American citizenship

Front matter

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Preface

In view of the large number of textbooks on civics alreadyavailable, some very decided reasons should be forthcoming from those who venture to add another one to the long list. Our first plea in justification of this volume is our belief that the books on government now offered to the schools have certain fundamental defects.

An examination of the extensive collection of texts in the Library of Congress, which embraces all of the most recent books on civics, shows that they fall into two groups : those which are formal and legal, and those which are " sociological," in character. The authors of the first group err, in our opinion, in treating government as a multitude of rules already well settled which, when committed to memory, are calculated to make good and wise citizens. The authors of the second group, it seems to us, in their revolt against the mechanistic theory of government, err just as much in minimizing those concrete political and administrative processes by which social work of a public character is accomplished and in emphasizing in civics private activities which are remote from official operations. For example, the principle of the separation of governmental powers, so scorned by the sociological school, is in fact more important, as we try to show, than half of the beneficent enterprises undertaken in the name of modern collectivism.

And both groups of books are equally in error in so far as' they seem to regard civic life as static or settled rather than, dynamic and progressive. By treating government in all its manifestations as a machine rather than a process, and by treating vi Preface

social institutions as accomplished facts rather than as phases of social evolution, we must obviously put the pupils in the position of automatons moving in a world already finished — whereas we should regard them as creative factors in social life.

We are also unable to agree with those who view civics as a mere community study. In our opinion this is liable to be both superficial and anti-social, in so far as it stresses street-cleaning, gas plants, and local charitable institutions to the almost total exclusion of the fundamental outside influences which condition the life of the community. Just as the mother cannot act intelligently in the home unless she knows about the play of outside forces on the home, so the citizen cannot act intelligently in the community unless he views it in its proper relation to the state and nation. Perhaps the garbage cart is the only community institution which is purely local in character. All other essential matters — water, milk, food, clothing, shelter, education, income, and freedom — cannot be determined by community action ; they are of state and national concern. The simpler community matters might very well be taken up in the eighth grade in place of some of the history now given there.

Another serious objection to the books on civics now available is that they are written almost wholly from a masculine point of view and appeal only to boys, destined to be voters. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of pupils in the high schools are girls, and if civics concerns only potential voters the subject should be confined to boys except in those states where women are enfranchised. But, in truth, civics concerns the whole community, and women constitute half of that community. They are mothers whom society holds largely responsible for the health and conduct of citizens ; they are engaged in industries and professions of all kinds ; they are taxpayers ; they are subject to the laws ; they suffer from the neglect of government as much as do the men ; and they are just as deeply interested in government — whether they vote or not. Any work on civics which ignores the changed and special position of modern women in the family, in industry, before the law, and in the

Preface vii

intellectual life of the community is, therefore, less than half a book.

Although we believe that the spirit of a book and the method of approach are more important than any technicalities in arrangement, we have not adopted the general plan which follows without considering those problems of proportion, induction, and progressive development which have thus far drawn a great deal of attention from teachers of civics. There is, for instance, the vexed question whether the immature student should begin with local or national government. We have not been oblivious to the long and eloquent arguments which teachers have made over this issue; but it has seemed to us that both sides are so equally balanced that a discriminating person may decide either way.

The chief point usually made in favor of approaching through local government is that it is more concrete and simpler. We have come to the conclusion, on carefully weighing the matter, that this argument is largely illusory ; that the concreteness and simplicity are more imaginary than real. The federal post oiBce is as concrete as the town hall and the ways of Congress are not more mysterious than the devious methods of the town caucus which constitutes the " invisible " local government. The tariff sheets of charges posted at the local railway station under orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission may not be as concrete as the living, breathing poundkeeper or road supervisor of the village ; but any civics which treats them as any less real is worse than wrong — it is pernicious. Then take the family with which the apostles of simplicity would fain begin. Is there in all the world anything more complex than the really important truths about this ancient institution ?

No method of approach to government can in fact be simple. Our first word, as Pollock and Maitland say at the beginning of their History of English Law, must cut a seamless web too large for any human eye, and all we can do is to watch the whence and whither of the few threads which fall under our eyes. In very truth, it would seem that all subjects save mathematics and viii Preface

languages are beyond the grasp of the immature pupil, and even the mathematicians and philologists have their warnings for us. But in a democracy it is essential that the citizens should have as clear an outlook as possible upon government and its problems and, though the complexity of all approaches to civics would bid us halt, the need of things must overcome our scruples. We have simply chosen to start with the individual and his position in industry and his rights under the law. A score of other ways might have been chosen with equal justification, perhaps, but a beginning had to be made somewhere.

