A course in civil government

Front matter

I

Seal of the United States.

COURSE

Part I. The Foundations Of Goveenment

CHAPTER. PAGE

I. The Four Stages- of Society 7

II. The Four Groups of Eights 16

III. The Story of Political Eights in England ... 22

IV. The Story of Political Eights in Colonial America 35

Part II. Local Goveenment

V. The People and their Home Affairs; How the

People Govern Themselves 44

VI. The State and the Territory 52

Part III. The Nation. '

VII. The Law-makers and the Laws 64

VIII. What Congress may Do 77

IX. Powers Denied to Congress and to the States . 85

X. The President of the United States 93

XL The Executive Departments 103

XII. The Courts of Justice 114

XIII. The People and the Land 126

XIV. The People and the Money . . 133

XV. The Citizen 141

XVI. The People in Politics . 146

XVII. The Nation 158

4 CONTENTS.

Part IV. State Papees

PAGE

The Mayflower Compact 164

The First Declaration of Eights 166

The Declaration of Independence 169

Eepresentation, Population and Area of the States . . 211

Table of Presidents, etc 212

The Australian Ballot System 214

Questions Developing the Government of the State,

County, City, Township, Town, etc 216

Problems in Civil Government 218

Questions for Debate 220

Index 221

ILLUSTEATIONS.

Great Seal of the United States Frontispiece.

King John Signing Magna Charta 30

Signing the Mayflower Compact 36

Adoption of the Declaration of Independence .... 41

The Capitol Building at Washington 64

The Supreme Court of the United States 123

Map showing Public Domain and Acquisition of Territory 126 Liberty Enlightening the World 156

Part I. THE FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENT

" Manasseh used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit and with wizards ; he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord/'

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by nighty

"And Isaac had possession of flocks and possession of herds, and great store of servants, and the Philistines envied him. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father ; . . . and the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours."

"Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit* And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time, and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in the land safely ."

"A cunning man, endued with understanding, . . . skilful to work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving."

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

*oXKo*

Chapter I. The Four Stages Of Society

1. CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.— The laws, customs and occupations of a people comprise their civil institutions. Human interests are not solitary. One interest is related to all others. If we were to journey over the earth, visiting its different nations, we might at first think that the civil institutions of the many peoples we saw were too varied for any kind of classification ; by a closer examination we would discover four classes of human societ)^ — savages, herdsmen, husbandmen and manufacturers.

2. Savages. — Those people whose chief occupation is hunting comprise the savage tribes of the six continents. They have customs simple and rude, and laws few and cruel. The boundaries of the land over which they seek their supplies are in constant dispute between the tribes. Each tribe is a collection of kindred families, and is governed by a man famed both as hunter and as warrior. His will, so far as he can enforce it, is law. The symbol of his authority is a spear or a club.

3. Life and Language. — Hunting supplies savages with food and clothing. They suffer from many diseases which do not seriously endanger a civilized community. Their language is unwritten, usually abounds in guttural sounds, has few words, not usually more than three hundred, and these are not inflected so as to express shades of thought. Their language is composed of nouns and verbs, with few if any other parts of speech. The nouns rudely name the plain objects of the senses ; their words do not express exact qualities or quantities. Taken singly, the words have little if any meaning. The people have few and crude ideas.

4. Superstitions. — Savages are extremely superstitious and easily terrified by the phenomena of nature. They people the world with demons, and their customs are demonic, and frequently degrading. They do not understand the causes and the nature of common things.

5. Character. — The habits, customs, superstitions and manner of life of savage tribes indicate their true character. Life among them is unsafe ; morality is unknown ; physical strength is the sole basis of right ; their government is the uncertain and brutal exercise of physical power and the sullen and unwilling obedience of the jealous and the weak. The savage has no property that can be called wealth, and he cannot accumulate wealth. He cannot keep his game; he makes nothing; when he dies his hunting equipment is usually buried with him.

6. Herdsmen. — A larger group of peoples keep flocks and herds, and by means of these provide for themselves food and clothing. The area and boundaries of the land required by their cattle vary. Herdsmen follow the grass ; it is the source of their wealth. They are wanderers and dwell in tents, but their laws and customs are less rude than those found among hunting tribes. They practice simple arts and make many articles required by their manner of life. They have a greater variety of food than savages, and many desires unknown to savage life. Butter and cheese are made by means of simple tools. The art of curing leather begins among them. They have their wealth for exchange, and thus obtain many articles which they cannot make for themselves.

