It is not true that all citizens have a voice in choosing their

representatives, though it is more nearly true today than ever

before. The right to a voice in this choice is called the

SUFFRAGE. It is bestowed only on those citizens who possess

certain qualifications. The constitution of each state fixes the

qualifications for those who live within the boundaries of the

state, the national government having exercised no control over

the matter except in two cases. After the Civil War, the Fifteenth

Amendment to the Federal Constitution was adopted, providing that

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be

denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on

account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude"; and

recently Congress has enacted another amendment to the federal

Constitution which, when approved by a sufficient number of

states, will bestow the suffrage upon all women of the nation who

possess the other necessary qualifications.

EARLY DISTRUST OF THE PEOPLE

The founders of our nation were far from democratic as we now

understand the term. They believed that the government should be

controlled by the educated and propertied class, which was small.

The lack of confidence in the people was shown in various ways,

but among others by the restriction of the suffrage. This was true

even in the New England town meeting, which we are in the habit of

considering as the most democratic of institutions. For instance,

no one could vote in colonial times who did not belong to the

church. Religious qualifications were soon abolished however, and

property qualifications have almost completely disappeared, though

in some states voters must be taxpayers.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE SUFFRAGE

Today no citizen may vote in any state who has not reached the age

of 21. The reason for this is clear and just, but it excludes from

the suffrage about 30 million young citizens. Persons of unsound

mind are denied the suffrage, and citizens may be disqualified by

crime. In some states illiterates are denied the right to vote. In

most states foreigners must have completed the process of

naturalization, which requires five years before they may vote.

All states require residence in the state and in their local

districts for specified periods prior to voting. But with these

exceptions, the suffrage is now possessed by practically all male

citizens who are 21 years of age or over, and is rapidly being

extended to women on equal terms with the men.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE

There are instances in our early history where women were

permitted to vote--in New Jersey, for example, prior to 1807. In

1869, Wyoming, while still a territory, extended full suffrage to

women, and has been an equal suffrage state since her admission to

the Union in 1890. Woman suffrage has rapidly gained ground in

recent years, most rapidly in the West, and at the present writing

(1919) 15 states have granted women equal suffrage with men, all

but two of these states being west of the Mississippi River. The

women of Alaska also have this right. In many other states they

have the suffrage at certain elections. Moreover, nearly all of

the 36 required states have ratified the suffrage amendment to the

federal Constitution.

Why may an autocratic government perform more efficient service

than a democratic government?

What is a "benevolent despotism"? What is a "paternalistic

government"?

Why do we consider an imperfect democracy better than an efficient

autocracy?

Do you have direct or representative self-government in your

community? Explain.

What voluntary organizations are there in your community (such as

farmers' cooperative organizations, business corporations,

churches, clubs, etc.) that have direct self-government?

Representative self-government?

Does your county or town have representatives in state and

national governments? What are their names? How long will they be

your representatives?

Does your state have the initiative and referendum? If so, explain

in detail how they are used. Give instances of the use of either.

Give instances (if any) of the use of the referendum in your

community to settle a local question.

From your state constitution ascertain the exact qualifications

for the suffrage in your state.

Report on the history of woman suffrage in your state.

Do you think any of the restrictions now existing on the suffrage

in your state should be removed? Why?

Do you think any further restrictions should be placed on the

suffrage in your state? Why?

MAJORITY AND MINORITY RULE

One of the important principles upon which democratic government

rests is that the will of the majority should control. It is the

only arrangement that can be made with justice. It often happens,

however, that a minority, and sometimes a very small minority,

gains control. It also sometimes happens that the party in power

in government, whether it is a majority or a minority, governs

without full consideration for the interests of other parties or

of the community as a whole. We shall try to get some idea of how

this happens, and also of methods proposed to prevent it; for as

long as it happens we cannot lay claim to a full measure of

democracy in our government.

If the pupils of your class or school are voting on the kind of

entertainment to be given, and a difference of opinion arises, can

you think of a fairer way to decide than by a vote of the

majority? How else might the matter be decided?

If the majority decides the question, should the minority yield

gracefully to the decision? Why?

After the majority plan has been adopted, have the minority any

rights in the matter?

Is the majority always right in its decisions? Give illustrations

to prove your answer.

If your community takes a vote on the question of road

improvement, or of school consolidation, is it right that the

majority should decide?

If the majority rules in such a case, is it right that the

citizens of the minority party should be taxed for the improvement

as well as those of the majority? Why?

If your class president is elected by a majority of the class, or

a county supervisor by a majority of the voters of the county, to

what extent is it the duty of this officer to consider the

interests of the minority which voted against him?

POLITICAL PARTIES

Our government is a government by political parties. That is,

political parties control the government. Voters acting

independently of one another cannot exercise much influence. There

must be teamwork in political matters as in everything else. A

political party consists of those voters who think alike and act

together on questions of government policy, or in electing their

representatives in government. It is a voluntary organization,

entirely outside of the government and not recognized in our

constitutions, but exercising very great influence upon

government.

In his Farewell Address to the people, Washington said:

The spirit [of party] unfortunately is inseparable from our

nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human

mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or

less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the

popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly

their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over

another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party

dissensions...is a frightful despotism... The common and continual

mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the

interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

MISCHIEFS OF THE PARTY SPIRIT

As long as people differ on questions of public policy there are

bound to be political parties, as Washington knew, and they have

always played an important part in our government. But necessary

and useful as parties have been, the events of our history have

shown that Washington's warning was exceedingly wise, the "party

spirit" having often proved the "worst enemy" of our democratic

government.

VALUE OF MINORITY OPPOSITION

When some great question is before the country, like that of the

adoption of the Constitution, or that of slavery, the people are

usually divided into two great parties. The party that marshals

the greater number of votes constitutes a majority and gains

control of the government. The defeated minority usually accepts

its defeat in a sportsmanlike manner and loyally supports the

government. Nevertheless it does not cease its opposition to the

principles of the party in power. One of the chief values of the

party system is that it keeps important questions in constant

discussion. The opposition of the minority serves as a check upon

the acts of the party in power, which is anxious to avoid arousing

too much opposition. This is one means of control over the

government enjoyed by the minority party. A defeated minority at

one election may become a victorious majority at the next. The

fact that a party is in the minority does not necessarily mean

that it is in the wrong.

HOW MINORITIES MAY GAIN CONTROL

Minorities, however, sometimes win elections. If more than two

parties are contesting the election, which often happens, that one

wins which has the greatest number of votes, though this number

may be less than the combined votes of the opposing parties. No

other arrangement seems possible. President Wilson won his first

election by a minority vote, the opposition being divided between

Taft and Roosevelt.

A minority may win through better teamwork. There are always some

voters who, through indifference or other causes, do not cast

their vote. This is especially likely to happen in local

elections, in which there is almost never as large a vote cast as

in the same district at a general election. It is one of the chief

objects of a party organization to keep its members informed and

interested and to see that they cast their votes. The party that

is best organized for these purposes is very likely to win over

its opponents even though the latter are more numerous.

ORGANIZATION OF PARTIES AND ITS CONTROL

The organization of the national political parties is very

thorough. Each party has a managing committee in every local

district, the local organizations are united in a state

organization, and the several state organizations in a national

organization. The shrewdest men the party affords are made

chairmen of committees and chosen for other positions of

leadership. Such organization is necessary and proper; it is only

commonsense teamwork. But unfortunately it has frequently fallen

into the hands of designing men who have used it to promote

private interests rather than those of the public. A political

"boss," who is at the head of an inner "ring" of politicians,

often decides who shall be nominated for the various offices of

government, leaving no choice to the voters themselves. This makes

of our government a real autocracy, and the worst kind of

autocracy, because the autocrat (the "boss") acts in secret, and

is in no way responsible to the people. It is the "frightful

despotism" of which Washington warned his countrymen (p. 385).

CAUSES OF SOCIAL UNREST

Political "bosses" are often allied with powerful business

interests which seek legislation and governmental administration

favorable to themselves. This has given rise to the charge

sometimes made that our government is a "plutocracy," a government

of the people by a small wealthy class. It is the feeling that

this is so that has caused much of the social unrest at the

present time, and that explains in part the growth of the

socialists, and of other groups that would go much further than

the socialists in their proposed changes, such as the I.W.W.

(Independent Workers of the World) in our country, the Bolshevists

in Russia, and anarchists everywhere.

GOVERNMENT IN THE INTEREST OF ALL CLASSES

Unquestionably selfish groups representing great wealth have often

exerted undue influence in governmental affairs without regard for

the public welfare. We have seen how the public lands and the

nation's natural resources have in some cases fallen into the

hands of wealthy individuals and corporations to the injury of the

nation and of those who want to use them for productive purposes.

On the other hand, it is natural that men who have been successful

in managing their private business affairs should also be

influential in managing public affairs without necessarily having

unworthy motives. Nevertheless, when government falls under the

control of ANY particular class or group, whether it represents

wealth, or labor, or any other interest, if it has not due regard

for all classes, and if it denies to the members of other groups

the voice in government to which they are entitled, it establishes

a despotism and overthrows democracy.

WHY THE PEOPLE SUBMIT TO "BOSS RULE"

Why do the people submit to "boss rule"? In the first place, they

do not always submit to it. Occasionally, when the "bosses" go to

unusual extremes, the people give way to "fits of public rage," to

use the words of former Senator Elihu Root, "in which the people

rouse up and tear down the political leader, first of one party

and then of the other party." It is thus possible for the people

to escape the despotism of "boss rule." But two things seem to be

necessary to bring it about: first, the people must be

sufficiently INTERESTED in the management of their public affairs;

and, second, they require LEADERSHIP. It takes close attention to

public affairs to enable a citizen to make wise decisions for

himself; and the average citizen looks around for guidance. The

absence of RESPONSIBLE leadership gives the irresponsible "boss"

his chance.