We have given little consideration to the problem whether ours is the best government in the world, not because we are wanting in proper patriotic sentiments, but because the answer to that question is of little moment as compared with that greater question : is ours the best government which it is possible for the American people to establish and maintain ?

We have tried throughout this book to emphasize the great principles of government rather than to give a description of the intricate details of political organization and social work which will be obsolete in all probability before high school students have reached the voting age.

At the close of each chapter we have placed some simple questions based on the text, and we have given a few leading topics with references to one or more standard works, a complete list of which appears in the appendix.-^ In the appendix also will be found an extended list of questions which require more or less research on the part of the students, and the teacher will make use of them or not, according to the amount of time which may be devoted to the course. c a. B.

New York, January, 1914. M. R. B.

1 Unfortunately, most of the live material on practical civics is in the periodical literature ; but knowing full well the difficulties which confront the teacher of large classes who attempts to make use of scattered articles, we have confined our bibliographical references to a few books which are readily available. We have appended a copy of the federal Constitution with amendments, and we have constantly cited it in the text. It is important that the student should acquire the habit of examining its language carefully on every point covered by it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I

HUMAN NEEDS AND THE GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER PAGH

I. The Nature of Modern Government .... 3

IJ. Food, Clothing, and Shelter 8

III. The Family 21

IV. Civil Liberty 34

V. Property Rights 54

VI. Political Liberty 64

Part II The Machinery Of Government — Officers, Elections, And Parties

VII. The Great Parts of American Government ... 79

VIII. The National Government 95

IX. State Government ........ 121

X. The Government of Cities ...... 130

XL Government in Country Districts 140

XII. Political Parties 145

XIII. Representative Government and Direct Democracy . 159

Part III The Work Of Government

XIV. The Services Rendered by the Federal Government . 173 XV. The Work of the State Government .... 219

Table of Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XVI. How THE City Government Serves the Community 242

XVII. The Work of Rural Government .... 271

Chapter I The Nature Of Modern Government

I. The old notion of the government as a mystery.

1. Government formerly conducted for the benefit of a ruling

class.

2. Our political terms recall older days.

II. Government now viewed as the people's servant.

1. The government not a mystery.

2. Necessity for government grows out of oior dependence

upon one another.

3. We perform duties and secure rights through the govern-

ment.

4. The government helps where the individual cannot help

himself.

III. The plan of this book.

IV. The pm-pose of the teaching of civics. 1. Private virtues in public service.

The old notion of government as a mystery. — Until recent times government was everywhere regarded as something mysterious and beyond the ken of ordinary mortals. Indeed it is so regarded in many countries of the world to-day, and as we call to mind the pomp and ceremony which surround the courts of kings, we ourselves are likely to be impressed with what the old writers called " the majesty and divinity of sovereigns." Military display, gilt and tinsel decorations, and gorgeous pageantry have been regularly employed by rulers to keep the people in awe of public authority and to prevent them from becoming too familiar with affairs of state. Even writers on political science have often warned their readers against inquiring too closely into the origin and nature of government and have sought to instill a spirit of veneration quite apart from any understanding of the government.

Government formerly conducted for the benefit of a ruling class. — Many generations ago in England, to which country our government owes its origin, the king and his nobles were the government, and they held that it was the business of the mass of the people — the peasants, merchants, and artisans — to pay taxes to support the rulers and to bear arms in wars waged for their benefit. The people there are still called " subjects," not citizens; the army is the " royal army " ; the navy is called the " royal navy " ; and as a wag once said " nothing but the debt is national." This calls to mind the olden times when the government was little more than a big policeman and tax-collector, and its purpose was to benefit the ruling class.

Our political terms recall older days. — Many of our terms of politics are derived from older days, when the people were regarded as subjects under a government rather than citizens cooperating through a government. Even the word " government " itself comes from the Latin word gubernare, meaning to rule, which implies some as masters and others as subjects. The great word " patriotism " comes from pater, or father, which carries with it the notion of authority above rather than the more democratic idea of fraternity or cooperation among equals.

