan was the Democratic Presidential candidate for 
 a second time in 1900, but meanwhile the Spanish- 
 American war had been fought and President McKinley's 
 prestige increased. In the election of that year he 
 scored another emphatic victory over the Nebraskan. In 
 one notable personal respect this campaign was historic ;
 
 Party History 373 
 
 for McKinley's running mate was Theodore Roosevelt 
 of New York. 
 
 5. Roosevelt Becomes President. — As destiny would 
 have it, the gentle McKinley was the third of our Presi- 
 dents to fall at the hands of an assassin. From the 
 day of his death, September 14, 1901, until March 4, 1909, 
 Roosevelt, who immediately took the oath of office, was 
 the commanding personal force in American politics. 
 President Roosevelt's record was such that he was elected 
 for a full term in 1904 ; and, four years later, his in- 
 fluence had much to do with the selection of his succes- 
 sor, William H. Taft. The solid achievements of Roose- 
 velt's administration, its war upon trusts and monopolies, 
 its progressive policies and its dramatic surprises are 
 now an outstanding part of the country's later history. 
 The numerous biographies and biographical sketches 
 brought out by his untimely and lamented death on 
 January 6, 1919, have familiarized the younger genera- 
 tion of readers with the various stages of his wonderful 
 career. The four years of President Taft's administration 
 completed sixteen years of Democratic exclusion from 
 power in the executive branch of the government. But 
 meanwhile there were marked signs of another political 
 reaction. In 1910 the Democrats obtained control of 
 the House of Representatives for the first time since 
 1895. Among the symptoms referred to were a revolt 
 of so-called Republican insurgents in the House and the 
 widespread dissatisfaction of Western Republicans, in 
 and out of Congress, with the Payne-Aldrich Tarifif act 
 of 1909. They denounced the new tariff as favoring 
 special manufacturing interests. 
 
 6. The Progressive Party. — To the rebellious ten- 
 dencies of the Republican insurgents of 1910 the origin 
 of the Progressive party of 1912 may be partly attributed.
 
 374 New Era Civics 
 
 From the ranks of the Republican dissenters there came 
 early in 1912 a demand for the nomination of Roosevelt 
 for President, to which he gave his assent. It was the 
 signal for a strenuous contest between the supporters of 
 Roosevelt and those of Taft for delegates to the Repub- 
 lican National convention at Chicago. When the con- 
 vention assembled in June, it was found that the balance 
 of power rested with the representation from the 
 Southern States. The seats of many of the Taft dele- 
 gates from that section were contested by Roosevelt 
 men. The decision of the credentials committee was 
 favorable to Taft and this intensified the bitterness of 
 the factional strife. 
 
 The nomination of Taft by the convention was fol- 
 lowed by a meeting of Roosevelt delegates at which the 
 first step was taken for the formation of a third party, 
 to be known as the Progressive party. Later in the year 
 Roosevelt accepted an independent nomination at its 
 hands. In the triangular contest which followed, with 
 the Republican party rent in twain, the election of the 
 Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, then Governor 
 of New Jersey, was a foregone conclusion. He carried 
 forty of the forty-eight States and received 435 electoral 
 votes, to 88 for Roosevelt and 8 for Taft. Wilson's popu- 
 lar plurality exceeded 2,000,000. 
 
 While the European war was raging and before our 
 entrance into the struggle President Wilson was re- 
 elected over Charles E. Hughes of New York, who had 
 resigned from the Federal Supreme Court to accept the 
 Republican nomination. The outcome of this contest of 
 1916 was peculiar in the sense that the returns on elec- 
 tion night indicated the success of Hughes. The pros- 
 pect was suddenly changed by the reports of the next 
 morning, showing an almost general sweep for Wilson
 
 Party History 375 
 
 in the States west of the Rockies. It was then found 
 that his success or defeat hinged on the vote of CaHfornia, 
 which was close and doubtful. But the official count 
 gave him that State by a plurality of Z,772). 
 
 In 1920 both of the leading parties went to the same 
 State for their candidate for President, the Republicans 
 nominating Warren G. Harding, Senator from Ohio, 
 and the Democrats the Governor of Ohio, James M. Cox. 
 The electoral and popular majority for Harding was 
 overwhelming. 
 
 7. Minor Parties Since 1860. — In the first Presi- 
 dential election after the Civil War, that of 1868, the 
 two historic parties had the field of battle all to them- 
 selves. But in 1872 occurred the Liberal Republican 
 secession, and in the same year the long-lived Prohibition 
 party made its debut. The Prohibitionists held their 
 first national convention on Washington's Birthday, 
 1872, and named James Black of Pennsylvania for the 
 Presidency. He received less than 6,000 votes. There- 
 after the Prohibition party appeared regularly in the 
 Presidential arena every four years. 
 
 Other minor political parties after the Civil War were 
 the Greenback party, which nominated Peter Cooper, 
 the famous philanthropist, for President in 1876, and 
 disappeared in 1884. The Farmers' Alliance was a party 
 that made some headway in the South and West in 
 the late eighties. It became, about 1890, a part of the 
 People's, or Populist, party. The Populist party cut a 
 big figure in the Presidential campaigns of 1892 and 
 1896, but after 1908 it went into oblivion. The present 
 Socialist party named its first Presidential ticket in 1892. 
 
 25
 
 376 New Era Civics 
 
 Question Guide to Chapter XXII 
 
 1. After Lincoln's election, how long was the Republican party 
 dominant at Washington? What caused the weakness of the Demo- 
 cratic party during this Republican regime? What States were 
 unrepresented in the Lincoln-McClellan contest? What important 
 political issue arose after Lee's surrender at Appomattox? In the 
 years following, what political issues arose? What were the objects 
 of the constitutional amendments adopted after the war? Name the 
 last Southern State to return to the Union and the year of its rein- 
 statement? In what year was Ulysses S. Grant nominated for 
 President? 
 
 2. What was the chief cause of dissatisfaction with the Re- 
 publican party in 1873? In what year did the House of Representa- 
 tives again become Democratic? What was the tariff issue raised 
 by the Democrats in 1876? Give names of the Presidential candi- 
 dates in that year. Give results of the election and main incidents 
 connected with it. Give results of the Presidential elections for the 
 twelve years following. By what President and in what year was 
 the tariff made the dominant party issue? What important act was 
 passed during Harrison's administration? What was the effect of 
 this act? 
 
 3. What was one cause of the financial panic in 1893? What 
 was the business result of this panic and what was the political 
 consequence ? 
 
 4. Why was McKinley selected as the Republican candidate for 
 President in 1896? What agitation led to the adoption of the Silver 
 Purchase act of 1890? Tell something about the Free Silver move- 
 ment. Who was the candidate for Vice President on the ticket with 
 McKinley in 1900? 
 
 5. What tragic event followed this election? How was Roose- 
 velt's influence felt? The expiration of President Taft's term was 
 the close of how many years of Republican occupancy of the White 
 House? 
 
 6. To what cause was the birth of the Progressive party due? 
 Tell something of the proceedings which attended and followed the 
 national convention of 1912. What peculiarity developed in the 
 election of President Wilson for his second term? 
 
 7. In what year did the Prohibition party make its debut as a 
 national party? Who was its first candidate and in what year was 
 the first convention held? Name some of the other minor parties 
 since the Civil War.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 PREAMBLE: 
 
 We, the people of the United States, in order to form 
 a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the 
 general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our- 
 selves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- 
 stitution for the United States of America. 
 
 THE CONGRESS: 
 
 ARTICLE I 
 
 Section i 
 
 I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested 
 in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a 
 Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 Section 2 
 
 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
 members chosen every second year by the people of the 
 several states; and the electors in each state shall have the 
 qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
 branch of the legislature. 
 
 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not 
 have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been 
 seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
 not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which 
 he shall be chosen. 
 
 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
 among the several States which may be included within this 
 
 Z77
 
 378 New Era Civics 
 
 Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall 
 be determined by adding to the whole number of free per- 
 sons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
 and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
 persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within 
 three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 
 United States, and within every subsequent term of ten 
 years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
 number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every 
 thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Rep- 
 resentative ; 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 impeachment. 
 
 Section 3 
 
 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
 of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature 
 thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one 
 vote. 
 
 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse- 
 quence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally 
 as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators 
 of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the 
 second year, of the second class at the expiration of the 
 fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of 
 the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
 year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or other- 
 wise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, 
 the executive thereof may make temporary appointments 
 until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then 
 fill such vacancies.
 
 Appendix 379 
 
 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have 
 attained the age of thirty years, and been nine years a 
 citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
 elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall 
 be chosen. 
 
 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be 
 President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they 
 be equally divided. 
 
 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also 
 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 im- 
 peachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be 
 on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United 
 States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no 
 person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
 thirds of the members present. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
 further than to removal from office, and disqualification 
 to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under 
 the United States; but the party convicted, shall, neverthe- 
 less, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and 
 punishment, according to law. 
 
 Section 4 
 
 1. The times, places and manner of holding elections 
 for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in 
 each State by the Legislature thereof, but the Congress 
 may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, 
 except as to the places of choosing Senators. 
 
 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
 year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
 December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 
 
 Section 5 
 
 • 
 
 I. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, re- 
 turns 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,
 
 380 JNew Era Civics 
 
 in such manner and under such penalties as each House 
 may provide. 
 
 2. Each House may determine the rule of its proceed- 
 ings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with 
 the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 
 
 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
 and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
 parts as may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the 
 yeas and nays of the members of either house on any ques- 
 tion shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be 
 entered on the journal. 
 
 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, 
 without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
 three days, nor to any other place than that in which the 
 two Houses shall be sitting. 
 
 Section 6 
 
 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a com- 
 pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and 
 paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, 
 in all cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace, 
 be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the 
 session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
 returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in 
 either House they shall not be questioned in any other 
 place. 
 
 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 
 for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office 
 under the authority of the United States, which shall have 
 been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been 
 increased, during such time; and no person holding any 
 office under the United States shall be a member of either 
 House during his continuance in office. 
 
 Section 7 
 
 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
 House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or 
 concur with amendments as on other bills. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
 Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a
 
 Appendix 381 
 
 law, be presented to the President of the United States ; 
 if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return 
 it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have 
 originated; who shall enter the objections at large on their 
 journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such recon- 
 sideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the 
 bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
 other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; 
 and, if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall be- 
 come a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both Houses 
 shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of 
 the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
 on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
 not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays 
 excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
 same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, 
 unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its re- 
 turn, in which case it shall not be a law. 
 
 3. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the con- 
 currence 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, accord- 
 ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of 
 a bill. 
 
 POWERS GRANTED: 
 
 Section 8 
 
 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, im- 
 posts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
 States. 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States. 
 
 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
 among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.
 
 382 New Era Civics 
 
 4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and 
 uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
 foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures. 
 
 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
 securities and current coin of the United States. 
 
