[4]The Representative population includes all free persons, white or black; to which (according to the provisions of the Constitution), three-fifths of all the slaves were to be added. But this proviso, now that slavery is abolished, has become a nullity.
[4]The Representative population includes all free persons, white or black; to which (according to the provisions of the Constitution), three-fifths of all the slaves were to be added. But this proviso, now that slavery is abolished, has become a nullity.
[4]The Representative population includes all free persons, white or black; to which (according to the provisions of the Constitution), three-fifths of all the slaves were to be added. But this proviso, now that slavery is abolished, has become a nullity.
5. In 1800, the second census was taken; and when Congress made the apportionment, which was done in 1803, it did not change the ratio, but left it at one Representative to every 33,000 of the representative population.
In 1810, the third census was taken, and in 1811 the ratio was fixed at one Representative for every 35,000 of the population.
In 1820, the fourth census was taken, and in 1822 Congress fixed the ratio at one Representative for every 47,000 of the population.
In 1830, the fifth census was taken, and in 1832 the ratio was fixed at one Representative to every 47,000 of the population.
In 1840, the sixth census was taken, and in 1842 Congress again declared that the ratio should be one Representative to every 70,000 of the population.
6. In 1850, the seventh census was taken, and in conformity with the law passed this year, the number of members wasfor the first time limited; the limit being 233; and the Secretary of the Interior was ordered to take the census returns, and divide the whole representative population by the number 233, and to make the quotient the ratio between the Representatives and the people.
7. We have never seen the result of the Secretary’s estimate, but, taking the population of 1850 and dividing it by 233, would produce a quotient of nearly 94,000; and this we take as the ratio, after the time when it was done, 1852; that is, one Representative to every 94,000 of the population.
8. The eighth census was taken in 1860, and on it an apportionment was based, which allowed one Representative for every 127,000 of the population.
In 1850 Congress adopted the principle of permanently fixing the number of members of Congress, to save the trouble of doing it as heretofore, every ten years. An act was passed limiting it to 233; but notwithstanding this limitation, it was provided that if any new State came in, it should have its member, which would add to the number. But this increase was to continue no longer than until the next apportionment, when the number was to fall back again to the old figure.
In 1862 the law was modified to make the whole number of members consist of 241 after the 3d of March, 1863. In 1870 the ninth census was taken, and in 1872 Congress decided that after March 3d, 1873, the Representatives should comprise 292 members, being one Representative for every 135,239 of the population and apportioned them among the several States as follows:
9. But it must be borne in mind that Congress has the power to alter all this, and to enact that Congress shall consist of any other number of members, although it is not probable that this will be done soon.
10. The foregoing statements will show the general plan upon which the House of Representatives is constituted, and how the several States are constantly changing the number of their Representatives, and their relative power and influence in Congress. This can be readily understood by remembering the fact that new States come into the Union every few years, and that the population increases much more rapidly in the Western States than in the Eastern, and that, consequently, the West is rapidly gaining power in Congress, while the Atlantic States are losing it.
11. In the apportionment no regard is had to the Territories or to their population. In this adjustment, the States and their population only are regarded, and the number of members is all given to the States. Every Representative from a Territory is an addition to that number, but it must be remembered that a Territorial member has no right to vote on any question, but has only the right to debate; and for this reason he is not, in the fullest sense, a member, and is not counted in adjusting the number of which the House is made to consist.
1. An oath is an appeal to God, by him who makes it, that what he has said, or what he shall say, is the truth. It is the most solemn form under which one can assert or pronounce anything. To utter a falsehood while under oath is perjury, a crime of the darkest hue. One which God has declared he will punish, and one which is made infamous, and punishable by fine and imprisonment by the laws of the land.
2. The Constitution (Art. 6, Sec. 3) requires that Senators and Representatives, and members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States, and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Then in the second article, section eight, the form of the oath required of the President before he enters upon his duties, is given in these words:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
3. This is all the Constitution says about oaths; but it is enough to show that no man (unless he commit perjury,) can accept office, either under the United States or any State government, unless he in good faith will support the Constitution.
But in the laws enacted by Congress, we find that not only official oaths are required; but in a great variety of other cases, men who transact business with the government are required to verify their accounts and statements with an oath. This is particularly the case with those who do business with the custom house; such as merchants, shipowners, and masters of vessels. Many oaths must be put in the form of affidavits; that is, the oath must be written and signed by the deponent, that the statements made may be preserved.
4. The form of official oaths varies according to the natureof the duties to be performed by the deponent. The oath must be taken before the officer enters upon his duties. Should he neglect or refuse to do this, his acts will be illegal, and he would make himself liable to punishment.
After the late civil war broke out, Congress for the purpose of preventing those who had voluntarily taken part in the rebellion, from holding thereafter any office under the government, passed an act requiring every one before he could accept any office, either in the civil, military, or naval departments, to take an oath in the following form:
5. “I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States, since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought, nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power or Constitution, within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
So strong and comprehensive an oath as this was never before required from any officer of the government. It answers the requirements of the Constitution, and substantially comprehends all contained in any other forms heretofore used. It is at once an oath of allegiance, an oath of support of the Constitution, and an oath to discharge faithfully the duties of the office taken. This goes by the name of theTestoath, and frequently “The Iron-clad Oath.”
6. The object of the test oath was, during the Civil War, to prevent the entrance into any office of a person who might be secretly unfriendly to the government, and use his position to the advantage of its enemies. So comprehensive and minute an oath would allow no chance of mental evasion to a conscientious person, and would lay the offender under the liability of severe punishment. It is evidently proper to bind all officers of the general and State governments under the strongest and most solemn obligation to a faithful and honest discharge of their duties.
