The government class book
by Andrew W. Young · English · Gutenberg #15319 · 666,456 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The government class book
Author: Andrew W. Young
Release date: March 10, 2005 [eBook #15319]
Most recently updated: December 14, 2020
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15319
Credits: Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOVERNMENT CLASS BOOK ***
Produced by Distributed Proofreaders
[Transcriber's Note: In the original book, questions appeared at the
bottom of each page. These questions have been compiled at the end of
the text.]
The Government Class Book;
Designed for the Instruction of Youth in the Principles of
Constitutional Government and the Rights and Duties of Citizens.
By Andrew W. Young,
Author of "Science of Government," "First Lessons in Civil Government,"
"American Statesman," "Citizen's Manual of Government and Law."
NEW-YORK:
J. C. DERBY & N. C. MILLER,
5 SPRUCE STREET, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS.
1865.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by Andrew W.
Young, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States
for the Northern District of New York.
Preface.
The utility of the diffusion of political knowledge among a people
exercising the right of self-government, is universally admitted. The
form of government established by the people of the United States,
though well adapted to promote the general welfare, is highly
complicated; and the knowledge requisite to administer it successfully
can not be acquired without much study. From the fact that a large
portion of the American people are greatly deficient in this knowledge,
we may justly conclude that it will never become general, until it shall
have been made an object of school instruction.
The administration of the government of this great and rapidly
increasing republic, will, in a few years, devolve upon those who are
now receiving instruction in the public schools. Yet thousands annually
complete their school education, who have never devoted any time to the
study of the principles of the government in which they are soon to take
a part--who become invested with political power without the preparation
necessary to exercise it with discretion. The schools are regarded as
the nurseries of our future statesmen. They share largely in the bounty
of the state; yet few of them render in return even the rudiments of
political science to those who are to become her legislators, and
governors, and judges. Not only in the common schools generally, but in
a large portion of the high schools and seminaries, this science is not
included in the course of instruction.
To many of the most enlightened friends of education and of our free
institutions, it has long been a matter of surprise as well as regret,
that those to whom the educational interests of the states are more
immediately intrusted, should so long have treated the study in question
as of minor importance, or have suffered it to be excluded by studies of
far less practical utility. The Regents of the University of the State
of New York have repeatedly noticed the neglect of this study in the
academies and seminaries subject to their visitation; and they mention
it as a remarkable fact, that in many of them preference is given to the
study of the Grecian and Roman antiquities. They say: "The
constitutions, laws, manners, and customs of ancient Greece and Rome are
made subjects of regular study, quarter after quarter, while our own
constitutional jurisprudence, and the every day occurring principles of
our civil jurisprudence, are not admitted as a part of the academic
course!"
To persons who are to engage in any of the industrial or professional
pursuits, a preparatory course of training or discipline is deemed
indispensable to success. Yet many assume the weighty responsibilities
of freemen, and allow their sons to do the same, with scarcely any
knowledge of a freeman's duties. On the intelligent exercise of
political power, the public prosperity and the security of our liberties
mainly depend. Every person, therefore, who is entitled to the rights of
a citizen, is justly held responsible for the proper performance of his
political duties. And any course of popular instruction which fails to
impart a knowledge of our system of government, must be materially
defective.
With a view to supply this deficiency, the author, many years since,
prepared his "Introduction to the Science of Government." This work soon
attained considerable popularity, both as a class book in schools, and
as a book for private reading and reference for adults. Not being
deemed, however, sufficiently _elementary_ for the children and youth
in most of our common schools, another work, entitled, "_First Lessons
in Civil Government_," was written to meet the capacities of younger or
less advanced scholars than those for whom the previous work was
designed.
The favorable reception of these works by the public, and the assurances
of their usefulness to thousands who have studied them, are to the
author a source of high gratification, and an ample reward for many
years of arduous labor. The value of these works has, however, been in a
measure impaired by changes in the government and laws since the time of
their first publication. The latter, especially, descending so minutely
into the details of the government of the state for which alone it is
intended, requires frequent revisions.
It has occurred to the author that a new work, more permanent in the
character of its matter, and adapted for use in all the states, is
demanded to supply the deficiency in the present course of education.
Stimulated by a desire to bear some part in laying a solid foundation
for our republican institutions, and encouraged by the success of his
former labors in this department of education, he has, after a
suspension of several years, resumed his efforts in this enterprise, in
the hope that, with the coöperation of teachers, and those having
official supervision of the schools, it may be carried forward to an
early consummation; when the principles of government shall be made a
subject of regular study in the schools, and the elements of a sound
political education shall be accessible to the mass of American youth.
And he flatters himself, that the attention he has given to this subject
has enabled him to prepare a work adapted, in a good degree, to meet the
existing want of the schools.
Many words and phrases, as they occur in the course of the work, have
been defined; and an attempt has been made to explain the several
subjects in such a manner as to render them intelligible to youth.
The object which it is the purpose of this work to aid in effecting,
claims the earnest attention of parents. Every father, at least, is
bound to see that his sons have the means of acquiring a good political
education. He can not innocently suffer them to pass from under his
guardianship unprepared to discharge their political duties.
The study of this work should not be confined to male pupils. It has
long been considered a striking defect in our system of education, that
females are not more generally instructed in the principles of civil
government, and in matters of business. Although they take no active
part in public affairs, the knowledge here commended would enable them
to exert a far more powerful and salutary influence upon our national
character and destiny. As wives, mothers, teachers, and especially as
counselors of the other sex, they could apply this knowledge to valuable
purposes. And the question is submitted, whether it would not contribute
more to their usefulness than some of those accomplishments which form
so large a part of a modern female education, and which are usually lost
amidst the cares of married life.
To preserve and transmit the blessings of constitutional liberty, we
need a healthful patriotism. But a genuine love of country is hardly to
be expected where there is not a proper appreciation of our political
institutions, which give it its preeminence among nations. And how can
they be duly appreciated if they are not understood? It has been one of
the objects of the writer to bring to view the chief excellencies of our
system of government, and thus to lay, in the minds of youth, the basis
of an enlightened and conservative patriotism.
That this work, as an elementary treatise on civil government, is not
susceptible of improvement, is not pretended. Such as it is, it is
submitted to the judgment of a candid public. If it shall prove in any
considerable degree useful, the author's highest expectations will have
been realized.
To Teachers.
To the meritorious, though often undervalued labors of the instructors
of American youth, is our country greatly indebted for the successful
working of its system of free government; and upon the labors of their
successors rest, in an equal degree, all well-founded hopes of its
future political prosperity.
The general introduction and profitable study of this work, depend much
upon a hearty and active coöperation of teachers in the enterprise which
it is intended to promote. From all who desire to make themselves in the
highest degree useful in their profession, such coöperation is
confidently anticipated.
The advantage of instructing a class in civil government, is not
confined to the pupils. The teacher will find the exercise both
interesting and profitable to himself. Although pains have been taken to
adapt the work to the capacities of youth, the definition of many terms
and phrases, and the further explanation of many subjects, have
necessarily been left to be supplied by teachers. The study and
investigation which may in some cases be required to qualify them for
the task, will be amply rewarded by their own advancement in political
knowledge.
No intelligent teacher, it is presumed, will object to the introduction
of this study, on the ground that there is not sufficient time or room
for an additional exercise. Useful as all the branches now taught may be
justly deemed, all of them are not, as is a knowledge of government,
indispensable to the security of our liberties. The latter is of far
greater importance to an American citizen, than a knowledge of some
portions of arithmetic and the higher mathematics; and in the opinion of
some distinguished educators the time now devoted to these, in many
schools, is sufficient to acquire a tolerable political education. It is
believed, however, that this study need not exclude, or essentially
interfere with, any of the studies pursued in the schools generally. By
the more advanced scholars in the common schools, the work may be used
as a reading book, and thus a two-fold advantage be gained from its use.
To assist the more inexperienced teachers in conducting the exercise, a
few questions have been appended to the chapters. Questions may be added
by the teachers at pleasure, or to such extent as may be thought
necessary. And it is believed the recitations may be made more
profitable to pupils, by requiring them, so far as may be, to give
answers in their own words. To some of the printed questions, no answers
are furnished by the chapters and sections referred to, but may be found
in the Synopsis of the State Constitutions, or other parts of the work.
Occasionally questions have been inserted to which no part of the work
furnishes the answers.
Contents
Principles of Government.
Chapter I.
Mankind fitted for Society, and for Civil Government and Laws
Chapter II.
Rights and Liberty, defined
Chapter III.
Laws defined
Chapter IV.
Different Forms of Government. Monarchy; Aristocracy; Democracy;
Republic
State Governments.
Chapter V.
The Nature and Objects of a Constitution, and the manner in which
it is made
Chapter VI.
Qualifications of Electors; or, by whom Political Power is
exercised in the States of this Union
Chapter VII.
Elections
Chapter VIII.
Division of the Powers of Government
Chapter IX.
States Legislatures--how constituted
Chapter X.
Meetings and Organization of the Legislature
Chapter XI.
Manner of Enacting Laws
Chapter XII.
Executive Department. Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Chapter XIII.
Assistant Executive State Officers
Chapter XIV.
Counties and County Officers. Powers and Duties of County Officers
Chapter XV.
Towns and Town Officers. Powers and Duties of Town Officers
Chapter XVI.
Incorporation and Government of Cities, Villages, &c.
Chapter XVII.
Judicial Department. Justices' Courts
Chapter XVIII.
Trial by Jury; Execution; Attachment; Appeals; Arrest of Offenders
Chapter XIX.
Courts other than Justices' Courts; Grand and Petit Juries, &c.
Chapter XX.
Chancery or Equity Courts; Probate Courts; Court of Impeachment
Chapter XXI.
Assessment and Collection of Taxes
Chapter XXII.
Education. School Funds; Schools, &c.
Chapter XXIII.
Canals and Railroads
Chapter XXIV.
Banks and Insurance Companies
Chapter XXV.
The Militia
Government of the United States.
Chapter XXVI.
Causes of the Revolution
Chapter XXVII.
Nature of the Union under the Confederation
Chapter XXVIII.
Nature of the Union under the Constitution
Chapter XXIX.
Legislative Department. House of Representatives
Chapter XXX.
The Senate
Chapter XXXI.
Power of Congress to lay Taxes, Duties, &c.; Power to Borrow Money
Chapter XXXII.
Power to Regulate Commerce. Commerce with Foreign Nations
Chapter XXXIII.
Power to Regulate Commerce, continued. Navigation; Commerce among
the States, and with the Indian Tribes
Chapter XXXIV.
Powers of Congress in Relation to Naturalization; Bankruptcy;
Coining Money; Weights and Measures; Punishment of Counterfeiting
Chapter XXXV.
Powers of Congress in Relation to Post-Offices; Copy-Rights and
Patents; Inferior Courts
Chapter XXXVI.
Powers of Congress in Relation to Piracy and Offenses against the
Law of Nations; War; Marque and Reprisal; Public Defense; District
of Columbia; Implied Powers
Chapter XXXVII.
Prohibitions on Congress
Chapter XXXVIII.
Prohibition on the States
Chapter XXXIX.
Executive Department. President and Vice-President; their Election,
Qualifications, &c.
Chapter XL.
Powers and Duties of the President; Treaties; Public Ministers;
Appointments and Removals
Chapter XLI.
Auxiliary Executive Departments. Departments of State, of the
Treasury, of the Interior, of War, of the Navy, of the Post-Office;
Attorney General
Chapter XLII.
Judicial Department. District Courts; Circuit Courts; Supreme Court
Chapter XLIII.
Treason Defined, its Punishment
Chapter XLIV.
State Records; Privileges of Citizens; Fugitives; Admission of New
States; Power over Territory; Guaranty of Republican Government
Chapter XLV.
Provision for Amendments; Assumptions of Public Debt; Supremacy of
the Constitution, &c.; Oaths and Tests; Ratification of the
Constitution
Chapter XLVI.
Amendments to the Constitution
Common and Statutory Law.
Chapter XLVII.
Rights of Persons. Personal Security; Personal Liberty; Religious
Liberty; Liberty of Speech, and of the Press; Right of Property
Chapter XLVIII.
Domestic Relations. Husband and Wife
Chapter XLIX.
Domestic Relations, continued. Parent and Child; Guardian and Ward;
Minors; Masters, Apprentices, and Servants
Chapter L.
Rights of Property. How Title to Property is acquired; Wills and
Testaments; Title to Property by Descent
Chapter LI.
Deeds and Mortgages
Chapter LII.
Incorporeal Hereditaments, Right of Way; Aquatic Rights, &c.
Chapter LIII.
Leases. Estates for Life; Estates for Years; Estates at Will;
Estates by Sufferance; Rent, &c.
Chapter LIV.
Contracts in General
Chapter LV.
Contracts of Sale
Chapter LVI.
Fraudulent Sales; Assignments; Gifts, &c.
Chapter LVII.
Bailment
Chapter LVIII.
Principal and Agent, or Factor; Broker; Lien, &c.
Chapter LIX.
Partnership
Chapter LX.
Promissory Notes
Chapter LXI.
Bills of Exchange; Interest; Usury
Chapter LXII.
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Law of Nations.
Chapter LXIII.
Origin and Progress of the Law of Nations; the Natural, Customary,
and Conventional Laws of Nations
Chapter LXIV.
The Jurisdiction of Nations; their mutual Rights and Obligations;
the Rights of Embassadors, Ministers, &c.
Chapter LXV.
Offensive and Defensive War; just Causes of War; Reprisals;
Alliances in War
Chapter LXVI.
Declaration of War; its Effect upon the Person and Property of the
Enemy's Subjects; Stratagems in War; Privateering
Chapter LXVII.
Rights and Duties of Neutral Nations; Contraband Goods; Blockade;
Right of Search; Safe Conducts and Passports; Truces; Treaties of
Peace
Synopsis of the State Constitutions.
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Arkansas
Missouri
Tennessee
Kentucky
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Michigan
Wisconsin
Iowa
California
Minnesota
Constitution of the United States
Government Class Book.
Principles of Government.
Chapter I.
Mankind fitted for Society, and for Civil Government and Laws.
§1. Mankind are social beings. They are by nature fitted for society. By
this we mean that they are naturally disposed to associate with each
other. Indeed, such is their nature, that they could not be happy
without such association. Hence we conclude that the Creator has
designed men for society. It can not, therefore, be true, as some say,
that the savage state is the natural state of man.
§2. Man is so formed that he is dependent upon his fellow men. He has
not the natural strength of other animals. He needs the assistance of
creatures like himself to protect and preserve his own being. We can
hardly imagine how a person could procure the necessaries of life
without such assistance. But men have the gifts of reason and speech. By
conversation they are enabled to improve their reason and increase their
knowledge, and to find methods of supplying their wants, and of
improving their social condition.
§3. But, although men need the assistance of each other, they are so
formed that each must have the care of himself. If every man were fed
and clothed from a common store, provided by the labor of all, many,
depending upon the labor of others, would be less industrious than they
now are. By the present arrangement in society, which obliges every man
to provide for his own wants, more is earned, a greater number are cared
for, and the general welfare is better promoted than would be done if
each labored for the benefit of all.
§4. From this arrangement comes the right of property. If each man's
earnings should go into a common stock for the use of all, there would
be nothing that any one could call his own. But if each is to provide
for himself, he must have a right to use and enjoy the fruits of his own
labor.
§5. But all men in society have the same rights. Therefore, in laboring
to supply our wants, and to gratify our desires, we can not rightfully
do so any further than is consistent with the rights of others. Hence we
see the necessity of some established rules for securing to every member
of society the free enjoyment of what justly belongs to him, and for
regulating his conduct toward his fellow-members.
§6. These rules for regulating the social actions of men, are called
laws. _Law_, in a general sense, is a rule of action, and is applied to
all kinds of action. But in its limited and proper sense, it denotes the
rules of human action prescribing what men are to do, and forbidding
what they are not to do.
§7. We have seen that man is fitted for society, and that laws are
necessary to govern the conduct of men in the social state. We see also
that mankind are fitted by nature for government and laws. Man is also a
moral being. The word _moral_ has various significations. Sometimes it
means only virtuous, or just; as, a moral man; that is, a man of moral
character, or who lives a moral life; by which is meant that the conduct
of the man is just and right.
§8. But in a wider sense, the word moral relates to the social actions
of men, both right and wrong. Thus, in speaking of the character of a
man, we say, his morals are good, or his morals are bad. And of an
action, we say, it is morally right, or it is morally wrong. Man's
having a moral nature implies that he has a sense of right and wrong, or
at least the power or faculty of acquiring it; and, being a moral agent,
he is accountable for his actions.
§9. Thus we have seen that men are social, reasonable, and moral beings.
They have power to discern their own wants and the wants of their fellow
men; to perceive what is right and what is wrong; and to know that they
ought to do what is right and to forbear to do what is wrong. Their
reason enables them to understand the meaning of laws, and to discover
what laws are necessary to regulate the social actions of men. Hence we
conclude that they are fitted and designed for society, and for
government and law.
§10. The youngest reader probably knows, that in speaking of society, we
do not refer to any of those associations usually called societies, but
to _civil_ society, composed of the people of a state or nation. A
_nation_, or _state_, is a large number of persons united under some
form of government; as, the French nation; the British nation; or the
state of New-York; the state of Virginia. Sometimes it signifies the
ruling or governing power of a state or nation, as, the state has
provided for educating its citizens, and for supporting the poor.
§11. The object of the people in forming a state association, or, as is
sometimes said, of entering into civil society, is to promote their
mutual safety and happiness. In uniting for this purpose, they agree to
be governed by certain established rules and principles; and the
governing of the people of a state or nation according to these rules,
is called _civil government_. The word _government_ also signifies the
rules and principles themselves by which the people are governed; and
sometimes the persons who administer the government--that is those who
make the laws of a state and carry them into effect--are called _the
government_.
Chapter II.
Rights and Liberty, defined.
§1. We have spoken of the rights of men, and of laws as designed to
secure to men the free enjoyment of their rights. But a more particular
definition of rights and laws will be useful to young persons just
commencing the study of civil government.
§2. A _right_ means ownership, or the just claim or lawful title which a
person has to anything. What we have acquired by honest labor, or other
lawful means, is rightfully our own; and we are justly entitled to the
free use and enjoyment of it. We have a right also to be free in our
actions. We may go where we please, and do what ever we think necessary
for our own safety and happiness; provided we do not trespass upon the
rights of others; for it must be remembered that others have the same
rights as ourselves.