 7. To establish postoffices and postroads. 
 
 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
 by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, 
 the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
 mitted on the high seas, and offenses against the law of 
 .nations. 
 
 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and re- 
 prisal, and make rules concerning capture on land and 
 water. 
 
 12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation 
 of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two 
 years. 
 
 13. To provide and maintain a navy. 
 
 14. To make rules for the government and regulation 
 of the land and naval forces. 
 
 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
 the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel 
 invasions. 
 
 16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining 
 the militia, and for governing such part of them as may 
 be employed in the service of the United States; reserving 
 to the States respectively the appointment of the officers 
 and the authority of training the militia according to the 
 discipline prescribed by Congress. 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases what- 
 soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) 
 as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance 
 of Congress, become the seat of government of the United 
 States ; and to exercise like authority over all places pur-
 
 Appendix 383 
 
 chased, by the consent of the Legislature of the State in 
 which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, maga- 
 zines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings ; and 
 i8. 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. 
 
 POWERS DENIED: 
 
 Section 9 
 
 1. The migration or importation of such persons as 
 any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, 
 shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 
 one thousand eight hundred and eight ; but a tax or duty 
 may be imposed on such importation not exceeding ten 
 dollars for each person.. 
 
 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
 be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, 
 the public safety may require it. 
 
 3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be 
 passed. 
 
 4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid unless 
 in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore 
 directed to be taken. 
 
 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on any articles exported 
 from any State. No preference shall be given by any 
 regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
 State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to 
 or from one State be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties 
 in another. 
 
 6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in 
 consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular 
 statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of 
 all public money shall be published from time to time. 
 
 7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
 States ; and no person holding an}^ 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.
 
 384 New Era Civics 
 
 Section io ^ 
 
 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or 
 confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin 
 money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and 
 silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill 
 of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obli- 
 gation of contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 
 
 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
 lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
 what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspec- 
 tion laws, and the net product of all duties and imposts 
 laid by any State on imports or exports shall be for the 
 use of the treasury of the United States, and all such laws 
 shall be subject to the revision and control of the Con- 
 gress. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
 lay any duty or 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. 
 
 THE PRESIDENCY: 
 
 ARTICLE II 
 
 Section i 
 
 I. The executive power shall be vested in the 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 them- 
 
 This paragraph has been superseded by Amendment 12.
 
 Appendix 385 
 
 selves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted 
 for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they 
 shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
 government of the United States, directed to the President 
 of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
 presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 
 all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. 
 The person having the greatest number of votes shall be 
 the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
 number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than 
 one who have such majority, and have an equal number 
 of votes, then the House of Representatives shall imme- 
 diately choose, by ballot, one of them for President; and 
 if no person have a majority, then, from the highest on 
 the list, the said House shall, in like manner, choose the 
 President, But in choosing the President, the vote shall 
 be taken by States, the representation from each State 
 having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
 of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, 
 and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
 choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, 
 the person having the greatest number of votes of the 
 Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should 
 remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall 
 choose from them, by ballot, the Vice President.] 
 
 4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
 the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their 
 votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United 
 States. 
 
 5. No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen 
 of the United States at the time of the adoption of this 
 Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; 
 neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall 
 not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been 
 fourteen years a resident within the United States. 
 
 6. In case of the removal of the President from office, 
 or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the 
 powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve 
 on the Vice President ; and the Congress may, by law, pro- 
 vide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability,
 
 386 New Era Civics , 
 
 both of the President and Vice President, declaring what 
 officer shall then act as President ; and such officer shall 
 act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a Presi- 
 dent 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 shall have 
 been elected ; and he shall not receive within that period 
 any other emolument from the United States, or any of 
 them. 
 
 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
 shall take the following oath or affirmation: 
 
 "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
 execute the office of President of the United States; and 
 will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States." 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE POWER: 
 
 Section 2 
 
 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the 
 army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of 
 the several States, when called into the actual service of the 
 United States. He may require the opinion, in writing, of 
 the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
 upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
 offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
 pardons for offenses against the United States, except in 
 cases of impeachment. 
 
 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and 
 consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds 
 of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, 
 and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall 
 appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
 judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
 United States whose appointments are not herein other- 
 wise provided for, and which shall be established by law. 
 But the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of 
 such inferior officers as they think proper, in the President 
 alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
 
 Appendix »'^87 
 
 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
 that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by grant- 
 ing- commissions which shall expire at the end of their 
 next session. 
 
 Section 3 
 
 I. 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 neces- 
 sary and expedient. He may on extraordinary occasions, 
 convene both Houses, or either of them; and in case of 
 disagreement between them, with respect to the time of 
 adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
 think proper. He shall receive ambassadors and other 
 public ministers. He shall take care that the laws be faith- 
 fully executed ; and shall commission all the ofifiicers of the 
 United States. 
 
 Section 4 
 
 I. The President, Vice President and all civil officers 
 of the United States shall be removed from office on im- 
 peachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery or other 
 high crimes and misdemeanors. 
 
 THE JUDICIAL POWER: 
 
 ARTICLE HI 
 
 Section i 
 
 I. 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 estab- 
 lish. The judges, of both the Supreme and inferior courts 
 shall hold their offices during good behavior ; and shall, 
 at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, 
 which shall not be diminished during their continuance 
 in office. 
 
 Section 2 
 
 I. 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
 
 388 New Era Civics 
 
 under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, 
 other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty 
 and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the 
 United States shall be a party; to controversies between 
 two or more States, between a State and citizens of another 
 State ; between citizens of different States, between citizens 
 of the same State claiming lands under grants of different 
 States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, citizens or subjects 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
 ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be 
 a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdic- 
 tion. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme 
 Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and 
 fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as 
 the Congress shall make. 
 
 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
 ment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the 
 State where the said crimes shall have been committed, 
 but when not committed within any State, the trial shall 
 be at such place or places as the Congress may by law 
 have directed. 
 
 Section 3 
 
 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only 
 in levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies, 
 giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
 victed 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 pun- 
 ishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work 
 corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life 
 of the person attainted. 
 
 CONCERNING THE STATES: 
 
 ARTICLE IV 
 
 Section i 
 
 I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to 
 the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every
 
 Appendix 389 
 
 other State ; and the Congress may, by general laws, pre- 
 scribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceed- 
 ings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 
 
 Section 2 
 
 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
 privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 
 
 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony 
 or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found 
 in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority 
 of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
 removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 3. No person held to service or labor in one State under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in conse- 
 quence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
 from such service or labor ; but shall be delivered up on 
 claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be 
 due. 
 
 Section 3 
 
 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
 Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
 within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State 
 be formed by the junction of two or more States or parts 
 of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the 
 States concerned, as well as of the Congress. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and 
 make all needful rules and regulations respecting the terri- 
 tory or other property belonging to the United States; 
 and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as 
 to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any 
 particular State. 
 
 Section 4 
 
 I. 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 Legisla- 
 ture cannot be convened), against domestic violence.
 
 390 New Era Civics 
 
 FINAL PROVISIONS: 
 
 ARTICLE V 
 
 I. 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 Constitu- 
 tion, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of 
 the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths 
 thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may 
 be proposed by the Congress ; provided that no amend- 
 ment, which may be made prior to the year one thousand 
 eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the 
 first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first 
 article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be 
 deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into 
 before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid 
 against the United States under this Constitution, as under 
 the confederation. 
 
 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
 made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
 United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and 
 the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
 in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
 and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all 
 executive and judicial officers, both of the United States 
 and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirma- 
 tion 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.
 
 Appendix 391 
 
 THE AMENDMENTS: 
 
 [The following ten amendments were proposed at the first session of 
 the first Congress of the United States, which was begun and held at 
 the city of New York on the fourth of March, 1789, and were ratified 
 by December, 1791, by the requisite number of States. They are often re- 
 ferred to as the Bill of Rights.] 
 
 AMENDMENT I 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
 ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, 
 or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or 
 the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
 the government for a redress of grievances. 
 
 AMENDMENT 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. 
 
 AMENDMENT 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. 
 
 AMENDMENT IV 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
 houses, paper and effects, against unreasonable searches 
 and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrants shall 
 issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirma- 
 tion, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
 and the persons or things to be seized. 
 
 AMENDMENT V 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capital or 
 otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or in- 
 dictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the 
 land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual 
 service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any 
 person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in 
 jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any 
 
 criminal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be de- 
 26
 
 392 New Era Civics 
 
 prived of life, liberty or property, without due process of 
 law; nor shall private property be taken for public use with- 
 out just compensation. 
 
 AMENDMENT 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 ascer- 
 tained by law ; and to be informed of the nature and cause 
 of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses 
 against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
 witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel 
 for his defense. 
 
 AMENDMENT VII 
 
 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
 shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall 
 be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise 
 re-examined in any court of the United States, than accord- 
 ing to the rules of the common law. 
 
 AMENDMENT VIII 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
 imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 AMENDMENT IX 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
 shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained 
 by the people. 
 
 AMENDMENT X 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
 to the States respectively, or to the people. 
 
 AMENDMENT XI 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in March, 1794, duly- 
 ratified, and proclaimed in January, 1798.] 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
 construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com-
 
 Appendix 393 
 
 menced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
 citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any 
 foreign State. 
 
 AMENDMENT XII 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in December, 1803, 
 duly ratified, and proclaimed in September, 1804.] 
 
 1. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, 
 and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one 
 of whom at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
 State with themselves. They shall name in their ballots 
 the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots 
 the person voted for as Vice President ; and they shall make 
 distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of 
 all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number 
 of votes for each; which lists they shall sign and certify, 
 and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
 United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
 President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, 
 and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the 
 greatest number of votes for President shall be the Presi- 
 dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
 of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, 
 then from the persons having the highest numbers, not 
 exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, 
 the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
 ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
 votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
 State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall 
 consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
 States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary 
 to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
 choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall 
 devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next 
 following, then the Vice President shall act as President 
 as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability 
 of the President. 
 
 2. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
 Vice President shall be the Vice President, if such number 
 be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed,
 
 394 New Era Civics 
 
 and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
 numbers on the hst the Senate shall choose the Vice Presi- 
 dent. A quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds 
 of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
 whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
 
 3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
 of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of 
 the United States. 
 
 AMENDMENT XIII 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in February, 1865, 
 duly ratified, and proclaimed in December, 1865.] 
 
 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as 
 a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been 
 duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any 
 place subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
 appropriate legislation. 
 
 AMENDMENT XIV 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures! in June, 1866, duly 
 ratified, and proclaimed in July, 1868.] 
 
 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
 and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
 United States and of the State wherein they reside. No 
 State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge 
 the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 
 States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, 
 liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny 
 to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection 
 of the laws. 
 