7. Whoever receives an office in the United States, which is connected with the revenue in any way, so that public money passes through his hands, is required to give a bond as security for such money. These bonds give the government a claim on their property if the money is not accounted for according to the directions of the law. They are signed by one or more persons who must show that they have the means to pay the amount for which they become security. The amount of security required depends on the sums of money that are to pass through the hands of the official, or which is likely at any time to accumulate in his possession. The government takes all the care it can that there shall be no risk of loss of the public property, and the bond is designed to afford adequate security for all that any officer may have charge of.
8. By this means two important ends are gained. No person can get an office who has no friends and no reputation for uprightness sufficient to induce those that know him to risk their own property on his honesty and faithfulness. It was designed to be a sure means for the government of finding out who were to be trusted. If he has not property himself, so that he can secure his bondsmen to their satisfaction, he must have so high a character for integrity that they are willing to risk their money in his hands, or he cannot obtain an office. Security for public funds, and a high degree of personal worth are both expected to be gained by this requirement.
On the whole, this works very well indeed, in both respects,but there seems no security, that is quite infallible, against roguery, unless it be in the extreme care of the people, and their constant watchfulness over all the affairs of the country and all the men who represent them. It is difficult to make a house so strong that a thief cannot get into it by force or stratagem, and rogues who wish to steal from the public funds may band together and help one another to get into office and then divide what spoil they can secure; or unforeseen events may bring more money than was properly secured into an officer’s hands, or those whose duty it is to see that he disburses the funds at the right times may be careless or dishonest.
9. The only sure way is to take care that none but men of proved integrity get into office, and to take all pains to cultivate honesty in the community at large. The money lost by the government is probably much less in proportion than in the private business of the country. Great watchfulness is really exercised, and when such a case occurs it is immediately known through the whole country. Not many men are willing to run so much risk of punishment and public reprobation. Too much care, however, cannot be taken to prevent corruption in public life. It destroys the purity and soundness ofcharacteron which our institutions are founded. A republic cannot exist without a high standard of virtue.
10. Every official is required to take an oath, or make a solemn affirmation to discharge the duties of his office faithfully. Though we cannot expect to be quite secure against the trickery and insincerity of false and corrupt men, yet we have reason, on the whole, to congratulate ourselves on the general security of public property, and the watchfulness of the people over their servants in places of trust.
1. The United States government has always endeavored to continue, as it commenced, to rule with vigor, and to preservea wholesome respect for its own authority and the rights of all its citizens, while it has, beyond all other governments, probably, that have ever existed sought to avoid arbitrariness and severity; keeping in mind the principle lying at the foundation of its institutions that it exists, not for itself, but for the good of the people. It has assumed that the people generally would not require coercion to submit to its regulations, and has not, therefore, made that ample provision for punishment and intimidation that is usual among governments.
In confirmation of this we call attention to the fact that the general government does not own, and has never built, prisons for the confinement of offenders against its laws. Imprisonment, as the mildest form of punishment, has, indeed, very often been inflicted, more often than any other form of punishment. How does this occur when they own no prisons? The answer is that they use the prisons of the States wherever they will allow it. This arrangement between the general and State governments has been made in nearly if not all the States; the United States paying for the support of their prisoners.
2. But in case any State should refuse to make such an agreement, the United States marshal of any district where a prisoner is to be confined, is authorized to procure some building where the prisoners may be safely confined in the district where they have been tried and convicted, or where they have been arrested and are held for trial.
This is a far more economical plan than it would be for the United States to build prisons all over the country, and then to employ keepers of them. It exemplifies the friendly relations existing between the States and the general government.
1. A Proclamation is an official notice published by one high in authority, for the purpose of giving reliable and authoritativeinformation to the people that something has been done, or will soon be done, which is important for them to know, that they may act, or refrain from acting according to the information contained in the proclamation. These proclamations are made known to the country through the most extensive channels of information that can be used for conveying intelligence to everybody in the Republic. In our day, and in our country, the newspapers are the best means that can be used for this purpose. But in ancient times, and before the art of printing was known, swift riders or runners were dispatched to every part of the kingdom or country over which the proclamation was to be made known. These messengers carried it with them, and proclaimed it in the ears of all the people.
2. These documents are official acts brought before the people in due form and solemnity. Sometimes they are only recommendations; at others they have all the force of organic law, or the acts of Congress.
It has, for some years, been the custom of the Executive to designate some day toward the close of the year as a day of thanksgiving, recommending the day to be observed in a religious manner. Important changes in the commercial affairs between us and some foreign country are made known by the same method.
3. A memorable proclamation was made by President Lincoln, in 1862, by which he made known to the country, and especially to the Southern States, that if they continued their war against the United States for one hundred days after its issuance, he would then, in virtue of his authority as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, liberate the slaves in all the seceded States. At the expiration of the time, which was on the first of January, 1863, he issued another proclamation, in and by which he did emancipate all the slaves in every State which had warred against the United States government.
The blockading of our ports at the commencement of the civil war, and the imposition of an embargo upon our shipping,previous to the last war with England, were both subjects which brought out proclamations from the President who then filled the Executive chair.
4. The above examples show the character of the cases which cause proclamations to be issued. In some instances they have the authority of law; in others they are merely recommendations; and in others only communicate important intelligence in regard to our public affairs at home or abroad.
1. As it is one purpose of this work to give a clear and complete account of the mode of conducting the affairs of the general government, we have thought it best to call attention to the class of officers named at the head of this chapter; and especially since persons acting under this title are assigned to a variety of duties, sometimes permanent and sometimes temporary. In the first place, they act as heads of bureaus in the various departments. These commissioners are permanent officials of the government, established and provided for by law; such are the commissioners of the land office, patent office, pension office, &c.