§3. The rights here mentioned are _natural_ rights. They are so called
because they are ours by nature or by birth; and they can not be justly
taken from us or alienated. Hence they are also called _inalienable_. We
may, however, forfeit them by some offense or crime. If, for example, a
man is fined for breaking a law, he loses his right to the money he is
obliged to pay. By stealing, he forfeits his liberty, and may be justly
imprisoned. By committing murder, he forfeits his right to life, and may
be hanged.
§4. Rights are also called personal, political, civil, and religious.
_Personal rights_, or the _rights of persons_, are rights belonging to
persons as individuals, and consist of the right of _personal security_,
or the right to be secure from injury to our bodies, or persons, or our
good names; the right of _personal liberty_, or the liberty of moving,
acting, or speaking without unjust restraint; and the _right of
property_, or the right to acquire and enjoy property. The terms
_rights of person_ and _rights of persons_, or _personal rights_, have
not the same meaning. The rights of person, as the term is generally
used, does not include the right of property; personal rights include
both the right of property and the rights of person.
§5. _Political rights_ are those which belong to the people in their
political capacity. The word _political_, in a general sense, relates to
government. The whole body of the people united under one government, is
called the political body, or body politic. The right of the people to
choose and establish for themselves a form of government, or
constitution, and the right to elect persons to make and execute the
laws, are political rights. The right of voting at elections is
therefore a political right.
§6. _Civil rights_ are those which are secured to the citizens by the
laws of the state. Some make no distinction between civil rights and
political rights. In a proper sense--that in which the terms are here
used--there is this difference: political rights are those secured by
the political or fundamental law, called the constitution; civil rights
are more properly those which are secured by the civil or municipal
laws. The difference will more clearly appear from the definition
elsewhere given of the political and civil laws. (Chap. III. §5, 6.)
§7. _Religious rights_ consist in the right of a man to make known and
maintain his religious opinions, and to worship God in that way and
manner which he believes in his conscience to be most acceptable to his
Maker. This right is called also the _right of conscience_. But in
exercising this right, a man may not abuse it by violating the rights of
others, or disturbing the peace and order of society.
§8. Now, although human rights are thus divided into classes and
differently defined, they are all natural rights. It is generally held
in this country as a truth, that "all men are created equal;" that is,
born with the same rights. And if men, as social and moral beings, are
fitted by _nature_ and designed for government and laws, we conclude
that their political, civil, and religious rights, and all other rights
to which they are entitled by the law of nature, are natural rights.
§9. _Liberty_ is the being free to exercise and enjoy our rights, and is
called natural, political, civil, or religious, according to the
particular class of rights referred to. Thus the exercise of rights
guarantied by the constitution or political law, is called political
liberty. The free enjoyment of rights secured by the civil or municipal
laws, is called civil liberty. And freedom of religious opinion and
worship is called religious liberty.
§10. Hence liberty itself is a natural right. The words _right_ and
_liberty_, however, have not the same meaning. We may have a right to a
thing when we have not the liberty of using it. John has a pencil which
is justly his own; but James takes it from him by force. John's liberty
to enjoy the use of his pencil is lost, but his right to it remains.
James has no right to the use of the pencil, though he enjoys the use of
it.
§11. This example serves also to explain further the use of the
different terms applied to rights and liberty. John's right to his
pencil, being guarantied to him by the laws of civil society, is a
_civil_ right. It is with equal propriety called a _natural_ right,
because, by the law of nature, he has a right to the use of his pencil.
Chapter III.
Laws, defined.
§1. Law has been briefly defined. (Chap. 1. §6.) As in the case of
rights and liberty, laws are distinguished by different names; as, the
law of nature, or natural law; the moral law; the law of revelation, or
revealed law; the political law; the civil or municipal law.
§2. The _law of nature_, is of the highest possible authority, being
established by the supreme Lawgiver himself. It is called the law of
nature, because it is right in itself--right in the nature of things,
and ought to be obeyed, though no positive command had ever been given
to men. It is a perfect rule of right for all moral and social beings.
It is that eternal rule of right to which God himself conforms.
§3. The law of nature, as a rule of human action, arises out of man's
relation to his Maker and to his fellow men. As a creature, he must be
subject to the laws of his Creator, on whom he is dependent. He is also
in a measure dependent upon his fellow beings. All being created equal,
each is bound by the principles of natural justice to render to others
that assistance which is necessary to make them as happy as himself, or
which they justly owe to him in return.
§4. The _moral law_ is that which prescribes to men their duties to God
and to each other. As a rule of human conduct therefore, it corresponds
exactly to the law of nature. The moral law is briefly expressed in the
decalogue or ten commandments, and is still more briefly summed up in
the two great commandments, to love God with all our heart and to love
our neighbor as ourselves. God being its author, it is called the
_divine law_; and, being found in the Holy Scriptures, in which his will
is revealed to mankind, it is called the _revealed law_, or _law of
revelation_.
§5. _Political law_, as has been observed, is that system or form of
fundamental rules, called the constitution, by which the people in their
political capacity, or as a body politic, agree to be governed. The
nature of this law will more clearly appear from a more particular
definition of constitution, and from a description of the manner in
which a constitution is made. (Chap. V.)
§6. The word _municipal_ was used by the Romans to designate that which
related to a _municipium_, which was a free town, or city. The rights of
a citizen of such free city or town were called _municipal rights_, and
its officers were called _municipal officers_. In this country, the word
is not only used in this limited sense, but is extended to what
pertains to a state. Hence the body of laws which prescribe the duties
of the citizens of a state, are called the _municipal_ or _civil law_.
And the term is used to distinguish the laws made by the legislature, or
law-making power of the state, from the constitution, or political law,
adopted by the people in their political capacity.
§7. If, as has been said, the laws of the Creator form a perfect rule of
conduct for all mankind, and ought in all cases to be obeyed, then all
human law ought to agree with the divine law. If a human law is contrary
to the divine law, or if it requires us to disobey the commands of God,
it is not binding, and should not be obeyed. So the Scriptures teach.
They speak approvingly of men who disobeyed human authority, and who
gave as the reason, that it was their duty to obey God rather than men;
and they furnish many examples of good men who submitted to severe
punishment, even to death, rather than do what they knew to be contrary
to the divine will.
§8. But although the divine will as revealed in the Scriptures, is a
perfect rule or law for all mankind, and although human laws ought to
conform to the divine law, yet it would be impossible to govern the
people of a state by that law alone. The divine law is broad, and
comprehends rules to teach men their whole duty; but it does not specify
every particular act of duty. Much of it consists of general principles
to which particular acts must be made to conform. It requires men to
deal justly with each other; but men do not always agree as to what is
right. Human laws, therefore, become necessary to declare what shall be
considered just and right between man and man.
§9. It may be observed, further, that all the divine precepts could not
be carried into effect in civil government. They are spiritual, and
reach to the thoughts and intents of the heart. They require us to love
our Creator supremely, and our neighbor as ourselves; in other words, to
do to others as we would that they should do to us. But as the
omniscient God only knows when men fail in these duties, no human
authority could enforce such a law. Human laws, therefore, have respect
chiefly to the outward acts of men, and are designed to regulate their
intercourse with each other.
§10. Although the laws of the state can not compel men to fulfill the
great law of love, it is nevertheless morally binding upon all. A
perfectly holy Creator could consistently require of his moral and
accountable creatures nothing less than supreme love to himself, and
equal love to one another. This, as has been remarked, is in accordance
with the law of nature, which is right in the nature of things. (Chap.
III. §2, 3.)
§11. While the divine law accords perfectly with the principles of
natural justice, the giving of it to mankind manifests the wisdom and
benevolence of the supreme Lawgiver. Man is so formed, that it is for
his highest happiness strictly to obey this law. The generous man, in
relieving the wants of others, contributes to his own happiness. The boy
who divides an apple with his fellow, is more happy than he would be if
he retained the whole to himself. It is generally true, that, in
performing acts of kindness and charity to others, we most effectually
promote our own happiness, and feel the saying to be true, "It is more
blessed to give than to receive."
Chapter IV.
Different Forms of Government. Monarchy; Aristocracy; Democracy;
Republic.
§1. Governments have existed in a great variety of forms. The earliest
governments of which we have any knowledge, are the patriarchal.
_Patriarch_, from the Greek, _pater_, father, and _arkos_, chief, or
head, means the father and ruler of a family. This kind of government
prevailed in the early ages of the world, and in a state of society in
which the people dwelt together in families or tribes, and were not yet
formed into states or nations. The patriarchal government existed before
the flood, and for a long period afterward. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the fathers of the Hebrew race, as also the sons of Jacob, the heads of
the twelve tribes, were called patriarchs.
§2. After their departure from Egypt, the government of the Hebrews was
a _theocracy_. This word is from _theos_, God, and _kratos_, power, and
signifies a government by the immediate direction of God. The laws by
which they were governed were given to them on Mount Sinai by God
himself, their leader and king. This theocratic form of government, with
some changes, existed until the coming of the Messiah.
§3. But the forms of government which have most prevailed, are
designated by the terms, monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, or
republic. These words severally indicate by what persons, and in what
manner, the governing power of a state is exercised. This power is
usually called the _sovereign_, or _supreme_ power. Where kings rule,
they are called sovereign; and where the power is in the hands of the
people, the people are sovereign. In the strict sense of the term,
however, entire sovereignty, or supreme power, exists only where power
is exercised by one man, or a single body of men, uncontrolled or
unrestrained by laws or by any other power. But in a more general sense,
it is that power in a state which is superior to all other powers within
the same.
§4. A form of government in which the supreme power is in the hands of
one person, is called a monarchy. The word _monarch_ is from two Greek
words, _monos_ sole or only, and _arkos_, a chief; and is a general name
for a single ruler, whether he is called king, emperor, or prince. A
government in which all power resides in or proceeds from one person, is
an _absolute_ monarchy. If the power of the monarch is restrained by
laws or by some other power, it is called a _limited_ monarchy.
§5. A monarchy is called _hereditary_ in which the throne passes from
father to son, or from the monarch to his successor, by inheritance. On
the death of a sovereign, the eldest son is usually heir to the crown;
or if there is no son, it falls to the daughter, or some other relative.
A monarchy is _elective_, where, on the death of the ruler, his
successor is appointed by an election. A few such monarchies have
existed.
§6. An absolute monarchy is sometimes called _despotism_. The word
_despot_ is from the Greek, and means _master_, or _lord_. It has nearly
the same meaning as _tyrant_, which also is from the Greek, and
signifies _king_. These words at first meant simply a single ruler. They
are now applied, for the most part, to rulers who exercise authority
over their subjects with severity. In an absolute despotism, the monarch
has entire control over his subjects. They have no law but the will of
the ruler, who has at command a large force of armed men to keep his
people in subjection. The governments of Russia and Turkey are highly
despotic.
§7. An _aristocracy_ is a form of government in which the power is
exercised by a privileged order of men, distinguished for their rank and
wealth. The word _aristocracy_ is from the Greek word _aristos_, best,
and _kratos_, power, or _krateo_, to govern; and means a government of
the best. It is also used for the nobility of a country under a
monarchical government. _Nobles_ are persons of rank above the common
people, and bear some title of honor. The titles of the English nobility
are those of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. These titles are
hereditary, being derived from birth. In some cases they are conferred
upon persons by the king.
§8. A _democracy_ is a government of the people; the word democracy
being from the Greek _demos_, the people, and _krateo_, to govern. In a
government purely democratic, the great body of freemen meet in one
assembly to make and execute the laws. There were some such governments
in ancient Greece; but they necessarily comprised small territories,
scarcely more than a single town. The freemen of a state could not all
meet in a single assembly.
§9. The government of this country, though a government of the people,
is not one of the kind just described; it is a republic. A _republic_ is
a government in which the power to enact and execute the laws is
exercised by representatives, who are persons elected by the people to
act for them. Yet, as not only the election of representatives, but the
adoption of the constitution or form of government itself is the act of
the people; and as, therefore, all power comes from the people, the
government is also democratic; and is properly called a _democratic
republic_, or a _representative democracy_.
§10. A republic is sometimes also called a _commonwealth_. _Common_
signifies general, and is applied to what belongs to or is used by the
people generally. _Weal_ means welfare or happiness. _Wealth_ also was
formerly sometimes used for weal. Hence _commonwealth_ means strictly
the _common good_, or the _common happiness_. In a general sense it
signifies a state; but it is properly applied to a free state, one in
which the people enjoy common rights and privileges. Hence every state
in the union is a commonwealth or republic.
State Governments.
Chapter V.
The Nature and Objects of a Constitution, and the Manner in which it is
made.
§1. Of all the different forms of government which have existed, a
republican government, on the plan of that which has been established in
this country, is believed to be best adapted to secure the liberties of
a people, and to promote the general welfare. Under the reign of a wise
and virtuous ruler, the rights of person and property may be fully
enjoyed, and the people may be in a good degree prosperous. But the
requisite virtue and wisdom have seldom been found in any one man or a
few men. And experience has proved that the objects of civil government
may be best secured by a written constitution founded upon the will or
consent of the people.
§2. The word _constitute_ is from the Latin, and signifies _to set_, to
fix, to establish. _Constitution_, when used in a political sense, means
the established form of government of a state. In a free government,
like ours, it is properly called the _political law_, being established
by the people as a body politic, or political body. (Chap. III,
§5.) It is also called the _fundamental law_, because it is the
_foundation_ of all other laws of the state, which are enacted by the
legislature for regulating intercourse between the citizens, and are
called the _municipal_ or _civil_ law, and must conform to the
fundamental, or political law.
§3. A constitution is in the nature of an agreement between a whole
community or body politic and each of its members. This agreement or
contract implies, that each one binds himself to the whole, and the
whole bind themselves to each one, that all shall be governed by certain
laws and regulations for the common good.
§4. The nature of a constitution will further appear from the manner in
which it is made. It is evident that a people, in establishing a
constitution, must have some right or authority to act in the business.
Whence this right is derived, we will not now stop to inquire. There is,
however, somewhere power to enact a law authorizing the people to make a
constitution and prescribing the manner in which it is to be made.
§5. In forming a constitution, the people must act collectively. But
their number is too large to meet in a single assembly. Therefore they
choose a small number to act for them. One or more are chosen in each
county, or smaller district, and are called delegates. A _delegate_ is a
person appointed by another with power to transact business as his
representative. The assembly composed of the delegates so elected, is
called _convention_; a name given to most public meetings other than
legislative assemblies. Delegate and representative are words of nearly
the same meaning. The latter, however, usually designates a person
chosen to assist in making the laws of the state.
§6. The rules agreed upon by the convention as a basis of government,
are arranged in proper form. The several portions relating to the
different subjects are called articles, and numbered; and the articles
are divided into sections, which also are numbered. But what has been
thus prepared by the convention is not yet a constitution. It is only a
draft of one, and can not become a constitution without the consent of
the people to be given at an election. If a majority of the persons
voting at such election vote in favor of the proposed constitution, it
is adopted, and becomes the constitution of the state.
§7. One of the most valuable rights of the people under a free
government, is the right to have a constitution of their own choice.
Indeed it is in this right that their freedom principally consists. It
is by the constitution that their rights are secured. All the people
join in establishing the constitution; but they do not all unite in
making and executing the laws; in other words, they do not themselves
administer the government; this is done by their representatives. But if
these should enact unjust and oppressive laws; the people, having by
their constitution reserved the right to displace them, may do so by
electing others in their stead.
§8. In an absolute monarchy the people have no political rights--the
right to establish a form of government for themselves, and the right to
elect those who are to make and administer the laws. The monarch has
entire control over his subjects. He can take their lives and property
when he pleases. His will is their law; and he has at command a large
force of armed men to keep his people in subjection.
§9. In a limited monarchy, the people have some political rights. Such a
monarchy is Great Britain. The king or sovereign is in a measure
restrained by laws; and he can not make laws alone. The laws are framed
and agreed to by parliament, and must be approved by the king or queen.
Parliament consists of two bodies of men, the house of lords and the
house of commons. The members of the latter are elected by the people,
who, in such election, exercise a political right.
§10. But the political right of establishing a constitution or form of
government, is not enjoyed by the people of that country. They have no
written instrument, like ours, called constitution, adopted by the
people. What is there called the constitution, is the aggregate or sum
of laws, principles, and customs, which have been formed in the course
of centuries. There is therefore no restraint upon the power of
parliament; hence no law which may be enacted is contrary to the
constitution; and the people have not the same security against the
enactment of unjust laws as the people of the United States.
Chapter VI.
Qualifications of Electors; or, by whom Political Power is exercised in
the States of this Union.
§1. One of the first provisions usually inserted in a constitution of a
free state, is that which declares who shall be allowed to take a part
in the government; that is, to whom the political power shall be
intrusted. As this power is exercised by voting at elections, the
constitution very properly prescribes the qualifications of electors,
or, in other words, declares what shall be necessary to entitle a man to
the right of voting, or the right of suffrage. When, therefore, we speak
of the people politically, we mean those only who are qualified
electors.
§2. To be competent to exercise the right of suffrage, a person must be
a freeman, or, as we sometimes say, he should be his own master. While
under the control of a parent or guardian, he might be constrained to
act contrary to his own judgment. All our state constitutions,
therefore, give this right only to free male citizens of the age of
twenty-one years and upwards; twenty-one years being the age at which
young men become free to act for themselves.
§3. But even if this freedom were obtained at an earlier age, it would
not be expedient to bestow this right upon persons so young. They have
not the necessary knowledge and judgment to act with discretion. Some
are competent at an earlier age; but a constitution can make no
distinction between citizens. It has therefore, in accordance with the
general opinion, fixed the time at the age of twenty-one, when men shall
be deemed capable of exercising the rights and performing the duties of
freemen.
§4. That a man may vote understandingly, he must have resided long
enough in the state to have become acquainted with its government and
laws, and to have learned the character and qualifications of the
persons for whom he votes. State constitutions therefore require, that
electors shall have resided in the state for a specified period of time,
varying, however, in the different states from three months to two
years. In most of the states, they must also have resided for some
months in the county or district, and be residents of the town in which
they offer to vote.
§5. But in giving the right of suffrage to all free male citizens
twenty-one years of age, it is not given to every _man_, because all
_men_ of that age are not citizens. Persons born in foreign countries
and residing here are _aliens_, and are not entitled to the political
rights of persons born in this country. They are presumed to have too
little knowledge of our government, and to feel too little interest in
public affairs, on their first coming hither, to be duly qualified for
the exercise of political power. Laws, however, have been enacted for
naturalizing aliens after they shall have resided here long enough to
become acquainted with and attached to our government. By naturalization
they become citizens, entitled to all the privileges of native or
natural born citizens, (Chap. XXXIV, §3, 4.)
§6. The constitutions of most of the states confer the rights of an
elector on _white_ male citizens only. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, are the only states in which colored
men have the same electoral rights as white citizens. In New York, men
of color owning a freehold estate (an estate in lands) of the value of
$250, are qualified voters.
§7. It is provided also in state constitutions, that electors committing
infamous crimes are disfranchised. _Franchise_ is a right or privilege
enjoyed by the citizens of a state. Hence the right of voting at
elections is called the _elective franchise_; and an elector, when
deprived of this privilege, is _disfranchised_. An _infamous crime_ is
one which is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison. Men guilty of
high crimes are deemed unfit to be intrusted with so important a duty as
that of electing the persons who are to make and execute the laws of the
state. It is provided, however, that if such persons are pardoned before
the expiration of the term for which they were sentenced to be
imprisoned, their forfeited rights are restored.
§8. By the earliest constitutions of many of the old states, electors
were required to own property, or to have paid rents or taxes, to a
certain amount. In the election of the higher officers, freeholders only
were entitled to vote. A _freeholder_ is an owner of real estate,
(property in lands,) which he holds in his own right, and may transmit
to his heirs. In the constitutions of the newer states, property has not
been made a qualification of an elector; and in the amended
constitutions of the old states this restriction upon the elective
franchise has been removed, until it has nearly ceased to exist in the
United States. It is now enjoyed by all white male freemen, with few
exceptions, in almost every state of the Union.
Chapter VII.
Elections.
§1. For the convenient exercise of political power, as well as for the
purposes of government generally, the territory of a state is divided
into districts of small extent. It has been remarked, that the people of
a state, being too numerous to meet in one assembly to make laws and
transact the public business, elect a small number to represent them.
But to elect these representatives and other officers, and to adopt the
constitution, or fundamental law of the state, are political duties,
which must be performed by the people in person, and in a _collective_
capacity. Hence the necessity of small territorial divisions, in which
the people may assemble for political purposes.
§2. A state is divided into counties, and these are divided into towns
or townships. The people of every county and every town have power to
manage their local concerns. The corporate powers of counties and towns,
and the election and the powers and duties of county and town officers,
will be given in subsequent chapters.
§3. The electors of the state meet every year in their respective towns
for the election of officers. Meetings for electing town officers are,
in a majority of the states, held in the earlier part of the year. Most
officers elected by the people, other than town officers, are chosen at
the general state election, which, in most of the states, is held in
October or November.
§4. Elections are conducted by persons designated by law, or chosen by
the electors of the town for that purpose. It is their duty to preserve
order, and to see that the business is properly done. They are usually
called _judges of elections_, or _inspectors of elections_. Persons
also, (usually two,) serve as clerks. Each clerk keeps a list of the
names of the persons voting, which is called a _poll-list. Poll_, which
is said to be a Saxon word, signifies _head_, and has come to mean
person. Thus, so much a head means so much for every _person_ By a
further change it has been made to signify an election, because the
persons there voting are numbered. Hence, "going to the polls" has
obtained the same meaning as going to an election.
§5. When the inspectors are ready to receive votes, one of them makes it
known by proclaiming with a loud voice, that "the polls are now open."
The inspectors receive from each voter a ballot, which is a piece of
paper containing the names of the persons voted for, and the title of
the office to which each of them is to be elected. _Ballot_, from the
French, means a little ball, and is used in voting. Ballots are of
different colors; those of one color signifying an affirmative vote, or
_yes_; those of another color a negative vote, or _no_. From this has
come the application of the word ballot to the written or printed ticket
now used in voting.
§6. If no objection is made to an elector's voting, the ballot is put
into the box, and the clerks enter his name on the poll-list. If the
inspectors suspect that a person offering to vote is not a qualified
elector, they may question him upon his oath in respect to his
qualifications as to age, the term of his residence in the state and
county, and citizenship. Any bystander also may question his right to
vote. This is called _challenging_. A person thus challenged is not
allowed to vote until the challenge is withdrawn, or his qualifications
are either proved by the testimony of other persons, or sworn to by
himself.
§7. In a few states, the voters are registered. A list is kept of the
names of all who have, upon examination, been ascertained to be
qualified electors; and those only whose names are on the register are
allowed to vote. Thus many interruptions to voting by the examination of
voters at the polls, and much illegal voting, are prevented. Voters in
some states are also required to take what is called the "elector's
oath," in which they promise to be true and faithful to the state and
its government, and to the constitution of the United States; and to
give their votes as they shall judge will conduce to the best good of
the same.
§8. After the polls are closed, the box is opened, and the ballots are
counted. If the number of ballots agrees with the number of names on the
poll-lists, it is presumed no mistake has been made, either in voting or
in keeping the lists. If the election is one for the choosing of town
officers, it is there determined who are elected, and their election is
publicly declared.
§9. The election of county and state officers can not be determined by
the town canvassers. A statement of the votes given in each town for the
persons voted for, is sent to the county canvassers, who, from the
returns of votes from all the towns, determine and declare the election
of the officers chosen for the county. To determine the election of
state officers, and of such others as are elected for districts
comprising more than one county, a statement of the votes given for the
several candidates, is sent by the several boards of county canvassers
to the state canvassers, who, from the returns of votes from the several
counties, determine the election of the state officers.
§10. In a few states, voting at elections is done _viva voce_. These
words mean by word of mouth. In voting in this manner, the elector
speaks the name of the person for whom he votes.
§11. In most of the states, persons are elected by a plurality of votes.
An election by _plurality_ is when the person elected has received a
higher number of votes than any other, though such number be less than a
majority of all the votes given. Suppose, for example, three candidates
receive 1000 votes: One receives 450; another, 300; the third, 250
votes. The first, having the highest number, though not a majority, is
elected. In the New England, or eastern states, a _majority_, that is,
more than one-half of all the votes given, is necessary to the election
of many of the higher officers. The least number of votes out of 1000,
by which a person can be elected by this rule, is 501.
§12. Either of these modes is liable to objection. When a simple
plurality effects an election, 1,000 votes may be so divided upon three
candidates as to elect one by 334 votes; or of four candidates, one may
be elected by 251 votes, and against the wishes of nearly three-fourths
of the electors. An objection to the other mode is, that if no person
receives a majority of all the votes, another election must be held.
Numerous trials have, in some instances, been necessary to effect a
choice; and the people of a district have remained for a time without a
representative in the state or national legislature.
Chapter VIII.
Division of the Powers of Government.
§1. Having shown the nature of a constitution and the manner in which it
is made and adopted, it will next be shown how the powers of government
under a state constitution are divided. As the excellence of a form of
government consists much in a proper separation and distribution of
power, this subject deserves special attention.
§2. We notice first the separation of the political and civil powers.
The words _political_ and _civil_ are often used as having the same
meaning. Thus, speaking of the system of government and laws of a
country, we use the general term, "political institutions," or "civil
institutions;" either of which is deemed correct. But these words have
also a particular signification, as has already been shown in the
distinction made in preceding chapters between political rights and
civil rights, and between the political law and the municipal or civil
laws. (Chap. II, and III.) Hence it appears, that what we mean by
political power is the power exercised by the people in their political
capacity, in adopting their constitution and electing the officers of
the government; and that, by the civil power is meant the power
exercised by these officers in administering the government.
§3. In an absolute government, no such distinction exists; all power is
centered in the supreme ruler. There is no political law binding on him.
Being himself restrained by no positive laws or regulations that have
been adopted by the people, or that may be altered by them, the people
have no political rights. In a mixed government, or limited monarchy,
political power is exercised to some extent. Although there is no
written constitution adopted by the people, as in a republic, the
members of one branch of the law-making power are elected by the people.
In such election they are said to exercise political power.
§4. We notice next the division of the civil power. This power, in well
constructed governments, is divided into three departments, the
legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The legislative department
is that by which the laws of the state are made. The legislature is
composed of two bodies, the members of which are elected by the people.
In limited monarchies where one branch of the legislature is elective,
the other is an aristocratic body, composed of men of wealth and
dignity, as the British house of lords.
§5. The executive department is intrusted with the power of executing,
or carrying into effect, the laws of the state. There is in this
department a governor, assisted by a number of other officers, some of
whom are elected by the people; others are appointed in such manner as
the constitution or laws prescribe. The powers and duties of the
governor of a state will be more particularly described in another
place.
§6. The judicial department is that by which justice is administered to
the citizens. It embraces the several courts of the state. All judges
and justices of the peace are judicial officers; and they have power,
and it is their business to judge of and apply the law in cases brought
before them for trial. A more particular description of the powers and
duties of judicial officers, and the manner of conducting trials in
courts of justice, will be given elsewhere. (Chap. XVII-XX.)
§7. Experience has shown the propriety of dividing the civil power into
these three departments, and of confining the officers of each
department to the powers and duties belonging to the same. Those who
make the laws should not exercise the power of executing them; nor
should they who either make or execute the laws sit in judgment over
those who are brought before them for trial. A government in which the
different powers of making, executing, and applying the laws should be
united in a single body of men, however numerous, would be little better
than an absolute despotism.
§8. Again, the legislative department of the civil power is divided.
Under all our state constitutions, the legislature consists of two
branches, both of which must agree to a proposed measure before it
becomes a law; and in many of the states, it must also be approved by
the governor. This is making the chief executive officer a third branch
of the law-making power; and is not in accordance with the principle of
keeping the several departments of the civil power separate and distinct
from each other. The reason for this departure from the general
principle mentioned, will be stated in another chapter. (Chap. XI. §16.)
Chapter IX.
State Legislatures--how constituted.
§1. The legislature of every state in the union is composed of two
houses--a senate and a house of representatives. The latter, or, as it
is sometimes called, the lower house, in the states of New York,
Wisconsin, and California, is called the assembly; in Maryland and
Virginia, the house of delegates; in North Carolina, the house of
commons; and in New Jersey, the general assembly. In most of the
states, the two houses together are called _general assembly_.
§2. The senate, as well as the other house, is a representative body;
its members being elected by the people to represent them. Why, then, is
only one of the two branches called the house of representatives?
Perhaps for this reason: Under the governments of the colonies, while
yet subject to Great Britian, there was but one representative assembly.
The other branch of the legislature was called a _council_, consisting
of a small number of men who were appointed by the king. After the
colonies became free and independent states, a senate was substituted
for the old council, and although it is an elective body, the other
house, being much more numerous, is called, by way of distinction, the
_house of representatives_.
§3. Senators are chosen annually in the six New England states, namely,
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut. In the other states they are elected for terms of two,
three, or four years. In most of the states in which senators are
elected for longer terms than one year, they are not all elected at the
same time. They are divided into classes; and those of one class go out
of office one year, and those of another class another year; so that
only a part of the senators are elected every year, or every two, or
three, or four years.
§4. The senate, as distinguished from the house of representatives, is
sometimes called the upper house. It was designed to be a more select
body, composed of men chosen with reference to their superior ability,
or their greater experience in public affairs.
§5. Senators are differently apportioned in different states. In some
states they are apportioned among the several counties, so that the
number to be elected in each county shall be in proportion to the number
of its inhabitants. In others they are elected by districts, equal in
number to the number of senators to be chosen in the state, and a
senator is elected in each district. The districts are to contain, as
nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants; and sometimes they
comprise several counties.
§6. Representatives are apportioned among the counties in proportion to
the population in each. In some states they are elected in districts of
equal population, counties being sometimes divided in the formation of
districts. In the New England states, representatives are apportioned
among the towns. In about one-half of the states, they are elected
annually; in the others, (including-most of the southern and western
states,) they are elected every two years.
§7. The different modes of apportioning members of the legislature have
in view the same object--equal representation; that is, giving a member
to the same number of inhabitants in one county or district as to an
equal number in another. But in some counties the population increases
more rapidly than in others. The representation then becomes unequal,
being no longer in proportion to population.
§8. In order to keep the representation throughout the state as nearly
equal as possible; in other words, to secure to the people of every
county or district their just proportion of the representatives, the
constitution requires that, at stated times, the people of the state
shall be numbered, and a new apportionment of senators and
representatives be made among the several counties according to the
number of inhabitants in each county; or if the state is one in which
members of the legislature are chosen in districts, a new division of
the state is made into districts.
§9. But the periods of time between the enumerations of the people, are
not the same in all the states. In some states the enumerations are made
every ten years; in others, shorter periods have been fixed, from eight
down to four years. This enumeration or numbering of the people is
called taking the census. _Census_ is from the Latin, and was used by
the ancient Romans to signify a declaration or statement made before the
censors by the citizens, containing an enumeration or register of
themselves, their wives, children, servants, and their property and its
valuation. In the United States, although the census sometimes includes
a similar register, the word usually means simply an enumeration of the
people.
§10. The constitution also prescribes the qualifications of senators and
representatives. If, as qualifications for an elector, full age,
citizenship, and a considerable term of residence in the state and
county, are properly required, as we have seen, (Chap. VI. §2-5,) they
must be at least equally necessary for those who make the laws. In no
state, therefore, are any but qualified electors eligible to the office
of senator or representative. In some states, greater age and longer
residence are required; and in some, the age and term of residence have
been still further increased in the case of senators. The property
qualification formerly necessary for members of the legislature, as well
as for voters, has been almost entirely abolished. (Chap. VI. §8.)
§11. If a member of the legislature dies, or resigns his office before
the expiration of the term for which he was chosen, the vacancy is
filled by the election of another person at the next general election,
or at a special election called for that purpose, or in such other
manner as the constitution may provide. But a person chosen to fill a
vacancy, holds the office only for the remainder of the term of him
whose place he was chosen to supply.
Chapter X.
Meetings and Organization of the Legislature.
§1. The legislature meets as often as the constitution requires, to
enact such laws as may be necessary to promote the public welfare, and
to perform such other duties as are assigned to it by the constitution
and the laws. In about half of the states, sessions are held annually;
in the others biennially, or once in two years. A legislative session
includes the daily meetings of a legislature from the time of its first
assembling, to the day of final adjournment. Thus we say the session
commenced in January and ended in March. The word _session_ has
reference also to a single sitting, from the hour at which the members
assemble on any day, to the time of adjournment on the same day. Thus we
say, the legislature holds a daily session of four hours; or, it holds
two sessions a day, as the case may be.
§2. Meetings of the legislature are held at a place permanently fixed by
the constitution; at which place the principal state officers keep their
offices. Hence it is called the _seat of government_, or perhaps more
frequently, the _capital_ of the state. _Capital_ is from the Latin
_caput_, the head, and has come to mean chief, or the highest. A capital
city is therefore the chief city of a state or kingdom. But the word
_capital_, applied to a city, now generally indicates the seat of
government.
§3. When the two houses have assembled in their respective chambers,
some person designated for that purpose administers to the members of
each house the oath of office, in which they solemnly swear (or affirm,)
that they will support the constitution of the United States, and the
constitution of the state, and faithfully discharge the duties of their
office.
§4. Each house then proceeds to _organize_ for business, by appointing
proper officers, and determining the right of members to seats in the
house. In organizing a legislative body, the first thing done is the
election of a presiding officer, or chairman, who is usually called
_speaker_. The lieutenant-governor, in states in which there is one,
presides in the senate, and is called _president of the senate_. In the
absence of the presiding officer, a temporary speaker or president is
chosen, who is called speaker or president _pro tempore_, commonly
abbreviated, _pro tem._, which is a Latin phrase, meaning _for the
time_.
§5. The duty of the person presiding is to keep order, and to see that
the business of the house is conducted according to certain established
rules. When a vote is to be taken, he puts the question, which is done
by requesting all who are in favor of a proposed measure, to say _aye_,
and those opposed to say _no_. And, when a vote has been taken, he
declares the question to be carried or lost. This part of a speaker's
business is similar to that of the chairman of an ordinary public
meeting.
§6. The other officers chosen by each house are, a _clerk_ to keep a
record or journal of its proceedings; to take charge of papers, and to
read such as are to be read to the house; and to do such other things as
may be required of him; a _sergeant-at-arms_, to arrest members and
other persons guilty of disorderly conduct, to compel the attendance of
absent members, and to do other business of a like nature: also one or
more _door-keepers_. The officers mentioned in this section are not
chosen from the members of the house.
§7. The constitution does not prescribe to either house the order of
business, or the particular manner in which it shall be done; but
authorizes each house to determine for itself the rules of its
proceedings. But there are sundry things which it expressly enjoins. It
determines what portion of the members shall constitute a quorum to do
business. _Quorum_ is the Latin of the English words, _of whom_, and has
strangely come to signify the _number_ or _portion_ of any body of men
who have power to act for the whole. Thus with reference to a
legislative body consisting of a certain number of members, instead of
saying, A majority _quorum_ shall have power to act; or, A majority _of
whom_ shall have power to act, our constitutions generally say, A
majority shall constitute a quorum to do business. In some states, more
than a bare majority is required for a quorum.
§8. Constitutions generally require also that the proceedings of
legislative bodies shall be open to public inspection. The doors may be
closed against spectators only when the public good shall require
secrecy. And that the people may be fully informed of what is done, each
house is required to keep and publish a journal of its proceedings.
§9. Provision is also made, either by the constitution or by laws
against injury or interruption to the business of the legislature.
Members may not, by any prosecution at law, except for crimes and
misdemeanors, be hindered during their attendance at the sessions of the
legislature, nor in going to or returning from the same. Each house may
compel the attendance of absent members. It may for good cause expel a
member, and punish, not only its members and officers, but other
persons, for disorderly conduct, or for obstructing its proceedings.
Chapter XI.
Manner of Enacting Laws.
§1. When the two houses are duly organized and ready for business, the
governor sends to both houses a written communication called _message_,
in which, as the constitution requires, he gives to the legislature
information of the condition of the affairs of the state, and recommends
such measures as he judges necessary and expedient. The message is read
to each house by its clerk.
§2. But the measures to which the governor calls the attention of the
legislature, are but a small portion of those which are considered and
acted upon. Many are introduced by individual members. Others are
brought into notice by the petitions of the people in different parts of
the state. _Petition_ generally signifies a request or prayer. As here
used, it means a written request to the legislature for some
favor--generally for a law granting some benefit or relief to the
petitioners. Petitions are sent to members, usually to those who
represent the counties or districts in which the petitioners live, and
are by these members presented to the house.
§3. Now it is evident, that a proper consideration of the numerous
subjects pressed upon the attention of the legislature--some of them of
very great importance--must require much labor. If the necessary
investigation of so many subjects should occupy the time of the whole
house, there would not be time enough to act upon one-half of them.
Therefore, in order to dispatch business, the labor of the house must be
divided, that the investigation of all the different subjects may be
going on at the same time.
§4. Hence arises the practice which prevails in all legislative bodies,
of the appointment of committees. As soon as may be, after a house is
organized, committees are appointed on all subjects usually acted on in
the legislature. A legislative committee is generally composed of three,
five, or seven members, who examine the subjects referred to them, and
report the result of their examination to the house. Committees are
appointed by the presiding officer of each house. Occasionally, though
very rarely, they are elected by the house itself.
§5. Some or all of the following committees are appointed in every
legislature: a committee on finance, or the funds, income, and other
money matters of the state, sometimes called the committee of ways and
means; a committee on agriculture; a committee on manufactures;
committees on the incorporation of cities and villages; on banks and
insurance companies; on railroads; on canals; on education; on
elections; on public printing, besides many others. So numerous are
these subjects, that in constituting the committees, every member may be
put on some committee.
§6. All matters relating to these subjects of a general nature, which
arise during the session, are referred to their appropriate committees.
Thus, a question or proposition relating to banks, is referred to the
committee on banks; matters relating to rail-roads, are referred to the
committee on rail-roads; those relating to schools, are referred to the
committee on education, &c. As these committees continue during the
session, they are called _standing_ committees. When a question arises
having no relation to any subject on which there is a standing
committee, it is usually referred to a _special_ or _select_ committee
appointed to consider this particular matter.
§7. Committees meet in private rooms, during hours when the house is not
in session; and any person wishing to be heard in favor of or against a
proposed measure, may appear before the committee having it in charge.
Having duly considered the subject, the committee reports to the house
the information it has obtained, with the opinion whether the measure
ought or ought not to become a law. Measures reported against by
committees, seldom receive any further notice from the house.
§8. From what has been said, the utility of committees is readily seen.
Although no proposed measure can become a law unless acted on and
approved by the two houses, its necessity may be inquired into, and the
information necessary to enable the house to act understandingly upon
the question, may be obtained, as well by a few members as by the whole
house. By the daily examination of so many subjects in committee, a
large amount of business is soon prepared for the house to act upon, and
much of its time is saved.
§9. If a committee reports favorably upon a subject, it usually brings
in a bill with its report. A _bill_ is the form or draft of a law. Not
all bills, however, are reported by committees. Any member of the house
desiring the passage of a law, may give notice that he will, on some
future day, ask leave of the house to introduce a bill for that purpose;
and if, at the time specified, the house shall grant leave, he may
introduce the bill. But at least one day's previous notice must be given
of his intention to ask leave, before it can be granted.
§10. The different steps in the progress of a bill, or the different
forms of action through which it has to pass, are numerous. A minute
description of them in a work designed chiefly for youth, will scarcely
be expected. A thorough knowledge of the proceedings of legislative
assemblies, can be practically beneficial, in after life, to but few of
those who shall study this elementary treatise. Those who shall
hereafter have occasion for this knowledge, will find works adapted to a
more mature age, in which the subject is fully treated.
§11. A bill, before it is passed, must be read three times; but it may
not be read twice on any one day without unanimous consent, that is, the
consent of the whole house; or, as is believed to be the rule in some
bodies, the consent of three-fourths, or two-thirds of the house. In
some legislatures, the rule allows the first and second readings to be
on the same day. A bill is not to be amended until it shall have been
twice read. Nor is it usual for it to be opposed until then; but it may
be opposed and rejected at the first reading.
§12. After a bill has been twice read, and fully debated and amended, it
is proposed to be read on a future day the third time. If the question
on ordering the bill to a third reading is not carried, the bill is
lost, unless revived by a vote of the house to reconsider. But if the
question to read the third time is carried, the bill is accordingly read
on a future day, and the question taken on its final passage.
§13. When the final vote is to be taken, the speaker puts the question:
"Shall the bill pass?" If a majority of the members present vote in the
affirmative, (the speaker also voting,) the bill is passed; if a
majority vote in the negative, the bill is lost. Also if the ayes and
noes are equal, it is lost, because there is not a majority in its
favor. In a senate where a lieutenant-governor presides, not being
properly a member, he does not vote, except when the ayes and noes are
equal; in which case there is said to be a _tie_; and he determines the
question by his vote, which is called the _casting_ vote. In some
states, on the final passage of a bill, a bare majority of the members
present is not sufficient to pass it, in case any members are absent.
The constitutions of those states require the votes of a majority of
_all the members elected_ to each house.
§14. When a bill has passed one house it is sent to the other, where it
must pass through the same forms of action; that is, it must be referred
to a committee; reported by the committee to the house; and be read
three times before a vote is taken on its passage. This vote having
been taken, the bill is returned to the house from which it was
received. If it has been amended, the amendments must be agreed to by
the first house, or the second must recede from their amendments, or the
amendments must be so modified as to secure the approval of both houses,
before the bill can become a law.
§15. Some young reader may inquire why a bill should take so long and
slow a course through two different houses; and why one body of
representatives is not sufficient. The object is to secure the enactment
of good laws. Notwithstanding bills go through the hands of a committee
and three different readings in the house; yet through undue haste,
wrong information, or from other causes, a house may, and often does,
commit serious errors. Legislatures are therefore divided into two
branches; and a bill having passed one house is sent to the other where
the mistakes of the former may be corrected, or the bill wholly
rejected.
§16. But in many of the states, a bill, when passed by both houses, is
not yet a law. As the two houses may concur in adopting an unwise
measure, an additional safeguard is provided against the enactment of
bad laws, by requiring all bills to be sent to the governor for
examination and approval. If he approves a bill, he signs it, and it is
a law; if he does not sign it, it is not a law. In refusing to sign a
bill, he is said to _negative_, or _veto_ the bill. _Veto_, Latin,
means, _I forbid_.
§17. But no governor has full power to prevent the passage of a law. If
he does not approve a bill, he must return it to the house in which it
originated, stating his objections to it; and if it shall be again
passed by both houses, it will be a law without the governor's assent
But in such cases greater majorities are generally required to pass a
law. In some states, a majority of two-thirds of the members present is
necessary; in others, a majority of _all the members elected_. In a few
states, only the same majorities are required to pass a bill against
the veto as in the first instance. Or if the governor does not return a
bill within a certain number of days, it becomes a law without his
signature, or without being considered a second time. In some states,
bills are not sent to the governor, but are laws when passed by both
houses and signed by their presiding officers.
Chapter XII.
Executive Department. Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.
§1. The chief executive power of a state is, by the constitution, vested
in a governor. The governor is chosen by the people at the general
election; in South Carolina by the legislature. The term of office is
not the same in all the states. In the six New England states, the
governors are chosen annually; in the other states, for the different
terms of two, three, and four years.
§2. The qualifications for the office of governor are also different in
the different states. To be eligible to the office of governor, a person
must have been for a certain number of years a citizen of the United
States, and for a term of years preceding his election a resident of the
state. He must also be above a certain age, which, in a majority of the
states, is at least thirty years; and in some states he must be a
freeholder.
§3. The powers and duties of a governor are numerous. He communicates by
message to the legislature, at every session, information of the
condition of the state of its affairs generally, and recommends such
measures as he judges necessary and expedient. He is to take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and to transact all necessary business
with the officers of the government. He may convene the legislature on
extraordinary occasions: that is, if, at a time when the legislature is
not in session, a matter should arise requiring immediate attention, the
governor may call a special meeting of the legislature, or as it is
usually termed, an extra session.
§4. A governor has power to grant reprieves and pardons, except in cases
of impeachment, and, in some states, of treason. To _reprieve_ is to
postpone or delay for a time the execution of the sentence of death upon
a criminal. To _pardon_ is to annul the sentence by forgiving the
offense and releasing the offender. A governor may also _commute_ a
sentence; which is to exchange one penalty or punishment for another of
less severity; as, when a person sentenced to suffer death, is ordered
to be imprisoned.
§5. The governor has power also, in some of the states, with the consent
of the senate, to appoint the higher officers of the militia of the
state, and the higher civil officers in the executive and judicial
departments. In a few of the states, there are executive councils whose
advice and consent are required in such cases. In making such
appointments, the governor nominates, that is, he _names_ to the senate,
in writing, the persons to be appointed. If a majority of the senators
consent, the persons so nominated are appointed. Many other duties are
by the constitution devolved upon the governor.
§6. A lieutenant-governor has few duties to perform. He presides in the
senate, in which he has only a casting vote. In the state of New York,
he serves in some of the boards of executive officers. In nearly
one-half of the states the office of lieutenant-governor does not exist.
The chief object of electing this officer seems to be to provide a
suitable person to fill the vacancy in the office of governor in case
the latter should die, resign, be removed, or otherwise become
incompetent.
§7. When the lieutenant-governor acts as governor, the senate chooses
from its own number a president. If the offices of both the governor and
lieutenant-governor should become vacant, the president of the senate
must act as governor. If there should be neither a governor, a
lieutenant-governor, nor a president or speaker of the senate, then, the
speaker of the house of representatives would become the acting
governor. This is believed to be the rule for supplying vacancies in
most if not all of the states.
Chapter XIII.
Assistant Executive State Officers.
§1. Among the executive officers who assist in the administration of the
government, there are in every state, some or all of the following: a
secretary of state, a controller or auditor, a treasurer, an
attorney-general, a surveyor-general. The mode of their appointment and
the terms of their respective offices, are prescribed by the
constitution or by law. In some states they are appointed by the
governor and senate; in others by the legislature; and in others they
are elected by the people. They keep their offices at the seat of
government of the state.
§2. The _secretary of state_ keeps a record of the official acts and
proceedings of the legislature and of the executive departments, and has
the care of the books, records, deeds of the state, parchments, the laws
enacted by the legislature, and all other papers and documents required
by law to be kept in his office. He causes the laws passed by the
legislature to be published in one or more newspapers, as directed by
law; and also to be printed and bound in a volume, and distributed among
the state officers for their use, and among the county and town clerks,
to be kept in their offices for the use of the people who wish to
examine the laws. Also one or more copies are exchanged with each of the
other states for copies of their laws to be kept in the state library.
Various other duties are performed by the secretary.
§3. The _state auditor_, in some states called _controller_, manages
the financial concerns of the state; that is, the business relating to
the money, debts, land and other property of the state. He examines and
adjusts accounts and claims against the state, and superintends the
collection of moneys due the state. When money is to be paid out of the
treasury, he draws a warrant (a written order,) on the treasurer for the
money, and keeps a regular account with the treasurer of all moneys
received into and paid out of the treasury. And he reports to the
legislature or other proper officers, a statement of the funds of the
state, and of its income and expenditures during each year.
§4. The _treasurer_ has charge of all the public moneys that are paid
into the treasury, and pays out the same as directed by law; and he
keeps an accurate account of such moneys, specifying the names of the
persons from whom they are received, to whom paid, and for what
purposes. He also exhibits annually a statement of moneys received and
paid out by him during the year, and of the balance in the treasury.
§5. Auditors, treasurers, and other officers intrusted with the care and
management of money or other property, are generally required, before
they enter on the duties of their offices, to give bonds, in sums of
certain amount specified in the law, with sufficient sureties, for the
faithful performance of their duties. The sureties are persons who bind
themselves to pay the state all damages arising from neglect of duty on
the part of the officers, not exceeding the sum mentioned in the bond.
§6. The _attorney-general_ is a person learned in the law, appointed to
act for the state in law-suits in which the state is a party. He
prosecutes persons indebted to the state, and causes to be brought to
trial persons charged with certain crimes. He also gives his opinion on
questions of law submitted to him by the governor, the legislature, and
the executive officers. In some states there is no attorney-general. In
such states prosecutions in behalf of the state are conducted by the
state's attorney for each county.
§7. The _surveyor-general_ superintends the surveying of the lands
belonging to the state. He keeps in his office maps of the state,
describing the bounds of the counties and townships; and when disputes
arise respecting the boundaries, he causes surveys to be made, if
necessary, to ascertain such bounds. He performs certain other duties of
a similar nature. In many of the states there is no surveyor-general,
the duties of that office being done by a county surveyor in each
county.
§8. There is also, in many of the states, a _superintendent of schools_,
called in some states, _superintendent of public instruction_, whose
principal duties are described in a subsequent chapter. (Chap. XXII,
§10.)
§9. There is also a printer to the state, or _state printer_, whose
business it is to print the journal, bills, reports, and other papers
and documents of the two houses of the legislature, and all the laws
passed at each session. State printers are either chosen by the
legislature, or employed by persons authorized to make contracts for the
public printing; or the printing is let to the lowest bidder.
§10. There are other officers employed by the state, among whom are the
following: a _state librarian_, who has charge of the state library,
consisting of books containing matter of a public nature, such as the
laws of all the states, and of the United States, with a large
collection of miscellaneous books; persons having the care of the public
buildings and other property of the state; superintendents of state
prisons, lunatic asylums, and other state institutions, whose duties are
indicated by their titles, and need no particular description.
Chapter XIV.
Counties ind County Officers. Powers and Duties of County Officers.
§1. Some of the purposes for which a state is divided into small
districts have been mentioned. (Chap. VII, §1.) There are other reasons,
equally important, for these territorial divisions. Laws for the whole
state are made by the legislature; but certain regulations may be
necessary for the people in some parts of the state which are not needed
in others, and which the people of these places can better make for
themselves. It is the business of the governor and his assistant
executive state officers to execute or carry into effect the laws of the
state; but they could not see this done in every place, or in every
minute portion of the state. Again, for the convenience of those who may
be obliged to go to law to obtain redress for injuries, courts of
justice must be established near the residence of every citizen.
§2. But in order to carry out these objects, a state must be divided
into small districts with fixed boundaries, that it may be known what
persons come under certain regulations, and over whom these local
officers are to exercise authority. The smallest territorial divisions
of a state are called _townships_, or _towns_, which contain generally
from twenty-five to one hundred square miles, and which, if in a square
form, would be from five to ten miles square. But for certain purposes
larger districts than townships have been found necessary. These are
formed by the union of several townships, and are called _counties_.
These divisions are the same as those of England, the country from which
the colonies (now states) were chiefly settled.
§3. Counties in England were formerly districts governed by _counts_ or
earls; from which comes the name of _county_. A county was also called
_shire_; and an officer was appointed by the count or earl to perform
certain acts in the principal town in the county, which was called
_shire town_, and the officer was called _shire-reeve_, or _sheriff_,
whose powers and duties were similar to those of the sheriff of a county
in this country. The shire town is that in which the court-house and
other county buildings are situate, and where the principal officers of
the county transact their business. In a few counties there are two
towns in which the courts are held alternately. Hence each division is
called a _half-shire_.
§4. Counties and towns are bodies politic, or bodies corporate.
_Corporate_ is from the Latin, _corpus_, which means _body_. A
_corporation_, or body politic, is an association of persons authorized
by law to transact business under a common name, and as a single person.
The laws of the state give such authority to the inhabitants of counties
and towns. The people of a town or county have power, to some extent, to
manage their own internal affairs, and to make rules and regulations for
their government; and they may buy, hold, and sell property, and sue and
be sued, as an individual. Similar powers are given to rail-road,
banking, insurance, and other incorporated companies. But there is in
some respects a difference between these corporations and those which
are created for purposes of government, as states, counties, towns,
cities, and villages, which will be noticed in another place. (Chap.
XVI.)
§5. As a county possesses various corporate powers, there must be among
its officers some in whose name these powers are to be exercised. In
some states there is a board of _county commissioners_, (usually three,)
who exercise corporate powers. In a few, these powers are exercised by
and in the name of the _board of supervisors_, which is composed of the
supervisors of the several towns in the county, of whom there is one
supervisor in each town. These boards, or such officers in other states
as exercise these powers, have generally the power also to examine and
settle the accounts against the county, and to make orders and contracts
in relation to the building or repairing of the court-house, jail, and
other county buildings; and to perform such other acts as the laws
require.
§6. There is in each county a _treasurer_ to receive and pay out the
moneys required to be collected and paid out in the county. There is
also, in some states, a county _auditor_ to examine and adjust the
accounts and debts of the county, and to perform certain other duties.
The business of county treasurers and auditors in their respective
counties, is of the same nature as that of state auditors and
treasurers. In states in which there is no county auditor, the duties of
auditor are performed by the treasurer, and some other county officer or
officers.
§7. There is also in each county a _register_ or _recorder_, who records
in books provided for that purpose, all deeds, mortgages, and other
instruments of writing required by law to be recorded. In New York, and
perhaps in some other states, the business of a register or recorder is
done by a county clerk, who is also clerk of the several courts held in
the county, and of certain boards of county officers. In some states,
deeds, mortgages, and other written instruments, are recorded by the
town clerks of the several towns.
§8. Another county officer is a _sheriff_, whose duty it is to attend
all the courts held in the county; to execute all warrants, writs, and
other process directed to him by the courts; to apprehend persons
charged with crime; and to take charge of the jail and of the prisoners
therein. It is his duty, also, to preserve the public peace; and he may
cause all persons who break the public peace within his knowledge or
view, to give bonds, with sureties, for keeping the peace, and for
appearing at the next court to be held in the county, and to commit them
to jail if they refuse to give such bonds. A sheriff is assisted by
deputies.
§9. There are in each county one or more _coroners_, whose principal
duty is, to inquire into the cause of the death of persons who have died
by violence, or suddenly, and by means unknown. Notice of the death of a
person having so died is given to a coroner, who goes to the place of
such dead person. A jury is summoned to attend the examination;
witnesses are examined; and the jury give their opinion in writing as to
the cause and manner of the death. Such inquiry is called a _coroner's
inquest_. In one or two states, the office of coroner, it is believed,
does not exist; in which case the inquest is held by a justice of the
peace, or some other officer.
§10. An attorney, elected or appointed for that purpose, attends all
courts in which persons are tried in the county for crimes committed
therein, and conducts the prosecutions in the trial of the offenders. In
states where there is no attorney-general for the state, the prosecuting
attorney for each county serves in this capacity, in trials in which the
state is a party. As all crimes and breaches of the peace are considered
as committed against the state, and prosecuted in its name, this
attorney is sometimes called _state's attorney_.
§11. In some states there is a _county-surveyor_, whose duties within
his county are similar in their nature to those of a state
surveyor-general.
§12. County officers are generally elected by the people of the county.
Some of them are, in some of the states, appointed by some authority
prescribed by the constitution or laws of the state.
Chapter XV.
Towns and Town Officers. Powers and Duties of Town Officers.
§1. The districts of territory into which counties are divided, are, in
some states, called _towns_. In others they are called, and perhaps more
properly, _townships_; and the name of _town_ is given to an
incorporated village, or a city. We shall, however, in this work, apply
to these territorial divisions the shorter name of _towns_, as they are
called in most of the old states.