 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
 several States according to their respective numbers, count- 
 ing the whole number of persons in each State, excluding 
 Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
 election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice 
 President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, 
 the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the mem- 
 bers of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the
 
 Appendix 395 
 
 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 
 Congress, or Elector of President and Vice President, or 
 hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, 
 or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath 
 as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
 States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an 
 executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the 
 Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
 insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or 
 comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a 
 vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 
 
 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States 
 authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of 
 pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrec- 
 tion 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 appro- 
 priate legislation, the provisions of this article. 
 
 AMENDMENT XV 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in February, 1869, 
 duly ratified, and proclaimed in March, 1870.] 
 
 1. The rights of citizens of the United States to vote 
 shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by 
 any State on account of race, color, or previous condition 
 of servitude. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
 by appropriate legislation.
 
 396 New Era Civics 
 
 AMENDMENT XVI 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in July, 1909, duly 
 ratified, and proclaimed in February, 1913.] 
 
 The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes 
 on incomes, from whatever source derived, without appor- 
 tionment among the several States, and without regard 
 to any census or enumeration. 
 
 AMENDMENT XVII 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to thei State Legislatures in May, 1912, duly 
 ratified, and proclaimed in May, 1913.] 
 
 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
 of two Senators from each State, elected by the people 
 thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one 
 vote. The Electors in each State shall have the qualifica- 
 tions requisite for Electors of the most numerous branch 
 of the State Legislatures. 
 
 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any 
 State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State 
 shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies : Provided, 
 That the Legislature of any State may empower the execu- 
 tive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people 
 fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 
 
 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to 
 affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before 
 it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 
 
 AMENDMENT XVIII 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in December, 1917, 
 duly ratified, and proclaimed in January, 1919, as going mto full force 
 and effect January 16, 1920.] 
 
 I. After one year from the ratification of this article 
 the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating 
 liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the expor- 
 tation thereof from the United States and all territory 
 subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes 
 is hereby prohibited. 
 
 2. The Congress and the several States shall have con- 
 current power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
 lation. '
 
 Appendix 397 
 
 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
 been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the 
 Legislatures of the several States, as provided by the Con- 
 stitution, within seven years from the date of the submis- 
 sion hereof to the States by the Congress. 
 
 AMENDMENT XIX 
 
 [Submitted by Congress to the State Legislatures in June, 1919, duly 
 ratified, and proclaimed in August, 1920.] 
 
 1. The rights of citizens of the United States to vote 
 shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by 
 any State on account of sex. 
 
 2. Congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, 
 to enforce the provisions of this article.
 
 398 
 
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 INDEX 
 
 Adams, John, elected President 
 by Federalists, 355. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, elected 
 President by House of Rep- 
 resentatives, 348. 
 
 Administration, Federal, (see 
 "President," and "Cabinet"). 
 
 Administrator, Food, 156-7; 
 Fuel, 157-8. 
 
 Admission, of States, 190-91; 
 suffrage in new States, 241-2. 
 
 Agriculture, State care of, 231. 
 
 Agriculture Department, Feder- 
 al, when created, 101; its great 
 responsibilities, 114; its im- 
 portant bureaus, 115. 
 
 Airships, for World War, 153. 
 
 Alaska, purchased from Russia, 
 192; data, 192; first govern- 
 ment, 193; effect of Klon- 
 dike discoveries, 193; present 
 government, 194; its capital, 
 194. 
 
 Aldermen, 267; former power, 
 268; and franchises, 268; loss 
 of power 269. 
 
 Aliens, admission of, 118-19; 
 Americanization of, 119-20; 
 naturalization of, 252-4. 
 
 Ambassadors, appointment of, 
 33, 53. 
 
 Ambulance, city, 4. 
 
 Amendments, of the Federal 
 Constitution, 39; how sub- 
 mitted, ratified, 39-40; Thir- 
 teenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, 
 Eighteenth, Nineteenth, 41; 
 for income tax, 164-8; for 
 election of Senators, 168-70; 
 for Prohibition, 170-76; for 
 Woman Suffrage, 178-88; of 
 State Constitutions, 214-15. 
 
 Animal Industry, Bureau of, 
 115. 
 
 Annapolis Academy, 109. 
 
 Annexations, territorial, 191; of 
 Alaska, 192-4; of Hawaii, 194- 
 5; Porto Rico, 195-8; Philip- 
 pines, 198-200; minor depen- 
 dencies, 200-202. 
 
 Anthony, Susan B., Woman 
 Suffrage leader, 180-81; votes 
 in Rochester, 182-3; amend- 
 ment, 183. 
 
 Anti-Federalists, 353-4. 
 
 Anti-Masonic Party, holds 
 first national convention, 359. 
 
 Appeals, in Federal courts, 91; 
 Circuit Court of, 95-6; from 
 Federal District courts, 97-8; 
 in State courts, 216-17. 
 
 Appointments, to Federal of- 
 fice, 52-3; the merit system, 
 53-7. 
 
 Apportionment, House of Rep- 
 resentatives, 64-7; for State 
 Legislatures, 211-12. 
 
 Appropriations, Congress and, 
 52; House Committee on, 72; 
 in charge of Budget, 77. 
 
 Armament, Naval, limitation of, 
 59-60. 
 
 Army, commander-in-chief, 32; 
 officers of, 108-109; Presi- 
 dent's power over, 152; in 
 World War, 153-4. 
 
 Articles of Confederation, when 
 adopted, 21; their defects, 21- 
 3. 
 
 Ashes, removal of, 264. 
 
 Assembly, (see "State Legisla- 
 tures" for lower branch). 
 
 Assessments, of real estate, 
 266; valuation, 267. 
 
 Asset Currency, 139. 
 
 Attorney General, U. S., when 
 office was created, 101; head 
 
 403
 
 404 
 
 Index 
 
 of Department of Justice, 
 
 109; his subordinates, 110. 
 Auditor, or Comptroller, city, 
 
 270; county. 278. 
 Australian Ballot, 246-7. 
 Automobile, problem in city 
 
 streets, 286-7. 
 
 B 
 
 Bail, constitutional right to, 40. 
 
 Ballot, citizen and the, 11; the 
 duty it imposes, 12; nature of, 
 12-13; systems in States, 
 239-49; early voting methods, 
 244-6; distribution of, 244-6; 
 the Australian, 246-7; the 
 Massachusetts, 246-9; open 
 voting, 246; demand for 
 secrecy, 246; officially pro- 
 tected, 247; methods of mark- 
 ing, 247-8; grouping of candi- 
 dates, 248; sample ballots, 
 247-8. 
 
 Ballot Machine, 249-50. 
 
 Banks, National, 134-8; (see 
 "Currency" and "Federal Re- 
 serve") ; panic of 1893, 370-71. 
 
 Bill-Board, advertising, 320. 
 
 Bills, engraving of, 145-6; (see 
 "Currency"). 
 
 Birds, protection of, 116. 
 
 Boards, Railroad Labor, 122-3; 
 of Aldermen, 267-73. 
 
 Bond Issues, U. S., basis for 
 bank currency, 134-8; for 
 World War, 153-5. 
 
 Bonds, government, 134-8; for 
 Liberty loans, 154-5; issues in 
 cities, 266-7. 
 
 Boss, political, 224; revolt 
 against, 226. 
 
 Bribery, at elections, remedy 
 for, 246, 248. 
 
 Bryan, W. J., as "dark horse," 
 338; silver candidate, 372. 
 
 Budget, national, Ti; why 
 adopted, 74-5; the Budget 
 law, 7Z, 75; Bureau of, 75; 
 Director and his duties, 75- 
 7; the first Director of, 76; of 
 
 New York City, 266; 
 school systems, 308. 
 Bureau of Engraving, 145-6. 
 
 for 
 
 Cabinet, beginning of, 101; De- 
 partments of, 101; order of 
 their creation, 101-2; meet- 
 ings, 103: heads of depart- 
 ments, 102-120. 
 
 Calendar, House, 78. 
 CaUfomia, decides 1916 election, 
 375. 
 
 Campaign, Presidential, 353-75. 
 
 Canal, Panama, 200-201. 
 
 Candidates, the question of fit- 
 ness, 14; voting for or 
 against, 15; Presidential, 
 333-9. 
 
 Canvass, of Electoral votes, 351. 
 
 Capitals, Washington, 191-2; 
 Alaska, 194; Hawaii, 194; 
 Porto Rico, 196; Philippines, 
 199. 
 
 Census, basis for House ap- 
 portionment, 64-5; early cen- 
 suses, - 64-5. 
 
 Chairman, national conventions, 
 331. 
 
 Charities, public, of States, 220- 
 1; municipal, 297-9; provi- 
 sions for poor, 301-2; benevo- 
 lent institutions, 302; city out- 
 lay for, 301-2. 
 
 Charters, citv. 269; different 
 kinds of. 269-75; group, 270; 
 commission government, 271- 
 3; city-manager, 273-5. 
 
 Chemistry, Bureau of, 115. 
 
 Chicago, as convention city, 
 329. 
 
 Chief Justice, Supreme Court, 
 92-4. 
 
 Child Labor, state protection 
 of, 232-3. 
 
 Children, courts for, 235; pro- 
 bation systems, 235. 
 
 Chinese, immigration forbidden, 
 118. 
 
 Circuit Court of Appeals, Fed- 
 eral, 95-8.
 
 Index 
 
 405 
 
 Cities, tlieir government in ac- 
 tion, 3-0; City Hall, 6; objects 
 of local government, 200-61 
 party politics in, 2o2; pub 
 lie safety and health, 263-4 
 water supplies, 204; fran 
 chises, 264-5; attractions, 265 
 taxation, 265-0; bond issues 
 266-7; forms of government 
 267-75; Mayor and Alderman 
 267-8; municipal reforms 
 268-9; centering power, 269 
 group charters, 270; school 
 administration, 270-71; com- 
 mission government, 271-5; 
 its origin, 271-2; its features, 
 272-3; the city-manager sys- 
 tem, 273-5; local courts, 275; 
 civic responsibilities, 282-3; 
 objects of government, 283; 
 arch of municipal service, 
 283-4; its keystone, 284; pro- 
 tection against crime and fire, 
 284-5; traffic problems, 285-7; 
 health service, 287-97; prog- 
 ress in sanitation, 287-8; 
 sanitary aims, 288; water 
 supply, 288-90; guarding 
 against water pollution and 
 waste, 289-90; milk protec- 
 tion, 290-91; other food safe- 
 guards, 291-2; warfare on 
 disease, 292-5; quarantine, 
 292-3; bacteriology, 293; en- 
 forcing health rules, 293-4; 
 street cleanliness, 294-5; rules 
 for householders, 294; gar- 
 bage and sewage disposal, 
 295-7; garbage reduction and 
 products, 296; modern sew- 
 age methods, 297; hospital 
 and dispensary service, 297-9 
 care of consumptives, 298 
 school sanitation, 299-300 
 protecting health and in- 
 dustry, 300; civic co-opera- 
 tion, 300-301; charitable in- 
 stitutions. 301-2; care of poor, 
 302; public education, 306-9; 
 compulsory, 307-8; States 
 part in local education, 308-9; 
 
 school tax and budget, 308; 
 public libraries, 310; public 
 utilities, 310-11; franchises, 
 311-12; street railway prob- 
 lems,^ 312-14; "Service-at- 
 Cost" plan, 313-14; railway 
 fare questions, 313; business 
 management, 315; attractions, 
 315-21; pavements, 315-16; 
 "white wings," 316; park sys- 
 tems, 316-18; playgrounds, 
 318; city planning, 319-20; 
 the zoning system, 320-21. 
 
 Citizens, their responsibility, 
 14; their different functions, 
 14; their community duties, 
 259, 261-2. 
 
 Citizenship, essentials, 9. 
 
 City Council, or commission, 
 271-5. 
 
 City Planning, 319-20. 
 
 Civics, study of, 9; definition 
 of, 9. 
 
 Civil Service Reform, to pro- 
 tect Federal office holders, 
 33-4; the movement for, 55; 
 first Civil Service law, 55; 
 the Pendleton act, 55-6; the 
 Federal Commission, 56; 
 spread of classified service, 
 56; the non-classified service, 
 56-7; advantages of the Re- 
 form, 57; in the States, 233. 
 
 Civil Service Commission, 123- 
 4. 
 
 Civil War, military pensions, 
 114; politics before, 362-3; 
 after, 366-7. 
 
 Claims, against United States, 
 98. 
 
 Cleaning of streets, 294-5. 
 
 Clerk, House of Representa- 
 tives, 69, 78. 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, his close 
 contest, 346-7; forces tariff 
 issue, 369. 
 
 Coast Guard, 108. 
 
 Coinage, silver as political is- 
 sue, 371-2. 
 
 Coins, government, 7; use as 
 money, 129; intrinsic value
 
 406 
 
 Index 
 
 of, 130; government issues 
 of, 132; weight and quality, 
 132-3; minting of, 144-5. 
 
 Collectors, of Internal Revenue, 
 106-7; of Customs, 107. 
 
 Colonizing, of voters, 251. 
 
 Columbia, District of, 191-2. 
 
 Commander-in-Chief, President 
 as, 2,2, 150. 
 
 Commerce, Congress and, 38; 
 interstate, 38; department of, 
 101; its mission and duties, 
 116-17. 
 
 Commission Government, for 
 cities, beginning of, 271-2; 
 features of, 272-5; Galves- 
 ton's experience, 271-2; elec- 
 tive commissioners, 272-3; 
 spread of reform, 273; city 
 manager plan, 273-5; powers 
 of city manager, 275. 
 
 Commissioners, Internal Rev- 
 enue, 106-7; in Interior De- 
 partment, 112-14; of Inter- 
 state Commerce, 121-2; Civil 
 Service, 123-4; in cities, 271-5. 
 
 Committees, of House, how ap- 
 pointed, 70; of the Whole, 
 70; as workshops, 72-3; of 
 national conventions, 332-3. 
 
 Common Council (see "Alder- 
 men". ) 
 
 Communities, local (see 
 
 "Cities"). 
 
 Compromises, of Constitution, 
 26. 
 
 Comptroller, of currency, 105- 
 6, 139; city, 269-70. 
 
 Confederation, Articles of, 21-3. 
 
 Conference, the Washington, 
 59-60. 
 
 Conference, Committees, of 
 Congress, 80. 
 
 Congress, the Senate and 
 House, 26-30; its time of 
 meeting, 34; power over com- 
 merce, 38; over railroads and 
 trusts, 38; over new States 
 and territories, 38-9; its or- 
 ganization, rules and methods, 
 63-88; how its districts are 
 
 made, 65-7; regular and spe- 
 cial sessions, 67-9; pay of 
 members, 87; Record and Di- 
 rectory, 87; privileges, 87; 
 World War legislation, 152-4, 
 156; its railroad act, 159; tax- 
 ing power, 166-7; its Civil 
 War income tax, 167; sub- 
 mits Sixteenth Amendment, 
 167; providing for income tax, 
 167-8; income tax rates, 168; 
 submits Seventeenth Amend- 
 ment, 170; Prohibition 
 Amendment submitted, 170; 
 Webb-Kenyon act, 173; first 
 Prohibition act, 173-4; War- 
 time Prohibition legislation, 
 174-5; enforcing Eighteenth 
 Amendment, 176; Suffrage 
 Amendments submitted, 178; 
 rejects suffrage appeals, 181- 
 2; Susan B. Anthony Amend- 
 ment defeated, 183; a favora- 
 ble vote, 184; power over ter- 
 ritories, 190; first meeting in 
 Washington, 191; control of 
 District of C, 191-2; Alaska 
 legislation, 193-4; Hawaii an- 
 nexation act, 194; Porto Rico 
 laws, 196-8; Philippine legis- 
 lation, 199-200; appoints the 
 Electoral Commission, 349. 
 
 Conscription, for World War, 
 152. 
 
 Conservation, of forests, 115. 
 
 Constabulary, State, 219-20. 
 
 Constitution, Federal, 21-41; 
 the Preamble, 24; planning 
 the Congress, 24-6; the two- 
 chamber problem, 24-6; Sen- 
 ate and House, 26-8; Con- 
 gress terms, 27-8; age limit, 
 28; Senate's function, 28; 
 taxation and money bills, 29; 
 Senate privileges, 29-30; ex- 
 ecutive branch, 30-36; Presi- 
 dent, his powers, 31-4; Vice- 
 President, 34-6; Judicial 
 branch, 36-8; Supreme 
 Court. 36-8; general pro- 
 visions, 38-41; amending the
 
 Index 
 
 407 
 
 Constitution, 39-41; first ten 
 amendments, 40; the Tenth 
 amendment, 40-41; later 
 amendments, 41; World War 
 and, 150-53; its adaptability 
 for war purposes, 150-53; four 
 latest amendments, 164-88. 
 
 Constitutional Amendments, 
 recent, 164-76; income tax, 
 166-8; the Sixteenth, 167; the 
 Seventeenth, 168; why adopt- 
 ed, 168-70; Eighteenth, its 
 text, 170; Proliibition crusade, 
 171-6; Woman Suffrage 
 Amendment, 178-88; its text, 
 178; submitted by Congress, 
 184; ratified, 187-8. 
 
 Constitutional Convention, Fed- 
 eral, assembled at Philadel- 
 phia, 21; its mission and 
 membership, 22; its difficul- 
 ties, 23-4; its work reviewed, 
 24-41. 
 
 Consuls, under State Depart- 
 ment, 103. 
 
 Contested Elections, Presiden- 
 tial, 347-9; in national con- 
 ventions, 332-3. 
 
 Conventions, abolished in 
 States, 224-7; national, 327; 
 machinery of, 327; delegates 
 to, 328-9; Democratic meth- 
 ods, 328-9; Republican meth- 
 ods, 328-9; how delegates are 
 chosen, 329; sites and scenes, 
 329-31; _ favorite city, 329; 
 public interest in, 331; pro- 
 ceedings, 331-3; election of 
 chairman, 331-2; committee 
 appointments, 332-3; contest- 
 ed seats, 332-3; naming and 
 voting for candidates, 333-4; 
 two-thirds and unit rules, 
 334-6; majority rule of Re- 
 publicans, 334-5; Democratic 
 rules changed, 335-6; famous 
 contests, 336; oratory, 336; 
 "dark horses," 337-8; nomi- 
 nating Vice President, 338-9; 
 27 
 
 first national convention, 348, 
 359. 
 
 Copyright, 114. 
 
 Coroner, county official, 8; his 
 distinction, 277. 
 
 Corporations, licensed by 
 States, 209; stricter regulation 
 of, 230-31; in cities, 311-12; 
 their franchises, 311-12; 
 street railway service and 
 its problems, 312-14; pub- 
 licity of, 314; capitalization, 
 314. 
 
 Corruption, of voters, 246. 
 
 Council, Common (see "Alder- 
 men"). 
 
 Counterfeiting — punishment of, 
 95. 
 
 County, agencies, 8; officials, 
 8; boundaries in Congress 
 districts, 65-7; in legislative 
 districts, 211-12; courts, 217; 
 government of, 276-8; char- 
 acteristics, 276-7; functions, 
 276-7; its two venerable of- 
 ficers, 277; administrative 
 features, 277; its Supervisors, 
 277; Clerk and Treasurer, 
 278; judges, 278; expendi- 
 tures. 278. 
 
 Court, of last resort, in States, 
 217. 
 
 Courts, court house, building, 
 8; Criminal law, 8; of Fed- 
 eral Claims, 98-9; of Cus- 
 toms appeals, 98-9; State, 
 215-18; for juvenile offenders, 
 235; probation officers of, 
 235. 
 
 Crime, prosecution of, in States, 
 217-18. 
 
 Cuba, our relations with, 202. 
 
 Currency, money and its uses, 
 128-9; paper money and coin, 
 129-30; The Constitution 
 and money, 130-31; gold, 
 and greenbacks, 131; curren- 
 cy issues of U. S., 132; 
 weight of coins, 132-3; paper 
 issues, 133-4; National Bank
 
 408 
 
 Index 
 
 issues, 134-8; defects of sys- 
 tem, 136-8; the cause of pan- 
 ics, 137; Federal Reserve act, 
 138; the new currency basis, 
 138-9; features of new system, 
 139-40; the Federal Reserve 
 Board, 139; Federal Reserve 
 banks and districts, 140-41; 
 how system works, 141-2; its 
 merits, 142-3; volume of Fed- 
 eral Reserve currency, 143-4; 
 U. S. mints, 144-5; the mak- 
 ing of coins, 144-5; engrav- 
 ing of paper money, 145-6. 
 Customs, revenue from, 106-7; 
 collectors of, 107; as indirect 
 taxes, 165. 
 
 D 
 
 "Dark Horses," Presidential, 
 
 337-8. 
 
 Daylight Saving, Federal Law, 
 158.. 
 
 Death Rates, diminishing, in 
 New York city, 287-8. 
 
 Debate, in Congress, 71; on 
 House bills, 79; Senate's lati- 
 tude for, 84-5; Senate "clo- 
 ture." 85-6. 
 
 Debt, bonded, of nation, 105-6; 
 basis for currency, 134-6; 
 Liberty Loans, 154-5; New 
 York city and State com- 
 pared, 266; for parks, 317. 
 
 Defectives, State care of insane 
 and idiots, 221; city care of 
 mental sufferers, 301. 
 
 Delay, motions for, 80-81. 
 
 Delegates, to national conven- 
 tions, 328; party methods in 
 choosing, 328-9. 
 
 Democratic Party, national con- 
 ventions, 328; delegates to, 
 328; meets at San Francisco, 
 329; two-thirds and unit rules 
 in conventions, 334-6; con- 
 vention contests, 336; "dark 
 horses," 337-8; its original 
 titles, 354-5; takes its present 
 name, 357; its record to 1860, 
 
 354-62; Jefferson's leadership, 
 354-5; Jackson's leadership, 
 356-7, 359-60; defeated by the 
 Whigs, 361-2; its election of 
 Polk, Pierce and Buchanan, 
 361-2; defeated by Lincoln, 
 363; later record, 366-75. 
 
 Departments, Federal heads of, 
 102-21; duties of, 102-25. 
 
 Des Moines, plan of city gov- 
 ernment, 272. 
 
 Direct Primaries (see "Primar- 
 ies"). 
 
 Direct taxes, 164-8; contrasted 
 with indirect tax, 164-5. 
 
 Disease, city warfare against, 
 287-8; milk protection, 290- 
 91; other sanitary protec- 
 tions, 292-5; hospital serv- 
 ice, 297-8; crusade against 
 consumption, 298; school 
 sanitation and hygiene, 299- 
 300; health precautions in in- 
 dustry, 300. 
 
 Dispensary, free in cities, 298-9. 
 
 District Attorney, prosecuting 
 attornev in counties, 8, 277; 
 for United States. 110. 
 
 District of Columbia, when ac- 
 quired, 191; first Congress 
 in, 191; changes in govern- 
 ment. 191-2; its subjection to 
 Congress, 192. 
 
 Districts, in Constitution. 25; 
 of the House, 64-7; legisla- 
 tive, in States, 211-12. 
 
 Dollar, (see "Currency"). 
 
 Draft, for military service, 152. 
 
 Drainage, city sewage, 297. 
 
 Duties, on imports. Collectors 
 of, 107, defined and how paid, 
 165 (see "Tariff"). 
 
 E 
 
 Education, (see "Schools"). 
 Eighteenth Amendment, for 
 
 National Prohibition, 170-76. 
 Elections, Presidential, 31; of 
 
 Senators and Representa-
 
 Index 
 
 409 
 
 tives, 67; State (see "Vot- 
 ing"); municipal, 262; in vil- 
 lages, 278; Electoral College, 
 341-51; plurality and major- 
 ity in, 346; National contests 
 of the parties, 353-63, 366-75. 
 
 Electoral College, 341-51; rea- 
 sons for it, 341; how chos- 
 en, 341; majority rule in, 
 342; changed by Twelfth 
 amendment, 342; Constitu- 
 tion and, 342-3; Jefferson- 
 Burr tie, 342; power of elec- 
 tors, 342-3; they become mere 
 agents, 343-5; early electoral 
 contests, 345; States and, 345; 
 how smaller States benefit, 
 345-6; "majority and plurali- 
 ty," 346; curiosities of sys- 
 tem, 346-7; failures to elect, 
 347-8; elections transferred 
 to House, 347-8; contest of 
 1824, 348; uniformity in 
 choice of, 348; effect of na- 
 tional conventions upon, 348- 
 9; contest of 1877, 349; Elec- 
 toral Commission, 349; fail- 
 ure to elect Vice President. 
 349-50; Electoral majority and 
 popular vote, 350; Electors' 
 names on ballots, 350-51; 
 meeting of, 351; canvass of 
 votes in Congress, 351. 
 
 Electoral Commission, 349; 
 climax of exciting contest, 
 368-9. 
 
 Electors, Presidential (see 
 Electoral College). 
 
 Electric, lighting, franchises, S, 
 264-5. 
 
 Engraving and Printing, 
 Bureau of, 145-6. 
 
 Espionage, act, 156. 
 
 Excise, taxes, 165. 
 
 Executives, (see "President," 
 and "Governor"). 
 
 Executive Sessions, of Senate. 
 86-7. 
 
 Expenditures, Federal, Nation- 
 al Budget of, lZ-1. 
 
 Factory, operatives, State pro- 
 tection of, 300; city protec- 
 tion, 300; women and child 
 workers in, 300. 
 
 Federal Government, 44-125; 
 in war, 149-62; its dependen- 
 cies, 190-202. 
 
 Federal Judiciary, in Constitu- 
 tion, 3(j; minor judges, VI \ 
 Supreme Court, 90-95; Cir- 
 cuit Court of Appeals, 95-6; 
 Federal District Judges, 96-8. 
 
 Federal ' Reserve Act, 138-44 
 (see "Currency"). 
 
 Federal Trade Commission, 
 121, 124. 
 
 Federalists, 353-4; their loss of 
 popularity, 355-6. 
 
 Federation, of States, (see 
 "United States Constitu- 
 tion"). 
 
 Feeble-Minded, State care of, 
 221. 
 
 Filibuster, 80-81. 
 
 Filtration, for city water plants, 
 289. 
 
 Finance, (see "Currency"). 
 
 Fire, firemen on duty, 4-5; pro- 
 tection, 260; fire organiza- 
 tions, 284-5. 
 
 Fisheries, Federal care of, 116. 
 
 Food Administration, in World 
 War, 156-7. 
 
 Food, supply, 115; city protec- 
 tion of, 290-92. 
 
 Forbidden powers, to States, 
 207-8. 
 
 Foreign affairs. Senate and 
 treaties, 29; President's trea- 
 ty power, Z2>\ President in 
 world affairs, 58; the Ver- 
 sailles treaty, 58; the Wash- 
 ington Conference, 58-60; in 
 Senate executive sessions, 86- 
 7: Secretary of State and, 
 102-4. 
 
 Forests, conservation of, 115. 
 
 Franchises, street railway, 3; 
 electric light, 5; municipal.
 
 410 
 
 Index 
 
 264-5; taxes on, 266; object 
 of, 311; how granted and on 
 what conditions, 311-12. 
 
 Franking privilege, of Con- 
 gressmen, 87. 
 
 Freight Rates, railroad, in- 
 creased by Interstate Com- 
 merce Commission, 123. 
 
 Fuel Administration, in World 
 War, 157-9; Garfield in 
 charge, 157-8. 
 
 Fugitive, Slave laws, 362. 
 
 Galveston, starts commission 
 government, 271-2. 
 
 Garbage, collector, 4; reduc- 
 tion plants and products, 
 295-6. 
 
 Garfield, President, shot by a 
 spoils hunter, 55. 
 
 Geological Surveys, 113. 
 
 Germany, our war with, 149- 
 62. 
 
 Gerrymander, of Congress dis- 
 tricts, 66-7. 
 
 Gold, as money, 129-34; reserve, 
 142-3; coining of, 145. 
 
 Government, its objects, 10; 
 our relation thereto, 9; our 
 service to, outlined, 9; depen- 
 dence on citizens, 12; of na- 
 tion, 44-125; of States, 207- 
 22; of cities, 259-321. 
 
 Governors, their pardoning 
 power, 33; of States, 212-13; 
 of territories, 194, 195, 197, 
 199-200. 
 
 Grand Jury, 218. 
 
 Greenback Party, 375, 
 
 Greenbacks, 133. 
 
 Guam, 201. 
 
 H 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, his tariff 
 
 policy, 357-8. 
 Harding, President, calls 
 
 Washington conference, 58-9; 
 
 his election in 1920, 375. 
 Hawaii, annexed to U. S., 194; 
 
 governing system, 194-5; 
 capital, 194. 
 
 Hayes-Tilden contest, 1876^7, 
 settled by Electoral commis- 
 sion, 349. 
 
 Health Department, in action, 
 4; in cities, 263-4. 
 
 Hearings, before committees of 
 Congress, 78, 80. 
 
 Highways, city pavements, 315- 
 16. 
 
 Hoover, Herbert C, head of 
 Food Administration, 156. 
 
 Hospitals, for insane, 221, 301; 
 city, 297-8. 
 
 House of Representatives, how 
 organized by the Constitu- 
 tion, 26-7; fixing the repre- 
 sentatfon, 26-7; term of serv- 
 ice, 27; how it differs from 
 Senate, 27-30; its "power of 
 the purse," 29; closeness to 
 the people, 63-4; its represen- 
 tation and apportionment, 64- 
 7; term of service. 67-8; elec- 
 tion of Speaker, 69; change in 
 Speaker's power, 69-70; rules, 
 70; limiting debate, 71; the 
 committees, 72; their rank and 
 importance, 72-3; House and 
 the Budget, 77; the course of 
 a bill, 77-80; hearings on bills, 
 78, 80; special treatment for 
 bills, 79; the "previous ques- 
 tion," 79; the conference 
 committee, 80; filibustering, 
 80-81; how prevented, 81; 
 clerk allowance, 87; electing 
 a President, 342, 347-8; its 
 second election of President, 
 348. 
 Hughes, Charles E., presides 
 over Washington Confer- 
 ence, 59. 
 
 Illinois, adopts Woman's Suf- 
 frage by statute law, 183. 
 
 Immigration, laws governing, 
 118-19; exclusion acts, 118-19.
 
 Index 
 
 411 
 
 Impeachment, of President, 35- 
 6; the proceedings, 35-6; the 
 case of Johnson, 36; a party 
 measure, 367. 
 
 Import duties, collectors of, 
 107; how classed, 165. 
 
 Income tax, amendment for, 
 164-8; provisions of law for, 
 167-8. 
 
 Independent, voters, 14-15; a 
 powerful factor, 15. 
 
 Independence Hall, meeting 
 of Constitutional Conven- 
 tion in, 22. 
 
 Indian Affairs, 114. 
 
 Indictment, by Grand Jury, 218. 
 
 Inheritances, tax on, 236. 
 
 Initiative and referendum, 229- 
 30. 
 
 Insane, State care of, 221; city 
 care of, 301. 
 
 Interior, department, when cre- 
 ated, 101; its Secretary, 112; 
 its varied functions and pow- 
 ers, 113-14; its commission- 
 ers and bureaus, 112-13. 
 
 Internal Revenue, taxes, 106; 
 collectors, 106-7; defined, 
 165; commissioner of, in 
 charge of Prohibition, 176. 
 
 International Affairs, (see 
 "Foreign Affairs"). 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commis- 
 sion, 121; its authority over 
 railroads, 121-2- the Trans- 
 portation act, 122. 
 
 Intervention, in Cuba, 202. 
 
 Invasion, State defense against, 
 207-8. 
 
 Inventions, patents, 113, 114. 
 
 Irrigation, of waste lands. De- 
 partment of Interior, 114. 
 
 Isthmian Canal, 200-201. 
 
 Jackson, President, his execu- 
 tive patronage, 53; his first 
 candidacy, 348; defeated in 
 House, 348. 
 
 Japan, in Washington Confer- 
 ence, 59. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, his talk 
 with Washington, 28; his tie 
 with Burr, 342, 347; his rise 
 to power, 354-5. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, impeachment 
 of, 36, 367. 
 
 Judges, Supreme Court, 90-91; 
 minor Federal Courts, 95-9; 
 Circuit Court of Appeals, 95- 
 6; Federal District Courts, 
 96; how districted, 96-7; their 
 war functions, 97; appeals 
 from decisions, 97-8. 
 
 Judicial, (see "Courts"). 
 
 Jurisdiction, of Supreme Court, 
 91-2; of other Federal 
 Courts, 95-9. 
 
 Jury, Grand, 218; petit, 218. 
 
 Justices, of Supreme Court, 90- 
 95. 
 
 Juvenile, courts, 235. 
 
 Knowr Nothing Party, 363, 364. 
 
 Labor, State compensation for, 
 231-2; protection for, 232-3; 
 minimum wage for women, 
 233. 
 
 Labor Department, Federal, 
 when created, 101; Secretary 
 of, 101; its relation to immi- 
 gration, 118-19; to naturali- 
 zation, 118; to Americaniza- 
 tion, 118, 119-20. 
 
 Laboratory, city, as health pro- 
 tection, 293. 
 
 Land, office, commissioner of, 
 112. 
 
 Law, (see "Courts"). 
 
 League of Nations, object and 
 membership, 58. 
 
 Legal Tender, 131. 
 
 Legislative, (see "Congress" 
 and "State Legislatures").
 
 412 
 
 Index 
 
 Legislatures, State, making 
 Congress districts, 65-6; their 
 organization and functions, 
 210-12, 213. 
 
 Liberty Loans, 154-5. 
 
 Libraries, city, 310. 
 
 Licenses, city revenue from, 
 266. 
 
 Life Saving Service, 108. 
 
 Lighting, of Streets, franchises 
 for, 5, 264. 
 
 Limitation, of armament 59-60. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, and office 
 seekers, 54; his election, 363, 
 366. 
 
 Local Government, public in- 
 terest in, 259; facts regard- 
 ing, 260-78 (see "Cities"). 
 
 Local Option, systems, 172. 
 
 M 
 
 Machines, ballot, 249-50. 
 
 Mail, carriers, 6-7, 110. 
 
 Maine, first State Prohibition 
 Law, 171. 
 
 Majority, of votes, how distin- 
 guished from plurality, 346. 
 
 Manager, city, 273-5. 
 
 Markets, inspection of, 291-2. 
 
 Marshall, lohn; long term, 93. 
 
 Marshals, U. S., 98, 110. 
 
 Massachusetts, ballot, 247-9. 
 
 Mayor, 267-70; Alayoralty char- 
 ters, 267-70. 
 
 McAdoo, Secretary, Director of 
 Railroads, 159. 
 
 McKinley, William, succeeded 
 by Roosevelt. 48; his tariff 
 act, 370; elected President, 
 372-3. 
 
 Merchant Marine, under De- 
 partment of Commerce, 116- 
 17. 
 
 Merit System, 33-4; develop- 
 ment of, 54-8. 
 
 Message, Presidential, 34, 51. 
 
 Mileage, for Congressmen, 87. 
 
 Military, (see "War Depart- 
 ment"). 
 
 Milk Supply, in cities, 264; pro- 
 tective methods, 290-91; Pas- 
 teurizing, 290-91. 
 
 Mines, Bureau of, 113. 
 
 Ministers, appointment of, 33; 
 in charge of Secretary of 
 State, 103. 
 
 Minority, in Congress — its 
 committee assignments, 70. 
 
 Mints, 144-5. 
 
 Monetary system, (see "Cur- 
 rency"). 
 
 Money, 128-30. 
 
 Monopolies, Roosevelt's fight 
 on 230. 373. 
 
 Municipal governments, fa- 
 miliar reminders of, 3-6 (see 
 "Cities"). 
 
 Municipal Arch, 283-4. 
 
 N 
 
 National, Government, estab- 
 lished by Constitution, 21-41; 
 outline of, 44-125. 
 
 National Banks, currency is- 
 sues, 134-8; their aid to the 
 Government, 135; their bond 
 purchases, 136; defects of the 
 system, 136-8. 
 
 National Committee, of parties. 
 327, 339. 
 
 Naturalization, laws and proc- 
 esses, 252-4; of female aliens, 
 253. 
 
 Navigation, 116-17. 
 
 Navy Department, Secretary 
 of, 101; its bureaus, 109. 
 
 Negro, suffrage, 242-3. 
 
 New Jersey, State law for com- 
 mission government in cities. 
 273. 
 
 New York, and the income tax, 
 166-7; as pivotal State in 
 three national contests. 369. 
 
 New York City, local govern- 
 ment, 269. 
 
 Nominations, in convention, 
 224-6; Direct Primary, 226-9; 
 Presidential, 327-39.
 
 Index 
 
 413 
 
 Notes, bank, United States, 
 
 130-44. 
 Nuisances, city, 293-7. 
 
 O 
 
 Officers, military, 108-9. 
 
 Oklahoma, first State Constitu- 
 tion requiring direct pri- 
 maries, 227. 
 
 Order, rules of House, 69-70; 
 committee on, 70. 
 
 Ordinance, under commission 
 government, 273. 
 
 Orphans, asylums for, 6. 
 
 Panama Canal, 200-201. 
 
 Parcel Post, when established, 
 111 ; regulation. 111. 
 
 Pardoning, President's power, 
 33. 
 
 Parks, city, 6; their double pur- 
 pose, 261; value of, 316; lay- 
 ing out of, 317; how paid for, 
 317; their double benefit, 317- 
 18. 
 
 Parliamentary, rules of House 
 of Representatives, 70-72, 80- 
 81: in Senate, 84-6. 
 
 Parole, for persons imprisoned 
 for crime, 234; indeterminate 
 sentences, 234. 
 
 Parties, their contests, 14; par- 
 ty tickets, 15; membership in 
 and allegiance to, 16; politics 
 in cities, 262: origin of in na- 
 tional field, 353; history from 
 1788 to 1861, 353-64; Feder- 
 alists and Anti-Federalists 
 and their issues, 353-4; Dem- 
 ocratic-Republicans, called 
 Republicans, 354-5; Jeffer- 
 son's leadership, 354-5 ; Adams' 
 election, 355; early Republi- 
 can control, 355-6; "era of 
 good feeling," 356; serious 
 Republican division, 356-7; 
 new groupings, 357; Jackson 
 and Democratic party, 357; 
 early . tariff issues, 357-9; 
 
 Clay and the protective tariff, 
 358-9; first national conven- 
 tions, 359; National Repub- 
 licans nominate Clay, 359; the 
 Whig party, 359-60; reaction, 
 1837, 360-61; the slavery is- 
 sue, 361; second Whig vic- 
 tory, 361-2; last decade be- 
 fore Civil War, 362; modern 
 Republican party founded, 
 363; election of Lincoln, 363; 
 early minor parties, 363-4; 
 party history, 1860 onward. 
 366-375; Republican control, 
 366-8; the Reconstruction 
 issues, 367; Grant's election, 
 367; a Democratic revival, 
 368; Tilden-Hayes contest, 
 368-9; close elections of 1880, 
 1884 and 1888, 369; Demo- 
 crats elect Cleveland, 369; 
 tariff issue to the front, 369- 
 70; McKinley act, 370; Cleve- 
 land's second election, 370; 
 free silver agitation, 371-2; 
 Republican restoration, 372; 
 McKinley-Bryan contests, 
 372-3; the rise of Roosevelt, 
 373; the Taft administration 
 and Democratic revival, 373; 
 insurgency in Congress, 373; 
 the progressive bolt of 1912, 
 and Wilson's election, 373-4; 
 campaigns of 1916 and 1920, 
 374-5; minor parties since 
 1860, 375. 
 
 Passports, issued by Secretary 
 of State, 104. 
 
 Patent Office, 113, 114. 
 
 Patronage, Presidential, in ap- 
 pointments, 52-5. 
 
 Pavements, city, their uses and 
 attractions, 315-16; care of, 
 316. 
 
 Peace Treaty, at Versailles, 58; 
 Washington Conference for, 
 58-60. 
 
 Pensions, 112, 113, 114; WorM 
 War substitute for, 154. 
 
 People's Party, 375.
 
 414 
 
 Index 
 
 Personal liberty, amendments 
 
 to Constitution, 40-41. 
 Petition, nomination by, 228. 
 Petit Jury, 218. 
 
 Philippine Islands, acquired by 
 U. S., 198; mixed races, 198- 
 9; American control of, 199; 
 first local Assembly, 199; its 
 elective Senate, 199; Con- 
 gress and, 199-200; present 
 Administration, 200; judicial 
 service, 200. 
 Planning, city, 319-21; influence 
 of White City at Chicago 
 upon, 320; planning com- 
 missions and the zoning sys- 
 tem, 320-21. 
 Plant Industry, Bureau of, 115. 
 Platforms, party, 15; of nation- 
 al conventions, 33Z. 
 Playgrounds, city, 318; their 
 value, 318; city policy of, 318. 
 Plurality, of votes, hovi? distin- 
 guished from majority, 346. 
 Pocket Veto, by President, 52. 
 Police, on patrol, 4; as public 
 protectors, 263; merit sys- 
 tem, 263; traffic service, 285- 
 7. 
 Political parties, government 
 by, 12; national conventions 
 of, 327-39; records and con- 
 flicts of, 353-75. 
 Poll tax, 251. 
 Poor, city aid of, 302. 
 Popular election, of Senators, 
 
 168-70. 
 Populist, political party, 375. 
 Porto Rico, its status, 195; ac- 
 quired by U. S., 195-6; legis- 
 lature and council, 196; capi- 
 tal, 196; present government, 
 196-8; voting qualifications, 
 196; judiciary. 197-8; its com- 
 missioner, 198. 
 Ports, of entry, 108; safeguard- 
 ing from disease, 108; immi- 
 gration at, 118-19. 
 Possessions, or dependencies, 
 national, 190-202. 
 
 Postal Savings Banks, 111-12; 
 Postmaster General, his pow- 
 ers, 112. 
 Postmasters, agents of Post- 
 office department, 110. 
 Postoffice Department, when 
 created, 101; Postmaster 
 General, 101; its public serv- 
 ice, 110; rural delivery, par- 
 cel post and postal savings 
 banks, 110-12; Postmaster 
 General's appointing power, 
 112. 
 Preamble, to Constitution, 24. 
 President, his Constitutional 
 power, 30; term of office and 
 qualifications, 30-31; manner 
 of election, 31; commander- 
 in-chief, 32; his Cabinet, 32; 
 pardoning power, 33; power 
 over treaties and appoint- 
 ments, 33; his messages, 34; 
 his veto power, 44; four dis- 
 tinct powers, 44; independ- 
 ence of Congress, 44-5; how 
 he differs from other execu- 
 tives, 45-6; his burdens, 46 
 official income and residence 
 47-8; the Succession act, 48 
 risks of the old system, 49 
 the Cabinet and the succes- 
 sion, 50-51; President and 
 Congress, 51; President and 
 Legislation, 51-2; dealing 
 with bills, 52; filling the of- 
 fices, 52-3; the merit system, 
 53-7; story of Civil Service 
 Reform, 53-7; the Executive 
 and special sessions, 58; in 
 world affairs, 58; in World 
 War, 150-53; his delegated 
 powers, 152-3; in charge of 
 publicity propaganda and 
 espionage, 155-6; appoints 
 Hoover, 156; food and fuel 
 •control, 156-9; takes over 
 railroads, 159-60; appoints 
 territorial Governors, 194, 
 195, 200; Presidential nom- 
 inations, 327-39; electors of.
 