7. Government among* Them. — Their ruler is the oldest living father of a family, and the symbol of his

THE FOUR STAGES OF SOCIETY. 9

authority is a shepherd's staff. The laws among them grow out of their occupations. Their laws have reference chiefly to two objects — the protection of life and of property. The herdsman has many cattle, and at his death some one must care for them. Naturally, the members of his own family succeed to his wealth, and his personal authority also descends to his personal representative or heir, who is usually his eldest son.

8. Laws of Property Begin. — Thus laws of the inheritance of property originate among herdsmen. This property is movable, or, as we now say, personal. Land becomes a thing of value, and land-laws originate in the use of the land for grazing. Water, in the form of brooks, wells and springs, becomes the subject of customary rights. As a well is dug by severe labor, he who digs a well has a right to it for his family and his flocks.

9. Language and Ideas. — Herdsmen have more words in their language and more ideas than have savages. Shepherds are often in one locality for a long time ; they watch their flocks night and day ; they observe the course of nature and discover its regularity. They were the first to study the motions of the heavenly bodies, and they fancied that they saw familiar forms among the stars. Lions and wolves were there chasing cattle and sheep, and to the constellations of the stars they gave names. Centuries have passed, but the names given to the stars by the shepherds still cling to them. Thus the science of astronomy began. The language of shepherds expresses their ideas. One of the oldest poems in the world, the book of Job, describes the customs, the laws and the character of a people who were shepherds in Mesopotamia, one of the early homes of our own civilization.

10. Life and the Recognition of Rights. — Herdsmen have many more interests than savages, because they have more ideas and objects of desire obtained by labor. Such objects constitute wealth. Government among them recognizes and protects life and property and the comfort of man. The patriarch has more cares than the chieftain. It is a principle of government that as the interests of men increase and as they secure wealth by their own labor, government becomes more complex, or, as we are accustomed to say, has more departments ; for a primary purpose of government is to secure to individuals and to nations their rights.

11. Importance of Rights. — A right is the most important possession a person can have. Human rights are the realities which government is instituted to protect. The word "right" has more meaning than any other word used in governmental affairs, and we shall constantly have occasion to investigate its signification. When we understand what rights exist in a country, we know exactly what is the government of the people of that country.

12. Effect of the Recognition of Rights. — The immediate effect of the recognition of rights is the exercise of government to protect them. A denial of a right is a wrong, and the suspension of a right, if not justifiable, is a crime.

13. Husbandmen. — The peoples who cultivate the soil outnumber all others. They live in fixed homes ; they divide the land and mark its boundaries with care. To remove a landmark confuses many interests and endangers rights, and is a crime ; for the tiller of the ground is obliged to feed and clothe himself and his family by his own labor on a definite piece of ground, and if the boundaries are disturbed unlawfully the living of the family is in danger.

14. Crimes. — Among the herdsmen the stealing of cattle is a crime, because the living of the family is thereby endangered. The tiller of the ground must be protected from similar injury, and his wealth is a definite area of ground. Land-laws thus become more definite among those who practice agriculture ; many customs and laws

THE FOUE STAGES OF SOCIETY. 11

peculiar to an agricultural people would not arise among herdsmen. Each state of society has its legal system that is founded upon its' own character. Different civil institutions, becoming different systems of government, thus spring up in the world.

15. Superior Knowledge required in Agriculture. — The farmer is obliged to understand the nature of crops, soils, culture and harvesting. He requires many tools for which the savage or the herdsman could have no use. He must understand the laws of nature so as to be able to supply his wants. His language reflects his mind and expresses many interests. His interests are four-fold : those pertaining to his labor ; those pertaining to the control of his fellows ; those relating to his conduct toward men ; and those relating to the God whom he worships.

16. Manufacturers. — A fourth group of people are engaged in making objects of desire, and thus they are closely related to the herdsmen and to the tillers of the soil. Labor creates rights and transforms raw material, such as the skins and the wool produced by the herdsmen and the agricultural products of the husbandmen, into articles adopted to many human uses. The making of objects requires a large amount of knowledge in the maker. He has many ideas, and his language contains many words unknown to the savage or the herdsman. With increased knowledge comes the division of labor and the recognition of industrial rights. New industries are created, old industries are improved. Simple tools are displaced by complicated machinery that never wearies and that rapidly transforms raw material into finished articles. In every step of this process rights are concerned. The forms of w T ealth multiply, so that they can scarcely be counted. The manufacturer depends upon the productions of farming and of herding for material used in his labor. His rights are therefore closely connected with the rights of other men. He must build machines, erect suitable buildings, provide material, employ craftsmen, manage industrial enterprises, understand industrial conditions, satisfy the desires of men for material wealth created by human labor, and exercise freely all his rights, in order that the desires of men may be satisfied.

17. Laws and Customs pertaining to Industry.— A manufacturing community develops habits or customs that are proven by experience to be favorable to industry. The government that protects the rights of manufacturers, and of all those associated with them in the making of objects, must recognize these customs and enact suitable laws.

18. Civilized Peoples have a Variety of Interests. — In a civilized country the interests of the herdsman, of the tiller of the soil and of the manufacturer may be found in a single community and even in a single person. The farmer tills his ground and at the same time keeps cattle and sheep. Near by is the town in which the manufacturer maintains his factory and all its interests. A community has at the same time the interests of the three classes of people. Rights thus may imply the interests of the husbandman, of the herdsman and of the manufacturer. Every department of life is affected by the recognition or the suppression of these rights.

19. Effect Seen in Society. — As ideas increase among men, language increases, until there may be, as in our own tongue, more than one hundred thousand words. Every right creates a custom, and the custom may become a law. A custom is only a way of doing, and a law is a rule of action prescribed by a supreme pow T er, declaring how, when, where and by whom a thing shall or shall not be done.

20. Commerce. — With the increase of the wealth of individuals and of nations, and with the recognition of rights among them, exists a commerce both in ideas and

THE FOUR STAGES OF SOCIETY. 13

in things. Articles are produced, exchanged, transported and consumed. The star-clusters that seemed like sheep and oxen and lions to the shepherds become the lighthouses of the sky, and guide ships laden with precious cargoes from port to port and from continent to continent. Men become more closely associated ; they supply each other's wants. Their interests become complex, and sometimes it is impossible to separate them. The herdsman, the farmer, the merchant, the railroad, the steamship, the miner, the manufacturer, the workingman, — all and each represent a mass of interests and a body of rights. To further these interests and to secure these rights governments are instituted among men ; customs grow into laws, and laws and customs grow into that supreme law or chief custom of all — Government.

21. Importance of Government.— We see plainly, then, that the meaning of government is exceedingly large, because it concerns itself with every human interest. We see that customs and laws and language and government are closely connected with the occupations of the people. The occupations affect the government, and the government affects the occupations.

22. Different Forms of G-overnment. — Different forms of government exist, because the ideas of men differ as to the best manner of managing their own interests. People who have many wants and who are able to satisfy them by intelligent labor are civilized — i. e. they have become citizens. The word " citizen " is companion to the word " right," and like it has a profound meaning. So important is the signification of the word " citizen " that individuals and nations, in order to obtain the realization of the full rights of the citizen, have made costly sacrifices. The rights of the citizen are made precious to us by the lofty sacrifices of human life in order that men and women and children may have their inborn rights freely fully and at all times,

A theocracy is a government in which the rulers are priests who claim to be under the immediate direction of God. The government of the ancient Jews was a theocracy.

A monarchy is a government in which the supreme power resides in a single person, usually called a king. If his power is limited by laws, the government is a limited monarchy; if all power proceeds from him, the government is an absolute monarchy. Modern kingdoms are limited monarchies, except Russia and Turkey, which are absolute monarchies.

An aristocracy is a government controlled by a few men distinguished for rank, wisdom and wealth. Venice was an aristocracy during the Middle Ages.

A democracy is a government by the people in person. Rhode Island was a democracy for a brief time.

A republic is a representative democracy. Our States and the United States have a republican form of government.

23. Sanctity of Government. — The interests of a people are so closely blended with their government that government becomes the supreme interest of the people; its character is sacred, because its preservation concerns the lives and the property of all who compose the nation. Therefore the attempt to overthrow the prevailing government is a crime against the nation. This crime is called treason, and is punishable w T ith death.

