WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT A MEANS TO SECURE COOPERATION
We are now in a better position to understand why we have
government. It is a means by which to secure cooperation, or team
work.
IN EDUCATION
When a schoolhouse is built to-day, it is not done by combined
manual labor, as in the pioneer community. As in all building,
there is cooperation of a highly organized kind in the production
and assembling of the materials and in the construction of the
building by workmen of different kinds. But more than this, since
the schoolhouse is a PUBLIC BUILDING, the community cooperates in
paying for it. This is done by means of TAXES. The people pay
taxes not only for the building, but also to meet the cost of
operating the school, paying the teachers, buying equipment, and
heating the building.
The community must know how much money is needed for the school,
the taxes must be fairly apportioned and collected, and the school
must be properly managed to perform the community's work of
education. In small communities the people may meet together to
vote the taxes and to decide on other matters relating to
education, as in New England towns. But there must be leadership,
and there must be an organization to perform the work which the
community wants done. Every community therefore has its board of
education, or school committee, a superintendent, and other
officials. Such organization corresponds to the board of directors
and business manager of the fruit growers' association, only it
represents the entire community and attends to the community's
business of education. It is part of the community's governing
machinery.
Ascertain from your father how much school tax he pays each year.
Who determines the amount of this tax? To whom does he pay it?
Could you employ a teacher at home for the amount your father pays
as school tax? If you had a teacher at home, could you get as good
an education as you can now get at school? Explain your answer.
In what ways do you cooperate with the community to make the
school a success?
If there is a public library in your community, is it supported by
taxation? Who manages the public library for the community?
IN FIRE PROTECTION
When a building takes fire in the country the neighbors gather as
quickly as possible to fight the flames by such means as may be at
hand, but seldom very effectively. In a small city or town, there
may be a volunteer fire company composed of men who, when a fire
breaks out, leave their usual occupations to save the property. In
large cities, fully equipped and costly fire departments are
maintained, with paid firemen who are always on duty. The police
usually keep the crowd away from the burning building, not only
for their own safety, but because they would hinder rather than
help the trained and organized firemen. In each case there is
cooperation for fire protection; the greater the common danger,
the more perfect the organization and the more complete the
control by government.
IN ROAD BUILDING
It was once the usual practice, as it still is in some localities,
for each farmer to give a certain number of days each year to work
on the roads. Now, in the most progressive communities, the roads
are better and more uniformly built and kept in better repair
because they are placed by the community in charge of skilled
roadmakers paid for by taxation. But whether the farmer
contributes money or labor, or both, cooperation is planned and
directed by the government. (See Chapter XVII.)
IN HEALTH PROTECTION
In Benjamin Franklin's time, each householder in Philadelphia
swept the pavement in front of his home if he wanted it kept
clean. Franklin, who was a splendid example of good citizenship in
that he was always looking for opportunities to improve his
community, tells what happened:
One day I found a poor industrious man, who was willing to
undertake keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week,
carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbors' doors, for
the sum of sixpence per month to be paid by each house. I then
wrote and printed a paper setting forth the advantages to the
neighborhood that might be obtained by this small expense. ... I
sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went
around to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these
sixpences; it was unanimously signed, and for a time well
executed. This raised a general desire to have all the streets
paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a tax for
that purpose.
This was community cooperation under simple conditions. A hundred
years later, the one and a half million people living in
Philadelphia were just as truly cooperating to keep their city
clean by means of more than 1200 miles of sewers for which they
had paid nearly 35 millions of dollars, and by means of a
department of highways and street-cleaning which employed a
contractor to clean the streets and to remove all ashes and
garbage at an annual cost of more than a million and a half
dollars. This is all under the direction of the city government.
IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS
What is true of our local boards of education, road supervisors,
fire and street-cleaning departments, and other departments of our
local governments, is also true of state and national governments.
We shall not stop for illustrations of this now, because they will
be numerous in later chapters. (See, for example, Chapter XII.)
Is there a government in your home? If so, prove whether or not it
is a means by which the members of the family cooperate.
Describe the government of your school and show how it secures
cooperation.
If you can get a copy of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, find
in it further instances in which he improved the cooperation of
his community, as for fire protection and street lighting.
Show how street lights in town represent community cooperation.
For what purpose is this form of cooperation?
Give additional illustrations to prove that government in your
community is a means of cooperation.
In what ways can you cooperate with the school board or trustees
of your community, and thus with the community itself, for better
schools?
GOVERNMENT TO HELP AND NOT TO REPRESS
A number of boys whose lives were spent mostly in the city streets
were once asked what the word "government" suggested to them. Some
of them at once answered, "The policeman!" And when they were
asked "Why?" they replied, "He arrests people," "He makes us keep
off the grass in the parks," "He drives us off when we play ball
in vacant lots." These answers represent a common idea about
government, that it is something over us to restrict our freedom.
