eth, but the spirit giveth life." Indeed the form of the American government is only an outgrowth of the spirit which animated its founders. The American fathers loved liberty and believed the people should have a controlling hand in government, and they drew the Constitution in trend with their affections and beliefs. The spirit of the fathers became the spirit of the generations which followed, and is the American spirit to-day. As long as that spirit shall survive the American citizen may say: "Under my government I know and exultingly feel both that I am free and that I am not dangerously free to myself or to others. I know that if I act as I ought no power on earth can touch my life, my liberty, my property. I have that inward and dignified consciousness of my own security and independence which constitutes, and is the only thing which does constitute, the proud and comfortable sentiment of freedom in the human breast. I know, too, and bless God for my own mediocrity; I know that I cannot, by any special favor or by popular delusion or by oligarchical cabal, elevate myself above a certain very limited point so as to endanger [incur the risk of] my own fall or the ruin of my country. I know there is a constitution that keeps things fast in their place: it is made to us and we are made to it." (Edmund Burke.) AN EXERCISE Classify the following as American or un-American, testing each classification by some fundamental principle: (a) The people of a State choose as their governor a man who does not reside in the State; (b) a town with a population of 500 has as many representatives as a city with a population of 100,000; (c) a man seeks a title of nobility; (d) a pupil seeks a medal awarded for scholarship; (e) the State government controls the police force of a city; (f) the State government controls the public schools of a city; (g) the local government constructs roads; (h) the federal government constructs roads; (i) the State government constructs roads; (j) a man always votes with his party; (k) a man never votes at all; (1) the legislature raises the salary of public employees; (m) the executive raises the salary of public employees; (n) a man contends that democracy is the worst form of government; (o) a man is punished for contending that democracy is the worst form of government; (p) a man was arrested for teaching the doctrine of Buddha; (g) a legislator would not receive a request to enact a certain law; (r) there was held a mass meeting at which the representatives of the people were requested to enact a certain law; (s) there was held a mass meeting at which the representatives were commanded to enact a certain law; (t) the legislature of a State passed a resolution denouncing the action of a foreign government; (u) a law provides that the governor shall appoint the county commissioners; (v) a law provides that the governor shall appoint the county judges; (w) the federal government informed the drivers of its mail-carts that they might drive at a speed greater than that permitted by the local authorities; (x) a State made forty years the age qualifications for voting; (y) a State made seventeen years the age qualification for voting; (z) a law forbidding adults to be on the street after midnight; (aa) a law forbidding children under twelve years of age to be on the streets after 10 P.M. A Hint on Reading.-C. G. Tiedemann, "The Unwritten Constitution of the United States"; Wright's "American Constitutions.'' XVI THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS Introductory. Now that the fundamental principles of our government have been learned, we may pass to the subject of its organization. We shall study the organization of (1) the federal government, (2) the State government, (3) local government, and (4) political parties. The organization of the federal government is determined by the Constitution, Article I providing for the legislature, Article II for the executive, and Article III for the judiciary. We can learn in these Articles of the qualifications of federal functionaries, of the length of their terms of service, of the manner of their appointment or election, of their duties and privileges. Many of the facts of federal organization are stated in the Constitution so clearly and fully as to make it unnecessary to refer to them in the text. No important facts, however, ought to be neglected by the student, and he will neglect none if, in addition to answering the questions on the text, he will also answer those questions at the end of the chapters where reference is made to the Constitution. Representation in Congress. At the time when the Constitution was framed many novel theories of government were in circulation, but fortunately the men of the Convention avoided ideal schemes. As practical statesmen they knew that if their work was to be successful they must plan for a central government which should resemble as nearly as possible the government to which the people were already accustomed. Accordingly it was early determined |