§2. The electors of the several towns meet once a year for the election
of town officers, and for certain other business purposes. The electors
of a town have power, at their annual town meetings, to order money to
be raised for the support of the poor, for the building and repairing of
bridges, and for other town purposes; to make regulations concerning
fences; to fix the compensation of town officers in certain cases; and
to perform such other duties as come within the usual powers of towns.
The powers of towns, however, are not precisely the same in all the
states.
§3. Among the town officers elected at town meetings, are the following;
not all of them, however, are elected in any one state: One or more
persons who have the general oversight and direction of town affairs,
called by some name corresponding to the nature of their duties; a town
clerk; one or more assessors; justices of the peace; overseers of
highways; overseers of the poor; school officers; constables; a
collector of taxes; a treasurer; fence-viewers; pound-keepers, &c. In
some states there are also sealers of weights and measures; persons to
measure and inspect wood, lumber, bark, and other commodities.
§4. The officers first mentioned in the preceding section, are, in the
New England states, called _selectmen_, of whom there are at least
three, and may in no state be more than nine, in each town. In a few
states they are called _trustees of townships_, and are three in number.
In a few other states, there is in each town one such officer, called
_supervisor_. The powers and duties of these officers are more numerous
in some states than in others. They have power to lay out roads, and lay
out and alter road districts; to do certain acts relating to roads,
bridges, taxes, common schools, the support of the poor, &c.; and to
examine and settle all demands against the town. In some of the states,
some of these duties are performed by other officers.
§5. The _town-clerk_ keeps the records, books, and papers of the town.
He records in a book the proceedings of town meetings, the names of the
persons elected, and such other papers as are required by law to be
recorded. In some states, deeds and other conveyances are required to be
recorded by the clerks of towns.
[For a description of the duties of _assessors_ and _justices of the
peace_, see Assessment and Collection of Taxes, and Justices' Courts.]
§6. For the repairing of _highways_, a town is divided by the proper
officers into as many road districts as may be judged convenient; and a
person residing in each district is chosen, called _overseer_ or
_supervisor_, or _surveyor_ of _highways_, whose duty it is to see that
the roads are repaired and kept in order in his district. In some states
a tax is laid and collected for this purpose; and each person assessed
may perform labor or furnish materials to the amount of his tax. In
other states, road taxes are assessed upon the citizens in days' labor,
according to the value of their property; every man, however, being
first assessed one day for his head, which is called a _poll-tax_.
Persons not wishing to labor, may pay an equivalent in money, which is
called _commuting_.
§7. _Overseers of the poor_ provide for the support of the poor
belonging to the town who need relief, and have no near relations who
are able to support them. In some states there is in each county a
poor-house, to which the poor of the several towns are sent to be
provided for; the expense to be charged to the towns to which such poor
persons belonged.
§8. The principal duties of a _constable_ are, to serve all processes
issued by justices of the peace in suits at law for collecting debts,
and for arresting persons charged with crimes. The business of a
constable in executing the orders of a justice of the peace, is similar
to that of a sheriff in relation to the county courts.
§9. The town _treasurer_ receives all moneys belonging to the town, and
pays them out as they may be wanted for town-purposes; and accounts
yearly to the proper officers. The office of town treasurer does not
exist in all the states.
§10. The duties of _fence-viewers_ relate chiefly to the settling of
disputes between the owners of adjoining lands concerning division
fences, the examining or viewing of fences when damage has been done by
trespassing animals; and the estimating of damages in such cases.
§11. The town _sealer_ keeps correct copies of the standard of weights
and measures established by the state. Standard copies are furnished by
the state sealer to each county sealer, at the expense of the county,
and the county sealer furnishes each town sealer a copy at the expense
of the town. The town sealer compares the weights and measures brought
to him with the copy in his possession, and sees that they are made to
agree with it, and seals and marks them. A person selling by a weight or
measure that does not agree with the standard, is liable to the
purchaser for damages--generally to several times the amount of the
injury.
For a particular description of the duties of town officers, reference
must be had to the laws of the several states.
Chapter XVI.
Incorporation and Government of Cities, Villages, &c.
§1. Cities and incorporated villages have governments peculiar to
themselves. Places containing a large and close population need a
different government from that of ordinary towns or townships. Many of
the laws regulating the affairs of towns thinly inhabited, are not
suited to a place where many thousand persons are closely settled.
Besides, the electors in such a place would be too numerous to meet in a
single assembly for the election of officers or the transaction of other
public business.
§2. Whenever, therefore, the inhabitants of any place become so numerous
as to require a city government, they petition the legislature for a law
incorporating them into a city. The law or act of incorporation is
usually called a _charter_. The word _charter_ is from the Latin
_charta_, which means paper. The instruments of writing by which kings
or other sovereign powers granted rights and privileges to individuals
or corporations, were written on paper or parchment, and called
_charters_. In this country, it is commonly used to designate an act of
the legislature conferring privileges and powers upon cities, villages,
and other corporations.
§3. The chief executive officer of a city is a _mayor_. A city is
divided into wards of convenient size, in each of which are chosen one
or more _aldermen_, (usually two,) and such other officers as are named
in the charter. The mayor and aldermen constitute the _common council_,
which is a kind of legislature, having the power to pass such laws,
(commonly called _ordinances_,) and to make such orders and regulations,
as the government of the city requires. The mayor presides in meetings
of the common council, and performs also certain judicial and other
duties. There are also elected in the several wards, assessors,
constables, collectors, and other necessary officers, whose duties in
their respective wards are similar to those of like named officers in
country towns, or townships.
§4. The inhabitants of cities, however, are not wholly governed by laws
made by the common council. Most of the laws enacted by the legislature
are of general application, and have the same effect in cities as
elsewhere. Thus the laws of the state require, that taxes shall be
assessed and levied upon the property of the citizens of the state to
defray the public expenses; and the people of the cities are required to
pay their just proportion of the same; but the city authorities lay and
collect additional taxes for city purposes.
§5. In cities there are also courts of justice other than those which
are established by the constitution or general laws of the state. There
is a court for the trial of persons guilty of disturbing the peace, and
of such other minor offenses as are usually punishable by imprisonment
in the county jail, called _police court_. It is held by a _police
justice_, elected by the people, or appointed in such manner as the law
prescribes. In some of the larger cities, there are courts of _civil_ as
well as criminal jurisdiction, differing from those which are common to
counties generally.
§6. The government of incorporated _villages_ is not in all respects
like that of cities. The chief executive officer of such a village is,
in some states, called _president_. The village is not divided into
wards; the number of its inhabitants being too small to require such
division. Instead of a board of aldermen, there is a board of _trustees_
or _directors_, who exercise similar powers. The president of a village
is generally chosen by the trustees from their own number. In some
states, incorporated villages are called _towns_; and their chief
executive officer is called _mayor_.
§7. The necessity and effect of incorporating a village may not yet
clearly appear to every reader. Let us illustrate. By a general law of
the state, or by a vote of the electors of a township in pursuance of
such law, cattle may run at large in the highways. This might be to many
persons in a village, a great annoyance, which can be prevented or
abated only by confining the cattle. Or, sidewalks may need to be made.
Or, it may be deemed necessary to provide means for extinguishing fires,
by purchasing fire-engines and organizing fire companies. In an
unincorporated village there is no power to compel the citizens to do
these things. Those, therefore, who desire that the citizens should have
power to make all needful regulations for the government of the village,
petition the legislature for an act of incorporation granting the
necessary powers.
§8. The constitutions of some states require the legislature to pass a
general law prescribing the manner in which the people of any village
may form themselves into a corporation, with the necessary powers of
government, with out a special law for that purpose.
§9. Besides these _territorial_ corporations for purposes of government,
as counties, towns, cities, &c., there are _incorporated companies_ for
carrying on business of various kinds, as turnpike and rail-road
companies, and companies for the purposes of banking, insurance,
manufacturing, &c. These kinds of business, to be carried on
successfully, sometimes require a larger amount of money than one man
possesses. A number of persons, therefore, unite their capital under an
act of incorporation granting them power to manage their business which
they could not have in an ordinary business partnership. Besides, a
common partnership must end on the death of any one of the partners; but
an incorporated company is not thus affected by the death of its
members.
§10. It is in the nature of corporations to have a perpetual existence.
A corporation may live after the persons who first composed it are all
dead; for those who come after them have the same powers and privileges.
A town or city incorporated a hundred years ago, is the same town or
city still, although none of its first inhabitants are living. So a
railroad or banking corporation may exist after the death of many, or
even all of the original corporators.
§11. But there are certain particulars in which all corporations are not
the same. A state has been defined to be a body politic, or corporation.
(Chap. I. §10; III, §5.) But it differs from other government
corporations, as counties, towns, cities, &c., in this: the latter are
formed by acts of the legislature; but a state is formed by the people
in their political capacity in establishing the constitution.
§12. Again, all these government corporations differ from incorporated
business companies. In forming a town or city, many persons are brought
into the corporation against their wishes or consent; because, in
governments, all who live within certain prescribed bounds must come
under the same laws; but of an incorporated business association, as of
a common business partnership, none become members but by their own act
or choice. There is another difference: The latter are what are called
_stock_ companies; and although they may be continued after the death of
the first corporators, those who afterward come into the association, do
so by becoming owners of the capital stock of those who preceded them.
This latter difference will more clearly appear from the more particular
description, elsewhere given, of the incorporated companies, and of the
manner in which the stock is transferred. (Chap. XXIII, §11--15.)
Chapter XVII.
Judicial Department. Justices' Courts.
§1. Having seen how the legislative and executive departments of a state
government are constituted, and how the laws are made and executed, the
manner in which the local affairs of counties and towns are conducted,
and the powers and duties of their respective officers; we proceed to
describe the _judicial_ department, the powers and duties of judicial
officers, and the manner in which justice is administered.
§2. It is the business of the legislature to determine what acts shall
be deemed public offenses, or crimes, and to make laws for securing
justice to the citizens in their dealings and general intercourse with
each other; but to judge of and apply the laws; that is, to determine
what the law is and whether it has been broken, and to fix the just
measure of damage or of punishment, and to order such decision to be
carried into effect, are duties which, as has been observed, have been
wisely assigned to a separate and distinct department. (Chap. VIII. §7.)
§3. A government without some power to decide disputes, to award
justice, and to punish crime according to the laws of the state, would
not be complete. To allow every man to be his own judge in cases of
supposed injury, and to redress his own wrongs, would endanger the
rights of others. Justice is best secured to the citizens by
establishing courts for the redress of injuries and the punishment of
crimes; and that no person may suffer unjustly, it is provided that
every person charged with crime or any other wrong, is entitled to a
fair and impartial trial.
§4. For the convenience of persons who may be compelled to seek relief
at law, courts are established in every town. These are courts of the
lowest grade, and are called _justices' courts_, being held by justices
of the peace who are, in most of the states, elected by the people of
the several towns. They are called the lowest courts, because they have
jurisdiction only in cases in which the smallest sums or damages are
claimed, or in which only the lowest offenses are tried. The word
_jurisdiction_ is from the Latin _jus_, law, or _juris_, of the law, and
_dictio_, a pronouncing or speaking. Hence the _jurisdiction_ of a court
means its power to pronounce the law.
§5. Although justices of the peace are generally elected in the towns,
their jurisdiction extends over the county; that is, they have power to
try causes arising in any part of the county, or between citizens
residing in other towns. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace is
generally prescribed by law. The law prescribes the sum that may be sued
for, or the amount of damage that may be recovered in a justice's court,
and the grade of offenses that may be tried in it. In some states
justices of the peace may try suits only in which the sum in controversy
does not exceed $50; but in most of them, the jurisdiction of a justice
extends, it is believed, to sums of $100 or more.
§6. Causes, in which money is claimed for damage or for debt, are called
_civil_ causes; those for the trial of persons charged with crime, or
some misdemeanor, are called _criminal_ causes. All crimes, strictly
speaking, are misdemeanors. In common usage, however, the word
_misdemeanor_ denotes a smaller offense, such as is usually punishable
by fine, or by imprisonment in a county jail, and not in a state prison.
Causes, actions, and suits, are words of similar meaning in law
language, being generally used to signify prosecutions at law, or
lawsuits. The party that sues is called _plaintiff_; the party sued is
the _defendant_.
§7. Prosecutions at law are conducted in nearly the same manner in the
different states. The following is a sketch of the proceedings in an
ordinary civil suit in a justice's court: The justice, at the request of
the plaintiff, issues a _summons_, which is a writ or precept addressed
to a constable of the town, in some states to any constable of the
county, commanding him to summon the defendant to appear before the
justice on a day and at an hour specified, to answer the plaintiff
(naming him) in a suit, the nature of which is stated in the summons.
§8. The constable serves the summons by reading it or stating the
substance of it to the defendant; and if requested, gives him a copy of
it. If he does not find the defendant, he leaves a copy at his place of
residence with some one of the family of proper age. At or before the
time named for trial, the constable returns to the justice the summons
with an indorsement stating the day on which it was served, and whether
served personally or by copy. If served by copy, and the defendant does
not appear at the time named for trial, a new summons is issued, as the
practice is in some states--perhaps all of them; and the trial may not
proceed unless a summons has been personally served.
§9. The parties may appear in person, or by attorney. An _attorney_ is
any person lawfully appointed to transact business for another; hence
the word attorney does not always mean an attorney at law, or lawyer,
who is properly an officer of a court of law. When the parties have
appeared and answered to their names, they make their _pleadings_; that
is, the plantiff declares for what he brings his suit; and the defendant
states the nature of what he has to _offset_ against the demand of the
plaintiff, or denies the demand altogether. These acts of the parties
are called _joining issue_.
§10. If the parties are ready for trial, the justice proceeds to try the
issue. If the witnesses have not been subpœned and are not in
attendance, the cause is adjourned to a future day; and the justice, at
the request of either party, issues a _subpœna_, which is a writ
commanding persons to attend in court as witnesses. The witnesses on
both sides are examined by the justice, who decides according to law and
equity, as the right of the case may appear, in which he is said to
_give judgment_. To the amount of the judgment, whether against the
plaintiff or the defendant, are added the costs; for it is considered to
be just that the party in default shall pay the expense of the suit.
The costs consist of the _fees_ or compensation to be paid the justice,
constable and witnesses for their services.
§11. If a defendant does not appear at the time of trial, the justice
may proceed to try the cause, and decide upon the testimony of the
plaintiff's witnesses. If a plaintiff does not answer or appear when his
name is called in court, the justice enters judgment of _nonsuit_. A
plaintiff may, at any time before judgment is rendered, discontinue or
withdraw his action, in which case also judgment of nonsuit is given. In
cases of nonsuit, and also when no cause of action is found, judgment is
rendered against the plantiff for the costs.
§12. A debtor may avoid the expense of a lawsuit by _confessing
judgment_. The parties go before a justice, and the debtor acknowledges
or confesses the claim of the creditor, and consents that the justice
enter judgment accordingly. In some states, the confession and consent
must be in writing, and signed by the debtor. The amount for which
judgment may be confessed is limited by law, but is, in some states at
least, and perhaps in most if not all of them, larger than the sum to
which the jurisdiction of a justice is limited in ordinary suits.
Chapter XVIII.
Trial by Jury; Execution; Attachment; Appeals; Arrest of Offenders.
§1. The administration of justice in courts of law is not left entirely
to the justices and judges. Parties may not always have sufficient
confidence in the ability, honesty, and impartiality of the justice by
whom a suit is to be tried, to intrust their interests to his judgment.
Therefore the constitutions of all the states guaranty to every person
the right of trial by a jury. This right has been enjoyed in England
many centuries. It was established here by our ancestors, who were
principally from that country.
§2. A _jury_ is a number of men qualified and selected as the law
prescribes, and sworn to try a matter of fact, and to declare the truth
on the evidence given in the case. This declaring of the truth is called
a _verdict_, which is from the Latin _verum dictum_, a true declaration
or saying. A jury in a justice's court consists in most or all of the
states, as is believed, of six men; in the higher courts, of twelve men,
who are generally required to be freeholders. The manner of selecting
the jurors is not the same in all the states.
§3. After issue has been joined, and before testimony has been heard,
either party may demand that the cause be tried by a jury. Whereupon the
justice issues a _venire_, which is a writ or precept directing a
constable to summon the required number of duly qualified men to appear
before the justice, to make a jury to try the cause.
§4. The testimony and arguments on both sides having been heard, the
jurors are put under the charge of the constable, who is sworn to keep
them in some convenient place, without meat or drink, except such as the
justice may order, until they shall have agreed on their verdict, or
have been discharged by the justice; and not to allow any person to
speak to them during such time, nor to speak to them himself, except by
order of the justice, unless to ask them whether they have agreed on
their verdict.
§5. All the jurors must agree in a verdict; and when so agreed, they
return in charge of the constable, and, in open court, deliver their
verdict to the justice, who enters judgment according to the finding of
the jury. If the jurors, after having been out a reasonable time, do not
all agree upon a verdict, the justice may discharge them, and issue a
new venire, unless the parties consent to submit the cause to the
justice.
§6. If a judgment is not paid within the time prescribed by law, the
justice issues an _execution_, which is a precept directing a constable
to collect the amount of the judgment; and authorizing him to take and
sell the goods and chattels of the debtor, and to make his returns to
the justice within the time required. _Goods_ and _chattels_ are
personal or movable property, or property other than freehold, or real
estate. If the money can not be collected, the execution is returned as
not satisfied. If a constable does not faithfully obey the directions
contained in the execution, he and his sureties become liable to pay the
judgment.
§7. Laws have been passed in all the states for the benefit of poor men,
who are allowed to retain, for the use and comfort of themselves and
their families, certain articles of personal property, which may not be
sold on execution; such as necessary household furniture, apparel, beds,
tools and implements of trade, &c. The practice which formerly
prevailed, of imprisoning debtors who were unable to satisfy executions,
has been abolished, except for fines and penalties.
§8. The foregoing description of the proceedings of a justice's court is
that of a prosecution in ordinary cases. But there are other modes of
prosecution in certain cases, one of which is by attachment. An
_attachment_ is a writ directing the property of a debtor to be taken,
and kept till a trial can be had, and judgment obtained. This mode of
proceeding is adopted when the plaintiff has reason to believe that a
debtor conceals himself to avoid being prosecuted by summons, or is
about to remove his property or himself from the county, or intends in
some other way to defraud his creditors.
§9. In case of an absent or concealed debtor, the constable, (as is
supposed to be the common practice,) leaves a copy of the attachment,
with an inventory or list of the articles of property attached, at the
defendant's last place of abode, or, if he had none in the county, the
copy and inventory are to be left with the person in whose possession
the property is found. If the defendant does not appear on the day of
trial, the plaintiff may proceed to prove his demand and take judgment.
An execution is then issued against the property attached.
§10. If either party is dissatisfied with a judgment rendered in a
justice's court, he may _appeal_ to a higher court for trial, or for a
review of the judgment. The party appealing is called _appellant_; the
adverse party is the _appellee_ or _respondent_.
§11. An important part of the duties of a justice of the peace relates
to the arrest and trial of persons charged with crimes and misdemeanors.
Although they have not power to try high offenses usually called crimes,
they may order the apprehension of persons charged with such offenses,
and cause them to be committed for trial.
§12. A person knowing or suspecting another to have committed an
offense, may make complaint to a judge or justice of the peace, who
examines the complainant on oath, and witnesses, if any appear; and if
he is satisfied that an offense has been committed, he issues a
_warrant_, directing the person accused to be brought before him. The
complainant and witnesses for the prosecution, and next the prisoner and
his witnesses, are examined. If the offense is one of which the
magistrate has jurisdiction, he may proceed to try the prisoner, who, it
will be recollected, is entitled to be tried by a jury.
§13. If the offense is one which the magistrate has not power to try, he
binds the prosecutor or complainant and all material witnesses to appear
and testify against the prisoner at the next court having power to
indict and try him. And if the offense is one for which the prisoner may
be bailed, the magistrate takes bail for his appearance at court. If the
offense is not bailable, or if no satisfactory bail is offered, the
magistrate orders him to be committed to jail to await his trial. But,
as will be seen hereafter, he must be indicted by a grand jury before he
can be tried. (Chap. XIX., §7-9.) And were there no danger of an
offender's escape before he could be brought to trial, his previous
arrest and examination might be unnecessary.
§14. The obligation or bond given by a prosecutor and witnesses for
their appearance at court, is sometimes called a _recognizance_. They
bind themselves, with sureties, to forfeit and pay a certain sum of
money in case of their non-appearance. A similar bond or recognizance is
given in case of bail. The person accused binds himself, with sureties,
in such sum as the justice requires, which is to be paid if he shall not
appear for trial. The word _bail_ is from a French word meaning _to
deliver_, or _to release_. Hence, the justice _bails_, sets free, or
delivers to his sureties, the party arrested. Also the sureties are said
to bail a person when they procure his liberation.
Chapter XIX.
Courts other than Justices' Courts; Grand and Petit Juries, &c.
§1. The court next higher than a justice's court, is a court held in
each county, generally called a _county court_, or _court of common
pleas_. This court is usually held by a county judge elected by the
electors of the county in most of the states; in some, appointed by the
legislature; and in others, by the governor, with the advice and consent
of the senate. In a few of the states this court consists of more than
one judge. In some states, county courts are held by judges of the
circuit courts.
§2. In this court are tried civil causes in which are claimed sums of
greater amount than a justice of the peace has jurisdiction of, and
criminal causes in which are charged the lower crimes committed in the
county. Also causes removed by appeal from a justice's court are tried
in this court; in which cases it is said to have _appellate_
jurisdiction. Courts are also said to have _original_ jurisdiction;
which means that suits may _originate_ or commence in such courts.
§3. There is in every state at least one court, and in most of the
states there are two or more courts of higher grade than a county court.
They are called in the different states by different names; as _circuit
court_, _superior court_, _supreme court_, and _court of appeals_. A
_circuit_ court probably obtains its name thus: A state is divided into
judicial districts, in each of which one or more judges are elected,
who go around holding a court once a year or oftener in each of the
counties composing a judicial district. This court usually has both
original and appellate jurisdiction; it being a part of its business to
try appeals from the county courts. It also tries such of the higher
crimes as a county court has not the power to try. Courts in which
crimes are tried are sometimes called courts of _oyer and terminer_.
§4. Every county court, and every circuit having like jurisdiction, has
a jury to try issues of fact, and a grand jury. An _issue of fact_ is
when the _fact_ as to the indebtedness or the guilt of the party charged
is to be determined from the testimony. An _issue of law_ is one in
which it is to be determined what is the _law_ in the case, which is
done by the judge instead of the jury. The jury by which issues of fact
are tried, as distinguished from a grand jury, is called a _petty_ or
_petit jury_. It consists of twelve men, all of whom must agree in a
verdict.
§5. The manner of selecting grand and petit jurors is prescribed by law.
A number of judicious men in each town are selected by some person or
persons lawfully authorized; and the names of the men so selected are
written on separate pieces of paper, and put into a box in each town,
and kept by the town clerk; or as is the practice in some states, the
names of the men designated as jurors in the several towns are sent to
the county clerk, and by him kept in a box. Previous to the sitting of
the court, the requisite number is drawn out the box; and the men whose
names are drawn, are summoned to attend as jurors.
§6. It is the business of a _grand jury_ to inquire concerning crimes
and misdemeanors committed in the county; and if there appear just
grounds of accusation against any person, they make to the court a
presentment or formal charge against him, upon which he is to be put
upon trial. The number of grand jurors is not always the same. In some
states there may not be more than twenty-three nor less than twelve. It
is not required that they shall all agree in order to put a person upon
trial.
§7. On the opening of the court, the grand jurors are sworn to make a
true presentment of all things given them in charge. The judge then
gives them a charge, and appoints one of them foreman; and the jurors
retire to a private apartment to attend to their duties. They hear all
complaints brought before them against persons for crimes and breaches
of the peace, and examine witnesses who appear to testify; and when it
is requested, they have the assistance and advice of the state's
attorney; or as he is called in some states, the _district attorney_, or
_prosecuting attorney_. If they think any person complained of ought to
be tried, they draw up a writing, in which they charge him with the
offense of which they think him guilty. This is called an _indictment_.
It is signed by the foreman, indorsed "a true bill," and carried by the
jury into court. If the person accused has not before been arrested, he
may now be arrested, and put upon trial. (See Chap. XVIII, §12-14.)
§8. As grand juries do not try crimes, but merely make inquiry into
them, some may not readily perceive the necessity of such juries.
Innocent persons might be subjected to great inconvenience and expense
in defending themselves in court against the slanderous reports or false
accusations of evil minded persons. It is to prevent this that grand
juries are instituted, who make careful examinations into the cases
brought before them, and do not often charge persons with crime unless
there is a strong probability of their being found guilty on trial.
§9. So important was the institution of grand juries considered, that
the constitution of the United States, to which the constitutions and
laws of the states must conform, was made to provide, that "no person
shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime, unless on
a presentment or indictment of a grand jury," except in certain cases.
(Con. U.S., Amend. Art. V. For the definition of "infamous crime," see
Chap. VI., §7.)
§10. It is the opinion of many that this requirement of a previous
indictment by a grand jury has reference only to the courts of the
United States; and that the states may dispense with it. Hence, efforts
are now making in some states to abolish grand juries. It is supposed
that an examination at all times before a justice or a judge, when the
prisoner can be present with his witnesses, is more likely to protect
him against being unnecessarily subjected to the trouble and expense of
a trial, than before a grand jury, where complaints are often made by
malicious persons, and sustained by the testimony of partial or corrupt
witnesses.
§11. The _supreme court_ is generally the next higher, and in most of
the states, the highest state court. This court differs somewhat in the
different states, both in the manner of its formation and in its
jurisdiction. It is believed, however, to have, in the states generally,
both original and appellate jurisdiction, civil and criminal. In the
state of New York and a few other states, there is one higher court,
called _court of appeals_, which has appellate power only. Its business
is to review cases from the supreme court.
§12. Suits in the county, circuit, and supreme courts, are commenced by
a _writ_, (in some states a summons or a declaration,) which is served
by the sheriff of the county in which the suit is to be tried. He also
serves warrants and executions issued by these courts. A sheriff is to
these courts what a constable is to a justice's court. His powers and
duties have been elsewhere described. (Chap. XIV., §8.)
Chapter XX.
Chancery or Equity Courts; Probate Courts; Court of Impeachment.
§1. It might be supposed, that in instituting the courts which have been
described, all necessary provision had been made for securing justice to
the citizens. But many cases arise in which justice and equity can not
be obtained in these courts. To afford relief in such cases, a court
has been established called a _court of equity_, or _court of chancery_.
What often renders it impossible to get justice in ordinary courts of
law, is the want of witnesses; but in a court of equity the parties may
themselves be put on oath.
§2. A debtor, to avoid the payment of his debts, may conceal his
property or his money; but this court may compel him to disclose and
give up the same to satisfy an execution; and it may prevent persons
indebted to him from making payment to him. A person refusing to fulfill
a contract may, in courts of common law, only be sued for damage; but
this court may in certain cases compel him to fulfill the contract
itself. It may also restrain individuals and corporations from
committing fraudulent acts, and prevent persons from committing wastes
on land and certain other injuries, until the right at law can be tried.
§3. Courts of chancery were established, it is believed, in a majority
of the old states. But separate and distinct organizations called
chancery courts, now exist in but a few states; the power to try suits
in equity having been given to the judges of the common law courts.
§4. Suits _in equity_ are not commenced as suits _at law_. The plaintiff
prepares a bill of complaint, the facts stated in which are sworn to by
himself. The bill, which contains a petition or prayer that the
defendant may be summoned to make answer on oath, is filed with the
clerk of the court, who issues a subpœna commanding the defendant to
appear before the court on a day named. A trial may be had on the
complaint and answer alone; or witnesses may be introduced by the
parties. The case is argued by counsel, and a _decree_ is pronounced by
the court, which the court has power to carry into effect.
§5. There is another kind of courts which are in their nature different
from ordinary law courts, and are called _probate courts_. There is in
every county a probate court held by a _judge of probate_, whose duties
relate to the proving of wills and the settling of the estates of
persons deceased. A _will_ is a writing in which a person gives
directions concerning the disposal of his property after his death. The
Latin word _probatus_ means proof; from which _probate_ has come to be
applied to the proving of a will. (See Wills and Testaments.) In the
state of New York the judge of this court is called _surrogate_, and the
court is called _surrogate's court_.
§6. There is still another court in every state, which is not a common
law court. It is the _court of impeachment_. The name is applied to the
senate when sitting on a trial of impeachment. An _impeachment_ is a
charge or accusation against a public officer for corrupt conduct in his
office; as if a governor, for money offered him, should approve and sign
a law; or a judge should, for money or from some other selfish or
personal motive, give a wrong judgment. The constitution gives to the
house of representatives the power to impeach, and to the senate the
power to try the persons impeached. This practice has come from Great
Britain, where the impeachment is made by the house of commons, and the
house of lords is the high court of impeachment.
§7. The house of representatives, in a case of impeachment, acts in
nearly the same manner as a grand jury in a court of law. A complaint is
made to the house; and if, upon examination, there appear to a majority
of the members present sufficient grounds for the charge, an accusation
in writing is prepared, called _articles of impeachment_, and delivered
to the senate. In some states, a majority of the members elected is
necessary to impeach. The president of the senate orders the court to be
summoned. The accused is brought before the court to answer to the
charge, and has counsel assigned him. The senators are sworn truly to
try and determine the impeachment according to evidence; and a day is
fixed for trial.
§8. The house of representatives usually choose from their number a
committee of managers to conduct the trial, the proceedings in which are
the same as in law courts. The senators retire and deliberate as jurors
in such courts. Two-thirds of the senators--in some states two-thirds of
all the senators elected--must concur in order to convict the person
accused. If a person is convicted, the court may remove him from
office, or disqualify him to hold any office in the state, for a time,
or for life; or may both remove and disqualify him. This court can
pronounce no other sentence. But if the act committed is a crime, the
offender may also be indicted, tried, and punished in a court of
justice.
§9. Judicial officers may also be removed by the governor on address of
the legislature. If a judge is suspected of corrupt conduct in his
office, or of being incompetent to discharge its duties, complaint is
made to the legislature, and the party complained of is notified, and an
opportunity is given him of being heard in his defense. If both
branches, by the required majorities, concur in the opinion that he
ought to be removed, they address the governor, setting forth their
reasons for the removal. If the governor considers the reasons
sufficient, the officer is removed. This mode of removal does not exist
in all the states. In New York, and perhaps in a few other states, the
legislature makes the removal without the concurrence of the governor;
and in that state some of the lower judicial officers may be removed by
the senate on the recommendation of the governor. In a few states,
judges are not removable by impeachment.
Chapter XXI.
Assessment and Collection of Taxes.
§1. Every government must have the power of providing means for its
support. The money which is needed to pay the expenses of administering
the government, if the state has no permanent source of revenue, or
income, must be raised by taxation. A _tax_ is a rate or sum of money
assessed upon the person or property of a citizen for the use of the
state. When assessed upon the person, it is called a _poll-tax_, or
_capitation tax_, being a certain sum on every poll, or head. But as
persons ought generally to contribute to the public expenses according
to their ability, taxes are more just and equal when laid upon the
property of the citizens. Few poll-taxes are levied in this country.
§2. There are certain kinds of property which are exempt from taxation;
such as the corporate property of the state, of counties, and of towns,
including the buildings in which the public business is done, the
prisons, jails, asylums, &c., and the lands attached to them;
school-houses and meeting-houses, with the lands attached;
burying-grounds, and the property of literary and charitable
institutions. But the property of business corporations, as rail-road,
banking, insurance, manufacturing, and other stock companies, like that
of individuals, is liable to taxation. _Real estate_, or _real
property_, is land with the buildings and other articles erected or
growing thereon. _Personal estate_, or _personal property_, consists of
movables, as goods, chattels, money, and debts due from solvent debtors.
§3. As the property of every person is to be assessed in proportion to
its value, it is necessary, first, to make a correct valuation of all
the taxable property. For this purpose, the assessor or assessors pass
through the town, and make a list of the names of all the taxable
inhabitants, and the estimated value of the property, real and personal,
of each; and returns of the same are made to the proper county officers,
who cause the tax-list for each town to be made out, and order the taxes
to be collected.
§4. In some states, persons liable to taxation are themselves required
to furnish lists of all their taxable property, printed blank lists
having been previously distributed among them for this purpose. To
secure an accurate valuation, the assessors, (called also _listers_,)
may require persons to make oath that they have made a true statement of
their property and its value. In states where the polls of the
tax-payers are assessed, these also are set down in the lists at such
sums as the law directs to be affixed to each poll.
§5. Before a tax-list can be made out, it must be known what amount is
to be collected in each town. This amount is made up of three parts:
First, the sum wanted to pay the expenses of the town for the preceding
year; secondly, the town's share of the county expenses; and thirdly,
its proportional share of the expenses of the state government, or of
what is to be raised for state purposes.
§6. The apportionment of the amount of the state and county expenses
among the several towns, is made according to the amount of property in
each as valued by the assessors. The state auditor or controller, having
received from the several counties returns of the value of the property
in each county, is enabled to determine its quota of the amount to be
raised for state purposes. To each county's share of the state expenses
is added the sum to be raised in the county for county purposes; and the
amount is apportioned among the towns in proportion to the value of the
assessed property of each. Then adding to each town's share of the
amount of the state and county expenses, the amount to be raised for
town purposes, gives the sum to be collected in the town.
§7. Having thus ascertained the sum to be raised in each town, the
officers whose duty it is, cause a tax-list to be made out, in which the
amount of each person's tax is set opposite his name and the estimated
value of his property. The tax-list of each town, certified and signed
by the proper persons, is put into the hands of the collector, with a
warrant ordering the same to be collected.
§8. The money collected for county and state purposes is paid to the
county treasurer, who pays to the state treasurer the amount raised in
the county for state expenses, and retains the remainder to be expended
in the county. The money collected for town purposes is paid to such
persons in the town as are by law authorized to receive the same.
Chapter XXII.
Education. School Funds; Schools, &c.
§1. The proper object of government is to promote the welfare and
happiness of its citizens. For this purpose, it must provide for making
and properly administering laws to protect the people in the enjoyment
of life and the fruits of their labor. But it should go further, and
make express provision for improving the condition of the people,
especially the less fortunate portions of them.
§2. The prosperity of a state or nation depends essentially upon the
education of its citizens. This is seen by comparing the condition of
the people of this country with the condition of the people of those
countries where the benefits of education are not enjoyed. Ignorance
tends to make men idle, vicious, and miserable. On the other hand,
learning is not only a means of enjoyment in itself, but of improving
the social condition of a people.
§3. Again, a free government is better adapted than any other to promote
the welfare of a nation. But if the people are not properly educated,
they are incapable of self-government. And as many persons are unable to
pay for the tuition of their children, the safety of the government
itself requires the establishment of a system of education, by which the
great body of the people may be fitted to discharge their social and
political duties. The states have accordingly instituted school systems
for the instruction of children and youth of all classes at the public
expense.
§4. In most of the states, the schools are supported only in part, in a
few of them wholly, at the expense of the states. Some states have
provided funds, the income of which is annually applied to this object.
_Fund_ generally signifies the money or capital stock employed in
carrying on trade or any other business operation. _State funds_ are the
moneys and other property of the state which are set apart for paying
the expenses of the government, or for the construction of canals,
roads, and other public improvements. The interest of these funds, and
the income from other sources, are called the _revenue_.
§5. In some states, school funds are created by appropriating the public
lands, which are lands owned by the state as a body corporate. The
proceeds of these lands, from sales or rents, constitute a part or the
whole of the school fund, the interest of which is annually applied to
the support of schools. If the income from the school fund is
insufficient for this purpose, the deficiency may, as is done in some
states, be supplied, in whole or in part, by taxation, or from the state
treasury.
§6. Many of the new states have large school funds. At an early period,
while most of the territory from which these states have been formed was
yet the property of the United States, and uninhabited, Congress passed
an act by which a particular section of land (number sixteen) in every
township is reserved for the support of schools therein. By this act,
one thirty-sixth part of the lands within each of these states has been
thus appropriated, besides smaller portions granted for the benefit of a
university in each state. These lands are in the charge of proper
officers, who dispose of them, and apply the proceeds as the law
directs.
§7. The school funds of many of the states have been largely increased
by certain moneys received from the United States. In 1837, there had
accumulated in the national treasury about thirty millions of dollars
over and above what was needed for the support of the government. By an
act of congress, this surplus revenue was distributed among the states
then existing, to be kept by them until called for by congress. Although
congress reserved the right to recall the money, it was presumed that it
would never be demanded. That it never will be, is now almost certain.
Many of the states have appropriated large portions of their respective
shares for school purposes. From its having been said to be only
_deposited_ with the states, this fund is sometimes called the _United
States deposit fund_.