Government does restrict the freedom of individuals at times; but
one of the best illustrations of its real purpose is the traffic
policeman in cities. He stands at the crossing of busy streets,
regulating the movement of people and vehicles in such a way as to
insure the safety of all and to keep the intersecting streams of
traffic moving smoothly and with as little interruption as
possible. Now and then he leaves his post to help a child or an
aged person or a cripple across the street; or answers the
inquiries of a stranger. If now and then he arrests a driver, it
is because the latter disregards the rights or welfare of others.
LAWS AS SIGNALS OF COOPERATION
In small or thinly settled communities there may be no traffic
policeman; but there may be signs at the intersection of highways
to guide travelers, or warnings such as "Dangerous Curve!" or
"School: Drive Slowly!" Such signs are usually posted by state or
local authorities in accordance with LAW. And even where there are
no signs, the laws themselves are supposed to regulate traffic.
Some one has compared the laws in our country to the signals given
to a football team by the quarterback. These signals are agreed
upon in advance by the team, and tell each player not only what he
himself, but also what every other player, is to do, and thus team
work is secured. And so our laws are said to be "signals of
cooperation," just as much as the sign "Drive Slowly," or as when
the traffic policeman holds up his hand or blows his whistle.
LAWS AS RULES OF THE GAME
Laws, however, are more than "signals" of cooperation; they are
also RULES by which cooperation is secured--"rules of the game."
Wherever people are dependent upon one another and work together
there must be rules of conduct. One kind of rules consists of what
we call "etiquette" or "good manners." We have doubtless all
observed how much better an athletic contest moves along, or even
the ordinary sports of the playground, where good manners prevail.
"Good manners" include more than the "party manners" that we put
on and take off on special occasions, like "party clothes." They
consist of the accepted rules of behavior toward those with whom
we associate. In the home, in school, in business, in public
places, there are "good manners" that are recognized by custom and
that make the wheels move smoothly and without jar. We do not need
a law or a policeman to require a man to give way to a woman, or
even to another man, in passing through a doorway; good manners
provide for this. Even on the public street much confusion is
avoided by an observance of good manners, or CUSTOM. Thoughtful
people instinctively turn to the right in passing others (in
England and Canada the custom is to turn to the left) without
thinking whether there is a law on the subject or not.
LAW GIVES FREEDOM
Now most of our laws that regulate the conduct of individuals are
simply rules that experience has proved to be of the greatest
advantage to the greatest number, and that are necessary because
SOME people have not "good manners." Most people observe them, not
because they are laws, but because they are reasonable and helpful
in avoiding friction and in securing cooperation. If they are good
laws, it is only the "ill-mannered" who are really conscious of
their existence. Just laws restrict the freedom only of the "ill-
mannered," while they GIVE freedom to those who have "good
manners."
What street or highway signs are there in your community? Who
placed them? Are they faithfully observed? If not, why?
What signals are there in your school? Discuss their usefulness.
What are some of the "rules" of your school? Are they good rules?
Why? Are they an advantage or a disadvantage to yourself? If they
did not exist, would your own conduct be different? Why?
What are some of the rules of good manners that are supposed to
control conduct in your school? in your home? in the street?
Discuss their reasonableness. Do they enlarge or restrict freedom?
Do the rules of football, or other games, increase or decrease the
freedom of play?
What are some of the laws that control conduct in your community?
Would most people observe the laws you mention even if they were
not written laws, and if there were no penalty for failing to
observe them? Why?
THE ORIGIN OF LAW
The following story illustrates the difference between law and
custom, or "manners," and how the former may develop out of the
latter. [Footnote: "Rudimentary Society among Boys," by John
Johnson, in Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and
Political Science, vol. ii (1884). The story as here given is
reproduced from Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C,
p. 145, U. S. Bureau of Education (Lesson C-18, "Cooperation
through Law," by Arthur W. Dunn). ] There was once a boys' school
located in an 800-acre tract of land, in the fields and woods of
which the boys, when free from their studies, gathered nuts,
trapped small animals, and otherwise lived much like primitive
hunters.
Just after midnight some morning early in October, when the first
frosts of the season loosened the grasp of the nuts upon the
limbs, parties of two or three boys might be seen rushing at full
speed over the wet fields. When the swiftest party reached a
walnut tree, one of the number climbed up rapidly, shook off half
a bushel of nuts and scrambled down again. Then off the boys went
to the next tree, where the process was repeated unless the tree
was occupied by other boys doing likewise. Nut hunters coming to
the tree after the first party had been there, and wishing to
shake the tree some more, were required by custom to pile up all
the nuts that lay under the tree. Until this was done, the
unwritten law did not permit their shaking any more nuts on the
ground.
So far this was a CUSTOM accepted by the boys because of its
reasonableness. But after a while, some members of this boy
community thought to get ahead of the other members. One night
before frost came they secretly went to the woods and took
possession of most of the nut trees by shaking them according to
custom. When this was discovered, some of the leaders of the
community CALLED A MEETING of all the boys. After discussing the
matter thoroughly, they provided against a repetition of the trick
by MAKING A RULE (passing a law) that thereafter the harvesting of
nuts should not begin before A FIXED DATE in October.
These boys acted very much as men have often acted under simple
conditions of community life. The New England "town meeting," for
example, is precisely the same thing as the boys' meeting.
THE SECOND ELEMENT IN DEMOCRACY: CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE
We shall study the organization and methods of lawmaking in later
chapters. At present we are merely noting WHY we have laws, and
the fact that they are supposed to be made, directly or
indirectly, by the people themselves. And right here we see the
second thing necessary to make a DEMOCRACY. On page 9 we saw that
in a democracy all people have certain equal and "unalienable"
rights, and that that community is most democratic that affords
its members most nearly equal opportunity to enjoy these rights.
Now we see further that in a democracy the people make their own
laws. Moreover, the laws of a democracy control, not only the
conduct of the people, but also the government itself. The
government of a democracy may do only those things, and use only
those methods, for which the people give the authority. It is only
when government exercises power without control by the people that
it becomes autocratic.
TWO HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
The purpose of our government is clearly stated in two historic
documents. One of these is the Declaration of Independence, which
has already been quoted in Chapter I. The same quotation is given
here with an additional sentence in italics:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. That, TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERNMENTS
ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE
CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED...
The second great document is the Constitution of the United
States, the preamble to which reads:
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.
DEMOCRACY A GOAL STILL TO BE REACHED
It is not to be supposed that our government and our laws are
perfect. They cannot be perfect as long as they are made and
operated by imperfect people. It is possible, for example, that
the boys of the city had a just complaint against the government
for not permitting them to play ball in vacant lots, UNLESS THE
COMMUNITY AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDED THEM WITH ANOTHER SUITABLE
PLACE FOR THE GAME--for every community should protect the right
of its boys and girls to play. We are far from having attained
complete democracy. It is a goal toward which men are struggling,
and have been struggling for centuries--since long before our
Revolutionary War, and in other countries as well as in our own.
The great world war which began in 1914, and which the United
States entered in 1917, was a war to establish more firmly in the
world the principles of democratic government. Whether these
principles shall be carried out in practice, and whether our
governments--local, state, and national--shall fulfill the
purposes so clearly stated in the preamble to the Constitution,
depends upon the extent to which each citizen understands these
purposes, and cooperates with his fellow-citizens and with his
governments in support of them.
THE "RIGHT IDEA OF IT"
It is said that in one of the training camps during the war an
officer addressed a squad of new recruits as follows:
Boys, I want you to get the right idea of the salute. I do not
want you to think that you are being compelled to salute me as an
individual. No! When you salute me, you are simply rendering
respect to the power I represent; AND THE POWER I REPRESENT IS
YOU. Now let me explain. You elect the President of the United
States, and the President of the United States grants me a
commission to represent his authority in this army. His only
authority is the authority that you vest in him when you elect him
President. Now, when you salute an officer, you salute not the
man, but the representative of your own authority. The salute is
going to be rigidly enforced in this army, and I want you boys to
get the right idea of it. I want you to know what you salute and
why.
It is very important that we should "get the right idea" of what
our government is. It is very much the idea that the officer gave
his soldiers about the salute. It is the idea contained in this
chapter: that government is our own organization for team work in
community life. All through this book we shall be engaged in
discovering how far this is true.
Do you know of instances in which the national government has
helped to secure cooperation among the farmers of your locality?
Discuss the parcel post as a means of cooperation.
During the war with Germany the United States government assumed
control of all the railroads of the country. Show how this was to
secure better cooperation.
Is the government of your school democratic? Explain your answer.
Do you think it should be made more democratic? Why?
Compare the purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution
with the common purposes stated on page 6 of Chapter I.
Show how the pupil who does as he pleases in school may interfere
with the rights and liberties of other pupils. Is it right that
his liberty should then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right
to do as one pleases? If not, what is it?
Read together in class the preamble to the Constitution and
carefully discuss the meaning of each phrase.
READINGS
Lessons in Community and National Life:
Series B: Lesson 17, The development of a system of laws.
Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law.
Lesson 18, Cooperation through law.
In Long's American Patriotic Prose:
Lincoln, "Mob Law," pp. 173-177.
Lincoln, "Back to the Declaration," pp. 170-181.
McKinley, "Liberty is Responsibility, Not License," pp. 254-255.
The Declaration of Independence, pp. 67-71.
Beard, Chas. A., American Citizenship, chap, i ("The Nature of
Modern Government").
Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography.