Studies in Civics Part 33

Have you knowledge of any case in which one state sued another? If a merchant in your town should buy goods from a wholesale house in Chicago or New York, and should fail or refuse to pay for them, how could the house get its pay? What laws would apply to the case? What principle seems to be involved in these answers?

How many acts of congress have been declared unconst.i.tutional by the Supreme Court?

Can a citizen of Wyoming bring a suit in a United States court? If you lived in Montana, how could you recover money owed you in Minnesota? Can a United States official be sued for acts performed in the discharge of his duties?

What famous case of treason was tried in 1807? Was Jefferson Davis ever tried for treason?

If the property of a traitor is taken by the government, must it be restored to his heirs at his death? Can you commit treason against this state? What do you know about the John Brown case?

Compare III. 2, 3, with amendments 5 and 6, and state the rights of a person accused of crime, which are guaranteed by the const.i.tution.

_Debate._

Resolved, That all judicial officers should be appointed.

_Tabular View._

Prepare a tabular view comparing the three departments of the United States government.

CHAPTER XXV.

ARTICLE IV.--THE RELATIONS OF THE STATES.

SECTION I.--STATE RECORDS.

_Full faith and credit[1] shall be given in each state to the public acts,[2] records,[3] and judicial proceedings[4]of every other state. And the congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved,[5] and the effect thereof._

[1] That is, such faith and credit as would be given to such acts, etc., in the state in which they originated.

[2] That is, the legislative acts,--the statutes and the const.i.tutions.

[3] Such as the registration of deeds, wills, marriages, journals of the legislature, etc.

[4] The proceedings, judgments, orders, etc., of the courts.

[5] The records of a court are "proved" (that is, shown to be authentic) by the attestation of the clerk, with the seal of the court affixed, and the certificate of the judge. The acts of the legislature are authenticated by the state seal.

SECTION II.--RELATIONS TO INHABITANTS OF OTHER STATES.

_Clause 1.--Citizens._

_The citizens of each state shall be ent.i.tled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states._

That is, no state can give its citizens any privileges which it denies to citizens of other states. For instance, a citizen of Wisconsin, New York or California, coming to Minnesota has all the privileges of a citizen of Minnesota. To be sure he cannot vote in Minnesota until he has resided here for a time. This is simply a police regulation, to prevent fraud in voting. But he is ent.i.tled to the protection of the laws of Minnesota, may hold property here, and may engage in any business in which a citizen of Minnesota may engage.

He cannot, however, carry with him any special privileges which he may have enjoyed in the state from which he came. Thus, if one state permits a person to vote upon declaring his intention to become a citizen while another requires that a voter shall be a full citizen, a person coming from the first state cannot claim the right to vote in the second until he becomes a full citizen.

Study in this connection the first clause of the fourteenth amendment.

_Clause 2.--Fugitives from Justice._

_A person charged in any state with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime._

The necessity for this provision will readily be understood, when it is remembered that each state has jurisdiction only within its own limits.

But for this provision, criminals would be comparatively free from restraint, because they could in most cases get into another state. And this would of course tend to increase the number of criminals. (See pp.

337, 349.)

As civilization advances, countries independent of each other politically agree, for their mutual protection, to surrender to each other fugitives from justice. Treaties made for this purpose are called _extradition_ treaties.

_Clause 3.--Fugitives from Service._

_No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due._

This clause was inserted as a concession to the slave-holding states, and had special reference to slaves, though it also applied to apprentices and any other persons who for any reason might be "bound to service." But as slavery no longer exists, and apprentices.h.i.+p and other binding to service are almost things of the past, this provision is practically obsolete.

SECTION III.--NEW STATES AND TERRITORIES.

_Clause 1.--The Admission of New States._

_New states may be admitted by the congress into this Union;[1] but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state;[2] nor shall any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the congress.[3]_

[1] These few words mark an era in political history. Heretofore nations had acquired new territory merely to enlarge the extent of their _provinces_ or subject states, never with a view of uniting the acquired territory with the original system, allowing it equal political privileges. But when we look at the matter carefully, we shall see that our government could not consistently do otherwise than it did. The proposition involved in the revolution was that new territory should either be permitted to enjoy equal privileges with the parent state, or it should become independent.

But it was not simply to carry out a political theory that this provision was made; it was to solve a practical difficulty. At the close of the Revolutionary War, the United States extended west to the Mississippi river. The territory west of the Alleghany mountains contained almost no inhabitants, and was of course unorganized. This territory became the object of contention. Some of the states claimed jurisdiction over it, while others maintained that it was not within the limits of any states, and that, as it had been secured by a war waged by the general government, this territory should be considered common property, to be managed by the general government. The states having claims upon the territory expressed a willingness to relinquish them upon the condition that the territory should be formed into states as soon as the population would warrant.

Accordingly, before the const.i.tution was framed all these states except North Carolina and Georgia had relinquished their claims, and all but a small portion of the territory was under the jurisdiction of the general government. And July 13, 1787, that portion of the country west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio, had been organized into the Northwest Territory. This act of congress is generally known as The Ordinance of 1787. It was for a long time the model upon which other territories were organized.

[2] This shows the fear entertained lest the general government should try to control a state by threatening its existence.

[3] Vermont was claimed by both New York and New Hamps.h.i.+re. Both consented to her admission.

Kentucky was a part of Virginia, and became a state with her consent.

Maine became a state with the consent of Ma.s.sachusetts, of which it had been a part.

West Virginia was admitted during the war, the consent of Virginia being obtained afterwards.

_Clause 2.--The Territories._

_The congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States;[1] and nothing in this const.i.tution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state.[2]_