Government now viewed as the people's servant, — By a long and gradual process, which cannot be described here, the power of government was wrested from the king and his nobles and declared to be vested in the people, or, to speak more accurately, in the voters. So it has come about in the United States that the government is not a special group of persons selected by exalted royal authority and empowered to rule over us, but is simply a certain number of citizens set aside in each village, township, county, city and state,

The Nature of Modern Government 5

and in the nation, and instructed by the voters to undertake certain tasks for the people. These officers are either elected directly by the voters or appointed by officers who derive their authority from the voters. Moreover, we now speak of our people, not as " subjects," but as " citizens," and of the government not as a '' sovereign," but as a " servant," doing those things which the voters decide should be undertaken by public authorities.

The government not a " mystery." — Under the circumstances, we do not regard the government as a mysterious institution, but simply as an agent to serve the community, — to do work for the good of the people, — work which cannot be done as well by private persons and companies. It is true that this ideal is not perfectly carried out in practice, but it is a great gain to have established the principle that the purpose of government is not to sustain a ruling class, but to satisfy the needs of the people which cannot be better met in some other way.

The necessity for government grows out of our dependence upon one another. — We have a government in the United States simply because we all have needs which we cannot satisfy by our own individual efforts. Only a Robinson Crusoe can live without a government of some sort. Every American family cannot produce its own food, build its own shelter, protect itself from criminals and epidemics, educate its own members at home, carry its own products to the consumers, and fetch its purchases from the four corners of the earth. We are, in fact, dependent upon one another for liberty, health, and safety, as well as for the necessaries of life. We cannot see or know all those persons upon whom we are dependent, — the miners down in the depths of the earth, the girls in the cotton mills of New England, the farmers on the Western plains. We cannot meet them face to face and know that they have been fairly paid or justly treated for their labors from which we have benefited.

We 'perform duties and secure rights through the government. — It is just because we cannot individually do justice to those who serve us or secure justice for ourselves that we must have a government. The farmer, for example, cannot be sure that the coal that keeps him warm in winter has been dug only in mines where proper safety appliances have been used to prevent the great loss of life among the miners, unless the government makes certain wise laws and carefully inspects all of the coal mines. The purchaser of food and other commodities cannot know whether the rates charged for freight by railways are just and fair, but the government may investigate this matter and fix rates that are proper.

The government helps where the individual cannot help himself. — To sum up, the purpose of government, as we view it in our day, is to do those things which cannot be done well or justly by individuals working alone, and to regulate the doings of private persons in such a manner as to improve the general standard of life, labor, and education. The very essence of government, according to the democratic ideal, is cooperation or union of effort for the common good. This does not mean that the individual should be less industrious, temperate, or virtuous, but that whenever and wherever we can accomplish better results or have great and beneficent work done more easily by uniting our efforts in the government, we should do so. When the government builds a levee or regulates railway "rates, it does not take away the courage or virtue of any citizens. It simply does what the citizens, no matter how courageous or virtuous, cannot do without combining to do through a central committee or bureau called the government.

The plan of this book. — In viewing the government as an agent of common welfare, we have divided this book into three parts : to show (1) which of our personal needs are beyond complete individual satisfaction and involve govern-

The Nature of Modern Government 7

mental action; (2) how the great branches of the government, national, state, and local, are organized to deal with these needs ; and (3) what work the government now undertakes in recognition of these needs.

The purpose of the teaching of civics. — In considering our government under these three heads, we shall try to give some idea of its history and its various branches. But above all we shall endeavor to show how our daily work brings us into touch with the government, what principal issues the voters are thinking about to-day, and how the citizen and voter can take part in controlling the government and in creating the public opinion to which the government must yield. What is perhaps most important of all is that the student should know that there is always work to be done to increase the efficiency with which the present government performs its tasks, to perfect the machinery of government, and to improve its functions as a public servant. In the proper study of civics, therefore, the citizen not only learns how the government works, but acquires an interest in helping to improve it.

Private virtues in public service. — It is an ideal of every good citizen to leave the world a little better than he found it. Intelligent voting is one way of attaining this ideal ; for by intelligent voting, old and established public work may be improved and new and beneficent services may be undertaken. Religion, education, interest in one's fellowmen, and all those virtues which lift mankind above the brute kingdom may be as nobly employed in advancing the common good through governmental service as in elevating private conduct through precept and example.

1. What is the advantage in having the government regarded as a mystery?

2. Why do we have a government at all ?

3. For whom does the government exist ?

4. Which is better : to be regarded as a citizen or as a subject ?

5. What is meant by "public servants" ?

6. Name a country where people are still regarded as subjects.

7. Name a country besides ours where people are regarded as citizens.

8. What is meant by cooperation ?

The Government a Means of Cooperation among Individuals : Ward, The Social Center, pp. 1-18.

Chapter II Food, Clothing, And Shelter

I. The connection between food, clothing, and shelter. II. Changes in industry bring changes in government.

III. Life and work in olden times.

1. How the family took care of itself.

2. A livelihood reasonably certain.

3. Old-fashioned workshops and factories.

4. Commerce and trading of less importance.

IV. The industrial revolution.

V. The division of labor.

1. How the division of labor brings the government into

action.

2. Increased travel and transportation.

3. The government and the quantity of goods produced.

4. The demand for foreign markets raises questions of foreign

policies for the government.

VI. The factory system.

1. The consumers' interest in the factory system.

2. The owner's interest.

3. Owners who do not manage their factories.

4. The laborer's interest in industry.

5. The wages system.

6. The capital and labor question.

VII. How the government becomes interested in housing.

1. The majority of people in cities do not own their homes.

2. Public regulation of housing.

3. Rxxral homes.

The connection between food, clothing, and shelter and the government. — It may seem strange at first thought to connect food, clothing, and shelter with government, but in fact the way we obtain these necessities determines, in a lo American Citizenship

large measure, the nature of the government and the work which it has to do. We have only to compare the government of a big city with that of a rural region to discover an obvious illustration of this truth. It is the different ways which people have of living and working in cities that require many more public services, such as waterworks, gas plants, street lighting, tenement inspection, sewers and collection of wastes, and a score of government activities which are not required in the country at all. Then one could go on to multiply illustrations by calling attention to the disposal of government lands, the regulation of railway rates, the tariff, labor laws, forest conservation, dairy inspection, and innumerable other matters which bring our struggle for food, clothing, and shelter into contact with the government.

Changes in industry bring changes in government. — Furthermore, it is the changes in our ways of securing food, clothing, and shelter that are principally responsible for changes in the nature and work of government. It is because the ways of meeting these great human needs now in use are so different from the methods employed in other ages, that our governments have so many problems totally different from those of governments a generation or more ago. These problems are very troublesome and difficult to understand, but it is necessary to try to grasp them, because the work of modern government would otherwise be meaningless. We can, perhaps, best approach the matter by noting the most important industrial changes which have come over our country since independence from Great Britain was obtained.

Life and work in olden times. — Our early American ancestors lived in the country or in very small towns surrounded by the fields from which their principal food supplies came. They produced at home almost everything that was needed. The men and women, assisted by their children, grew their own food and made all their coarser clothing.

Food, Clothing, and Shelter ii

The men hewed down the forests and built their own houses and made their simple furniture. The women spun and wove, helped in the fields, made bread and soap and carpets and candles, and did their own sewing by hand. The children were not compelled to go to school, and if they went at all, it was only for a few months in the winter.

How the family took care of itself. — Each family was then practically self-supporting and independent of the outside world for the real necessities of life. There can still be seen here and there in the North, old-fashioned homes which show how independent the former dwellers were of merchants, travelers, manufacturers, and railways. In the great fireplaces, wood from the neighboring forest was burned, so that there was no dependence upon coal miners and railways for fuel. In the huge " Dutch " ovens, the family baking was done. In the spacious attic or in a special house stood the spinning wheels, reels, looms, and dye vats where carpets and coarse cloth were made and dyed. In the tool house there was a forge and the blacksmith's tools, where the simple agricultural and domestic implements were wrought by hand. In the cellars and closets stores of food were laid by for the winter from the field and orchard and, in the smokehouse, bacon, hams, and quarters of beef were cured for the family use. In the South, similar conditions existed, except that the labor on the large plantations was performed by slaves. One who wishes a mental picture of the old days needs only to visit the home of Washington at Mount Vernon, where all the old tools, implements, and household equipment are preserved intact.

A livelihood reasonably certain. — Luxuries like tea and silks were imported by the well-to-do families, but the fundamental needs were supplied at home. Not without hard labor, it is true, but certainly by hard labor the family was secure against the bitter sting of poverty, with its dire uncertainty. Helpless old people were cared for by their children or by their neighbors, and the families helped one another in times of illness, or when specially laborious tasks had to be performed.

Old-fashioned workshops and factories. — When Washington was inaugurated President, only three per cent of the people lived in towns of over eight thousand. In the country, where most of the people dwelt, the men, women, and children did not work for wages, but in order to satisfy their own wants. They were thus their own masters for the most part, because they owned the land and the tools with which they worked. Even the artisans in the towns were frequently independent because they worked with hand machinery which they owned themselves or expected to acquire at the end of an apprenticeship. Moreover, the poor of the towns and the country regions of the East could look forward to a life of independence by acquiring cheap land in the West. Slaves were, however, without property and bound to the soil.

Commerce and trading of less importance. — Money did not circulate as it does to-day. Barter and trade ran through the whole system of business. Country people brought their produce to the stores ; the retailers passed it on to the wholesalers in exchange for manufactures. For example, the corn and bacon of the Middle West were shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where they were exchanged for molasses, whisky, tea, coffee, and other commodities. There were but few joint-stock companies or corporations engaged in business. The manufacturer or business man superintended his own plant. Outside of the government securities there were only a few stocks and bonds to be sold on stock exchanges, so that the field of finance and banking was very narrow. Great riches were made principally out of land speculation and fortunate shipping ventures at sea, or by trading with the Indians. There was relatively little travel, and if any considerable number of people did not

Food, Clothing, and Shelter 13

like the rates of a stage driver, they could easily encourage the establishment of a competing concern.

The industrial revolution. — One has only to imagine the ways of living and working in those old days and compare them with the modern ways to realize how great has been the change. Indeed, writers call this break with old methods " the industrial revolution," and justly point out that it has wrought vaster changes in human life than all the previous revolutions since the beginning of civilization. It was, however, such a peaceful revolution, and came about so rapidly, that many people still think the thoughts of the old world while they perform their daily labor in a new one, and sometimes declare that inasmuch as it was not necessary for the government to concern itself with regulating the safety of stage coaches, it should let railways conduct, their business with the same freedom from interference. To realize the connection between government and ways of gaining a livelihood, let us bring together here a summary of changes which were brought about by the industrial revolution.

The division of labor. — The first great change we should note is the division of labor, for this destroyed that old independence of the family from the outside world, and made us all dependent upon one another. Nowadays the individual specializes in one or two trades. There are people, for instance, who spend their lives watching machines stick pins into papers, or put heads on matches, and who could not possibly make a whole pin or a match. Instead of each family performing all, or nearly all, of the tasks necessary to produce the articles the members use, we have the family dependent upon some very special trades, such as cotton spinning or automobile manufacturing. Of course we are speaking now mainly of manufactures, but even in the farming regions, the people no longer make their clothing and their farming implements. There are not many farmers to-day who can shoe a horse, sharpen a plowshare, and half-sole a pair of boots.

This specialization is geographical as well. There are countries and regions which specialize in grain production, so that we have great areas exporting wheat and corn and importing other foodstuffs and manufactures. Some regions specialize in iron and steel ; others in fruits and dairy produce, and so on. Such specialization requires large receiving and distributing centers, warehouses, caimeries, and markets.

How this division of labor brings the government into action. — This specialization touches the government in many ways. In the old days, for example, when people produced and cooked their own foods, they knew what ingredients entered into them. They could attend to the purity of their food without laws about the subject, or, if they chose to be dirty and careless, the guilty parties were the principal sufferers. In our day, on the other hand, the canners of food and packers of meat do not have to eat their own products, and consumers in order to be sure of certain standards of purity have demanded pure food laws and the inspection of manufacturing concerns and shipments to prevent adulteration.

Increased travel and transportation. — A further result of this specialization, which also involves the government very directly, is the necessity for extensive transportation systems. Food must be sent from place to place by train and steamer, and the rates and arrangements for freight handling affect both the producer and consumer of foodstuffs. The element of what is called " monopoly " enters in here, because the number of railway lines between two centers is necessarily limited, and not even one line can be built without the approval of the government. In fact, in the United States the governments — federal and state — have contributed enormous sums of money and vast areas of land to the companies which have constructed the transportation sys-