2. Another class of commissioners can hardly be considered officers, but rather temporary or special agents. In the multifarious duties devolving upon Congress, the President, and all the departments, it not unfrequently happens that it is impracticable for them to do certain things necessary to be done. The business to be transacted may be at a great distance from the capital, even in a foreign country. In these cases commissioners are appointed to do such business. They have been appointed to negotiate a peace, to make treaties of various kinds between us and other powers, and to negotiate with the Indians for the purchase of their lands. The United States courts appoint them to take bail, or to take testimony to beused on trials, and do various other things necessary in trials and proceedings before them.
3. Congress frequently appoints commissioners to obtain information, or to investigate some matter on which they expect to legislate. In all cases they must report their proceedings, either to Congress, to the President, or to the head of the department under whose instruction they act. Permanent commissioners report once a year, or oftener if required, that Congress may know the condition of affairs in their respective bureaus. Special commissioners, after they have performed the work assigned, make their report; after which their duties cease, and their commission comes to an end.
4. The lowest grade of diplomatic agents are called commissioners. We are thus represented at the present time in the Republics of Hayti and Liberia.
5. By recent acts of Congress, the powers of commissioners in some cases have been enlarged. They now examine persons charged with crimes against the laws of the United States; hold them to bail, discharge them, or commit them to prison; and do other magisterial acts, preliminary to the trial of the accused. When acting in such cases, they are clothed with some of the powers of a court.
1. Congress, in 1816, passed an act authorizing and requiring the Secretary of State, once in two years, to print and publish a book called “the official register,” in which he was ordered to register the name of every officer and agent of the government, in the civil, military and naval departments, including cadets and midshipmen, together with the compensation received by each; the names of the State and county where born; and the name of the place where employed, whether at home or abroad.
To the list of persons employed in the Navy Department, the Secretary of the Navy is required to subjoin the names, force and condition of all the ships and vessels belonging to the United States, and when and where built.
This work has been published and distributed, as the law directs, ever since the passage of the act, and is sometimes denominated “the blue book.” It is a very convenient and useful publication, as it shows in compact form the whole official force of the government in each department, together with the cost of maintaining it.
As it contains only names and dates and facts relating to persons, comparatively few would take the pains to read it, and but a small number is published. It can be found in the Congressional library at Washington, where twenty-five copies of each edition are deposited.
A nation’s Flag represents its sovereignty. It is adopted by its supreme authority as a symbol or sign of itself, and wherever it waves the fact of the substantial control of that authority, at that point, is thereby asserted. If there is a struggle between two powers for control, the presence of the flag proves that the authority it represents still maintains itself, and its subjugation is declared by lowering its flag and by the substitution of another in its place.
The flag is, therefore, an expression to the eye of the condition of things; and attracts the sympathies and antipathies, the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears of those interested in the sovereignty it represents. It is the rallying point of sentiment and of energy. The affection and reverence bestowed on our country will light up into a patriotic flame at sight of its flag. It is associated with all the heroic deeds and achievements that adorn our national history, and with the loss of allthose we honored and loved who followed and fought for it, and gave their lives in its defense. Our “Star Spangled Banner” has been a thousand times baptized in blood dearer to us than our own, and the sight of it recalls all these sacrifices so cheerfully made to establish or to preserve our institutions. The flag of the United States may well call forth more enthusiastic affection, pride, and hope than any other in the world; for it symbolizes not only home, country, and associations dear to Americans, but the justice, liberty, and right of self government that are dear to all mankind. Humanity at large has a deep interest in it.
Its history is this: Soon after the Declaration of Independence the Continental Congress appointed a committee to confer with Gen. Washington and “design a suitable flag for the nation.” After the painful and depressing defeat on Long Island, the retreat through the Jerseys and across the Delaware, when everything seemed lost for the new government, Washington suddenly struck the vigorous blows at Trenton and Princeton that confounded the enemy and drove him back to Staten Island. Congress and the country were cheered with a hope and a resolution that never afterwards failed them; for in the next campaign occurred the capture of Burgoyne, followed by the treaty with France; and the close of the war in our favor was henceforth only a question of time.
In the month of May or early June, 1777, following the staggering blow Washington had given the British army in Jersey, the committee referred to above, and Washington, completed the design for a flag. This was accomplished and the first flag made at the house of a Mrs. Ross, in Arch St., Philadelphia. The house is still standing—No. 239. She had a shop where she followed the “upholder” trade, as it was then called—the same as our upholstering. One day the Commander-in-chief, Hon. Geo. Ross, a relative of hers, and certain members of Congress, called on her, with a design for a flag—thirteen red and white stripes, alternate with thirteen six pointed stars—and requested her to make the flag. She consentedbut suggested that the stars would be more symmetrical and more pleasing to the eye if made with five points, and folded a sheet of paper and produced the pattern by a single cut. This was approved and she finished a flag the next day. Mrs. Ross was given the position of manufacturer of flags for the government, which descended to her children.
This was the flag that led our armies to victory during the remainder of the war, waved over the crestfallen soldiers of Burgoyne and Cornwallis, and at the mast head of John Paul Jones on the English coast. In 1794 this flag was changed, though its chief features were retained. Congress then ordered that the flag should consist of fifteen stripes, alternate red and white, and fifteen stars, white on a blue field. There were then fifteen States. The stars and stripes were equal, and a stripe and a star were added with the advent of each new State. This was changed in 1818, as the States increased and the flag threatened to become too large, by reducing the stripes to thirteen, representing the original Union, and the stars were made equal to the number of States. No change has since been made except to add a star whenever the union increased by the admission of a State.