THE SHORT BALLOT

One difficulty encountered by the citizen who wishes to vote

intelligently is the large number of persons to be chosen. There

have been cases where the names of several hundred candidates

appeared on the same ticket. In a small community a voter may know

personally all the candidates, but in larger communities this is

not so. It was once thought that to make as many of the government

offices as possible elective was a step in the direction of

democracy, and that it gave the people direct control over them.

But it has not worked out this way. It is impossible for the

average voter to choose wisely among so many candidates, and he

therefore falls an easy prey to "boss rule." The SHORT BALLOT is

now quite generally advocated to meet this situation. By this plan

the number of officers to be elected is reduced, and includes only

those who are responsible for determining the policies of

government, such as members of legislatures and the chief

executive officers. These few important officers and

representatives are then made responsible for the appointment of

all other subordinate officers whose business is to carry policies

into effect. This really gives the people better control over

their government by fixing responsibility in a few places, and is

therefore no less democratic than the older plan.

Do you have a long ballot or a short ballot in your county or

town? In your state?

How many offices in your county government are elective? How many

of the men holding these offices do you know? Consult your parents

as to the number of these officers they know personally. How many

does your teacher know?

At the next election, get a copy of the ballot used in your

community and ascertain the number of candidates for all offices,

including local, state, and national.

What national political parties exist at present?

Are the voters of your local community divided into parties on

local questions? If so, what are some of these questions?

Investigate the organization in your county (or town) of the

political party of which your father is a member. Who is chairman

of its local committee?

Investigate the work that a party organization does in your

community during an election campaign; on election day; in the

time between elections.

Why is secret control over government dangerous?

What is meant by "social unrest"?

Are all men of your acquaintance equally capable of directing the

affairs Of government in office? Why?

What is meant by "responsible" and "irresponsible" leadership?

What does it mean to say that a leader must be "responsive as well

as responsible" to the people?

THE SECRET BALLOT

Various schemes have been adopted to ensure to every voter a free

expression of his choice for representatives, and to the majority

their right to govern. One of these is the SECRET BALLOT. At the

polls each voter enters a booth by himself to mark his ballot, or

to operate the voting machine, and need have no fear that a

possible "watcher" may cause him to lose his job or otherwise

suffer for voting as he thinks best. The secret ballot also

reduces the likelihood that votes will be bought, for there is no

way of telling whether the man who sells his vote will vote as he

has agreed; and the man who sells his vote is not to be trusted.

The only voters who are embarrassed by the secret ballot are those

who cannot read their ballots. These have to seek help, and are

thus open to influence by agents of the "boss."

THE DIRECT PRIMARY

Another device to ensure to the voter a voice in his government is

the DIRECT PRIMARY for the nomination of candidates for office. By

the older method candidates were nominated by party conventions;

but under "boss rule" they were in reality determined upon in

advance by the "boss," the nomination by the convention being

largely a matter of form, the delegates voting according to

instructions. The ordinary voter had nothing to say about it.

Under the direct primary plan any voter possessing the necessary

qualifications for holding office may become a candidate by merely

securing the signatures of a specified number of voters to a

petition. Then a PRIMARY ELECTION is held at which the voters of

each party go to the polls to express their choice for one among

the several candidates who have been announced for each office to

be filled. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes

become the nominees of their party. The direct primary is now used

quite widely throughout the United States and is believed to be a

great improvement over the old method, though it does not always

work as well as was expected of it. The truth is that ANY

organization is open to abuse by clever people who wish to abuse

it, and NO political organization will work effectively unless the

voters are intelligent and eternally vigilant.

PREFERENTIAL PRIMARIES

The President and Vice President of the United States are still

nominated by national party conventions. But in some states there

are PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENTIAL PRIMARIES. These are direct

primaries at which the voters ex press their PREFERENCE for the

presidential candidates. This is intended to be a guide to the

nominating convention, but there is nothing to compel the

convention to follow the guidance.

THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES

Democratic government demands certain rights for minorities. We

have seen how a minority party may exercise a wholesome check upon

the party in power by constant opposition. We never have a

Congress or a state legislature in which the members are all of

one party. This is a good thing, for it results in discussion and

debate in the legislative body by which the people are kept

informed.

The initiative and referendum (p. 380) are also weapons in the

hands of a minority; for, as we have seen, a small number of

voters may compel the legislature to consider, or reconsider, any

piece of legislation, or to submit it to the people for their

decision. Minority parties may thus keep prominently before the

people measures that have been adversely acted upon by the

majority.

THE RECALL

Another device that has been introduced in some states and local

communities is the RECALL of officials. By means of this a

specified number of voters may demand that an officer of

government who is displeasing to them be brought before the people

for their vote as to whether he shall be removed from office or

not. A small minority may thus call an elected officer to account.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION OF PARTIES

One plan strongly advocated by some students of government to

insure to minorities an actual voice in government is that of

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION of parties in legislative bodies. By

this plan each party would be represented in proportion to its

strength. If two parties were of about equal strength they would

be represented equally; if one were twice as strong as another, it

would have twice the representation. The plan is actually in use

in very few localities. In Illinois, however, the CUMULATIVE-VOTE

plan is in use, by which each voter is permitted as many votes as

there are places to be filled, and to distribute these votes among

the several candidates or to cast them all for one candidate.

Thus, if there are three representatives to be elected from his

district, he may give one vote to each of the three, or he may

give three votes to one of them. A minority may thus, by

concentrating all of their votes upon a single candidate, be

reasonably sure of representation. But it requires good team work

to get this result.

DIFFERENT BASES OF REPRESENTATION

Representation in our government is on a TERRITORIAL, OR

GEOGRAPHICAL, BASIS. That is, each representative represents the

people in a given territory or district. Thus, in many counties

the board of supervisors is composed of representatives from each

township, the members of state legislatures represent districts of

the state, members of the United States House of Representatives

represent congressional districts in each state, and United States

Senators represent states.

In each district under our present system, however, the

representatives are ELECTED BY A MAJORITY, though they are

supposed to REPRESENT ALL the people when elected. If proportional

representation were adopted, it would be necessary to increase the

number of representatives from each district, in order that each

party should have at least one. Then we should have REPRESENTATION

BY PARTIES, as well as by districts.

We now hear a good deal about SOVIET GOVERNMENT in Russia. The

"soviet" is a representative body with a different basis of

representation than either of the above. Soviet government is

government by "workers" and each representative represents a TRADE

OR OCCUPATION. It is as if, in our country, all the farmers in a

county, as a group, should elect their representatives to the

board of county supervisors, all the carpenters their

representatives, all the merchants theirs, and so on. It would be,

as it is in Russia, REPRESENTATION BY OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, instead

of by geographical districts as now. It would differ from

proportional representation by parties, as described above,

because each political party is made up of representatives of all

occupations. Only in a few cases have political parties in our

country tended to become identified with occupational interests,

as in the case of "labor parties," and the old "greenback party,"

which was largely made up of farmers.

At election time visit the nearest polling place, observe the

procedure of voting, and report. Get sample copies of the ballot

used.

Who are the different persons on duty at the polling place, and

what are their duties?

Why and how do voters "register" before an election?

Describe a primary election in your community.

How do discussion and debate protect the rights of minorities?

Is the "recall" used in your state? If so, what instances of its

exercise do you know, and what were the circumstances?

What advantages and disadvantages can you see in representation by

occupational groups as compared with representation by

geographical districts?

READINGS

In Foerster and Pierson's AMERICAN IDEALS:

Contributions of the west to democracy (F.J. Turner), pp. 72-97. A

charter of democracy (Theodore Roosevelt), pp. 114-132. Can

democracy be organized? (E.A. Alderman), pp. 158-174. The

sovereignty of the people (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 257-260.

General tendency of the laws (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 261-266. The

activity of the body politic (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 267-272. The

German and the American temper (Kuno Francke), pp. 273-281. The

"Divine Average" (G. Lowes Dickinson), pp 282-284.

In Long's AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Farewell Address (Washington), pp. 105-123. The independent in

politics (James Russell Lowell), pp. 241-243. Liberty is

responsibility, not license (McKinley), pp. 254-255. The right of

the people to rule (Roosevelt), pp. 272-273.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 16, Caste in India.

Lesson 19, Active citizenship.

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law.

Lesson 18, Cooperation through law.

Hart, A.B., ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, Chapters IV, V.

Ashley, R.L., THE NEW CIVICS (Macmillan), Chapters, VI, VII.

Reed, T.H., FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, Chapters V-

VIII, (World Book Co.).

Bryce, James, THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH, Vol. II, Part III, The

party system; and Part V, Chapters, XCVII-XCIX, The faults and

strength of democracy.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, under the several topics

referred to in this chapter.

Teachable Facts about Bolshevism and Sovietism, Institute for

Public Service, 51 Chambers St., New York City.

CHAPTER XXV

OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

When the first colonists of America undertook to organize

governments for their local settlements, they naturally adopted

forms with which they had been familiar in England. There were two

such forms which met their needs, the TOWN, OR TOWNSHIP, AND THE

COUNTY. These have remained to this day the chief units of our

local government.

THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN

Geographical conditions were such in New England that the

colonists settled in compact communities. There the township, or

town, was adopted as the more convenient unit. It included a

central village and the neighboring farming region with irregular

boundaries. It is still the unit of local government throughout

rural New England, and in many communities that have grown to the

proportion of cities. It has been said of the New England town

government that it is "the fullest and most perfect example of

local self-government either then or now in existence ... . The

state might fall to pieces, and the town would still supply all

the wants of everyday government." [Footnote: Henry Cabot Lodge, A

SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA, p. 414.]