Sometimes a government is successfully overturned and remodelled with the consent of the people who compose it. A successful change in the government amounts to a revolution, such as occurred in this country in 1776. But all thoughtful men agree that governments long established are not to be overturned for light and passing reasons, else all stability in human affairs would disappear and fickle-minded people would cause perpetual confusion in the world by the constant change in governments. The

THE FOUR STAGES OF SOCIETY. 15

people have the right to alter or amend their own government in a peaceful way, as was done in this country in 1789.

24. The True Basis of Government.— When we look a little closer for the foundation of government, w r e discover that it exists in the nature of men themselves. The rights of persons give occasion for government. Individuals have by nature desires, wills, ideas, character, and upon these government is founded. The natural rights of men, women and children as citizens are called civil rights. Some citizens have other rights which are called political rights. The right to personal security is a civil right, and is common to all citizens ; the right to vote is a political right, and is possessed by qualified persons called electors. The true basis of government is persons, not things.

Chapter II. The Four Groups Of Rights

25. Men Differ concerning Rights. — We might think that every man could guard his own rights, and that in this way the rights of all would be protected. But men differ among themselves in their opinions about their rights : this difference of opinion is natural to men, and must always be taken into account in human affairs. Government is based upon men as they are ; it is a formidable reality. If only a few men lived in the world, in a simple way of life, isolated from each other, they might possibly be able to protect their own interests, but they could not realize their own rights. Men cannot live in isolation ; association is necessary, and this necessity gives rise to human society.

26. Rights of Society. — The word " society " is also an important word. Individuals have rights as individuals ; they also have rights to and in association, called the rights of society. The relation of the individual to society is that of the part of a living organism to the whole of the organism. An individual is a part of society. The political rights of an individual are largely fixed by his relations to society.

27. Rights and Duties Related. — Every right, whether of the individual or of society, implies a duty. Every duty implies a right. A duty is the exercise of a right. The words right, citizen, society, and duty are of intense interest to civilized people ; they stand for ideas and principles of primary importance to human beings.

THE FOUR GROUPS OF RIGHTS. 17

The rights of individuals and of society give rise to that kind of knowledge called political. The word " political " originally meant urban, or pertaining to the city, because people are closely associated in a city and are compelled to recognize their own rights and those of others. Cities have served a peculiar office in discovering the rights of men, and many of the cities of England maintained the rights of the citizens when these rights were lost in the rural districts. Cities have preserved human liberties.

The duties of individuals and of society give rise to that knowledge which we call moral. The word " moral " implies the idea of conduct or custom of doing, judged by the standard of human welfare and of Divine law. A man is a political being because he has rights ; he is a moral being because he has duties.

28. Individuals and Society. — Government protects a person in his rights and requires him to perform his duties. The character of society is the character of the individuals who compose it. Bad men make bad society. Government must therefore address itself directly to individuals, must have power over them, and must depend upon them for its authority and for its character. Each of us is individually a part of the government, and we should know our rights and perform our duties. The neglect to do so endangers the government and wrongs us individually. The rights now so common among us are ours only after the greatest struggles that the world has seen.

29. Natural Rights. — We do not inherit rights; they are inherent ; God creates them in every person. There have been governments in. the world for ages, but the truth that all men are born with equal rights has been accepted less than a hundred years. To understand and to live this truth is the privilege of the world to-day. We of the United States have this privilege by the law of the land. But because we have more rights than any other nation, we have more duties. American citizens have rights and duties unknown to the people of Europe. Yet many institutions common among us began long ago in Europe.

30. Foreigners become Citizens. — Several hundred thousand Europeans come to the United States every year for permanent homes. They are chiefly from England, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. They have caused those sections of the United States where they are most thickly settled to take on a character peculiar to themselves; some parts of the United States are Germanic, some are Scandinavian, some are Italian, in many of their prevailing customs. The African race has been in this country since 1619. Africans and Europeans and some Asiatics are made welcome by our government, and by conforming to the laws they have become American citizens. They learn the rights and the duties of American citizenship by actual practice. Serious social problems constantly arise ; but the experience of the past encourages us to believe that we shall be able to solve these problems by earnestly grappling w r ith them in the recognition of our rights and the performance of our duties.

The Four Groups of Rights.

31. Industrial Rights. — The citizen has the right and the duty to support himself and those dependent upon him by honorable labor : such rights and duties are called Industrial. These are many and of first importance. Within this group fall all the rights of laborers, operatives and of makers of things of every description. Industrial rights and duties affect the business, the material interests of the household, and the productive interests of the country — the farms, manufacturing plants, the wages of men, women and children, the hours of labor, the means of transportation, such as railroads, canals, steamship lines, express companies and common carriers. Industrial rights and duties also extend to society at large. America has vast industrial relations with other countries ; we use arti-

THE FOUR GROUPS OF RIGHTS. 19

cles produced in foreign lands, and they use articles made by us. Our industrial interests comprise a large portion of our wealth, and government guards them with extreme care.

32. Political Rights. — The citizen has also opinions as to what he himself and society should do and what ideas should be supreme in the state. These ideas of control or government are called political ideas. His political ideas are his own property, and he has the right to express them and to carry them into effect with the aid of his fellow-citizens, provided that neither he nor they do or suffer wrong. His right is to do unto others as he would have them do unto him. Men are always trying to enforce their ideas upon others — i, e. to govern them. In this second group of rights and duties are all those rights of opinion concerning government, such as, what kind of government is best; how government should be administered; who should exercise authority ; where that authority should be located. Political rights and duties affect all our opinions about human laws, the nature of public offices and the character of public officers. Political rights and duties are concerned when public servants are chosen, such as school-directors and assessors, tax-collectors and judges, governors and senators, members of Congress or the President of the United States. Political rights and duties are concerned in such ordinary and important matters as the carrying of the mails; the material, the quality, the quantity and the denominations of our money ; the fixing of county, State and national boundaries ; the support of an army and of a navy ; and they are concerned also in such seemingly trivial matters as the shape, color and value of a postage-stamp and the selection of the man's face upon it. These rights and duties are of such importance that men organize powerful political parties to maintain their opinions, give their energies, time and money for the support of these opinions, and seek peaceful solution of governmental problems by elections or compel the solution of them by wars and treaties. The political rights and duties of individuals have assumed so much importance in this country that they are often said to be the supreme interests of the citizen. But they are only one of a group of rights and are of equal interest with other rights.

33. Social Rights. — An American citizen is also part of society ; he has social rights and duties. These are of a comprehensive character, because they affect the nation as a whole. Social rights and duties are concerned in the establishment of all kinds of schools for the benefit of the public ; for the reformation of criminals ; in the maintenance of asylums for the aid of the afflicted, such as the blind and the insane. Society is interested in the preservation of health and public comfort, public order, good roads and bridges, clean and passable streets, safe public and private buildings, the lighting of public places, the removal of all substances that may poison the air we breathe or the water we drink. These rights and duties are liable to be neglected, although they are commonly admitted to be of vast importance. The welfare of society is often of greater moment than the comfort of an individual. When the interests of the individual and of society conflict, the individual must yield to society if society insists upon the yielding. This right of society is called the right of eminent domain.

The right of eminent domain is a sovereign right exercised by a government or by a corporation, by which individual interests are compelled to yield to the interests of society, of the corporation or of the government.

A corporation is a body of persons authorized by law to act or do business as a single individual. A railroad company, a manufacturing company, a bank, a chartered city, are illustrations of corporations.

34. Moral and Religious Rights. — The citizen has also moral and religious rights ; he is a child of God and lives in

relations with him. Man naturally worships some being superior to himself. We have rights of conscience and we have moral duties. These we are permitted to exercise freely so far as they do not break the peace of the State. These rights and duties are concerned in the maintenance of religion ; the proper regard for the Sabbath ; the reverence for sacred things and ideas ; the support of public worship ; the bettering of the world ; the conscientious attention to the duties of life. For many centuries men struggled to realize the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience : that right has been and is fully realized in this country. Closely related to these rights and duties are those of a moral character which are implied in the word "ought." All good government is moral in its character.

35. Rights often Mingle. — A right may at the same time be industrial, political, social or moral. We cannot always separate a right from its companions. Government is concerned to protect them all. A school illustrates them all : it is a place of industry ; here we learn to govern and to be governed ; it is a society, and has rights and duties as such ; all schools are subject to moral rights and duties.