“The Star Spangled Banner,” a stirring patriotic song which is to Americans what the “Marseillaise” is to the French, was composed by the author during the cannonade of Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, by the British fleet co-operating with an army which was to attack it, simultaneously with the fall of the fort, by land, Sept. 13th, 1814. The poet had gone on board the fleet under a flag of truce before the attack began, to negotiate about some prisoners, and was obliged to remain until the next day, the cannonade continuing during the night. If the fort surrendered Baltimore would be taken; and the fate of Washington, pillaged and burned a few days before, filled the people with the anxiety which is expressed by the poet, to know if the flag still waved in the morning “over the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” The joy of all America may be conceived when Admiral Cockrane drew off his fleetand took the British army on board, while the “Stars and Stripes” continued to float gaily on the breeze over Fort McHenry.
1. The use of seals to give authority to documents, and to establish their genuineness, comes down to us from a remote antiquity. It is much easier to counterfeit a signature alone, than the impression of a seal, and when both occur on a document it is considered fairly safe to be relied on as a sign of authority.
They are usually emblematic of some event, or sentiment attaching to the history or prevailing tendency and feeling of a country. They are used on documents or papers issued by the government. Some of the Departments have a special seal for their own use, in cases where the signature of the President is not required. If it is not affixed to the proper papers they fail to become legal and have no authority.
2. The usual mode of affixing the seal formerly was by placing melted wax on the paper and pressing the seal on it giving a fac simile or perfect representation of it. As this required time and business increased with the growth of the country, Congress passed an act making it lawful to affix the seal by making the impression directly on paper.
The custody of the Great Seal is with the Secretary of State, whose duty it is to affix it to all civil commissions issued to officers of the United States appointed by the President and Senate, or by the President alone. But it is forbidden to be affixed before the President has signed it. The seal alone without the signature has no value. It is used to show the genuineness of the President’s signature.
3. The Secretary of State and all the other secretaries of the great departments, each have a seal of office which is affixed tocommissions, and to other instruments emanating from their respective offices.
Several of the most important bureaus are required by law to have seals of office; for example, the Land Office and the Patent Office. When the United States gives a patent (title) to land, it must be sealed by the Land Office seal. A patent right must be issued under the seal of the Patent Office.
4. One of the most common and important uses of seals arises from the necessity people are often under to have copies of records, maps, and various other papers, the originals of which are in some of the departments at Washington, to be used as evidence in courts, where trials and other legal proceedings are pending. In order to provide for this necessity, Congress has enacted that copies of such records, maps and papers belonging to any of the government offices, under the signature of the head of such office, or of its chief clerk, with the seal affixed, shall be as competent evidence in all cases as their originals would be.
1. Soon after the formal establishment of the Republic by the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed a committee to prepare a seal. They employed an artist and furnished various devices; Jefferson combining them all at the request of the others. The paper still exists in the office of the Secretary of State at Washington. They reported Aug. 10th, 1776, but for some unknown reason, probably neglect, it was not acted on.
In 1779 another committee was appointed, to make a device. They reported May 10th, 1780. It was not acceptable, and was recommitted, being again reported a year afterwards, but not adopted. In 1782 a third committee was appointed, but could not satisfy Congress in their report. It was then referred to the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, who procured various devices that were unsatisfactory.
After vainly striving to perfect a seal which should meet the approval of Congress, Thomson finally received from JohnAdams, then in London, an exceedingly simple and appropriate device, suggested by Sir John Prestwitch, a baronet of the West of England, who was a warm friend of America, and an accomplished antiquarian. It consisted of an escutcheon bearing thirteen perpendicular stripes, white and red, with the chief blue, and spangled with thirteen stars; and, to give it greater consequence, he proposed to place it on the breast of an American eagle, displayed, without supporters, as emblematic of self-reliance. It met with general approbation, in and out of Congress, and was adopted in June, 1782; so it is manifest, although the fact is not extensively known, that we are indebted for our national arms to a titled aristocrat of the country with which we were then at war. Eschewing all heraldic technicalities, it may be thus described in plain English: Thirteen perpendicular pieces, white and red; a blue field; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed, holding in his right talon an olive-branch, and in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with the mottoE Pluribus Unum. For the crest, over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a golden glory breaking through a cloud, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation of white stars on a blue field.
Reverse.—A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded with a glory. Over the eye, the wordsAnnuit Cœptis—“God has favored the undertaking.” On the base of the pyramid, are the numeral Roman letters MDCCLXXVI; and underneath the motto,Novus Ordo Seculorum—“A New Series of Ages”—denoting that a new order of things had commenced in the Western hemisphere. Thus, after many fruitless efforts, for nearly six years, a very simple seal was adopted, and yet remains the arms of the United States.
1. The origin of law varies with the character or class of the government under which it is made. Where all authority is concentrated in the hands of one man his will becomes law whenever expressed, or when expressed in some regular and formal way. More generally laws are originated, in our days, in civilized countries where there is a monarchial government, by the ruler in conjunction with representatives of the people or some classes of them. In point of fact, rulers are always obliged to regard the habits, traditions, and feelings of the people more or less, or they may be obliged by a revolution, or the intrigues of the ambitious founded on their discontent, to retire to private life. The real prominence of the people in their governments is constantly becoming greater in all civilized lands, and it seems highly probable that, before many generations have passed, all governments not founded on an acknowledgment of the Sovereignty of the People will be incapable of maintaining themselves.
2. In the United States of America the source of all authority, and the origin of all law, is in the people alone. The fact that laws are made by Representatives does not alter the principle at all. They are simply the substitutes or agents of the people. Where there are many people any other than a Representative Democracy is impossible. These are chosen from among their equals, and when their term of office has expired return to the common level. If they are ambitious of more than one term of office they must take special care not to offend the majority that first elected them.
3. The first signal exercise of the law making power by the people was in the adoption of the Constitution as the Fundamental Law. This established the character of the government, prescribed the duties and limits of the legislative and executive branches, and organized a third branch to watch over the action of the other two and keep it in harmony withthe Constitution. This Instrument then became the source or foundation of allspecial law. It is a comprehensive statement of the will of the people, but it may be changed or enlarged in a prescribed way. It is binding on all legislators and executives. Whatever may be enacted or done by them not in accord with it is null and void; the Supreme Court being bound so to announce when the fact shall be proved before it. The Constitution is the Law of the Land. Any laws enacted by Congress, or by State Legislatures, not contrary to it, are valid and binding; but any attempt to set aside any of its provisions, or disregard its true intent, would be usurpation and a violation of the rights of the people. The term State Sovereignty can, consequently, be true only in a limited and secondary sense, this being a higher Sovereignty still.
4. The larger part of the general laws by which we are governed are made by Congress, that body having been instituted to that special end. It is composed of a popular House, or one chosen directly by the people, and one more select, chosen by the State Legislatures to represent their States as a whole. If the Legislature represents the will of the people of the State accurately, as it always does unless some change in popular opinion takes place suddenly after it has been elected, the Senators as well as Representatives will embody the views of the people in their respective States. So we see that the people are Sovereign and law really originates with them. Laws, indeed, may be made by their agents that do not suit them; but, if they cannot induce them to repeal such laws by petition, remonstrance, or otherwise, at once, by waiting a little until the terms of such members expire they can replace them by others pledged to carry out their views. Thus the general policy of the government is determined by the people at the general elections. They give the law to the law makers, and appoint the executives who will administer them in the spirit they approve. The whole matter is within their control as a point of power, and still more so from the natural deferencethe Representatives of the people feel toward the wishes of those on whose favor they depend. The deep indignation or contempt of their fellow men will seldom be incurred, even if they have no ambition for further electoral honors.
5. The treaties made by the President, which require to be ratified by the Senate to become binding, and the approval of the House of Representatives if money is required to carry them into effect—since only that branch can dispose of the property of the country, or originate laws for raising money—have also the force of general laws. The whole country is bound to act in conformity with their provisions. We have, then, three kinds of law, or laws from three different sources that are alike binding on the whole country: the Constitution, which is unchangeable except by vote of the Legislatures or conventions of three-fourths of the States; the laws of Congress, which may be made and repealed at their pleasure; and treaty law, which involves the consent of a foreign State, but requires the assent of the President and one or both bodies of Congress, and which may be abrogated or modified at the united pleasure of all the parties concerned in making it.
6. There is a fourth species of law more general still and more or less of which is often involved in treaties with foreign governments. This is the Law of Nations, or the principles acknowledged by all civilized nations as binding on them in their intercourse with each other. The only binding force it possesses is in the general practice of mankind, and the authority of public opinion. This is commonly effective, since all law depends really on the approval of the people for its efficacy, or at least on their silent submission if they disapprove.
7. In every State in the Union the people elect a Legislative body which makes such local laws as the people wish to be governed by, and as their special circumstances require; but they are not permitted to legislate on general questions, to make any law contrary to the Constitution, or to the laws of Congress, nor are its laws binding on any but the citizens of the State in which they are made, or such others as may beresiding there. Each State has a Constitution which determines the special organization of its government, and limits and defines the powers of its different branches; but it is required to be in harmony with the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution, Legislature and officers of a State are determined by vote of its people.
8. After this examination we reach this conclusion: That there is no institution in the United States that has not been virtually established by the people, its fundamental law was adopted by them of their own free will and may be changed when they see fit; and that if all the laws, of whatever kind, that are binding on them, are not such as they prefer, they are, at least, originally responsible for them, and have in their hands the means of changing them within a reasonably short period. In fact their demand or the zeal of their Representatives for their interests usually originates whatever laws are made. The constant general prosperity of the country since the establishment of the present government, the increase of intelligence and self respect among the people, and the beneficial influence exerted by the United States on the world tend to confirm and settle its principles and laws on a permanent foundation.
1. The laws of any nation are the rules by which it is governed, a violation of which renders the offender liable to the infliction of certain penalties. These laws, in many nations, are carefully and systematically arranged in the beginning, as in the United States; in others, as in England, they are gradually produced, the course taken in dealing with the first of a class of similar cases furnishing a precedent that is equal in force to a general law.
2. From very early times the different nations who hadintercourse with each other began to follow certain rules, which commonly originated in the mode last mentioned above; and many of them became generally recognized as the proper guide in international intercourse. These customs came, at length, to be called the Law of Nations. Writers of eminence carefully investigated them, and studied the principles on which they were founded. These writers are held to be authorities as to this law, and the principles they have laid down are generally acknowledged, by civilized nations in modern times, as the standard of International Law.
3. There is no possibility, in the present state of the world, of organizing a tribunal with authority to impose penalties for violations of this law by individual nations; though it is to be hoped that may some time be the case. The only representative of such a tribunal is the general opinion of the civilized world; and nations must, themselves, act as supreme judges and executors of the law as it applies (or as they choose to hold it as applying) to their disputes. When they cannot come to an agreement with their adversaries, they commonly Declare War, and endeavor to right themselves by force.
4. This is not, by any means, an equitable or satisfactory way of avenging wrongs. The aggressor may be the strongest; and the offense, in that case, will be greatly increased. It causes the penalty, in any case, to fall very heavily on many innocent heads, and produces lamentable and wide-spread desolation. Yet it is sometimes better than tame submission; and the right to make war when grievous wrong has been suffered, or indignity offered to the national honor, is recognized by the Law of Nations; and certain rules are applied by it as a guide in honorable warfare. There is nothing but self-respect, and respect for the opinions of the civilized world, to keep belligerent nations within the limits of these rules. They are, however, continually becoming better defined, and Public Opinion has more and more weight in each succeeding generation.
5. Some of the more important features of International Law (or the Law of Nations) are, that every nation has the rightto regulate her own internal affairs without interference from others, unless some of these regulations may seriously affect the interests of a foreign power; that national boundaries are to be respected; that bodies of water lying within a national territory, and the seacoast for three miles from the shore, are under its exclusive jurisdiction; and that a nation may take measures to protect its own citizens who may be traveling or doing business in other countries, unless they violate its laws; and then it may first examine the case before the accused is given up for trial and punishment to a foreign court. There are many other rules. These will serve as examples.
6. One class of these laws requires special mention, because they are often more carefully defined than most other international customs. These are Neutrality Laws. Those now in force in the United States were enacted in 1818. They are only a formal recognition by our highest legislative authority—Congress—of the Law of Nations as generally accepted by other governments. The leading regulations are, that our citizens shall not interfere, but at their own risk and peril, in contests between other nations; that no armament shall be fitted out in our territory for the purpose of making war on any power with which we are at peace; and making it unlawful for an American vessel to carry “Contraband of War” (or war material) to either of two warring nations. It forbids granting to one nation rights not allowed to the other with which it is at war. Neutrality Laws are designed to avoid causes of unfriendly feeling, and to prevent the improper interference of our citizens in the quarrels of other nations.
7. Our government believed itself wronged in the course of the recent Civil War by England. It claimed that the English government had not been at proper pains to preserve a neutral attitude; and complaint being made, the two governments agreed to appoint a Commission to examine and arbitrate the case—the decision, whatever it might be, to be accepted by both parties. This was done, at Geneva, in Switzerland; and probably prevented a war between the two countries. Itis to be hoped that all national disputes may hereafter be settled in this reasonable and Christian way.
8. Treaties are international laws binding on the two or more parties making the contract; and our Foreign Representatives (as ambassadors, ministers resident, etc.) deal with International Law as arranged by treaties and the Laws of Nations.
1. Religion has always exerted so much influence on men that it has been customary for governments to assume more or less control over it; and, as the leaders of religious systems have commonly been glad to get the support of governments, there has usually existed what is called a “Union of Church and State,” the government endorsing the views of some special religious system, and giving more or less support to its officials; sometimes, even refusing to tolerate any other; or, if tolerated, reserving its special recognition and favors, and whatever material support it chose to give to religious establishments to that termed National, alone; that church returning the favor by using its great influence with the people to support the measures of the government.
It is very distasteful to many men who differ from the views of the favored system to be required to support it, and to be frowned upon by the government if they do not feel inclined to connect themselves with it.
2. The Founders of our government were wise enough to leave the people to arrange religious questions according to their pleasure. They were not unbelievers in religion, but thought, as most of our citizens now think, that entire liberty should be left to all to act in religious matters as they felt able and inclined. All religious systems are equally tolerated—no government support is given specially to any. Some peopledo not approve of religious oaths (an affirmation in the name of God, or calling God to witness that what is said is true,) and from such persons a solemn affirmation or statement, answers the purposes of the law.
Although neither the Constitution, nor Congress in its laws, prescribe a religious profession of any kind, and the Constitution prohibits Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of a State religion, or interfering with the free exercise of it, and declares that “no religious test shall ever be required, as a qualification to any office or public trust, under the United States,” neither do they discourage religion. Respect is shown, in many ways, to religion. Congress usually appoints a chaplain, now of one denomination, and now of another; it allows chaplains in the army and navy, and provides them a salary; and, of late years, the President recommends a day of National thanksgiving to God once a year, for the blessings we enjoy, and sometimes proclaims a day of fasting and prayer. It shows all due respect to the religious beliefs among the people, but leaves all free to practice any form of it, or to reject them all.
3. Entire religious liberty is a rarity in the world, and is much more favorable to the purity and weighty influence of religious teachings than a State religion. Many of the colonies that afterwards became States, were founded by persons who fled from religious persecution in the countries of the Old World, and multitudes have emigrated here to secure freedom in the enjoyment of their religious views and practices, or even entire freedom to reject all religion if they could not believe in any, though that is seldom the case.
Our example has been much approved and is having much influence on other nations.
4. Is characteristic of the American Government. Liberty of the Press, or freedom to state any views a man may entertain, is as complete as liberty in religious matters. Very severe things are sometimes written and published of the government,and sometimes things that would do much harm if they were generally believed, and no notice is taken of it, unless some one sees fit to contradict it or prove it to be incorrect.
If a man injures another’s character by writing things that are false, he can be tried, and, if convicted, punished by the courts. Vile and indecent writings are prohibited; but otherwise there is entire freedom. Falsehood and error are left to be destroyed in a natural way by the truth.
This is a great gain to the truth since error has often been protected, in other countries, by government authority, on the conviction that it was the truth, to the great prejudice of truth itself.
5. Although, during the Civil War, there was some restraint put upon the freedom of publishing things that might be hurtful to the government, the instances were not very numerous, and, at the close of the war the spirit of toleration was shown in a way very creditable to our people, and very praiseworthy in our government, which left the way open to a speedier reunion of sentiment and sympathy in the sections that had fought each other so bravely.
The brave and resolute can afford to be just to each other, and to allow entire freedom of opinion to all. In this respect we have fairly earned the right to call ourselves a nation of freemen.
1. Regard to the religious habits of a large number of the people has led Congress to appoint, or permit the appointment, of chaplains to supply such religious instruction and services in the army and navy as might be felt desirable by those concerned.
Though chaplains are not properly officers of the government, they are employees of it, for they are appointed by itsauthority, and paid from its treasury. Those in the army receive the same pay and emoluments as a major of infantry; or this was the compensation allowed by act of Congress in 1812. But by an act of 1862, it was fixed at $100 per month, and two rations per day, for those in the army or hospitals. By the act of 1812, one chaplain was allowed to every brigade; but by an act of 1861 (during the civil war,) one for every regiment was allowed.
Navy chaplains, in 1835, received $1,200 per year. But in 1860 this was raised to a lieutenant’s pay; and this in 1862 was $1,800 per annum.