THE TOWN MEETING

The chief feature of the New England town government is the TOWN

MEETING, which is an assemblage of the voters of the town at the

town hall (formerly often at the church), the regular annual town

meeting being held in the spring or autumn, and special meetings

as necessary. These meetings are called by the SELECTMEN (see

below) by means of a WARRANT which contains a statement of the

business to be transacted. At the annual meeting, reports are

heard from the officers of the preceding year, officers for the

new year are elected, by-laws (town laws) are enacted, taxes are

levied and appropriations made for the various purposes of

government. It is direct self-government.

NEW ENGLAND TOWN OFFICERS

Among the officers elected by the town meeting are the selectmen,

varying in number from three to nine, who have charge of the town

property and are responsible to the town meeting for the conduct

of the town's business; a town clerk, who keeps the town records,

issues marriage licenses, registers births and deaths, and

performs other clerical services; an assessor of taxes; a

treasurer; several constables, who have police duties, execute

warrants issued by the selectmen and by the justices of the peace,

and sometimes act as tax collectors; school committeemen;

overseers of the poor; members of the board of health and of other

boards for public service. In some of the New England states the

justices of the peace, who are not strictly town officers, are

elected by the town meeting.

THE TOWN WARRANT

There is here given a copy of portions of a warrant for a special

town meeting. This warrant is very brief as compared with those

issued for a regular annual meeting; but it gives an idea of the

variety of business transacted.

Town Warrant

MIDDLESEX, SS.

To Henry Atchison, one of the constables of the Town of Framingham

or to either of them,

GREETING:

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby

required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of

Framingham, qualified to vote in elections, and Town affairs, to

meet at the Casino in said Framingham, on WEDNESDAY, JULY 16TH,

A.D. 1919 at eight o'clock P.M. Then and there to act on the

following articles, viz.: Article I. To hear and act upon such

reports of any of the officers of the Town or Committees of the

Town as may be then and there presented, appropriate money to

carry out the recommendations thereof, or any of them, pass any

vote or take any action relative to any of said reports, or any

part thereof.

Art. 2. To hear and act on the report of the Committee directed to

investigate school needs in the Apple Street District. ...

Art. 3. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the Town

Treasurer to place to the credit of the Park Department ... for

the care and maintenance of parks and playgrounds, any and all

sums of money which may be received by him ... on account of said

Department, and authorize the use of the same by said Department. ...

Art. 4. To see if the Town will grant or appropriate a sum not

exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars ($2500) for the purchase by

the tree warden of a new tree spraying machine. ...

Art. 5. To see if the Town will authorize its Board of Park

Commissioners to sell and dispose of two of the unused

schoolhouses placed in charge of the Park Commission some years

ago. ...

Art. 6. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of fifty-five

hundred dollars ... to be expended under the direction of the

following committee ... for the purpose of selecting a site,

location and erection of a temporary memorial tablet, and cause to

be inscribed thereon the names of the Framingham soldiers,

sailors, marines ... and nurses, who gave their lives in the late

war. ...

Art. 8. To see if the Town will vote to install and maintain

incandescent electric lights on following named streets ... .

Art. 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise the pay of its

Police Officers fifty cents a day. ...

Art. 10. To see if the Town will vote to appoint and instruct a

committee to petition the County Commissioners to relocate Marble

Street. ...

Art. 12. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum ... to

reimburse Wellington H. Pratt for expenses incurred in the

construction of a sewer and laying of water pipes. ...

And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting an attested

copy of the same at each of the Meeting Houses and Post-Offices in

said Town, eight days at least, including two Sundays, before the

time of holding said meeting.

Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your

doing thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of said

meeting.

Given under our hands this first day of July in the year of our

Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen.

(Signed by the Selectmen)

It has been said that

THE VALUE OF THE TOWN MEETING

The thing most characteristic of a town meeting is the lively and

educating debate; for attendants on town meeting from year to year

become skilled in parliamentary law, and effective in sharp, quick

argument on their feet. Children and others than voters are

allowed to be present as spectators. In every such assembly, four

or five men ordinarily do half the talking; but anybody has a

right to make suggestions or propose amendments, and occasionally

even a non-voter is allowed to make a statement; and the debate is

often very effective. [Footnote: Albert Bushnell Hart, ACTUAL

GOVERNMENT, p. 171.]

Another writer says,

The retiring officers present their reports, which in the larger

towns have been previously printed and distributed. Any citizen

present is free to express any criticism or ask any question. No

better method of checking the conduct of public officers has ever

been discovered than this system of report in open meeting. Keen

questions and sharp comment rip open and expose to view the true

inwardness of the officers' behavior.

At its best, the New England town meeting has never been equaled

as a mechanism for local government. No mere representative system

can give the opportunity for real participation in government

which a town meeting affords. Even the small boys who come to

enjoy the fun from the gallery are taught that government is a

living reality. By grappling first-hand with their own small

local problems, men are trained to take part wisely in the bigger

affairs of state and nation. [Footnote: Thomas H. Reed, FORM AND

FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, pp. 218, 220.]

WEAKENING OF GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING

Changing conditions, however, have tended to bring about changes

in town government. In the early days the town meeting was a

matter of great interest, and everybody attended, including the

women and children. Many of the towns have now acquired large

populations, the people are no longer acquainted with one another,

and interest has declined. A few years ago it was reported that

In Brookline, Mass., with about 2500 votes cast, there are from

300 to 500 at the business sessions. In Hyde Park, Mass., with

2500 voters... from 500 to 600 attended the annual appropriation

meeting. In Leominster, Mass., with 1400 voting, the normal

attendance is about 800.

The same writer says that:

In many places the town meeting is being undermined by the caucus,

held beforehand, to nominate candidates for office. Here a small

group of persons not only narrow the choice for officers, but

often arrange the other business to be determined at the town

meeting. Sometimes every thing is "cut and dried" before it comes

up for popular discussion; and that discussion thus becomes a mere

formality. [J.A. Fairlie, LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COUNTIES, TOWNS AND

VILLAGES, p. 148.]

INFLUENCES LEADING TO DECLINE

This illustrates what was said in the preceding chapter (p. 388)

about the necessity for leadership and the tendency of the people,

under certain conditions, to accept self-appointed leaders,

sometimes not of the best, outside of the government. Conditions

in large towns are likely to favor this. The questions that have

to be acted upon are more complicated than formerly, and often

involve the expenditure of large sums of money. The candidates for

office are not known to many of the voters. There may be a

considerable number of uneducated people in the town, and perhaps

a foreign population that is unfamiliar with the English language

and with American methods. These things make intelligent self-

government by direct methods difficult.

THE FINANCE COMMITTEE: A MEANS OF BETTER SERVICE

Various means have been adopted to meet these changing conditions.

One of these is the creation of a FINANCE COMMITTEE, before which

are brought for consideration questions involving the expenditure

of money. This committee holds hearings, at which citizens may

present arguments for and against proposed measures. Thus

important matters are sifted out by the committee which then

reports to the town meeting. The town meeting usually votes in

accordance with the recommendations of the committee. While this

arrangement tends to secure careful consideration of financial

measures, and to result in wise decisions, provided the committee

is composed of reliable men, it tends, on the other hand, to

prevent discussion in open town meeting, to make the vote in the

latter a mere matter of form, and to destroy interest in it. In

other words, while it tends to better SERVICE, it reduces the

value of the town meeting as a means of EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY.

TOWN PLANNING

Another arrangement that has been adopted in a good many towns is

the TOWN PLANNING BOARD. This is a committee which, after careful

study of existing conditions and tendencies of community growth,

formulates a definite PLAN for the promotion of the community's

interests during a period of years. It considers such matters as

the laying out of new roads and streets and the improvement of old

ones, the location of parks, playgrounds, and public buildings,

the construction of sewers, water works, and lighting systems, the

style of architecture for public buildings, the enactment of

housing laws. While town planning boards usually deal primarily

with matters pertaining to the physical development of the town,

they may also plan with reference to the improvement of the

educational system, the promotion of public health, and of social

needs generally.

The town planning board is usually composed of trained men, such

as engineers, architects, and physicians, and it may call in

expert advisers from other communities or from the state

government. The advantage of having such a board is that it

provides the town with a program of action carefully worked out

from the point of view both of continuous community needs and of

economy. It affords expert leadership.

NEED FOR CITIZEN COOPERATION

As has been said many times in these pages, government is the

community's official organization to secure cooperation; but it is

effective only to the extent that the people COOPERATE. It is a

machine that is valuable as the people USE it. The weakening of

town, government, or of any other government, is due largely to a

lack of interest and of actual participation by the people. Many

people think they have done their share toward good government

when they have helped elect their officers and have paid their

taxes. But when they take this view they are likely to lose both

interest in their government and control over it.

VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

In many New England towns the decline in popular control of town

government has been largely counterbalanced by COMMUNITY

ORGANIZATION FOR VOLUNTARY COOPERATION. Much community service is,

and probably always will be, performed by private enterprise and

initiative rather than by government; and the efficiency of

government depends to a considerable extent upon the efficiency of

voluntary enterprise. Government must have the cooperation of the

latter, and to some extent work through it. In practically every

community there are groups of people organized to cooperate for

one purpose or another; but they are often self-centered and act

independently of one another, if not actually at cross purposes.

The situation that exists in many communities is illustrated by

the chart on page 402. [Footnote: This chart and the one on page

403 are taken from Extension Bulletin No. 23, Massachusetts

Agricultural College, by E.L. Morgan.]