 Index 
 
 415 
 
 341-51; famous electoral con- 
 tests, 346-51. 
 
 President pro tern, Senate, 49. 
 
 Presidential Electors, (see 
 "Electors"). 
 
 Previous Question, in House 
 of Representatives, 79. 
 
 Primaries, voting, 13-14; state 
 reform of, 224-9; direct pri- 
 maries established, 224-9; con- 
 ventions abandoned, 226-8 
 laws for safeguarding, 227-8 
 effects of new system, 228 
 Presidential, 329. 
 
 Prisons, State reforms in, 233- 
 5; indeterminate sentences, 
 234; the parole system, 234; 
 reformatories, 235. 
 
 Privileges, of Congressmen, 
 87-8. 
 
 Probate, or Surrogates' Courts, 
 217. 
 
 Probation, State system of, 
 235. 
 
 Procedure, parliamentary, in 
 Congress. 70-72, 80-81, 84-6. 
 
 Proclamations, Secretary of 
 State and, 104; of Woman 
 Suffrage amendment, 187. 
 
 Progress in voting reform, 
 226-8. 
 
 Prohibition Amendment, the 
 Eighteenth, submitted and 
 ratified, 170; movement for 
 170-76; the Maine Law, 171 
 the Blair Amendment, 172 
 progress to 1870, 172; Pro- 
 hibition Party, 172; spread 
 of the movement, 172-3; in 
 Congress, 173; eft'ect of 
 World War upon, 173-4; 
 war-time Prohibition acts, 
 173-4; National Food Con- 
 trol Law, 174; first enforce- 
 ment legislation, 176; Com- 
 missioners in charge, 176. 
 
 Property, qualifications for vot- 
 ing, 240-41, 250-51. 
 
 Protection, Hamilton's doctrine 
 
 of, 357-8; Clay's advocacy, 
 358-9; as party issue, 369. 
 
 Public, highways, 3. 
 
 Public Health, department in 
 action, 4; State responsibility 
 for, 221; in cities, 260, 263- 
 4; sanitary progress, 287-8; 
 municipal protection, 287; 
 water protection, 288-90. 
 
 Public Safety, in cities, 260. 
 
 Public Service Corporations, in 
 city, 3; regulated by State, 
 209; municipal franchises, 
 264-5; local transportation, 
 lighting and heating, 310-11; 
 what franchises are for, 311; 
 stricter regulations of, 311- 
 12; street railway problems, 
 312-14. 
 
 Public Works, departments, 
 their important duties, 264-5; 
 in cities, 7. 
 
 Pure Food, insuring, in agri- 
 cultural department, 115; 
 meat inspection, 115; in 
 cities, 291-2. 
 
 Quarantine, city regulations, 
 292-3. 
 
 Quorum, in the House, insur- 
 ing a, 80-81. 
 
 R 
 
 Race Problems, Chinese, legis- 
 lation on, 118-19. 
 
 Railroads, Congress and, 38; 
 Railway Board and, 122-3; 
 taken over by President, 159; 
 Federal Control act for, 159. 
 
 Railway Labor Board, why 
 created, 122; its membership, 
 123; its serious problems, 
 123. 
 
 Railway Mail Service, 112. 
 
 Rates, railroad, government 
 control of, 121-3. 
 
 Real Estate, taxation, 165; in 
 cities, 266.
 
 416 
 
 Index 
 
 Recall, the, 230. 
 
 Reclamation, service, in inter- 
 ior department, 113-14. 
 
 Reconstruction, Southern issue 
 of, 367. 
 
 Recorder, Congressional, 87. 
 
 Recreation, in cities, parks and 
 playgrounds, 316-18. 
 
 Red Cross, in World War, 161. 
 
 Reformatories, State, 235. 
 
 Registration, of voters, 249. 
 
 Religion, freedom of, 40. 
 
 Removal, of President by im- 
 peachment, 35-6; Federal 
 Judges secure against, i7; 
 Judges subject to impeach- 
 ment, 90; of elective officers 
 by recall, 230. 
 
 Representation, in Congress, 
 64-7; in State Legislatures, 
 210-12. 
 
 Republic, American, estab- 
 lished by Constitution, 21-3. 
 
 Republican Party, national con- 
 ventions, i2.7\ convention 
 delegates, 328-9; contest of 
 1912, 2)iZ; majority rule in 
 conventions, 334; Presidential 
 "dark horse," 337-8; the first 
 party named Republican, 354- 
 7; modern Republican party 
 founded. 363; it elects Lin- 
 coln, 363; since 1860, 366-75. 
 
 Reserve, Federal, (see "Cur- 
 rency" and "Federal Re- 
 serve^'); gold, in banks, 142- 
 
 Residence, requirements tor 
 
 voting, 251. 
 Revenue, from taxation, In- 
 ternal, Collectors of, 106; 
 
 customs. Collectors of, 107; 
 
 direct and indirect, 164-6; 
 
 (see "Taxation"). 
 "Riders," to appropriation bills, 
 
 52. 
 Rights, protection of individual, 
 
 40-41. 
 Rivers and Harbors, House 
 
 Committee on, 7i. 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, his 
 
 speech-making tours, 47; trip 
 to Panama, 48; succeeds Mc- 
 Kinley, 48; his membership 
 in Civil Service commission 
 56; President and leader, i7i 
 crusade against Trusts, i72). 
 Progressive candidate 1912, 
 374. 
 
 Rubbish, and refuse, city re 
 nioval of, 293-5, 316. 
 
 Rules of House, 70-72, 80-81. 
 
 Rural, free mail deHvery, 110 
 12; government, 275-6. 
 
 Safety, Public, in cities, official 
 guardians of, 4-5; factory 
 safeguards, 232; a vital ob- 
 ject of government, 260; or- 
 ganizations for, 263-4; city 
 agencies of protection, 284-7; 
 safeguards in industry, 300. 
 
 Sanitation, state codes, 221; 
 city, 292-7; in schools, 299- 
 300; in industry, 300. 
 
 Schools, public, 260; admin- 
 istration of, 270-71; sanita- 
 tion in, 299-300; their impor- 
 tance, 306; how maintained, 
 306-8; compulsory education, 
 306-7; theory back of it, 307- 
 8; the States relation to, 308; 
 taxation for, 308; administra- 
 tion of, 308-9; buildings and 
 teachers. 309. 
 
 Secret Service, Federal, 108. 
 
 Senates, State, 210-12. 
 
 Senate, United States, birth of, 
 26; how composed, 26; a pro- 
 tection to small States, 27; 
 its term of service, 27; how it 
 differs from House, 28-30; 
 change in Senate elections, 
 28-9; its special powers, 29-30; 
 its relation to treaties, ii; 
 to appointments, 2ii; Presi- 
 dent pro tern, 49; receiving 
 a bill, 79; amendments, 79; 
 election of members, 81; age 
 limit, 82; filling vacancies,
 
 Index 
 
 417 
 
 83; functions, 83; freedom of 
 debate, 84; the cloture, 84-5; 
 Vice President as presiding 
 ofificer, 86; when he votes, 86; 
 executive sessions, 86-7; Sen- 
 ators made elective, 168-9; 
 elects a Vice President, 349- 
 50. 
 
 Sergeant-at-Arms, of House of 
 Representatives, 69. 
 
 Sessions, of Congress, 67-9; ex- 
 ecutive, in Senate, 86-7. 
 
 Seventeenth Amendment, for 
 election of Senators, 168-70. 
 
 Sewage, modern disposal 
 plants, 297. 
 
 Seward, W. H., conducts 
 Alaska purchase, 193. 
 
 Sheriff, count}' servant, 8; his 
 distinction, 277. 
 
 Shipping Board, U. S., 121, 124. 
 
 Silver Coinage, Sherman pur- 
 chase act, 370-71; earlier 
 Bland act, 371; a political 
 issue, 371-2. 
 
 Sixteenth Amendment, for in- 
 come tax. 164-7; why it was 
 necessarv, 166-7. 
 
 Socialist Party, 375. 
 
 Soldiers and Sailors, insurance, 
 154. 
 
 Sovereign Powers, of States, 
 208-10. 
 
 Spanish American War, our an- 
 nexations due to it, 195-6, 
 198. 201. 
 
 Speaker, of House, 69; declines 
 in power, 69-70: in Commit- 
 tee of the Whole, 70-71; 
 salary, 87. 
 
 Special Sessions, of Congress, 
 67; of State Legislatures, 212. 
 
 Speech, freedom, interference 
 with, 355. 
 
 Spoils System, its growth, 53-4; 
 a national menace, 55; merit 
 system as a corrective. 55-7. 
 
 Staff, General, of army. 108. 
 
 States, in the original Confeder- 
 ation. 21-2. 24; rivalries in 
 Constitutional convention, 24- 
 
 5; satisfying their claims, 25- 
 7; new States, how admitted, 
 38-9; their Congress districts, 
 65-7; for Prohibition, 173; 
 granting Woman Suffrage, 
 183; government of, 207-22; 
 powers denied to, 2U7-8; pow- 
 ers vested in, 208; their police 
 power, 208-9; education, 209; 
 relations with corporations, 
 209; Legislatures, 210-12; 
 two-chamber systems, 210-11; 
 Legislative districts, 211-12; 
 Governors, 212-13; their pow- 
 ers, 212; terms of service, 
 212-13; legislative sessions, 
 213; Constitutions, 214; how 
 amended, 214-15; judicial 
 systems, 215-18; court busi- 
 ness, 215; variety of courts, 
 216; election and terms of 
 judges, 216-17; courts of last 
 resort, 217; Surrogates' 
 courts, 217; prosecutions for 
 crime, 218; Grand and petit 
 juries, 218; militia, 219; State 
 police, 219-20; administrative 
 officers and commissions, 220; 
 public health and charity, 
 220-21; license, 221; reforms 
 and problems, 224-36; direct 
 primaries. 224-9; old system 
 of nominations. 225-7; anti- 
 boss revolt, 226-7; primary 
 reform in West, 226; its 
 spread, 227; effects of new 
 system, 228; initiative and ref- 
 erendum, 229-30; recall, 230; 
 curbing corporations, 230-31 ; 
 workmen's compensation 
 
 acts, 231-2; factory protection, 
 232; child labor. 232-3; Civil 
 Service in, 233; prison re- 
 form, 233-5; probation sys- 
 tems. 235; taxation meth- 
 ods, 235-6; World War bur- 
 dens. 236; State and city, 260; 
 their part in education, 306- 
 9; representation in national 
 committees, 327; in national 
 conventions, 328-9; in Elec-
 
 418 
 
 Index 
 
 toral College, 341-3; influence 
 in deciding Presidential elec- 
 tions, 347. 
 
 State Constitutions, 214-15. 
 
 State Department, Secretary of, 
 101; when established, 101; 
 famous Secretaries of, 102- 
 3; Secretary at Cabinet meet- 
 ing, 103; his duties, 103-4; 
 bureaus under him, 104. 
 
 State Legislatures, their two 
 chambers, 25-6; their ratifica- 
 tion of Constitutional Amend- 
 ments, 39; action in Suffrage 
 Amendment, 185-8; how con- 
 stituted, 210-11; districting 
 of, 211-12; and referendums, 
 229-30; and Presidential 
 Electors, 343. 
 
 State Militia, 219. 
 
 State Police, 219-20. 
 
 State's Rights, in Constitution, 
 40-41. 
 
 Stocks, of street railways, 313. 
 
 Street Railways, operating under 
 franchise, 3; as public utilities 
 under city control, 264-5; 
 their part in city growth, 
 312; transportation problems, 
 312; "Service-at-Cost" plan, 
 313-14. 
 
 Streets, sweepers, 4; traffic 
 problems, 285-7; dangers, 
 286; cleanliness, 294-5. 
 
 Strikes, railroad, Railroad La- 
 bor Board as a preventive, 
 122-3; State arbitration com- 
 missions to settle, 232. 
 
 Student, looking around on his 
 way to school, 3; his oppor- 
 tunity as coming citizen, 9. 
 
 Succession, Presidential, 48-51. 
 
 Suffrage, enfranchisement of 
 women, 178-88; progress of 
 in States, 239-44; early re- 
 strictions on, 239-41; the 
 property test, 240-41; voting 
 methods, 244-50. 
 
 Supervisors, county Boards, 
 277. 
 
 Supreme Court, United States, 
 created by Constitution, 36; 
 life terms, 37 \ secured against 
 removal, 27; facts relating to, 
 90-99; its independence, 90; 
 duty and powers, 90-91; final- 
 ity of decisions, 91; mem- 
 bership and famous Justices, 
 92-3; labors and sessions, 93; 
 handing down opinions, 94-5. 
 
 Surgeon General, of army, 109. 
 
 Surrogate, or probate courts, 
 217. 
 
 Taft, Wm. H., Chief Justice of 
 Supreme Court, 93; elected to 
 Presidency, 273; his renomi- 
 nation and resulting party 
 split, 374. 
 
 Tariff, grievances, 99; duty on 
 imports, 165; tariff issue in 
 American politics, 357-9; acts 
 of 1816, 1824, 1828 and 1832, 
 358-9; party issue in 1888, 
 369; Payne- Aldrich act, 373. 
 
 Tariff Commission, 124-5. 
 
 Taxation, direct and indirect, 
 164-6; on incomes, 164, 166-8; 
 State systems of, 235-6; mu- 
 nicipal, 265-7; for schools, 
 308. 
 
 Teachers, their employment 
 and compensation, 309. 
 
 Telegraph, city service, 5. 
 
 Telephone, city service, 5. 
 
 Tenements, housing reform in 
 New York City, 287. 
 
 Tennessee, legislature, decides 
 fight for Woman Suffrage, 
 187. 
 
 Territories and Dependencies, 
 190-202; Constitution and, 
 190; District of Columbia, 
 191-2; Alaska, 192-4; Ha- 
 waii. 194-5; Porto Rico. 195- 
 8; Philippines, 198-200; Canal 
 Zone, 200-201; Guam and 
 lesser dependencies, 201-2; 
 Virgin Islands, 202; protec-
 
 Index 
 
 419 
 
 torates, Haiti, Dominican Re- 
 public, Cuba and Panama, 
 202. 
 
 Tobacco, tax on, 165. 
 
 Town, government, 275-6; fea- 
 tures, problems and officers, 
 276. 
 
 Trades, Federal Commission, 
 124. 
 
 Traffic, street, problems of, 
 285-7. 
 
 Transportation, Act of 1920, 
 122. 
 
 Treason, President's power to 
 pardon, 33; Espionage act to 
 punish sedition, 156. 
 
 Treasury, Federal, department 
 of, 101; Secretary of, 101, 
 104; his powers, 104-6; his 
 bureaus and subordinates, 
 106; his tax collectors, 106; 
 represented on Federal Re- 
 serve Board, 139, 143; report 
 on war cost, 150; Secretary 
 McAdoo as Director General 
 of railroads, 159. 
 
 Treaties, Senate's ratifying 
 power, 29-30; President's 
 treaty making power, 33; 
 considered in secret Senate 
 session. 86. 
 
 Trees, city, care of, 318-19. 
 
 Trials, by jury. Constitutional 
 guarantee, 40; State regula- 
 tion of, 217-18. 
 
 Trolley, service, 3 (see "Street 
 Railway"). 
 
 Trusts, Congress and, 38; State 
 regulation of, 230-31; Roose- 
 velt's fight against. 230, 373. 
 
 Tuberculosis, crusade against, 
 298. 
 
 Two-thirds rule, in Democratic 
 conventions, 334. 
 
 u 
 
 Union, of States, 21-4. 
 
 United States, Constitution, 21- 
 41; President of, 44-60; Con- 
 gress of, 63-88; Judiciary of, 
 90-99; administrative depart- 
 
 ments, 101-25; dependencies, 
 
 190-202. 
 Unit Rule, 335-6. 
 Unsightly Places, 294. 
 Urban Communities (see 
 
 "Cities"). 
 
 Valuation, of street railways, 
 313-14. 
 
 Vermont, first new State ad- 
 mitted, 38-9; grants man- 
 hood suffrage, 241-2. 
 
 Versailles Treaty, President 
 Wilson's part in it, 58. 
 
 Veto, Presidential 'power of, 
 44; methods of, 51-2. 
 
 Vice President, his qualifica- 
 tions, 34; successor to Presi- 
 dent, 35; promotions of, 35; 
 at Cabinet meetings, 102. 
 
 Village, courts, 217; govern- 
 ment, 275-6; its problems, 
 276; its official service, 276. 
 
 Virgin Islands, purchased by 
 United States, 202. 
 
 Voting, process, 13; primary, 
 13-14; how voters are 
 grouped, 14; "split" tickets, 
 15; thinking voters, 16; new 
 voters, 16-17; polling booth, 
 17; voting qualifications and 
 methods in States, 239-54; 
 early systems of, 239-41; 
 State control of, 239-40; 
 property requirements, 240- 
 41; manhood suffrage in Ver- 
 mont, 241-2; in Kentucky and 
 Tennessee, 242; its spread, 
 242; colored men barred, 242- 
 3; Fifteenth Amendment, 
 243; effects of immigration 
 on suffrage, 243; educational 
 tests, 243-4; early election 
 methods, 244; lax ballot 
 laws, 244-6; election bribery 
 and fraud, 244-6; lack of se- 
 crecy, 245-6; demand for re- 
 form, 246; the Australian 
 idea, 246-7; Massachusetts
 
 420 
 
 Index 
 
 ballot, 247; secrecy insured, 
 247-8; drawbacks, 248; regis- 
 tration, 249; ballot machines, 
 249-50; residence qualifica- 
 tions, 250-51; poll taxes, 251; 
 disqualifications, 251; natur- 
 alization laws, 252-4; how 
 foreigners become voters, 
 252-3; compulsory voting 
 idea, 254. 
 
 W 
 
 for 
 
 Wages, minimum laws 
 women workers, 233. 
 
 War, department. Secretary of, 
 101; its chief officers, 108-9; 
 military academy, 109. 
 
 War Finance, 153-5; corpora- 
 tion, the, 160-61. 
 
 War Industries Board, 160. 
 
 War Insurance, for soldiers 
 and sailors, 154. 
 
 Washington, city, 191-2; its 
 government by Congress, 
 192. 
 
 Washington Conference, called, 
 58-9; its objects, 59-60. 
 
 Washington, George, in Consti- 
 tutional convention, 21; his 
 influence, 32; his messages, 
 34; chooses site for national 
 capital, 191; elected and re- 
 elected. 354. 
 
 Water, city uses, 5-6; city sup- 
 plies and administration, 264 
 bureaus and officials, 288 
 distributing agencies, 288-9 
 safeguards of purity, 289-90. 
 
 Ways and Means, House Com- 
 mittee, 72. 
 
 Weather Bureau, 115. 
 
 Welfare Work, State, 220-21; 
 citizens and, 300-301. 
 
 West Point, Academy, 109. 
 
 Whig Party, 359-62; Clay's 
 leadership of, 361; its first 
 victorv, 361. 
 
 White House, 46, 47, 48. 
 
 Wild Birds, protection of, 116. 
 
 Wilson, President, his war- 
 time strain, 46; his European 
 missions, ^8; part in League 
 of Nations, 58; sends Ver- 
 sailles treaty to Senate, 87; 
 his two elections, 374-5. 
 
 Woman Suffrage, how it af- 
 fects civics study, 11; a new 
 political force, 11; broadens 
 family interest in politics, 12; 
 the long agitation for, 178- 
 88; Nineteenth amendment, 
 178; first Suffrage state, 179; 
 Woman's Rights crusade, 
 179; Miss Anthony as leader, 
 180-81; the question in Con- 
 gress, 181-2; a Suffrage de- 
 feat, 181-2; Miss Anthony 
 votes, 182; her trial. 182-3; 
 the Anthony Amendment, 
 183; Wyoming adopts Suf- 
 frage, 183; other States act, 
 183; in the National field, 184; 
 Congress acts, 184; the fight 
 for ratification, 184-5; a crit- 
 ical situation, 185; Tennessee 
 ratifies, 187; victory won, 
 187-8. 
 
 Women, labor, protection of, 
 232-3; minimum wage, 233; 
 State laws for industrial 
 workers, 300. 
 
 Workmen's Compensation, 231- 
 2. 
 
 World War, United States in, 
 149; cost to U. S., 150; our 
 army in, 150; Constitutional 
 war power, 150-52; Pres- 
 ident's delegated power, 152- 
 3; financing the war, 153-5; 
 war measures of U. S., 156- 
 60; war agencies, 160-62. 
 
 Worship, religious, freedom of, 
 40. 
 
 Wyoming, first territory and 
 State to recognize woman- 
 hood suffrage, 179. 
 
 Zoning System, in cities. 320- 
 21; commissioners in charge 
 of. 320; their duties and 
 powers. 320. ^_^_^^
 
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