Chaplains in Congress receive $750 per annum.
2. The United States also employ a chaplain in the military academy at West Point.
From the foregoing it will be seen that in time of war, with one chaplain for every regiment, and one for every ship of war, and others in hospitals and military posts, quite a large number of clergymen are employed by the government.
This provision for the religious instruction of those who cannot, from their peculiar position, attend the preaching of the Gospel, or other religious services, is certainly an indication that our government respects religion, and looks after the spiritual as well as the temporal interests of its army and navy.
3. In the appointment of chaplains, the government pursues a liberal course. No particular preference is given to any denomination, but they are appointed from almost every religious sect, and allowed to conduct religious services after the forms of the church to which they respectively belong.
Every body knows what the duties of a chaplain are. So we need not explain them here, and will only add that a faithful chaplain in the army in time of war has much to do besides preaching and holding regular services. The wounded, the sick, and the dying, should be the particular objects of his attention. He should not only minister religious instruction and consolation to them, but look after their physical comforts.Many of these clergymen, during the late most unfortunate civil war, distinguished themselves by their exertions to promote the bodily comforts of those unfortunate men, as well as to give them religious instruction, not refusing to nurse the sick and wounded wherever they could relieve their pains or mitigate their sufferings.
1. In a large and prosperous country there are very likely to arise antagonisms of interest and sentiment which will require the strong pressure of some common and more imperative interest to overawe and reconcile by a process of mutual concession, called Compromise.
The States of the two sections—North and South—were unlike in several general respects; but it was in nothing so marked as in regard to Slavery. This system was introduced in Virginia in the same year that the Plymouth colony was founded in Massachusetts, and spread to all the colonies, in time; but never was much practiced north of Maryland. In all the Southern colonies it took deep root from the first. It formed the subject of the most difficult
2. This compromise consisted of concessions made by each section. The North conceded the return of fugitives from their Southern masters, when escaped to the north, and an enumeration of three-fifths of the slave population in computing the representation in Congress. This was a great sacrifice for that section to make, for its people were, at heart, deeply hostile to Slavery. Both their interests and sentiments made it important to exclude it from the new States where they were likely to settle in considerable numbers. But a close and strong union of the States was a vital point with them. Commerce,trade, and manufactures, to which they were largely given, required resources and vigor in the central government, to maintain the public credit at home, and secure respect and safety abroad. The South conceded the final close of the Slave Trade at a given time (1808). Outside of the Constitution it, at the same time, conceded the “Ordinance of 1787,” by which Slavery was excluded from the territory north of the Ohio river. Thus the North and South divided the country between them.
3. This was, however, a very troublesome subject, and affected so many legislative questions as to be constantly coming up for debate. The sentiments of the Northern people grew more hostile to the institution, and the South stood on guard with growing apprehension and anger, as this state of feeling developed in the North; and, at the same time, it became evident that the more rapid growth of the northern population gave them an increasing preponderance in Congressional representation. They jealously watched over the rights of the State governments from their fear of Congressional or executive interference, and industriously sought means to extend their area and increase the number of Slave States. They were always much assisted by a large party in the north of those who cherished the Union and were fearful of its dissolution. They were ever pouring oil on the troubled waters, and mediating between the two extremes.
4. The arrangement of the Slavery question so termed was made in 1820, and took effect as to the State of Missouri in 1821. In the five years that followed the close of the last war with England there was great activity in settlement of the unoccupied territory, and the country gave indications of the power of rapid development that has so strongly characterized it since. The South foresaw the loss of its balance of power if too many of the new States were organized as free. Missouri had included a clause in her Constitution, presented for the approval of Congress, prohibiting slavery. This clause the South demanded should be stricken out. It produced greatexcitement and hot discussion throughout the country, and seemed to threaten the stability of the Union. Both sections were resolute in maintaining their principle, but both appreciated the necessity of strength in the government and harmony between the sections, and each made a sacrifice for the sake of these. Missouri was required to admit slavery, and the condition was annexed that no more Slave States should be formed north of its southern line. This was a concession trying to both sides. The North became a party to the extension of Slavery, and the South gave definite limits to her power of expansion. Each, however, gained something: the South a State above the limits before virtually fixed, and the North a definite and final limit to the extension of a hated institution. This was quite generally satisfactory, and for many years set that question at rest.
5. “Mason and Dixon’s Line” was the term applied to the boundary between the Free and Slave States. This name originated in colonial times. The royal grants to colonial proprietors or companies were often very carelessly made, and those to Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland, and William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, were specially indefinite, giving rise to adverse claims that nearly produced war along the border. Commissioners were at length appointed, who employed Mason and Dixon, eminent English astronomers and surveyors, to establish the boundary, which they did satisfactorily. The importance of the question settled, and the reputation of the surveyors for scientific accuracy, attached their name to the boundary permanently. It acquired political significance afterwards, as the boundary between Maryland, the most northern of the slave States, and Pennsylvania, the most southern of the original free States. When new States were formed, with the Ohio river as a boundary from its point of departure out of Pennsylvania, that name was extended in its application to the whole dividing line between the free and slave States—south or north of Mason and Dixon’s Line meaning, in slave or free territory.
6. After some years the southern statesmen began again to feel apprehensive of a loss of their equality of power in the general government, so rapidly did the northern territories fill up. They began to look for more territory, and favored the settlement, independence, and annexation of Texas. Though long resisted, they succeeded in the election of 1844, with this annexation and a probable war with Mexico as test questions, and added not only Texas but New Mexico and California to the territory wherein slavery, by the Missouri Compromise, would be admissible.
7. Their satisfaction was not very durable. The discovery of gold in California filled it with inhabitants so soon, and these so largely from the free States, that in two years from its definite acquisition it petitioned for admission into the Union with a clause in its Constitution prohibiting Slavery. This was very exasperating to the South, and after a long and violent contest could be carried by the North only by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law—a re-enactment of a part of the Compromise of the Constitution with provisions so vigorous and effective, could they have been enforced, as to be, in the highest degree, offensive to a considerable part of the northern people. Utah was given a Territorial government as a concession to the South, and the Slave Trade was abolished in the District of Columbia as her corresponding concession to the North. These were the four compromise measures of 1850, the result of a discussion lasting nearly a year, engendering great bitterness on both sides, and failing to satisfy either.
8. The attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law proved ineffectual, in the end; the rooted aversion of the Northern people to Slavery, kept in abeyance before by less offensive compromises, being fully aroused. This produced in the Southern people a bitter indignation as showing a disposition to rebel against a constitutional provision in their favor. They procured, in 1854, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in the famous “Kansas and Nebraska Bill,” and sought to introduce Slavery into Kansas. A civil war in that Territory followed,which resulted in the triumph of the Northern party. The extinction of Slavery was now apparently but a question of time, the hostility to it in the North becoming so out-spoken and averse to Compromises acceptable to the South, that they began to look forward to separation, which they endeavored to accomplish from 1860-5. A civil war, such as only Americans could wage, was carried on during these years. The resolution, bravery, and military talents of either side were never excelled; but the resources of the North seemed inexhaustible. Her numbers, activity, and the inventive genius of her skilled artisans gave her an immense superiority. This war is a cause at once of pride and grief to every true American. In the contest Slavery, the cause of it, disappeared, the Constitution was amended, and the necessity of Compromises on this question forever ceased.
1. This is an offense aiming at the existence of the government; and in all other governments it has ever been customary to punish it with extreme severity. Many things are considered to be of the nature of treason, and, as such, severely punished in most countries. The Constitution defines treason to be “levying war against the United States, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort;” so that the highest or capital crime alone may be pursued with its penalties. This is another evidence of the extreme moderation of the founders of the government, which we have had occasion to notice so often in our examination.
2. An act of Congress passed April 30th, 1790, defines it in the same sense and orders that the convicted offender shall be hung.
By another act passed 17th July, 1862, it was made discretionary with the court trying the case to put the offender todeath, or to imprison him for not less than five years, and to fine him for a sum not less than ten thousand dollars. The penalty for this crime, even in its mildest form, is very severe; thus showing how atrocious this offense is considered.
3. None but a person owing allegiance to the United States can commit treason against them. The same acts which would be treason in a citizen would not be treason if perpetrated by a foreigner.
“Misprision of treason” is the concealment of it by a person who knows it has been committed. This also is a grave offense, and is punishable by a seven years’ imprisonment, and a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
4. Any person tried for treason, must be indicted by a grand jury, and tried by a petit jury in the Circuit Court of the United States within three years after the crime has been committed; otherwise it is barred by limitation—or, in other words, outlawed.
1. Geography proper describes the general character of a country, as its rivers, bays, gulfs, plains, mountains and natural divisions. Leaving this to other works we confine ourselves to those divisions made by the government for convenience in administering its affairs.
Formerly there was a separation into North and South, by “Mason and Dixon’s Line,” between which there existed a marked difference of governmental, social, and industrial policy. The States south of that line might hold slaves, while in those north of it that institution was illegal. That difference was abolished by the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, as a result of the Civil War. The next largest—and these exist now—are those made by the
2. These often comprise several States and are changed, by act of Congress, when the convenience of the Associate Judges of the Supreme Court, who preside over them requires it. The next largest political divisions are
3. These exercise sovereign powers in all matters where control has not been expressly delegated by the Constitution to the National Congress. The other political boundaries are ever liable to change, to meet the requirements of changing circumstances. These are definitely fixed, any change being very rare and unlikely after they are duly organized and admitted into the Union as States. Each of the original thirteen colonies became States, with the boundaries they had as colonies at the time of the Revolutionary War. The others received such boundaries as suited the convenience and wishes of the people when they were admitted. Their object is to prevent the centralization of too much power in the general government, and to render legislation on local affairs and interests more convenient, and more satisfactory to the people of each State. The State having the least number of inhabitants numbers between 40,000 and 50,000; the one having the largest number contains between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000. The number of the States determines the number of Senators in Congress, two being allotted to each; so that a State may be considered as a Senatorial District.
4. Produce another class of political divisions. These attend to legal differences involving the laws of the general government, but of a secondary class. They are more numerous than the Circuit Courts. In some States there is but one, and some have several, according to size and population.
5. Another class of districts has been formed, for the purpose of collecting the duties on imported goods. These arecalled “collection districts.” They extend along, and embrace the whole sea coast and the shores of navigable lakes and rivers. In a few instances they are located inland, at points where goods may be brought into the United States by land. Each collection district has a port of entry, and very often several ports of delivery; also a collector of customs, and generally a custom house.
6. Another class of collection districts was formed during the late civil war. They grew out of the war, and were established for the collection of the tax termed the “internal revenue,” which had to be levied to pay the war expenses. These districts differ entirely, both in their objects and in the territory embraced within them, from those established for the purpose of collecting duties on imports, and correspond as far as practicable with the Congressional districts in each State.
7. Land districts may also be noticed among these divisions. In every State and Territory where there are public lands for sale, after they are surveyed and mapped, they are divided into districts—two, three or four, in each State and Territory—as convenience and economy may dictate. In each district a land office is established for the sale of the lands in said district.
8. Again, the whole of our sea coasts, both on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, together with the shores of the navigable lakes and rivers, are divided into twelve light house districts (or their number must not exceed that,) for the purpose of building, repairing, illuminating and superintending the light houses on all the coasts and shores wherever located. These are the principal divisions we have to notice. It is important to have a knowledge of them, for with such knowledge we can better understand how government affairs are conducted.