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

In a good many Massachusetts towns this situation has been very

largely remedied by means of community organization for which the

leadership has been provided in many cases by the Community

Organization Department of the Extension Service of the State

Agricultural College. The organization varies in detail in

different communities to meet local needs, but the main features

are the following:

First: a COMMUNITY COUNCIL, consisting of representatives of the

various community interests and organizations including the town

officials. This council serves at first as a sort of "steering

committee" to bring the various interests together and to plan the

organization and the work to be done.

Second: a COMMUNITY MEETING, the first one of which is called by

the community council to consider the questions: Is it possible

for a community to plan for its future development? Do we care to

do it? Is it worthwhile? How can it be done? The community meeting

becomes a sort of UNOFFICIAL TOWN MEETING, and is often more

largely attended than the official town meeting, partly because it

is attended by the women of the community.

Third: a number of WORKING COMMITTEES, appointed as a result of

the first community meeting. They may include:

A committee on farm production.

A committee on conservation.

A committee on boys' and girls' interests.

A committee on farm business.

A committee on community life (education, health, recreation,

etc.)

These committees make a study of the conditions and needs of the

community in their respective fields, and prepare plans and

projects, which are submitted to the community meeting in due

time.

Fourth: a COMMUNITY PROGRAM, which has been agreed upon by the

community meeting, is supervised by the community council, and is

carried out by the various community organizations represented,

including the public officials.

OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL TEAMWORK

This organization is entirely outside of the official govern

mental organization. It may be asked why it is necessary to have a

"community meeting" when the official town meeting already exists.

The answer is that the official town meeting has its work pretty

definitely cut out for it. It meets for a half-day or a day at a

time, and its time is occupied BY THE VOTERS in passing laws,

electing officials, levying taxes, making appropriations, and

doing other official business. The "community meeting," on the

other hand, is attended by non-voters as well as voters, the women

taking an active part, and the young people being represented.

Many matters are discussed that could not properly be taken up in

town meeting.

A large part of the program of the community organization is

carried out by the voluntary agencies of the community. But a

great many of its proposals must have the approval of the official

town meeting, require appropriations which can only be made by the

town meeting, and are finally executed by the public officials of

the town. The organization naturally stimulates interest in the

official government, and brings to its support all the organized

agencies of the community working together.

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT OUTSIDE OF NEW ENGLAND

The township is found as a unit of local government in many states

outside of New England, but in most of these cases its government

is entirely representative in form. While the town meeting is

found in a few of these states, [Footnote: As in New York and New

Jersey; and farther west in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the

Dakotas, Illinois, and Nebraska.] it nowhere holds the important

place that it does in New England. One reason for this is the

larger size and more scattered population of the township. In the

public land states the congressional township, six miles square,

is also the political township. At the head of the township

government in its representative form are TRUSTEES (sometimes

three, sometimes only one) who, with the town clerk, the

constables, the tax assessor, the treasurer, the justices of the

peace, and such other officers as may be required, are elected by

the people. The powers of the township government outside of New

England vary in different states, but are always quite limited,

relating most commonly to the maintenance of roads, school

administration, and the care of the poor. In these circumstances

there is at least as great need for community organization to

support and supplement the work of government as in the New

England towns.

Investigate and report on the following:

The services performed by your township government.

A complete list of your township officers, and the duties of each.

(Committees of pupils may interview some of the more important

officers to get a description of their daily routine, kinds of

service performed, etc. Also discuss with parents.)

Officers of the colonial New England town that do not exist now,

and their duties.

What is parliamentary law? (Valuable training may be secured by

conducting school meetings, club meetings, or occasional regular

class exercises, in accordance with parliamentary procedure.)

Why public discussion is a check upon the conduct of persons

holding responsible positions.

The popular interest in public questions in your township.

If there is a finance committee in your township (p. 399), how

does it serve the community? Does it hold hearings? (Attend and

report upon some such hearing.)

Town planning in your community (what has been, or what might be,

done).

The value of having a plan.

Is your community more like that represented by the chart on page

402, or by that on page 403?

The extent to which voluntary organizations in your community co

operate with and through the local government.

The extent to which your state agricultural college promotes

community organization.

The feasibility of organizing your town (or community) by some

such plan as that outlined on page 402.

The value of a community "forum" as a means to good government.

Why the official town meeting should (or should not) be encouraged

in your state.

Procure and examine recently published official reports of your

township government. What do these reports tell you? What is the

value of such reports? Are the reports of your township generally

read by the people of the township? Why? Discuss ways in which

your township reports could be made more useful.

THE COUNTY

The other unit of local government with which the colonists were

familiar was the county, which in England embraced a number of

townships. In the colonies of New York and Pennsylvania the county

and the town ship were developed together as in England; in the

southern colonies the county was organized without the township.

Today the county exists in every state of the Union, including the

New England states. In Louisiana it is called the PARISH.

TYPES OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

There are two main types of county government. According to one

plan, as in New York, each township elects a representative to a

county BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, which is sometimes quite large.

According to the other plan, as in Pennsylvania, the people of the

county as a whole elect a small BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, the

townships not being represented as such even when they exist. The

board of supervisors or commissioners levies taxes and makes

appropriations for various county purposes, such as constructing

and maintaining roads, bridges, and county buildings, paying the

salaries of county officers, caring for the county poor, and

conducting the county schools. It is sometimes spoken of as the

county legislative body, but it is rather an administrative body,

its lawmaking powers being very slight.

COUNTY OFFICERS

Among the important county officers are the sheriff, who is chief

guardian of the peace in the county, has charge of the jail, is

the chief executive officer of the county court (see p. 439), and

sometimes acts as tax collector; the county prosecutor (also

called the prosecuting attorney, the district attorney, or the

state's attorney), who prosecutes all criminal cases in the county

and represents the public authorities in civil suits; the county

clerk, who keeps the county records; the register of deeds, who

records all transfers of property; the coroner, who investigates

the cause of violent and mysterious deaths; the tax assessor; the

treasurer; the auditor, who examines the accounts of county

officers; the surveyor; the school superintendent; the health

officer. Some times there are others.

LACK OF INTEREST IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT

Although practically every citizen of the United States is also a

citizen of a county, the people have as a rule shown surprisingly

little interest in county government. As generally found it

affords a striking example of poor service resulting from a lack

of teamwork. County government has the reputation of being one of

the weakest spots in our whole system of government.

WILL COUNTY GOVERNMENT SURVIVE?

We seem to have gotten into the habit of not expecting much

service from the county government. Where the township government

is strong, as in New England, it takes the place of county

government. Where people live in cities, they look to the city

government to serve them rather than to the county government. In

rural districts the people have come more and more to look to the

state and national governments for such service as they expect

government to give. These facts might suggest the question whether

or not we really need county government.

One recent writer says,

There are some parts of the country where I can see that the

county will pass out of existence entirely in a very short time,

unless it does adjust itself to the new conditions. [Footnote:

H.S. Gilbertson, in the University of North Carolina RECORD, No.

159, October, 1918, p. 37.]

The same writer says,

Unless the county does measure up in this way, the powers of

government and the services which it renders will have to drift

away from local control and be placed in the hands of some

government more fit and which will probably be further away from

home.

EFFECTS OF THE LONG BALLOT

Students of county government attribute many of its defects to the

"long ballot." In one county in North Carolina, at a recent

election, there were twenty-five different candidates for county

offices on each of three party tickets, making seventy-five

candidates among whom each voter had to choose. Township and state

officers were also elected at the same election, bringing the

number of persons to be voted for up to about fifty out of 150

candidates. It is apparent that the average voter would have

difficulty in voting intelligently.

GOVERNMENT WITHOUT A HEAD

The long ballot has other results than the mere difficulty of

intelligent voting. One of these is a GOVERNMENT WITHOUT A HEAD.

While the board of supervisors or commissioners is nominally at

the head of the county government, it has to work through the

various administrative officers. These are also elected by the

people, and may be of the opposite political party. At all events,

they are independent of the board, not responsible to it, and may

or may not work in harmony with it. A former member of a county

board in North Carolina says,

Most persons are under the impression that the board of

commissioners, with its chairman, is at the head of the county

government. ... The board does have authority to say how about 19

cents of the entire tax levy may be spent, but its authority over

the balance of the levy, over any county official, such as the

sheriff, clerk of the court, coroner, constable, county judge, or

recorder, is nil. The chairman of the board does have the honor ...

of smiling and trying to look pleasant when complaints are

made about bad roads, excessive tax assessments, or the

delinquency of some county subordinate, over whom neither he nor

the board has any control.[Footnote: M. S. Willard, North Carolina

Club Year Book, 1918, p. 87.]

THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE "BOSS"

Another result of the long ballot is the opportunity it gives the

political "boss" to control the selection of officers. It is not

uncommon to hear rural citizens ask such questions as, "What's the

use of farmers taking off time for politics when the whole thing

is run by political bosses anyway?"[Footnote: Graham Taylor, in

Rural Manhood, October, 1914, p. 328.] "In such counties office-

seeking has become not the means to the end of performing service,

but exists for the immediate reward, and whatever service is

rendered to the people is incidental to that other object.

"[Footnote: H. S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the

University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p.

37.]

BAD BUSINESS METHODS

Along with these defects, and largely because of them, bad

business methods have characterized county government, resulting

in poor service and wastefulness of the people's money. A faulty

system of keeping accounts is as unbusinesslike and disastrous in

public business as in private business.

OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

When I was first connected with the government of my own county, I

became very much interested to know whether we were doing better

or worse in the management of our road finances; in the cost of

maintaining our county prisoners; in the maintenance of our county

home and numerous other county institutions, than were other

counties. I was anxious to find out what was being done in other

counties in the way of appropriations for hospitals and I selected

twelve or fifteen counties and wrote letters to the county

officials asking for information. In answer to probably two of my

letters I received intelligent and satisfactory replies. Probably

half a dozen more gave me some figures which were of very little

use for purposes of comparison, and to my other letters I received

no replies, although the first request was followed up by a second

and a third letter. I then began an effort to secure copies of the

newspapers in which had been printed the financial statements of

the counties. I succeeded in securing probably ten statements and,

after a fruitless attempt to coordinate these statements so that I

might secure information which would enable me to know whether we

were doing better or worse than our neighbors, I became hopelessly

lost in a jungle of statistics and reluctantly gave it up as

useless, and turned my attention to doing what I could to place

our own county affairs in such condition that they could be

understood by those of our taxpayers who might be inquisitive

enough to want to know how the money was handled which they paid

for taxes. [Footnote: M. S. Willard, County Finances in North

Carolina, in the University of North Carolina RECORD, No. 159,

October, 1918, p. 80.]

THE FEE SYSTEM

The practice of compensating county officers from FEES received

for special services and of allowing them to retain the interest

on public money is one illustration of extravagant business

methods.

For many of the services performed by county officers fees are

charged, on the principle that the person served should pay for

the service. It did not occur to the people to inquire how much

their officers were getting in this way. In one county, in which

there was a large city, investigation showed that the sheriff had

a net income from fees and commissions of $15,000, the county

treasurer $23,000, and the county auditor over $50,000.

From the point of view of economy and efficiency it is better to

pay all officers an adequate salary and to require that all fees,

commissions, and interest on public money be returned to the

county treasury. It keeps the tax rate down and makes possible an

increase of service.

The county office fees and commissions in North Carolina amount to

something like one and a quarter million dollars a year, if they

are collected according to law. The total is large enough to pay

all salaries in at least 58 counties of the state, and leave large

balances to apply to schools, roads, jail expenses, interest, and

sinking funds. These large surpluses are being wasted in most of

the salary counties. [Footnote: E.C. Branson, The Fee System in

North Carolina, in the University of North Carolina Record, No.

159, October, 1918, p. 69.]

Such faulty business methods are gradually being corrected by the

introduction of the short ballot, as in California and elsewhere,

by businesslike methods of keeping accounts, by the appointment of

county and state auditors, and by giving full publicity to reports

of county business.

THE FAULT WITH THE CITIZEN

"But after all," says the county official quoted above, "a great

part of the shortcomings of county officials and a great deal of

the looseness which prevails in the management of county affairs

can be charged to the citizen people themselves." Another student

of the situation says,

Among the country people themselves there is no demand for better

local government or almost none; they are satisfied or content

themselves with grumbling about taxes and in fierce partisan

politics. ... The country people of America lack an adequate sense

of civic and social responsibility, and the deficiency is rising

into critical, national importance. [Footnote 2: E.C. Branson,

Report of subcommittee on local government, National Country Life

Conference, Baltimore Proceedings, 1919, pp. 68, 69.]

Another says,

The first thing to be reformed in county government is not the

officers down at the courthouse, but our own attitude toward the

county, and particularly toward public office. For, after all,

public officers in this country are just what the people make them ...

[Footnote 3: H.S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in

the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918,

p. 38.]

There are those who advocate breaking up the county into smaller

units for purposes of local self-government, as in New England.

Thomas Jefferson, living in Virginia where the county was the sole

unit of local government, was a great admirer of the New England

town meeting, and said that "public education and the subdivision

of the counties into wards," or townships, were the "two hooks"

upon which republican government must hang. On the other hand, we

have observed an opposite tendency to concentrate the

administration of schools, roads, health, and other matters, in

the county government (see pp. 294,325). The fact is that both the

organization for centralized, county-wide government, and that for

the government of local communities within the county, have their

uses. Neither can do its best work without the other. The problem

is to deter mine what the business of each should be and to

establish a proper balance between them. One thing is sure,

namely, that the government of the county cannot be effective

unless the people of the various communities within the county are

organized to cooperate both for their local interests and for the

interests of the county as a whole. This may be provided for in

part through township governments, where they exist, and in part

through such unofficial organization as that described for the New

England town (p. 402), or as that furnished by the farm bureau

with its local community committees (p. 30).

One of the most progressive states in the matter of county

government is North Carolina. One of the chief instruments by

which this progress has been made is the NORTH CAROLINA CLUB,

organized by the University of North Carolina for the study and

promotion of the interests of the state. The North Carolina Club

has affiliated with it COUNTY CLUBS, each of which studies its own

county and promotes its interests. In North Carolina they are

working in both directions suggested above: in the direction of an

effective central county government, and in the direction of

organization of all local communities for the study of needs and

for teamwork in providing for them. See references.

THE COUNTY AS A SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE

Another important factor in county government is the control

exercised over it by the state. The county is not only a local

self-governing unit, but it is also a division of the state for

the administration of state laws. Its powers of self-government

are given to it by the state, and along with these powers it has

imposed upon it certain duties for the state. First of all, the

county is a STATE JUDICIAL DISTRICT. The most important building

at the county seat is the courthouse. The COUNTY COURT is one of

the state courts described in the next chapter. The county judge

is sometimes chosen by the people of the county, but he is really

a state officer. In New England the county is almost solely a

judicial district, and in all states its judicial purposes are of

supreme importance.

But more than this, the county schools are a part of the state

school system and must be administered in accordance with state

laws, though by county and township officers. County officers must

enforce the health laws of the state. County authorities not only

levy and collect county taxes, but also collect state taxes from

residents of the county.

THE NECESSITY FOR STATE CONTROL

Here again we have an illustration of the necessity for a careful

balance between matters properly subject to local self-government

and those properly subject to state control. Counties have

suffered both from too much state control in some respects, and

from too little in others.

The whole state is injured ... if one township lets its

citizenship deteriorate through ignorance or drunkenness, and so

the state has a right to say that at least six months school term

must be given in every township and that no whiskey-selling shall

be permitted. Or if one township is infested with cattle ticks,

other townships are injured, and so the state may set a minimum

standard here ...

It often happens that the citizens of one county pay more than

their share of the state taxes because it has better methods of

assessing and collecting taxes and of keeping accounts than other

counties in the state. One of the greatest needs of counties, and

one least provided for, is uniformity among the counties of a

state in methods of keeping accounts (see example on page 410).

Some states have established state systems of auditing county

finances.

"HOME RULE" FOR COUNTIES

On the other hand, state governments often interfere in matters

that might better be left to local determination. Usually all the

counties of a state have exactly the same form of government, with

exactly the same officers who exercise exactly the same duties.

Yet some counties within a state are almost wholly rural, some are

almost wholly urban, others are mixed in character. A form of

government adapted to one may not be suited to another. So there

has arisen a demand for a larger degree of "home rule" in

counties. In Illinois, counties have had the right to determine

for themselves whether the township should or should not be given

prominence in local government, and whether the "supervisor" or

the "commissioner" plan of government should be used. California

now has a law which provides that counties may apply for

"charters" in the same way that cities do in all states. The

"charter," like a constitution, determines the form and powers of

the government, and is framed by the people of the county

themselves, though it must then have the approval of the state

legislature.

THE GROWTH OF URBAN COMMUNITIES

We have noted how the growth of cities with their elaborate

organization for service tends to divert attention from the less

conspicuous county government. While probably half the counties of

the United States contain no city, or "town," or village of 2500

people, there is in almost every township at least one compact

settlement that has grown up around the trading center. Sometimes

there are several of them in a township and many in a county. In

such compact communities cooperation becomes necessary to provide

for needs that are not felt in more rural districts, such as paved

streets, sewers, public water supply, fire and police protection,

and so on. A separate government becomes necessary. The people of

such communities may appeal to the authorities of township,

county, or state, for incorporation as a village, borough, town,

or city. "Village" and "borough" are simply two names used in

different localities for the same thing. The difference between

them and an incorporated town or city is principally one of size

and corresponding complexity of organization.

GOVERNMENT OF VILLAGES AND INCORPORATED TOWNS

The chief governing body of a village, or borough, or incorporated

town, is a small council, or board, elected by the people. It has

legislative powers in a small way, enacting ORDINANCES for the

regulation of local officers and in the public interest.

In Michigan ... they may prescribe the terms and conditions for

licensing taverns, peddlers, and public vehicles. They have

control of streets, bridges and public grounds; and have authority

to construct bridges and pavements, and to regulate the use and

prevent the obstruction of the highways. They may establish and

maintain sewers and drains. They may construct and control public

wharves, and regulate and license ferries. They may establish and

regulate markets. They may provide a police force and a fire

department. They may construct or purchase and operate water works

and lighting plants. They may own cemeteries, public pounds,

public buildings and parks.[Footnote: John A. Fairlie, Local

Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, pp. 207, 208.]

The council also has limited power to levy taxes and to borrow

money for public purposes.

There is a chief executive officer, sometimes called MAYOR,

sometimes president, or by other names. Subordinate to him are

various other officers, such as the police marshal, the street

commissioner, fire marshal, tax assessor, treasurer, clerk, and so

on. In larger villages boards of health and other boards and

commissions exist to administer various forms of public service.

The village may also have its minor court presided over by a

justice of the peace.

CITY GOVERNMENT

When villages or towns reach a certain population usually fixed by

state law, they may be incorporated as cities. The change that

takes place is simply one of elaborating the governing machinery

and giving to it larger powers to correspond with the larger needs

of city life. The complex problems of city government we shall not

attempt to study in this book.

CHANGES IN URBAN GOVERNMENT FOR BETTER SERVICE AND BETTER CONTROL

Great improvement in the government of towns and cities has been

made in recent years. The latest plan of government to be adopted,

and it has spread to a considerable number of towns and cities in

the United States, is the CITY MANAGER, or TOWN MANAGER, form of

government. By this plan the voters elect a small council, or

board of directors, who in turn appoint a MANAGER who serves as a

superintendent over the affairs of the city or town. He is a

trained specialist, often an engineer, and cities and towns

sometimes search the country over for the best man available for

the place. The manager appoints the heads of the various

departments of government, such as health, police, public works,

etc., and is responsible to the council for their work. It is the

application to town government of methods long used by successful

business corporations.

