Everyday citizenship

Preface

^ This book is an attempt to make it clear to young people that the privileges and duties of citizenship are matters of everyday life. Its object is to lead them to see government, not as a remote, incomprehensible, and rather alarming abstraction, but as a controllable agency for the service of all citizens.

The organization and structure of government have here been treated with constant reference to their purpose, the carrying on of common enterprises. The young citizen is rightly interested in the work done by pubhc officials, and in his own share in public work, rather than in the machinery itself.

An appeal is made to the student^s interest by the use of many illustrations based on everyday experience. The arrangement of topics, beginning with local government and proceeding to the less familiar work and organization of state and nation, is designed to lead him logically from the known to the less known.

The great end of our government, the service of all the people, is emphasized at every point. While no attempt is made to mislead the pupil into the false view that no further improvements can be made in our local and general systems, the value of democratic government and the need of loyal cooperation with it are repeatedly demonstrated.

The questions at the end of each chapter are intended to lead the student not only to think, but to do. To develop a body of citizens who consider the workings of their governiv PREFACE

ment and take an active part in its undertakings, is the fundamental purpose of the present volume.

The authors are indebted to several members of the faculty of the University of Oklahoma and to a number of other friends for helpful criticisms and suggestions. Thanks are due to various friends for valuable photographs which have been used as illustrations; and also to the American Museum of Natural History, New York, for the use of the picture reproduced on page 65.

Introduction

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Nature of Government . . 1

II. The Functions of Modern Government 7

III. The Divisions of Government . . 13

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

IV. The City and Its Work; Street Building, Cleaning, and Lighting . . 19 V. The City; the Police Department and

VI. The City; Fire Protection . . 33

VII. Municipal Health and Sanitation . 39

VIII. Water Supply . . . . .45

IX. Disposal of Waste . . . . . 51

X. Education; the Public Schools . . 59

XI. Special Educational Agencies . . 64

XII. Recreation and Welfare . . . 68

XIII. City Organization; the Mayor-Coun-

cil Plan .... .72

XIV. The Commission and the Commission-

Manager Plans . . . .77

XV. The Township . . . . .84

XVI. The County . . . . .87 vi CONTENTS

STATE GOVERNMENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XVII. The Development and Work of State

Governments . . . . . 91

XVIII. State Constitutions .... 95

XIX. The State and Its Work ... 99

XX. Education ...... 105

XXI. Care of Special Classes . . . 109

XXII. Public Health ..... 114

XXIII. The Judicial Power of the State . 119

XXIV. The Legislative Power of the State . 126

XXV. The Executive Power of the State . 131

XXVI. State Finances . . . . .134

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

XXVII. The Development of the National

Government ..... 137 XXVIII. What the National Government Does 142 XXIX. Public Defense ..... 144 XXX. The Regulation of Commerce and of

Immigration ..... 148 XXXI. The Post Office Department . - . 155 XXXII. The Conservation of Natural Resources ...... 160

XXXIII. Paying for the Work of the Govern-

XXXIV. The Federal Constitution . . . 171 XXXV. The Legislative Power of the Nation . . . . . . 175

XXXVI. The Judicial Power of the Nation . 182 XXXVII. The Executive Power of the Nation . 188

CONTENTS vii

XXXVIII. New Problems of the National Government . . . , .193 XXXIX. The People and the Federal Government ...... 197

XL. Political Parties and Elections . 201

XLI. International Relations . . . 208

XLII. The Future of America . . . 213 XLIIL American Citizenship — a Privilege and

a Responsibility . . . .221

Suggestions for Outside Reading . . . 227

INTRODUCTION

Chapter I The Nature Of Government

The General Need of Rules and Officers. — When people form a literary society or an athletic association or any other organization for the purpose of doing certain work, they adopt rules to guide them, and select officers to see that the rules are carried out and that the work is done. By long experience men have discovered that when a large number of persons are working together, unless they have some guiding rules and officers with authority to enforce these rules, all will be confusion and nothing will be accomplished. There must be a president of the organization, for example, with authority to keep its meetings orderly and to decide which member ^^has the floor,'^ or is entitled to speak. There must be a treasurer, with authority to collect dues and to pay bills. Perhaps there are other officers, with different powers. This depends, of course, on the kind of work which the organization is undertaking. It is necessary for all the members to be guided by the officers and to keep the rules. If they do not do this — if they refuse to pay dues, or engage in fist-fights during business meetings in spite of all that the president can say — the association will certainly be a failure. Obedience to authority is absolutely essential in order that any organization may carry on its work successfully.

The need of rules, and of strict regard for the rules, is naturally greater and greater as the number of people concerned is greater, and the work more complicated. An athletic association in one school might have a few simple rules and two or three officers; but if a league of athletic associations is formed with a branch in every school in the county, there must be a large number of rules and many officers of various ranks, such as president of the county association, a chairman of each branch association, central and local treasurers, corresponding secretaries, perhaps vice-chairmen, and members of a board of directors. To make the association a success, it would be necessary for every branch to follow its rules or obey its authority.

In order to make sure that the rules of any association or league will be followed by the members, it is customary to establish penalties or punishments for disobedience. Thus, if the Lincoln Grammar School Athletic Association has a rule requiring all members to attend its monthly meetings, absence may be penalized by a fine of ten cents. The breaking of other rules may mean larger fines or suspension or even expulsion from the association.

Why Government Is Necessary. — This makes it clear to us why government is necessary in every nation, state, county, and city. Each of these is composed of a great many people who wish to do certain things together, such as educating young people, taking care of the poor, establishing a system of waterworks, and countless other undertakings. They must have rules, or laws, and officers to carry them out; otherwise they can accomplish nothing. Just as in the case of a private association, penalties are needed in order to insure that the laws will be obeyed.

Democratic Government. — When people adopt rules or

THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT 3

laws in regard to things which concern them all — that is, public affairs — and provide for officers to perform different duties in accordance with these rules, they are said to organize a government. , Government is a system by means of which public work is done. When a government has been organized by the people of any country, according to the above description, it is called a democratic government or a democracy. The United States has this form of government.

Autocratic Government. — Sometimes the rules by which people are governed and the officials who carry out the rules are not chosen by the people according to their own will, but are forced upon them by a man, or a group of men, with very little interest in the wishes of the people but a great deal of interest in personal advantage. Such a government is called an autocratic government or an autocracy. Citizens of the United States, and the most progressive people in all civilized countries, agree that this is an undesirable form of government. They believe that, since everyone is concerned in public affairs, it is not just and right for a few individuals to conduct these matters for their own private benefit.

Of course, the people who live under an autocratic government are always very much greater in number than those who rule them, and could easily overthrow the autocracy and set up a democracy if they would all work together. As education and enlightenment are spreading throughout the world, several nations are doing this.

Representative Government. — It is impossible for all the people in a city, a state, or a nation to vote on every law that is to be passed, or on every single clerk, stenographer, policeman, and fireman who is needed to carry on public work. They cannot spare the time from their business to investigate every proposed law or every individual's qualifications. Therefore nearly all democracies today are representative democracies. This means that the people elect certain individuals to represent them — that is, to act in their place — and to vote upon laws according to their

Chamber of the House of Representatives in the Capitol at Washington. Here representatives from every part of the country meet to carry on pubHc business.

best judgment of what the people need and desire. The people elect also some of the principal officials, such as members of the school boards, members of the city council, and governor of the state: and allow these elected officials to appoint many subordinate officers, as city superintendents of schools, city health officers, stenographers, secretaries, and many more. This system has two advantages.

THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT 5

First: it saves the people a great deal of time and trouble. Second: it enables the voters, since they have only a few men to elect, to look about for very good ones.

Importance of Supporting the Government. — When a democratic government has once been established, it should be loyally supported by everyone, and the laws made by the people or their representatives should be respected. What would be the effect upon our athletic association if all those who had voted against a certain rule should refuse to keep it? We can easily see that in a short time there would be no association at all, or at best merely a weak imitation of one, which could do no real work. Faithful support is essential to the success of any organization; and this is just as true of public organizations, such as state or national governments, as of private ones. We may seek to have laws changed, just as we may try to have rules of our athletic association changed; but until the laws or rules are repealed; they must be obeyed, for without loyalty, obedience, and cooperation, no work can be accomplished.

1. Name some society or organization to which you belong, and explain its principal rules. What is the use of these rules?

2. What would be the effect upon a school if there were no rules of any kind? What would be the effect if nobody obeyed teachers, principal, or other officers?

3. Suppose firemen refused to obey the chief, laboring men refused to obey the superintendent, football players refused to obey the coach. What would be the consequences?

4. Are rules always agreeable? Does the fact that a rule is unpleasant give persons to whom it appUes the right to disobey it? Give reasons for your answer.

5. What methods are used in your school to compel people to obey its rules?

6. What methods are used when persons break public rules, or laws? What is the object of punishment?

7. Give several examples of democratic governments.

8. What is meant by saying that a person represents a school, or a city, or a state?

9. If you are about to form a county athletic association, will every pupil in the county attend the meeting at which the association is to be organized? Who will attend it? How will these persons be selected?

10. Explain clearly what a representative is expected to do.

11. If you wish a certain bill passed by your state legislature, what members would you ask to work for it? Learn the names of the state senator and the state representative from your district.

12. If you wish the Congress of the United States to pass a bill, to whom would you write? Learn the names of the senators from your state and the representative from your congressional district. Find out exactly what is meant by congressional district.

13. What is loyalty to one's government? Why is it necessary? How can people show loyalty?

14. Can a person be loyal to a government even though he believes that some of its laws and undertakings are wrong? Explain your answer.

15. What should a loyal citizen do in order to help improve the laws that he considers mistaken?

Chapter II The Functions Of Modern Government

Various Kinds of Public Work. — We have seen that the purpose of government is to perform public work, and it is natural that our next inquiry should be: What kinds of work do governments carry on? We can easily realize that the answer to this question will vary according to the government that we are considering. We should not expect to find the government of a barbarous country doing work of the same nature as that done by the government of a more advanced nation. There are a few things, however, which are done by practically every government.

National Defense. — The first of these important kinds of work is that of national defense. From the savage tribe to the most highly civilized modern people, we find all national governments endeavoring to prevent and to overcome warlike attacks by other nations, by means of armies, navies, and necessary equipments. Quite often, governments prepare not only for defense, but for campaigns of conquest. Preparation for conquest is not a necessary function, and it has led to so much suffering and injustice in the world's history that the greatest problem before modern statesmen is that of devising some plan to make it impossible in the future.

Preserving Internal Order. — A second function which is carried on by nearly all governments is that of preserving internal order. We have all read in history about the deeds of robber barons, and about the wars waged by the knights of the Middle Ages. Even in those times, the existing governments made some attempts to keep order; and today most governments are quite successful in doing so. Our own country is still disgraced by occasional riots and lynchings; but as our people become more and more advanced, they will stand firmly behind the governmental authorities and help them to put down all such disorders. Many eminent lawyers and other public-spirited persons are trying to improve our legal systems so that trials may be speedy and guilty individuals may be adequately punished, thus removing the danger that people may become impatient to see criminals punished and may resort to "mob rule." But even though trials are slow and it seems as if the offender is not being brought to justice rapidly, we must not become lawbreakers in order to punish others. As President Woodrow Wilson wrote : ' ' There have been many lynchings, and every one of them has been a blow at the heart of ordered law and humane justice. ... I can never accept any man as a champion of liberty, either for ourselves or for the world, who does not reverence and obey the laws of our beloved land, whose laws we ourselves have made."

Administration of Justice.— One more type of work which is done by governments everywhere is the administration of justice. This means the punishment of criminals, the endeavor to reform them, the settlement of disputes about property and other matters, and the carrying on of many similar functions.

Other Functions of Government.— To these three main kinds of work modern government's have added many others, only a few of which can be mentioned here for lack of space. It would take several books to describe fully the work done by our own national government, and a whole hbrary to set

THE FUNCTIONS OF MODERN GOVERNMENT 9

forth all that is done by the national government, the forty-eight state governments, the city and county governments, and the governments of territories and dependencies. It is impossible, of course, to go into details, but we may glance for a moment at some of the more important things which, modern governments are doing.

Care of Special Classes. — The care of special classes of persons who are unable to care for themselves is now quite generally under the control of some branch of government. In this country, it is usually carried on by the governments of the various states, or perhaps by the counties. Orphan children, imbeciles, insane persons, very old persons who have no means and no relatives to support them, the deaf, the blind, wayward girls and boys whose parents are not able to keep them from doing wrong, persons suffering from certain diseases, such as tuberculosis — these and other classes of persons are cared for by agencies of the government.

Education, — Education and the promotion of scientific discoveries are matters of interest to all the people in a state or a nation; and all modern governments supervise, control, assist, or encourage them. Our national government maintains a group of officers who compose a Bureau of Education, which collects and publishes material that will be of use to educators and has other important functions; but the actual control over public education is held by the individual states. This is the case for several reasons, one of which is that each state knows what type of education is best suited to its own needs.

Public Health. — The care of the public health is now a matter of governmental control. Nation, state, county, and city cooperate in the endeavor to establish sanitary conditions everywhere, to prevent the spread of disease, and to make every citizen sound, healthy, and vigorous.

Means of Communication. — The provision of means of communication is a very important branch of governmental work. Our national government maintains a Post Office Department, with numerous branches in every state and

Sorting the mail in a large post office. All the letters and packages must be examined for postage, address, etc.; and each one placed in the proper sack for delivery in the city or shipment to other places.

territory. It is also a member of an International Postal Union, which makes it possible for a person in this country to write to a friend in China, with the full assurance that his letter will be delivered. Some governments own other means of communication, such as telephone and telegraph systems; but this is not the case in the United States. Control over Business. — All highly civilized nations to-

THE FUNCTIONS OF MODERN GOVERNMENT 11

day exercise some degree of control over business. It is generally admitted that the government may properly regulate the more important businesses in a way that will be fair to everyone concerned. This is the easiest and best way to prevent business interests from being unfair to the public by charging unnecessarily high prices and by other means, and also to prevent the public from being unfair to business interests by accusing them unjustly of doing such things.

Social Welfare. — The development of social welfare in all possible ways is the great general aim of modern governments. All the work of a democratic government is meant, of course, to make life more worth while for every member of society; but there are a number of special activities which help directly toward this great aim. Among such activities in the United States we find, for example, the establishment of a national Children's Bureau at Washington, D. C, and the protection of health given by the enforcement of the Pure Food and Drugs Acts. Some governments provide insurance against unemployment and old age pensions. One of the interesting developments of governmental insurance is the fact that during the recent war with Ger-- many the United States government itself insured the lives of its soldiers.

Increasing Responsibilities of the Government. — All the kinds of work which we have discussed, and many others, have been placed in the hands of the government because the people have felt that no individual, and no small private organization, could perform the work properly. Though some persons believe that it is unwise to allow governments to undertake too many kinds of activities, there seems to be a growing tendency to place in their hands, or under their control^ more and more of the work in which large groups of people are interested.

1. Why is national defense undertaken by governments rather than by private associations of patriotic individuals?

2. Give historical examples of campaigns of conquest. Find how these were regarded in ancient times. How are they regarded today? Why?

3. Why is the preservation of order a duty of governments?

4. Give all the arguments that you can against mobs and mob action, even when this is used to punish criminals. What would be the effect upon peace and order if mob rule became very common? Why is it not only disorderly, but often very unjust, for mobs to punish wrongdoers?

5. What can be done to lessen the evil of mob action in the United States?

6. Why is it better for the government to administer justice than to leave this to private individuals?

7. Why do governments undertake such work as the care of special classes, and of the pubhc health, education, etc.? Why should not education, for example, be left to the parents or friends of each child?

8. What is the aim of a modern government? How can citizens cooperate in helping the government to reach this aim?

Chapter III The Divisions Of Government

Subdivisions of the Government. — We already know that in the United States there are several divisions of government. Each voter helps to select officers for the national government, his state government, his county government, and (if he lives in a city) for his city government.

If we have thought carefully about the reasons why governments are established, we shall understand without much difficulty why these various divisions exist. They are organized chiefly for the sake of convenience in performing public work.

Affairs Controlled by the City. — The government of a city is of chief interest only to those who live in that city. Nobody. outside Jonesville is immediately concerned about the problem whether a new system of waterworks shall be installed there. It would be merely an annoyance for persons a thousand miles away to be asked to vote on the waterworks question. Even if they took the time to vote, they could hardly do so with much intelligence, as it would be almost impossible for them to study thoroughly the needs of Jonesville. Moreover, the expense of holding an election in which every voter in the United States was asked to take part would be heavier than the cost of the waterworks. All these considerations make it clear that it is best for the citizens of Jonesville, or of any other city, to manage their own affairs. They should elect their own officers, decide

THE DIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT 15

upon their own undertakings, and conduct their own pubhc business without troubUng others or being molested by outsiders.

Affairs Controlled by the State. — There are, however, many pubhc undertakings which are too large for a city to handle alone, and in which many cities, and many persons outside cities, wish to cooperate. Let us consider the problem of establishing a university, to which students might come from many cities and country districts for the benefits of free education. Great undertakings such as this are often managed, in the United States, by the state governmentSw The same reasons that have been given for allowing cities to control their own affairs apply in the case of the state. The people of New Jersey are not particularly, interested in deciding whether or not Oklahoma ought to have a state university; and it is better in every way to let those concerned in the question decide it.

Matters of National Concern. — Some kinds of pubhc business concern everybody in the entire nation. There is hardly a person anywhere who is not interested in good mail service. Nearly everyone has friends or business affairs in some other part of the country, and needs the help of a well-conducted postal system in order to correspond with the friends or carry on the business. Everyone is concerned, too, in the problem of regulating the great railroad systems which connect all parts of the United States, so that they will give good service at reasonable rates. These and many other kinds of public work which are of interest to every individual can be carried on successfully only through a government which is set up by all the people of the entire country — that is, a national government.

County and Township. — The general rule is, as we have seen, that matters which concern a city shall be managed by the city government, those which concern a state shall be managed by the state government, and those which concern all the people of the nation shall be managed by the national government. It has been found convenient to make still other divisions of government, as the county and the township, for certain particular purposes, such as assisting the state in the collection of taxes and the care of roads and bridges.

Distribution of Governm.ental Control. — It is not always easy to decide which of these divisions of government should control certain undertakings, for there are several kinds of public work which are of interest to city, state, and nation. One of these is education. Every city wishes a welleducated body of citizens, in order that they may choose good officials and support progressive undertakings. But the state and the nation also need educated citizens for exactly the same reason. Which division of government should control education?

This is only a single example of many public matters which concern more than one division of government. As it would be foolish and wasteful for all the divisions to undertake the same work, some way must be found of deciding which one shall manage each affair.

Division of Work between State and Nation. — In this country, certain historical facts have helped to solve such problems. When the original thirteen states adopted the federal Constitution, they retained all the rights and duties which were not especially mentioned as being given over to the national government. This has had a very important effect upon the distribution of work between the state and national governments. Another historical fact that has

THE DIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT 17

had a similar influence is the custom (which has gained the force of law) of considering that the government of a state has the right to tell the inhabitants of a city within the state what functions their city government may perform, and to reserve for its own management such affairs as it does not give over to the city.

Public Welfare as the Best Guide. — Such laws and customs have been of great assistance when people have wished to decide some difficult problem concerning the distribution of public work. However, the mere fact that a thing has been done in the past does not always make it advisable in the present, for circumstances are constantly changing. Convenience and public welfare are the best guides, and when old laws have been found to work in opposition to these guides, they have often been replaced by new laws, better suited to modern conditions.

For instance, it used to be customary for each county or township to care for its own insane persons when their relations could not support them; but this is now generally done by the state. Since there were only a few insane in each county, it was seldom considered worth while to build an asylum and hire cooks, housekeepers, attendants, and physicians for perhaps a half-dozen persons. Usually this was not done, and the insane were not cared for at all or were placed in a poorhouse, where they were not given proper treatment. For much less money than it would cost the individual counties to provide good care and skilled physicians for the insane, the state can provide one or two large asylums managed by experts; hence, the care of the insane has become a state function nearly everywhere in this country.

We see, then, that for the sake of convenience there must be various divisions of government; and that the pubHc work must be distributed among these in the way which is best suited to secure convenience and general welfare.

1. Name the chief divisions of government in the United States. What are some of the subdivisions of these larger divisions?

2. What is the use of having so many divisions of different sizes? Why would it not be better to have every part of the United States governed by officials at Washington? Why would it not be better to abolish state and national governments, and permit each group of people in the country to govern themselves without regard to others?