§8. School moneys coming from the state treasury, or state fund, are
usually apportioned among the several towns of the state; and each
town's share of such moneys, together with what may come to the town by
taxation or from its school lands, is divided among the several
districts according to the number of children between certain ages in
each district, or in such other manner as may be directed by law. If the
moneys thus received are insufficient to pay the wages of teachers, a
rate bill is made out in each district for the deficiency, and collected
from the persons whose children have been taught in the schools.
§9. The towns, or townships, are divided into districts of suitable size
for schools, which are called _district schools_. From their being
supported by a common fund, and designed for the common benefit, or from
the lower or more common branches being taught in them, they are also
called _common schools_. One or more _trustees_ or _directors_ are
chosen in each district to manage its affairs; a _clerk_ to notify
meetings and record the proceedings of the same; and a _collector_ to
collect taxes for building and repairing school-houses, and all rate
bills for the payment of teachers.
§10. The highest school officer is the _state superintendent of common
schools_, or, as he is sometimes called, _superintendent of public
instruction_. The superintendent collects information relating to the
schools; the number of children residing in each district, and the
number taught; the amount paid for tuition; the number of school-houses,
and the amount yearly expended in erecting school-houses; and other
matters concerning the operation and effects of the common school
system. If there is no other officer whose duty it is, the
superintendent also apportions the money arising from the state funds
among the several counties. He reports to the legislature at every
session the information he has collected, and suggests such improvements
in the school system as he thinks ought to be made.
§11. There is in every county an officer who receives from the state
superintendent the money apportioned to the county, and apportions the
same among the towns; reports to the state superintendent the number of
children in the county; and performs such other duties as the law
requires. In some states, there is no such county officer; but the money
is apportioned by the state superintendent among the towns; and the
reports from the towns are made directly to the state superintendent.
§12. In the towns are officers whose duties are to examine teachers,
visit schools, apportion the school moneys among the districts, and to
collect the lists of the number of children in the several districts,
with such other information as the law requires, and report the same to
the county officer, or, if there is none, to the state superintendent.
In some states, there is in each county an officer or a board of
officers, for examining teachers, and performing certain other duties
relating to the schools of the county.
§13. Academies and colleges also receive aid from the state, to a
limited extent. A distinct fund is created in some states for their
benefit; in others, they are aided by special appropriations from the
state treasury.
Chapter XXIII.
Canals and Rail-Roads.
§1. In carrying out the purposes of government, provision ought also to
be made to secure to the people the means of obtaining a suitable reward
for their industry, and to render the labor of all, as nearly as may be,
equally profitable.
§2. The people of some states do not possess the same advantage as those
of others; nor do all the people of the same state enjoy equal
advantages. Those who reside at a great distance from market, or from
navigable waters and good roads, are not so well rewarded for their
labor as those who reside near them, because of the greater cost of the
transportation, both of what they have to sell, and of the goods they
buy. Hence the necessity of good roads, canals, or other means of
facilitating trade between the different parts of the state.
§3. Among the works intended to effect this object, _canals_ are perhaps
the most useful, and are to be preferred wherever their construction is
practicable. Canals are sometimes constructed by incorporated companies;
but generally these works, especially those of great magnitude, are made
by the state, and are the property of the state. Although there are some
states in which are no canals of this kind, it may be interesting to
young persons generally to know how so important a state work is made.
§4. To raise the money necessary to make a canal, the legislature might
levy a general tax upon the property of the citizens. But this would not
be expedient or just; because, first, the payment of so large a sum by
the people within the time in which it would be desirable to complete
the work, would be inconvenient and burdensome; and secondly, the
expense must fall alike upon the people of all parts of the state:
whereas, those residing most remotely from the line of the work, would
derive from it little or no benefit.
§5. When, therefore, a great enterprise of this kind is undertaken by a
state, the law authorizing the work usually provides a _fund_, the
income of which is to be applied to this object. This fund consists of
such lands, property, and moneys as the legislature may grant for this
purpose. Funds were thus constituted in some of the western states, to
which funds congress made grants of the public lands of the United
States lying within those states.
§6. These funds, however, furnish but a part, some of them but a small
portion of the money necessary to complete the work; and some states
undertaking public improvements may not have the lands or other property
to constitute such a fund. The state therefore borrows the money for a
long term of years, and depends upon the income of the canal fund and
the tolls to be collected on the canals, for the repayment of the money
borrowed. Should the revenues of the canal and of the canal fund be
insufficient, the deficiency may be supplied by taxation.
§7. The business of borrowing the money is done on the part of the
state, by persons duly authorized, who give for the money borrowed the
bonds of the state, which are written promises to pay the money at the
times specified, with interest at the rate agreed on; the interest
generally to be paid semi-annually. These bonds are usually given in
sums of $1,000 each, or less. The debts of a state thus contracted by
issuing bonds, are called _state stocks_, as the capital, or stock
required to construct a state work is obtained by the sale of its bonds.
These bonds, like the certificates of stock in a rail-road or other
corporate business company, are transferable, and may be bought and sold
as promissory notes, and constitute an important article of trade.
§8. These stocks are taken by men who have large sums of money to lend,
and who consider the state a responsible debtor; because, if it has no
other sufficient means of paying its bonds, the legislature has power to
raise the money by taxation. Most of the states have contracted debts in
this manner for various purposes. State stocks are purchased and held
not only by capitalists in this country, but by many in Europe.
§9. Officers are appointed to manage the canal fund, and others to
superintend the canals. There are also officers, called _canal
collectors_, at suitable distances along the canals, to collect the
_tolls_, which are charges paid by the masters or owners of boats for
the use of the canal.
§10. The states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and some other western
states, have prosecuted the canal enterprise on a large scale. Although
large debts have been contracted for the construction of canals in these
states, the benefits derived from them more than compensate for the vast
expense of their construction.
§11. _Rail-roads_, although they are of public utility, are not
properly public works, being constructed by companies incorporated for
that purpose. The necessity for an act of incorporation is readily seen.
Rail-roads pass through the lands of private individuals; and without
the authority of law, the land of no person can be taken for such
purpose; nor can a law authorize it to be taken, unless the work is one
of general advantage; nor even in such case, without compensation to the
owner for his land; for it is declared by the state constitutions, that
"private property shall not be taken for public use without just
compensation."
§12. If, therefore, the legislature deem a proposed railroad to be of
public utility, they pass an act to incorporate a company with the
requisite powers to construct the road, on making compensation for the
land, the value of which is to be estimated in such manner as the law
prescribes. The law also prescribes the manner in which the affairs of
the road are to be conducted.
§13. The amount of capital to be employed by the company, is mentioned
in the act of incorporation, or charter, and is raised in this way: The
amount of the capital, or stock, is divided into shares of $100, or
less. Persons wishing to invest money in the road, subscribe the number
of shares they will respectively take. When all the shares are thus sold
and the money is paid in, the company is ready to proceed to the
construction of the road. The owners of these shares are called
_stockholders_, who choose from among themselves such number of
_directors_ as the charter authorizes. The directors elect from their
number a _president_.
§14. Persons buying shares receive certificates signed by the proper
officers, stating the number of shares for which each certificate is
given. The holders of these certificates, if they wish to make other use
of the money they have invested in the business, may sell their stock to
others, to whom they pass their certificates, which are evidence of the
amount of stock purchased. Thus these certificates are bought and sold
as promissory notes.
§15. Stockholders depend, for the reimbursement of their capital, upon
the money to be received for the transportation of passengers and
freight. Such portion of the income of the road as remains after paying
all expenses of running and repairs, is divided semi-annually among the
stockholders. Hence the sums thus divided are called _dividends_. The
earnings of some roads are so large as to make the investment a
profitable one; so that the holder of shares is enabled to sell them at
an advance. When shares in the stock of any institution are sold at
their nominal value, the price named in the certificates, the stock is
said to be at _par_. When they are sold for more or less than their
nominal value, they are said to be above or below _par_. In large
commercial cities, as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and others, the
purchase and sale of state stocks, and stocks in rail-roads, banks, &c.,
is a regular and extensive business of capitalists.
Chapter XXIV.
Banks and Insurance Companies.
§1. Banks, we are told, were first instituted in Italy, where certain
Jews assembled, seated on benches, ready to lend money, and to exchange
money and bills; and _banco_ being the Italian name for bench, banks
took their title from this word. The first banks are said to have been
only places where money was laid up or deposited for safe-keeping. But
banks at the present day are not used for depositing alone.
§2. Banks in this country can be established only by authority of law.
They are incorporated by an act of the legislature. The capital stock is
raised by the sale of shares, and issue of certificates, as in the case
of rail-roads. (Chap. XXIII., §13.) The stockholders elect of their
number (usually) thirteen _directors_, who choose one of themselves as
_president_. The president and directors choose a cashier and clerks.
§3. Merchants and others in commercial places, deposit in banks, for
safe-keeping, the money they receive in the course of business, and then
draw it out on their written orders as they have occasion to use it. An
order of this kind is called a _check_.
§4. Persons depositing money only once, or very seldom, and intending to
draw for the same at once, usually receive from the cashier a
_certificate of deposit_, which states the name of the depositor, the
sum deposited, and to whose order it is to be paid. For the use of money
deposited for any considerable period, banks agree to pay interest,
usually less, however, than the rate established by law. Certificates of
deposit may, by indorsement, be made transferable as promissory notes
and other negotiable paper, (Chap. LX., §2,) and are often remitted,
instead of money, to distant places, where, by presenting them at a
bank, they may, for a trifling compensation, be converted into money.
§5. A material part of the business of banks is to assist merchants and
others in transmitting money to distant places. Thus: A, in New York,
wishing to send $1,000 to B, in Philadelphia, puts the money into a bank
in New York, takes for it an order, called _draft_, on a bank in
Philadelphia, for that amount, to be paid to B. The draft is sent by
mail to B, who presents his draft at the bank, and receives the money;
and the bank charges the amount to the New York bank.
§6. But persons unacquainted with commercial business, especially young
persons, may not know how the bank in Philadelphia is to be repaid. In
the course of trade between the two cities, business men are constantly
remitting money both ways through the banks, which thus receive the
money and draw upon each other. Thus millions of dollars may be annually
transmitted between the two cities, without any expense except the small
charge of the banks for doing the business, and without the risk of loss
by accident or robbery which attends the conveyance of money in person.
§7. Banks also lend money. The borrower gives a note for the sum
wanted, signed by himself, and indorsed by one or more others as
sureties. The cashier pays the money for the note, retaining out of it
the interest on the sum lent, instead of waiting for it until the note
becomes due. This is called _discounting_ a note.
§8. The bills of banks pass as money. A bank bill or note is a promise
of the bank to pay the bearer a certain sum on demand, signed by the
president and cashier. It passes as money, because the bank is bound to
pay it in specie if it is demanded. Paying notes thus is _redeeming_
them. When a bank is unable to redeem all its bills, it is said to have
failed, or to be broken; and the bill holders suffer loss, unless some
security has been provided. This has been done in some states by making
the stockholders individually liable for the redemption of the bills;
that is, the property owned by them as individuals may be taken and sold
on execution for that purpose. Such security, however, has never been
generally provided.
§9. But a system of banking, sometimes called _free banking_, has more
recently been adopted in some states. It is so called, because the
business of banking is thrown open to all by a _general law_. Any
person, or any number of persons, may, by complying with the provisions
of this general law, establish a bank without a special law for this
purpose. Hence it is also called the _general banking_ system.
§10. Persons, before commencing business under this law, must put into
the hands of the proper state officers ample securities for the
redemption of their bills; and they may not issue bills to a greater
amount than the amount of their securities. These securities must
consist of approved state stocks, or United States stocks, or partly of
public stocks, and partly of real estate. When a bank fails, the lands
and stocks held in pledge by the state are sold, and the avails are
applied to the redemption of the bills. This system of banking seems to
be growing into public favor.
§11. _Insurance companies_ also are authorized by law. Their business is
to insure persons against loss by fire. The corporators, on being paid a
small sum, consisting generally of a certain percentage on the amount
for which the property is insured, promise to pay such amount if the
property shall be destroyed by fire. There are companies also for
insuring vessels at sea; and _life_ insurance companies, that agree to
pay, in case of the death of the person insured, a certain sum for the
benefit of his family, or of some other person named in the policy. The
word _policy_ as here used, means the writing containing the terms or
conditions on which the company agrees to indemnify the person insured
in case of loss. The money paid to obtain insurance, is called
_premium_.
§12. The profits of the stockholders consist of the excess of money
received for premiums over the amount paid out for losses. Thus, if a
company has issued 2,000 policies, each covering property of an average
amount of $1,000, the amount of risk is $2,000,000; and if the rate of
insurance is one per cent., the amount received in premiums is $20,000.
Hence, if none of the 2,000 buildings is burned within the time the
insurance is to run, the $20,000 are gained. If ten of them should be
burned, there would still be a gain of $10,000. If twenty should be
destroyed, there would be no gain, but an actual loss to the amount of
the expenses of the concern.
§13. But from the average number and amount of losses annually for many
years, companies are enabled so to fix the rates of insurance as to give
the stockholders a fair profit on their capital. The rates are not the
same on all kinds of property; a higher per centage is charged on that
which is deemed hazardous, or more exposed to fire, than on that which
is less exposed. The profits on the business of the company, or the
_dividends_, as they are called, are annually or semi-annually divided
among the stockholders, in proportion to the amount of their respective
shares.
§14. There is another kind of insurance companies, which differ
materially from the _stock_ companies described in the preceding
sections. They are _mutual_ insurance companies. They are so called
because the members unite in insuring each other. Every person having
his property insured by such a company is a member of it. He has his
buildings and the property in them valued; and pays a certain rate per
cent. on such valuation. A fund is thus raised out of which any member
suffering loss by fire is paid the amount for which the property was
insured. When the fund is exhausted, it is again supplied by a tax
assessed upon the members in proportion to the amounts for which they
are respectively insured.
Chapter XXV.
The Militia.
§1. It is the practice of governments to keep their respective countries
prepared to defend themselves against foreign enemies. For this purpose
all men liable to do military duty are enrolled, and are required to
meet on certain days every year for instruction in the art of war, in
order to be ready for actual service whenever it shall be required. The
body of soldiers thus enrolled are called the _militia_. There are other
words which are sometimes applied to bodies of soldiers; as _infantry_,
which means the soldiers or troops who serve on foot; _cavalry_, the
troops on horses; _artillery_, those who manage the cannon and other
heavy weapons of war. But all troops are comprehended in the general
term, _militia_.
§2. The militia of a state, or a portion of them, may also be needed to
aid in executing the laws of the state, and in suppressing insurrection
or rebellion. An _insurrection_ is a rising against the public
authority, or the attempt of persons to prevent the execution of a law.
_Rebellion_ generally means nearly the same as _insurrection_; but more
properly it signifies a revolt, or an attempt to overthrow the
government to establish a different one. As it is the duty of an
executive to see the laws executed, power is given by the constitution
to the governor to call out a sufficient military force for this
purpose.
§3. All able-bodied white male citizens of the United States, between
the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, are liable to perform
military service in the states in which they reside, except such as are
exempt by the laws of the states and of the United States. Persons
exempt by the laws of the states are generally the following: Ministers
of the gospel; commissioned officers of the militia having served a
certain number of years; members of uniformed companies having served
for a specified time; members of fire companies; certain public officers
while in office; and in some states teachers and students of colleges,
academies, and common schools; and a few others.
§4. Persons exempt by the laws of the United States are the
vice-president, the subordinate executive and all the judicial officers
of the government of the United States; members of congress and its
officers; custom-house officers and their clerks; post-officers and
drivers of mail stages; ferrymen employed at ferries on post-roads;
pilots and mariners.
§5. By the constitutions of the several states, the governors are made
the commanders-in-chief of the militia of their respective states; and
by the constitution of the United States, the president is made
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and also
of the militia of the states when called out into actual service. It has
already been remarked, (§2,) that the military force of the state is at
the command of the executive to protect the government and its citizens.
So the president was thought the proper person to have command of the
public forces, to execute the laws of the United States, to repel
invasion, and to carry on war. Hence the governors and the president are
not among the public officers who are exempt from military duty.
§6. Persons who, having been duly notified, refuse to appear at
military parades, or, appearing without being equipped as the law
directs, are tried by a military court, called _court martial_,
consisting usually of three military officers, or of such other persons
as may be appointed according to the law of the state. If the persons
tried do not show good cause for their delinquency, they are fined in
such sums as the law prescribes. In certain cases courts may consist of
more than three members.
§7. The highest militia officer, except the governor, is the
_adjutant-general_ of the state; who keeps a list of all the higher
commissioned officers, containing the dates of their commissions, their
rank, the corps (pronounced _core_) they belong to, the division,
brigade, and regiment, and their places of residence. He distributes all
orders from the commander-in-chief (the governor,) to the several
divisions; attends public reviews where the commander-in-chief reviews
the militia; and obeys all orders from him relative to carrying into
execution the system of military discipline established by law.
§8. There is also in some states a _commissary-general_, who has the
care of the arsenals and magazines, and the articles deposited in them.
An _arsenal_ is a building in which are kept cannon, muskets, powder,
balls, and other warlike stores; all of which are to be kept in repair
and ready for use.
§9. There are persons who, believing all wars to be wrong, can not
conscientiously do military service. As it is the object of our
government to secure to every person the liberty of conscience as well
as other rights, the constitutions of many of the states provide, that
those who are averse to bearing arms, may be excused by paying annually
a sum of money instead of rendering the service. But it may well be
doubted whether compelling a man to pay the money is not itself a
violation of the right of conscience. Many persons conceive it to be no
less morally wrong to commute for the service than to perform it. In
some states, all persons belonging to the society of Friends, usually
called Quakers, are exempt without the payment of an equivalent in
money.
§10. In the states of New York and Ohio, the rank and file of the
militia are not required to train in time of peace. Persons liable to
perform military service, except those connected with the uniformed
companies, are enrolled in the militia; but instead of doing duty, they
pay annually a small tax, which is in New York fifty cents, and in Ohio
fifty cents, or a day's highway labor.
§11. Laws abolishing trainings and musters of the great body of the
militia, are, it is believed, growing into favor, and for these among
other reasons: First, the militia system produces no material
improvement in discipline; secondly, the expenditure of time and money
in these useless exercises, and for arms and equipments, are burdensome
to many citizens; and thirdly, there is no probability of an occasion
requiring a large portion of the militia to be so suddenly called into
service as to allow no time for preparation. Volunteer companies like
those kept up and disciplined in the states above named, and the
standing army of the nation, are deemed sufficient for any supposable
emergency.
§12. Happily the practice of settling disputes between nations by war,
is becoming less popular in civilized and Christian communities. War is
a dreadful evil, and ought to be discouraged, and, if possible, avoided.
Were governments so disposed, they might in most cases settle their
differences as individuals do, by submitting them to the judgment of a
third party. If the love of military honor were less encouraged, and the
principles of peace duly inculcated, the time would be hastened when
"nations shall learn war no more."
Government of the United States.
Chapter XXVI.
Causes of the Revolution.
§1. The plan of government in this country is peculiar. To a person
previously unacquainted with our political institutions, it might seem
strange, after having read the foregoing description of the state
governments, to be told that there is still another and a different
government to which the people are subject. How the people of more than
thirty states, all having complete and distinct governments, can at the
same time be subject to another government, also complete in all its
parts, he would not immediately understand. He would not know what is
meant by the government of the United States. How the states, all having
governments of their own, can be _united_ in one government, he would
not readily perceive.
§2. We shall therefore proceed to a description of the government of the
United States, from which will appear the relation between that
government and the state governments. It will also appear that the state
governments, each of which has in itself a great deal of machinery, all
move in harmony with the great political machine--the government of the
United States. It is easy to see that a knowledge of these governments
is important to the people who live under them, as every freeman
exercises a part of the governing power, both in the government of his
own state, and in the general government.
§3. To assist the reader in understanding the constitution and
government of the United States, we shall first give a sketch of the
governments which preceded, and of the principal causes which led to the
revolution in the government of this country. Most of the youth who are
of sufficient age to study this work, probably know that our present
forms of government were not established by the early settlers in this
country. The first inhabitants were _colonists_. A _colony_ is a
settlement of persons in a distant place or country, who remain subject
to the government of the state or country from which they removed. The
American colonies which have become the "United States," were chiefly
settled from Great Britain, and were under her jurisdiction.
§4. The political rights and privileges enjoyed by the colonists as
British subjects, were very limited, and were conferred by the charters
of the king. The people had not then, as now, constitutions of their own
choice. There were colonial governments; but they were such as the king
was pleased to establish, and might be changed at his pleasure. These
governments were in _form_ somewhat similar to that of our state
governments. There was what might be called a legislature; also an
executive or governor; and there were judges.
§5. But of the officers of these departments of the government, only the
members of one branch of the law-making power were elected by the
people. The other branch was composed of a small number of men, called a
council; but they were appointed by the king and subject to his control,
as was also the governor, who had the power of an absolute negative or
veto to any proposed law. And laws after having received the assent of
the governor, must be sent to England and approved by the king, before
they could go into effect.
§6. Hence we see that the colonists had no security for the passage of
such laws as they wanted. And the consequence was, that they were often
denied good and wholesome laws, by the refusal of the king to sanction
them. Not only so; many laws enacted by parliament were very unjust and
oppressive. The object of these laws was to secure to Great Britain
alone the trade of the colonies. One law declared that no goods should
be imported by the colonists but in English vessels; if brought in
other vessels, both the goods and vessels were to be forfeited to the
British government.
§7. Another law required such articles as England wanted, to be
transported to that country and other countries belonging to Great
Britain. The colonists were permitted to ship to foreign markets such
products only as English merchants did not want. They were prohibited
from selling abroad any wool, yarn, or woolen manufactured goods. This
was done to keep the markets open for British wool and manufactures.
Another law declared that no iron wares of any kind should be
manufactured here. Thus was it attempted to suppress manufactures in the
colonies.
§8. Hence we see that it was the policy of the British government to
compel the colonists to buy of England all the goods they wanted which
they did not themselves produce, and to sell to England the surplus
productions of the colonies. For this purpose, heavy duties were laid
upon goods imported into the colonies from other countries than Great
Britain and her possessions. These duties were taxes levied upon goods
brought into the colonies from abroad, and were collected by officers
here from the persons importing the goods.
§9. The following facts will explain to the young reader more clearly
the nature and effects of these duties: The colonists traded with the
West India islands, some of which belonged to Great Britain, some to
France, and some to Spain. To secure the whole trade, the British
government imposed high duties upon the molasses, sugar and other
articles imported into the colonies from the French and Spanish islands.
The people of the colonies could therefore avoid the payment of these
duties only by importing the above mentioned goods from the British
islands.
§10. Not satisfied with these acts, parliament claimed the right to tax
the colonies, "in all cases whatsoever;" and an act was passed
accordingly, laying duties upon all tea, glass, paper, &c., imported
into the colonies; and the money thus collected was put into the British
treasury. The colonists petitioned the king and parliament to repeal
these obnoxious laws; but their petitions were denied. Having given up
all hope of relief, congress, which was a body of delegates from the
several colonies, declared the colonies to be free and independent
states, no longer subject to the government of Great Britain. This
declaration was maintained by a war which lasted about seven years, when
Great Britain gave up the contest, and acknowledged the independence of
the states; and the _revolution_ was accomplished.
Chapter XXVII.
Nature of the Union under the Confederation.
§1. As early as the year 1774, the colonies united in the plan of a
congress, to be composed of delegates chosen in all the colonies, for
the purpose of consulting on the common good and of adopting measures of
resistance to the claims of the British government. The first great
continental congress met on the 4th of September, 1774. Another congress
assembled in May, 1775. This congress adopted sundry measures having
reference to war, and finally made the declaration of independence, July
4th, 1776. The continental congress, the members of which were chosen by
the state legislatures, conducted the affairs of the nation until near
the close of the war.
§2. With a view to a permanent union of the colonies under a general
government, the congress, in November, 1777, agreed upon a frame of
government, contained in certain articles, called, "Articles of
Confederation and perpetual Union between the States." These articles
were to go into effect when they should have received the assent of all
the states. But as the consent of the last state (Maryland) was not
obtained until March, 1781, they went into operation only about two
years before the close of the war.
§3. As a plan of national government, the confederation was soon found
to be very defective. The union formed under it was a very imperfect
one. Having been framed in time of war, it had respect to the operations
of war rather than to a state of peace. Although it answered some good
purpose in carrying on the war, it was not well adapted oven to the
condition of the country then existing. Its defects appeared almost as
soon as it went into effect; and after the return of peace, it was found
that the union, instead of being strengthened and perpetuated by it,
could be preserved only by a radical change in the system of government.
§4. The leading defect of the confederation was its weakness. Congress
could do little more than to recommend measures. As it could not
legislate directly upon persons, its measures were to be carried into
effect by the states; but the states were not in all cases willing, and
some of them did at times refuse to do so, and congress could not compel
them. It belonged to congress to determine the number of troops and the
sums of money necessary to carry on the war, and to call on each state
to raise its share; but congress could not enforce its demands. It
borrowed money in its own name, but it had not the means of paying it.
It had no power to lay and collect taxes; this power was reserved to the
states.
§5. Hence we see that congress was dependent for every thing upon the
good will of thirteen independent states. It is a wonder that a
government of such inherent weakness should bring the war to a
successful issue. It was a sense of danger from abroad, rather than any
power in the government, that induced a sufficient compliance with the
ordinances of congress to achieve the independence of the states.
§6. On the restoration of peace, new difficulties arose. We have already
spoken of the want of power in congress to lay and collect taxes for
war purposes. Money was now wanted to discharge the public debt, and to
pay the current expenses of the government; yet congress had no power to
raise it, either by a _direct tax_ upon the persons or property of the
citizens, or _indirectly_ by duties on goods imported, as at present
under the constitution. The power to lay and collect duties was with the
states; but it was of little use so long as each state could impose such
duties as it chose. The states being unable to agree upon a uniform rate
of duties, the goods would be imported into states which levied the
lowest duties. It was expedient, if it had been possible, to borrow more
money on the credit of the union, as the heavy debt contracted during
the war remained unpaid, and congress had no means of paying it.
§7. But the inability to raise money was not the only difficulty that
attended the want of power by congress to lay duties. This power was
necessary also to regulate the foreign trade. We have already remarked,
that it was the policy of Great Britain before the revolution to secure
in the colonies a market for her manufactures. (Chap. XXVI.) Not only
so; she had by her navigation acts, for more than a hundred years,
imposed heavy duties upon foreign vessels coming into her ports, in
order to secure the carrying trade to her own shipping. In addition to
this, she also levied high duties upon the produce of the states sent to
pay for the goods we were obliged to buy of her, our own people not
having as yet the means, nor having had time, to establish
manufactories, and to manufacture for themselves.
§8. Another of the numerous troubles which arose from this imperfect
union was the want of peace and harmony between the states. Laws were
enacted in some states with a view to their own interests, which
operated injuriously upon other states. This induced the latter states
to retaliate, by passing laws partial to themselves and injurious to the
former. The states soon became disaffected toward each other; and their
mutual jealousies and rivalries and animosities at length became so
great as to cause fears that some of the states would become involved
in war among themselves, and that the union would be broken up.
§9. In the hope of remedying the difficulty last mentioned, an attempt
was made to procure the insertion, into the articles of confederation,
of a provision giving to congress the power to regulate trade; but the
attempt failed. In January, 1786, the legislature of Virginia proposed a
convention of commissioners from all the states, to take into
consideration the situation and trade of the United States, and the
necessity of a uniform system of commercial regulations.
§10. A meeting was accordingly held at Annapolis, in September, 1786;
but as commissioners from only five states attended, viz., New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia, the commissioners deemed
it unadvisable to proceed to business relating to an object in which all
the states were concerned; but they united in a report to the several
states and to congress, in which they recommended the calling of a
general convention of delegates from all the states, to meet in
Philadelphia on the 2d Monday of May, 1787, with a view not only to the
regulation of commerce, but to such other amendments of the articles of
confederation as were necessary to render them "adequate to the
exigencies of the union."
§11. In pursuance of this recommendation, congress, in February, 1787,
passed a resolution for assembling a convention. All the states, except
Rhode Island, appointed delegates, who met pursuant to appointment; and
framed the present constitution of the United States. They also
recommended it to be laid by congress before the several states, to be
by them considered and ratified in conventions of representatives of the
people. Conventions were accordingly called for this purpose in all the
states, except Rhode Island, and the constitution was ratified by all of
them in which conventions had been called, except North Carolina.
§12. The constitution was to go into effect if ratified by nine states.
The ninth state, New Hampshire, sent its ratification to congress in
July, 1788; and measures were taken by congress to put the new
constitution into operation. Ratifications were received from North
Carolina and Rhode Island the year after the organization of the new
government.
Chapter XXVIII.
Nature of the Union under the Constitution.
§1. Having given, in the preceding chapter, a sketch of the union under
the confederation, we shall next show the nature of the union under the
present constitution, commencing with a brief comparison of the leading
features of the two systems of government.
§2. The former union was a mere confederacy. A _confederacy_ is a
league, a federal compact. The word _federal_ is from the Latin _fadus_,
a league, or alliance. Hence a confederacy is a combination or union of
two or more parties, whether persons or states, for their mutual benefit
and assistance. And let it be here particularly noted, that this union
was a union of states, _as states_. The articles of confederation were
framed by congress, whose members were appointed by the state
legislatures, and, when framed, were submitted to the state legislatures
for ratification.
§3. On the other hand, the union under the constitution is a union, not
of the states, as such, but of the _people of the states_. Thus it is
expressed in the preamble to the constitution: "We, the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, ... do ordain and
establish this constitution for the United States of America." And the
constitution was submitted for ratification, not to the state
legislatures, but to conventions whose members were elected by the
people for that purpose.
§4. The states under the confederation were independent, not only of
each other, but of the general government. True, they agreed, for their
common defense and mutual welfare, to do certain things; and certain
other things they agreed not to do, but delegated to congress the power
to do them; but, as we have seen, congress had not the power to compel
the states to obey its requisitions. By the constitution, the states
have given up a greater portion of their sovereignty to the general
government, which has power, in certain cases, to control the state
governments, and to enforce its laws upon them and upon individuals.
§5. Again, under the confederation, as in confederacies generally, the
states were equal. They were entitled to an equal number of delegates in
the congress, in which they voted by states, each state having one vote;
that is, if a majority of the delegates of a state voted in favor of or
against a proposed measure, the vote of the state was so counted; and a
proposition having in its favor a majority of the states, was carried.
Every state was entitled to seven delegates; but there must be at least
two delegates present and voting, in order to give a state vote; and if
an equal number of the delegates of a state voted for and against a
proposition, the state was said to be divided, and to have no vote.
§6. Under the constitution there are two branches of congress, in one of
which the number of representatives of each state is in proportion to
its population; in the other, (the senate,) the states are equally
represented, on the principle of the confederation, though by two
senators only. But the vote in both is taken, not by states as under the
confederation, but _per capita_, that is, by the head or poll, the vote
of each member counting one.
§7. The articles of confederation were framed by congress, the members
of which were appointed by the state legislatures; and the articles,
when framed, were submitted for ratification to the state legislatures.
The constitution was framed by a convention of delegates from the
states appointed for that purpose; and was ratified, not by the state
legislatures, but by state conventions whose members were elected by the
people of the several states.
§8. The former union, as has been remarked, was a mere Confederacy,
composed of independent states, and united simply for purposes of
defense and their mutual safety. In most respects they had no more
political connection than so many different nations. The people of a
state were not, properly speaking, citizens of the United States, but
only citizens of the state in which they lived. But by the constitution,
the people of the states were incorporated into a nation; and a citizen
of a state is also a citizen of the United States. The government of the
confederation, although sometimes called the national government, was
not really such, nor was it generally so regarded, as appears from the
proceedings of the convention that framed the constitution.
§9. Among the earliest proceedings of the convention was the offering of
a resolution, declaring that "a national government ought to be formed,
consisting of legislative, judiciary, and executive." This resolution
was strongly opposed by a large portion of the delegates, because it
proposed to establish a _national_ government. They were in favor of
continuing the confederation with a slight enlargement of the powers of
congress, so as to give that body the power to lay and collect taxes,
and to regulate commerce. But the friends of a national government
prevailed; and we have now a complete government, consisting of the
three departments, legislative, executive, and judicial.
§10. Under the confederation, there was no executive to execute the
ordinances of congress; nor a national judiciary, the state courts being
used for all judicial purposes. There was only a legislature; and that
consisted of a single body, called the congress, appointed by the state
legislatures, and having scarcely power enough to entitle it to the name
of legislature.
§11. But, although the present government, with these three departments
of power, and controlling, in matters of general concern, the action of
the state governments and of individuals, is properly a national
government; yet it is not wholly such, but partly national and partly
federal; some of the federal features of the confederation having been
retained in the constitution, as will appear on a further examination of
this instrument. Hence the union is still called, with propriety, the
_federal union_, and the government the _federal government_.
Chapter XXIX.
Legislative Department. House of Representatives.
§1. The first article of the constitution describes the manner in which
the legislature is formed, and prescribes its principal powers. It
declares, "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." Members of the old congress were appointed by the
state legislatures for one year, and might be recalled by them at any
time. Representatives are now chosen for two years. It was thought that
a single session was too short a term for men in general to acquire the
knowledge and experience necessary to a right performance of the
responsible duties of a representative. Besides, measures are often left
unfinished at the close of a session; and those who have once examined
their merits and demerits, can dispose of them more promptly than new
members.
§2. The same clause declares that "the electors in each state shall have
the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of
the state legislature." The qualifications of electors were various in
the different states. (Chap. VI, §8.) In some of them, owners of
property, or tax-payers, in others, freeholders only, were voters. In
some, only the latter voted for the higher officers; in a few, suffrage
was almost universal. It was presumed that no state would object to its
own rule for electing the popular branch of its legislature. It is
proper that a representative should be chosen directly by those whose
wants he is to make known, and whose rights he is to guard.
§3. A representative must, at the time of his election, "have attained
the age of twenty-five years; and have been seven years a citizen of the
United States;" and he must "be an inhabitant of the state in which he
is chosen." Few young men, on attaining the age of majority, have the
knowledge, or experience, or wisdom, which is requisite to qualify them
for the responsible duties of a representative. Nor is it to be presumed
that an alien, at the earliest period at which he may become a
naturalized citizen, would be sufficiently familiar with our
institutions and the wants of our people to be a competent
representative.
§4. The next clause prescribes the rule of apportionment.
"Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several
states, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to
service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three-fifths of all other persons." To the younger class of readers,
this part of the clause needs explanation.
§5. The convention found it very difficult to agree upon a rule of
apportionment. In the first place, the states, as will be recollected,
were entitled to an equal number of delegates in the old congress; and
each state had one vote. But as each member of the house of
representatives was to have a vote, the small states opposed a
representation according to numbers, while the large states as
strenuously insisted upon it.
§6. In the next place, the slaveholding states claimed a representation
according to numbers including slaves; the non-slaveholding states
insisted on a representation according to the number of free persons. It
may here be observed, that slavery then existed in all the states except
Massachusetts; but as the slaves were so few in the northern states, in
which slavery has been since abolished, the latter are generally spoken
of as if they were at that time non-slaveholding states. The controversy
on this point rose so high, and the parties were for a long time so
unyielding, that fears were entertained of a sudden dissolution of the
convention.
§7. It became evident that the question could be settled only by
compromise. The northern states consented that in ascertaining the
number of persons to be taken as the basis of apportionment,
three-fifths of the slaves should be added to the number of free
persons. And as these states had opposed the computation of any slaves
in fixing a rule of apportionment, on the ground that slaves are
property, and that no property in these states entitled its owners to
representation, the southern states consented, on their part, that
_direct taxes_ should be apportioned on the same basis as
representatives.
§8. To illustrate this rule by an example: Suppose a state to contain
600,000 free persons, and 500,000 slaves. Adding three-fifths of the
number of slaves, (300,000) to the number of free persons, gives 900,000
as the number of the representative population: and the state would be
entitled to _three_ representatives for every _two_ that a state would
have which contained 600,000 free inhabitants and no slaves. So in
apportioning taxes according to population, the state in the case we
have supposed, would have to raise _three_ dollars for every _two_ that
it would raise if no slaves were counted.
§9. But the advantages of this arrangement are more unequal than may at
first sight appear, or than was anticipated by the framers of the
constitution. The benefits are chiefly on the side of the slaveholding
states. In the first place, two-fifths of a large class of property in
these states is exempt from taxation, while _all_ the property in the
free states is liable to taxation. Of this the framers were aware. But
they did not foresee the fact, that the laying of direct taxes would be
unnecessary, and that the slave states would consequently escape
taxation for their slaves. Only three direct taxes have been laid; and
it is not probable that another will become necessary; the treasury
being supplied from other sources, chiefly by duties on imports.
§10. Now, although nothing is gained by the slave states, nor is
anything lost by the free states, by the exemption of the two-fifths of
the
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