Investigate and report upon:

How the county in Louisiana came to be called a "parish."

Organization and powers of your county board.

A list of your county officers and their duties.

The sentiment in your county with regard to the efficiency of your

county government. Is the sentiment justified?

Recognized defects in your county government.

The long (or short) ballot in your county.

Extent to which the people of your county study the reports of

your county government (consult at home and with older friends).

What do you find of interest in your county reports?

Are reports of your county published in the newspapers? Do you

understand them? Ask your father to explain them to you.

Extent to which your county board exercises control over other

county officers.

Extent to which the farmers of your county interest themselves in

politics.

Whether or not the experience of the officer quoted on page 410

could be duplicated in your state.

The fee system in your county.

How and why public officers "are just what the people make them."

The meaning of Jefferson's remark that "public education and the

subdivision of counties into wards are the two hooks upon which

republican government must hang".

The feasibility of a "county club" in your county similar to those

in North Carolina.

The balance between county government and township government in

your county.

State control of your county government--too much, or too little?

Explain.

Difference between a charter and a constitution.

Number of incorporated towns and cities in your county.

Cooperation (or friction) between urban and rural districts in

your county.

Organization of village, borough, or town government in your

county.

Difference between the "town" as referred to in the last part of

this chapter and the "town" as described in the first part.

Services in incorporated towns and villages in your county that

are not performed by the county or township governments for rural

residents.

How a village or town is incorporated in your state.

Town manager form of government in your state. Its advantages.

READINGS

State Constitution.

County Government and County Affairs in North Carolina, North

Carolina Club Year Book 1917-1918 (The University of North

Carolina Record, Extension Series No 30, Chapel Hill, N.C. ).

County Government, ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and

Social Science, Vol XLVII, May, 1913. (36th and Woodland Ave,

Philadelphia.)

Publications of the New York Short Ballot Association, 381 Fourth

Ave, New York City.

Fairlie, J.A., Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages

(The Century Co.).

Mobilizing the Rural Community, by E.L. Morgan, Extension Bulletin

No. 23, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 19, The commission form of government and the

city manager.

Hart, A.B., Actual Government, Part IV, Local government in

action.

Reed, T.H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iv,

Local government.

CHAPTER XXVI

OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS

SOURCE OF GOVERNING POWER

When the thirteen original states were colonies, they derived

their governing powers from CHARTERS granted to them by the king,

as cities and some counties are granted charters by the state.

When they won their independence the people of each state

substituted a CONSTITUTION for the charter; the difference between

a charter and a constitution being that the former is given TO the

people by some higher authority, while the latter is adopted BY

the people themselves. All of our states alike, whether created

before or after the Union was formed, are self-governing under

constitutions of their own making.

Counties and towns, cities and villages, have no powers of self-

government except those granted to them BY THE STATE. The national

government, also, may exercise only such powers as are given to it

by the people VOTING AS STATES. Each state, on the other hand, is

self-governing in its own right, and may exercise through its

government any power whatever, excepting only those which it

voluntarily surrendered upon entering the Union. (See pp. 94, 449;

also Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 10 and Art. IV.)

THE STATE CONSTITUTION

The state constitution is the supreme law of the state and is

supposed to represent the direct voice of the people. Since the

Union was formed, state constitutions have been framed by

conventions of delegates elected especially for the purpose, and

in most cases have been submitted to the people for their

ratification. Amendments may be proposed either by such

conventions or by the state legislatures, but they must also be

ratified by the people. Some of the states have completely revised

their constitutions several times, and amendments have been very

numerous.

CAUSE OF LENGTH OF STATE CONSTITUTIONS

State constitutions are long documents, containing a great deal of

detail regarding the organization and powers of government. In

this respect they differ from the national Constitution, which is

brief and speaks in broad, general terms. Recent constitutions are

longer than earlier ones, partly because there is a greater

variety of problems to be dealt with, but also because of a

growing tendency to limit the powers of legislatures and

administrative officers.

A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

After a DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, which all state constitutions

contain, the constitution is concerned chiefly with the

organization, powers and duties of the government. Each state may

organize its government as it sees fit, provided only that it is

"republican" in form as required by the federal Constitution (Art.

IV, sec. 4). This means that it must be a form of representative

self-government.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

While the state governments differ from one another in matters of

detail, the general plan is the same in all. Each consists of

three branches: the legislative branch for lawmaking; the

executive branch for law enforcement and administration; and the

judicial branch for the interpretation of the laws and for the

administration of justice in accordance with the law. These three

branches are organized on the principle of a SEPARATION OF POWERS,

to prevent encroachment by one upon the powers of the others, and

to make each a check upon the powers of the others.

In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department

shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either

of them; the executive shall never exercise the legislative and

judicial powers, or either of them; the judicial shall never

exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them;

to the end it may be a government of laws, and not of men.

[Footnote: Constitution of Massachusetts, Part I, Art. XXX.]

Investigate and report on:

The meaning of "a government of laws, and not of men."

The entrance of your state into the Union.

The history of your present state constitution.

The powers surrendered by your state when it entered the Union.

Compare the length of your state constitution with that of the

federal Constitution.

The principal parts of which your constitution is composed.

Number of amendments to your state constitution. When the latest

amendments were adopted and why.

The declaration of rights in your state constitution.

Checks exercised by the legislature upon the executive and

judicial branches; by the executive upon the legislative and

judicial branches; by the judicial upon the legislative and

executive branches.

THE GOVERNOR

The chief executive officer of the state is the governor, who is

elected by the people for a term which varies, in the different

states, from one to four years. It is his duty to see that the

laws of the state are faithfully executed. The constitution makes

him the commander-in-chief of the state militia, which he may call

upon to enforce the laws or to quell disorders. It also gives him

the power to pardon persons convicted of crime, in the exercise of

which power he is sometimes assisted by a special board of pardons

and sometimes by the legislature; but the consideration of the

pleas of such persons and their friends for pardon often consumes

much of his time.

THE GOVERNOR'S VARIED DUTIES

A great deal of the governor's time is also taken up with duties

devolving upon him as the official representative of the state on

ceremonial occasions, as in the laying of corner-stones of public

buildings, attending state fairs, and making speeches at public

meetings of all kinds. By virtue of his office he is also a member

of many boards and commissions whose meetings he must attend.

THE GOVERNOR'S PART IN LAWMAKING

The governor also has some part in lawmaking. In all states except

North Carolina he has the power to VETO bills passed by the

legislature. This check upon the legislature is not absolute, for

the legislature may overcome the governor's veto by again passing

the bill, usually by a two-thirds vote. The governor may also

influence legislation by means of his messages to the legislature

in which he recommends measures which he believes should be

enacted into law. In case of opposition by the legislature, the

governor often carries his proposals directly to the people, who

quickly make known whether or not they support him. The governor

may call special sessions of the legislature to consider measures

of especial importance.

GROWING INFLUENCE OF THE GOVERNOR

The governor is a more influential officer today than he was in

the early part of our history. In colonial times he was the direct

representative of the king, or of the colonial proprietor, and the

people sought in every way to limit his powers. After the colonies

became states this habitual fear of the governor continued, and he

was placed under the control of the legislature. As time went on,

however, the legislature fell under the suspicion of the people,

while the governor was more and more looked to as their leader.

Thus, for example, the veto power was given to him, increasing his

influence while it curbed that of the legislature.

WEAKNESS OF THE STATE EXECUTIVE

But the power and influence of the governor are by no means as

great in relation to state government as are the powers of the

President in relation to the national government. In fact, the

executive branch of our state governments has been notoriously

weak, and its weakness is of the same kind as that noted in county

government: the lack of an effective, responsible head.

COMPARISON OF STATE WITH NATIONAL EXECUTIVE

In our national government the executive power is concentrated in

the hands of one man. State constitutions seem to confer the same

powers upon the governor. The constitution of Indiana says, "The

executive powers of the State shall be vested in a Governor"; and

that of Pennsylvania says, "The supreme executive power shall be

vested in the Governor." But the Pennsylvania constitution also

says, "The executive department shall consist of a Governor,

Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney

General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal

Affairs and a Superintendent of Public Instruction" (Art. IV, Sec.

I). Four of these officers besides the governor are elected by the

people.

BEWILDERING COMPLEXITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

In all states the governor "shall take care that the laws be

faithfully executed" (Pennsylvania constitution). For the

execution of the laws, however, he is dependent not only upon a

number of principal executive officers such as those named above,

but also upon a large number of less important administrative

officers. Governor Lowden, of Illinois, a few years ago said:

Administrative agencies have been multiplied in bewildering

confusion. They have been created without reference to their

ability economically and effectively to administer the laws.

Separate boards govern the penitentiaries, the reformatories, and

the educational institutions. Several boards and commissions have

charge of matters affecting the agricultural interests.

Administration of laws affecting labor is parceled out among

numerous agencies, including several boards having jurisdiction of

mining problems and several free employment agencies, each

independent of the other. Our finance administration is chaotic,

illogical and confused.

The administration of the health laws is divided between boards

and commissions, with no effective means of coordination. Our

educational agencies are not harmonious. Over one hundred

officers, boards, agencies, commissions, institutions and

departments are charged with the administration of our laws. No

systematic organization exists, and no adequate control can be

exercised ... Under the present system the governor cannot

exercise the supervision and control which the people have a right

to demand. [Footnote: Charles E. Woodward, "The Illinois Civil

Administrative Code," reprinted from Proceedings, Academy of

Political Science, July, 1918.]

GOVERNOR LACKS POWER TO MEET HIS RESPONSIBILITY

This condition of affairs is characteristic of state governments

generally. Some of the numerous officers are appointed by the

governor, but many of them are elected by the people or appointed

by the legislature. Their terms of office do not coincide with

that of the governor, so that he finds in office many persons whom

he did not appoint, and whom he cannot remove. Often they may be

of an opposite political party. Thus the very organization of the

state executive department is such as to make it impossible for

the governor to perform the duty, imposed upon him by the

constitution, of seeing to it that the laws are faithfully

executed. It must be remembered, moreover, that the execution of

the laws is also dependent largely upon a multitude of local

officers over whom the state exercises little control. It is

apparent how imperfect must be the teamwork of the people through

this organization.

UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS AT POPULAR CONTROL

Why have the people put up with this sort of thing? For one thing,

they have not understood where the trouble lies. There is also

seen the influence of the political "boss," who thrives under this

confusion. But among the causes is the desire of the people to

maintain control over government. They have attempted, in their

constitutions, not only to say just what services should be

performed for them, but also to specify just what machinery should

be used for their performance. For every new service, they have

created a new and independent piece of machinery. Then, to make

their control complete, as they thought, they have made most of

their new officers elective. Experience has shown that control of

this kind has been gained only at the sacrifice of efficient

service, through failure to provide trained leadership and

effective organization. Moreover, experience has also shown that

control of this kind is largely a delusion; for the people cannot

keep in touch with their multitude of officers, and in many cases

yield their control, often unknowingly, to the political "boss."

EXPERIMENT NECESSARY TO PROGRESS

In noting these defects, it is not to be concluded that our state

governments have been a failure in all respects. Far from it.

Notable progress has been made toward the ideals toward which we

have been striving. We have tried one experiment after another,

some of which have been highly successful, but others of which

have not met the test of new conditions. It is important, however,

that we should face our failures squarely and profit by them.

REORGANIZATION OF EXECUTIVE

At the present time there is a marked effort to overcome the

defects that we have just noted, and a good deal of progress

toward it has been made in some states. One of the most

progressive states in this particular is Illinois, which has

recently enacted a law for the reorganization of its executive

branch of government.

Under the new "Civil Administrative Code" of Illinois, the

executive branch of government is organized in nine departments:

the departments of finance, of agriculture, of labor, of mines and

minerals, of public works and buildings, of public welfare, of

public health, of trade and commerce, and of registration and

education.

At the head of each department is a director, who is appointed by

the governor, is responsible to him, and whose term of office is

the same as that of the governor.

Each department is organized into various bureaus, or other

subdivisions, with officers in charge who are directly responsible

to the director of the department. Thus, in the department of

agriculture there is an assistant director, a general manager of

the state fair, a superintendent of foods and dairies, a

superintendent of animal industry, a superintendent of plant

industry, a chief veterinarian, a chief game and fish warden, and

a food standard commission of three members.

All subordinate employees in all departments are appointed under a

civil service law which requires competitive examinations.

Associated with most of the departments are "advisory boards"

consisting of citizens who serve without pay. Thus, the department

of agriculture has a board of agricultural advisers composed of

fifteen persons, and a board of state fair advisers of nine

persons, not more than three of whom shall be appointed from any

one county.

The things aimed at in this reorganization are: (I) fixing

responsibility for the entire service-organization in one place--

with the governor; (2) responsible, trained leadership in each

department of service; (3) responsiveness of leadership to the

people's wants, as provided for by the advisory boards; (4) a

system of accounting and records that will make for efficiency and

economy, and that will inform the people as well as the officers

of government.

Investigate and report on:

The name of the governor of your state, his political party, when

elected, for how long a term.

Advantages and disadvantages of a long term for the governor.

The constitutional powers of the governor of your state.

The influence of the governor of your state with the people.

The principal executive and administrative officers of your state.

Those that are elective and those that are appointive.

A complete list of the administrative bureaus, boards,

commissions, and other state agencies, with their duties.

The application of Governor Lowden's statement regarding Illinois

to your state.

Any proposed reorganization of the executive branch of your state

government.

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The legislative branch of government consists, in all states, of a

legislature ("general assembly," "legislative assembly," or

"general court") composed of two "houses" or "chambers," the house

of representatives and the senate. The senate is the "upper

house," and is usually from one-third to one-half the size of the

"lower house"; in Massachusetts only one-sixth the size.

THE TWO HOUSES

A bill to become a law must pass both houses separately, each

house acting as a check upon the other, thus securing greater

deliberation in lawmaking. The senate is supposed to be, and

usually is, a more conservative, or cautious, body than the house

of representatives, partly because of its smaller size which makes

possible a more careful consideration of business. Its members are

elected from larger districts, thus increasing the opportunity to

select able men. A higher age qualification is required for

membership in the senate than in the house of representatives; and

only a part of the senate is elected at each election, so that it

is a continuing body, always containing members of experience,

while the lower house may be almost entirely changed at each

election.

DEFECTS IN DISTRIBUTION OF REPRESENTATION

It is a theory of our representative government that

representation should be proportional to population. To secure

this result, each state is divided into election districts

presumably of as nearly equal population as possible, the

senatorial districts being the larger. In practice, however, these

districts do not always have representation proportional to their

population. The county is often the unit of representation, or in

New England the town, and these districts vary greatly in

population. An attempt is made to equalize the difference by

providing that no district shall have less than one

representative, and often that none shall have more than a certain

number. Inequalities nevertheless exist. In Connecticut, thirty-

four of the most populous towns and cities have sixty-eight

members in the lower house, whereas if the distribution were made

on the basis of population they would be entitled to 186 members.

Again, four of the smallest Connecticut towns, with a total

population of 1567, have five members; four of the most populous

cities, containing 309,982 inhabitants, have only eight members,

whereas on the basis of population they would be entitled to

eighty-seven. [Footnote: C.A., Beard, America Government and

Politics, p. 521.]

Partisan influences often enter into the districting of states for

representation, the party in power trying to fix boundaries so as

to ensure keeping their majority in the legislature.

Investigate and report on the following:

Number of members in the lower and upper houses of your

legislature.

Qualifications for membership and term of office in each house.

Names of your own representative and senator.

Secure a map showing legislative districts of your state. Locate

your own.

Whether representation in your legislature is proportional to

population.

The "gerrymander": what is it, and has it been used in your state?

The legislature controls our lives at almost every turn.

It has control over the whole domain of civil law; [Footnote 2:

See below, p. 437.] that is, it lays down the rules governing

contracts, real and personal property, inheritance, corporations,

mortgages, marriage and divorce, and other civil matters. It

defines crime; that is, it prescribes those actions of the citizen

which are to be punished by fine or imprisonment or death. It

touches the property of the citizen not only by regulating its

use, but also by imposing upon it a burden of taxation. Finally,

it has control over the vast domain known as the police power,

under which it makes regulations concerning public health, morals,

and welfare, devises rules for the conduct of business and

professions, and in other ways restrains the liberty of the

citizen to do as he pleases. [Footnote 3: C.A. Beard, America

Government and Politics,, p. 516.]

ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD THEIR LEGISLATURES

In view of this importance, it would seem that the people would

have the keenest interest in their state legislatures and the

greatest respect for them. This has not always been the case. As

one writer says, "it has become almost fashionable" to speak

slightingly of legislatures and their members, and to talk of them

as if they were wholly corrupt and dishonorable. If the very best

men the community affords are not always chosen for the difficult

and responsible work of lawmaking, the people have no one to blame

but themselves. Moreover, the members of our legislatures average

up very much like their neighbors, and most of them are sincerely

desirous of serving their state and do so to the fullest extent

possible under the conditions that exist.

It is indeed time that a different attitude should be assumed

toward these bodies. ... Acquaintance with actual legislatures

will immediately reveal the fact that they are fairly

representative of the American people, and that there is in them,

a great deal of honest effort to grapple with the difficult

problems of legislation. ... Before all, there ought to be a

sustained effort to support the men who are with honest purpose

struggling for equitable and effective legislation. ...[Footnote:

Paul S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods, p.

126.]

DIFFICULTIES OF WISE LEGISLATION

Most of the unwise and harmful legislation has been due, not to

wrong intentions on the part of legislators, but to the difficulty

encountered by a body of men of average intelligence and of little

experience in dealing with public questions, in getting

information necessary to enable them to decide wisely with respect

to the multitude of complicated problems that come before them

during the brief session of the legislature.

In the lower house of one typical legislature only 19 out of the

252 members had ever been members of a legislature before, 123

were farmers, 6 lawyers, 10 physicians, 48 merchants and

manufacturers, 3 bankers, 5 preachers, 6 insurance men, 2 hotel

proprietors, 3 liverymen, 14 laborers or artisans, 6 "apparently

with no occupation except that of general politician and office-

seeker."

Of the thirty members of the senate of the same legislature, 9

were farmers, 4 lawyers, 4 physicians, and 13 merchants. Seven of

these had completed their education in "academies," while 13 had

never got beyond the public schools.

These men had to decide, in the course of a few weeks, upon an

astonishing variety of problems, some of them of the greatest

complexity, and all of them affecting the lives of the citizens of

the state in a multitude of ways. It is not surprising that

serious mistakes are sometimes made. [Footnote: C. A. Beard,

American Government and Politics, p. 525 (from S. P. Orth, "Our

State Legislatures," Atlantic Monthly, vol. xciv, pp. 728 ff.)]

The mere writing of a bill in language that will convey the exact

meaning intended, and that will not involve undesirable and

unexpected results, is a difficult matter that requires the skill

of men trained for it.

LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAUS

In a number of states an attempt has been made to meet these

natural difficulties by the establishment of legislative reference

libraries, or bureaus, in charge of highly trained students who

collect all available information relating to every possible

subject of legislation, keep records of legislation in other

states, and place the material in convenient form at the disposal

of the legislators. Sometimes they provide expert service in the

writing of bills in the proper form. It is said that such

legislative reference bureaus have already greatly improved the

quality of legislation in some of the states.

It would be impossible for a legislature, acting as a body, to

give consideration to more than a small fraction of the bills that

come before it.

It is said that it is not unusual for more than 2500 bills to be

introduced at a single session. Legislatures are in session from

40 to 90 days. If the session were 60 days, and the working day 10

hours, there would be but 15 minutes for each of 2500 bills. This

time would be divided between the two houses. Besides, a great

deal of business must be transacted other than the consideration

and passage of bills.

THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM OF LEGISLATION

To make possible the handling of all this work, each house is

organized in standing committees. As bills are introduced, they

are referred to their appropriate committees, in which most of the

work of lawmaking is done. Most of the bills so referred are never

reported back to the legislature at all, and those that are

reported are in most cases acted upon by the legislature in

accordance with the committees' reports, with little general

discussion. The procedure followed in referring bills to

committees and in considering them when they are reported back is

determined by a complexity of rules that are confusing to the

outsider and that cannot be explained in detail here. But their

declared purpose is to save time and to enable the legislative

business to move smoothly. The small committees can work to better

advantage than the large body of men in either chamber. The work

is divided up so that the few members of each committee can

concentrate their attention upon a few subjects and gain

experience in handling special kinds of problems.

INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT

On the other hand, it is to this organization that we owe some of

the bad lawmaking for which our legislatures are blamed. It tends

to remove legislation from the control of the people, and results

in what is often called "invisible government," government that is

carried on out of sight of the people. It opens a door to partisan

influences and to control by political "bosses" and self-seeking

"interests." In the lower house the committees are appointed by

the speaker, who is the presiding officer, and who is always

chosen by the members of the majority party in the house from

their own number. The senate committees are sometimes appointed by

the presiding officer of the senate, who is often the lieutenant-

governor, and sometimes elected by the senate itself. But the

chairmen and the majority of the members of all committees in both

houses belong to the majority party, which is thus enabled to

control legislation for partisan ends if it so desires, and it

often does so.

EVILS OF THE SYSTEM

Bills may be "killed" in committee, or reported unfavorably, or so

amended as to change their meaning entirely, merely at the will of

the party leaders, or of "bosses" and interests outside of the

legislature. A large part of the work of the committees is carried

on in secret. Although "hearings" may be held at which citizens

may present arguments for and against proposed measures, these may

be mere matters of form. Influential interests may maintain a

lobby at the legislature, which means that they are represented

there by agents who seek to influence the members of the

legislature, and especially of the committees, sometimes by

corrupt methods. The lobby often works by secret methods, whereas

the "hearings" are public.

The party leaders in control, of whom the most important are the

speaker of the house, the rules committee, the chairmen of

committees, and the "floor manager," by dictating the procedure to

be followed, may at times make it practically impossible for a

member of the minority party, or one who has incurred the

displeasure of the leaders, to gain a hearing. The following

description gives an idea of what may happen: [Footnote: From a

pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative Voters' League in

1903, and quoted by C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics,

pp 539, 540.]

Consider the petty annoyances to which a decent member outside the

"organization" may be subjected, and the methods by which

legitimate legislation, backed by him, may be blocked. The bill

goes to an unfriendly committee. The chairman refuses to call the

committee together, or when forced to call it, a quorum does not

attend. ... Action may be postponed on various pretexts, or the

bill may be referred to a sub-committee. The committee may kill

the bill by laying it on the table. On the other hand, the

committee may decide that the bill be reported to the house to

pass. Then a common practice is for the chairman to pocket the

bill, delaying to report it to the house till too late to pass it.

When finally reported to the house, it goes on the calendar to be

read a first time in its order. Then begins the advancing of bills

by unanimous consent, without waiting to reach them in order. Here

is where the organization has absolute control. Unanimous consent

is subject to the speaker's acuteness of hearing. His hearing is

sharpened or dulled according to the good standing of the objector

or of the member pushing the bill. If one not friendly to the

house "organization" wants to have his bill considered over an

objection, he must move to suspend the rules. The speaker may

refuse to recognize him, or may put his motion and declare it

carried or not carried as suits his and the organization's

desires. So the pet bills are jumped over others ahead of them on

the calendar, while

[Footnote: From a pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative

Voters' League in 1903, and quoted by C. A. Beard, American

Government and Politics, pp 539, 540.] the ones not having the

backing of the house "organization" are retired farther and

farther down until their ultimate passage becomes hopeless. If the

bill of the independent member reaches a second reading, it may be

killed by striking out the enacting clause or by tacking on an

obnoxious amendment that makes it repulsive to its former friends. ...

To carry out the will of the organization, the speaker

declares amendments carried or the contrary by a viva voce vote.

Demands for roll-calls are ignored by him in violation of the

members' constitutional rights. ...

EFFORTS TO CURB POWER OF LEGISLATURES

It is such practices as these that have brought state legislatures

into bad repute, and that have resulted in measures to curb their

power. Instead of leaving it entirely to them to make their own

rules of procedure, many of these rules are now prescribed by the

state constitutions. It was in order to restrain the legislatures

that the veto power has been given to the governors of all states

but one, and that sessions of legislatures have been limited to

brief periods of from forty to ninety days, and then only once in

two years. For the same reason state constitutions have taken away

powers that legislatures once commonly abused, as in running the

state deeply into debt, or in legislating in the interest of

particular localities or particular groups; and have provided in

great detail for many things that were formerly left to the

discretion of the legislatures. For the same reason some states

have adopted the initiative and referendum.

Investigate and report on:

Powers possessed by either house of your legislature not possessed

by the other.

Powers denied your legislature by the federal Constitution.

Powers denied your legislature by your state constitution.

Reasons.

Attitude of the people of your community toward your legislature.

Why service in the legislature does not attract more of the most

capable men of the state.

The vocations of the members of your legislature.

Number of bills introduced, and the number passed, at the last

session of your legislature.

The purpose of some of the most important laws enacted by your

legislature at its last session.

Why it is difficult to write a bill correctly.

The legislative reference library, or bureau, of your state (if

any).

The committees in each house of your legislature.

Procedure by which a bill becomes a law in your state.

The speaker of the House of Representatives in your state.

"Invisible government" in your state.

Laws regulating the "lobby" in your state. Frequency and length of

legislative sessions in your state.

INEFFICIENT BUSINESS METHODS OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

Some of the greatest abuses of governing power have been in

connection with the appropriation of money. They have been due not

so much to dishonesty as to bad organization and loose business

methods, both in the executive and legislative branches of

government. When the executive branch consists of a large number

of more or less independent parts, each trying to make the best

showing possible, it is quite to be expected that each will seek

to get from the public treasury all the money possible without

reference to the needs of other parts or to the resources of the

state. When, in addition, there is no central executive authority

with power to hold the heads of the various parts responsible for

their acts, and no uniform or businesslike system of keeping

accounts, either of money expended or of work accomplished, it is

easy to see the opportunity for wastefulness and inefficiency.

WASTEFUL METHODS OF MAKING APPROPRIATIONS

On the other hand, the methods of making appropriations in the

legislature have been equally conducive to wastefulness.

Appropriation bills pass through the same legislative machinery as

all other bills and are subject to the same dangers. Moreover,

they are handled by different committees that act as independently

of one another as do the various executive departments. In

Illinois, for example, until recently "requests for appropriations

were submitted informally by each office, department, or board;

and separate bills were prepared by the several departments and

institutions, and introduced by individual members of the General

Assembly," l[Footnote: John A. Fairlie, Budget Methods in

Illinois, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social

Science, November, 1915; quoted by W. F. Willoughby, in The

Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 45.] then being

referred to different committees according to the subjects to

which they related. At the session of 1913, 94 separate

appropriation acts were passed.

THE BUDGET SYSTEM

A number of the states have sought to remedy this defect in

government by the adoption of a budget system (see Chapter XIII).

Illinois has perhaps made the complete reform in this matter. We

have already seen how that state has reorganized its executive

branch of government, which is the first necessary step. In this

reorganization there was created a finance department, to which

all the administrative departments submit a careful estimate of

the money needed for their various lines of work, together with a

detailed statement of work done and money spent during the two

preceding years. The finance department considers all these

statements and estimates in their relation to one another and to

the financial resources available for the next two years, and

submits to the governor a comprehensive and detailed budget. On

the basis of this, a single appropriation bill is prepared by a

single committee of the legislature. Public hearings are held, the

people are given opportunity to know just what the government has

done and intends to do, and the governor and his finance

department may be held responsible.

No single change would add so largely to both democracy and

efficiency as the introduction of proper budget methods.

[Footnote: Foreword to Public Budgets, Annals of the American

Academy of Political and Social Science, November, 1915; quoted by

W. F. Willoughby, The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States,

p. 2.]

Investigate and report on:

Method of making appropriations in your state.

Movement for a budget system in your state.

Why a budget system tends toward (1) economy, (2) efficiency, (3)

democracy.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

Questions are continually arising as to the meaning of laws, or as

to how they apply in particular cases. To answer these questions

the judicial branch of government exists, comprising a system of

courts. The courts are sometimes called upon to decide whether a

law passed by the legislature, or an act of an administrative

officer, is in harmony with the constitution, and if not, to

declare such law or act invalid. The judicial branch of government

is therefore the people's organization to keep the other branches

of government within their constitutional powers.

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES