Studies in Civics Part 38

This section needs little comment. It means simply that any expense incurred on the part of government in suppressing rebellion _shall be paid_; and that debts incurred in aid of rebellion _shall not be paid_. It applies not only to the late Civil War but to all future wars of the same kind.

ARTICLE XV.

SUFFRAGE.

_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._

_Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation._

This amendment was intended to put negroes upon the same footing as white people in the matter of suffrage.

Each state, as has previously been stated, prescribes the qualifications of voters within its borders. It may require that they be fifteen or twenty-five or twenty-one or any other number of years old; it may or may not require a property qualification; it may or may not require an educational qualification; it may include or exclude women as voters; it may draw the line at imbeciles and felons, but it cannot draw the color line. A black citizen must be permitted to vote upon the same conditions as a white one.

_Pertinent Questions._

What is meant by a state "repudiating" a debt? What states have done so?

What reason did each a.s.sign for doing so? Can a city repudiate? A county?

Were amendments XIII., XIV., and XV. const.i.tutionally adopted? [Footnote: See Wright, 284; Andrews, 272; and Pomeroy, 76.]

How was slavery abolished in each of the states? [Footnote: See page 343.]

What does the emanc.i.p.ation proclamation say about slavery? Can slavery exist in Alaska? Why?

Are you a citizen of the United States? How may an alien become a citizen?

May a person be a citizen of the United States without being a citizen of any state? A citizen of a state without being a citizen of the United States? [Footnote: See Wright, 287.] How does a citizen of the United States become a citizen of a certain state? What are some of the "privileges and immunities" of a citizen of the United States? [Footnote: See Wright, 287.] Can a Chinaman become a citizen? An Indian? Does this section give women the right to vote?

What provision of the const.i.tution is amended by the second clause of the fourteenth amendment? What change is made? How often does the "counting"

take place? What is it called? When will the next one occur? Has the penalty mentioned in the second clause ever been inflicted?

Name persons affected by the third clause of the fourteenth amendment.

Name persons from whom the disabilities have been removed. How were they removed? Name persons against whom the disabilities still lie. May they vote? What provision of the original const.i.tution is affected by the last sentence of this clause, and how is it modified?

How much money was expended in suppressing the rebellion? How was it raised? How much debt has been paid? How much remains unpaid? Did you ever see a United States bond or note? How much is a confederate bond for $1000 worth? Why? Have any emanc.i.p.ated slaves been paid for by the government?

What is the necessity of the clause commencing, "The congress shall have power?"

What is secured to negroes by the thirteenth amendment? By the fourteenth?

By the fifteenth? Name persons who are citizens but cannot vote. Name three eminent colored men.

What clause could be omitted from the const.i.tution without affecting it?

PART IV.

GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.

Cla.s.sification.--Aristotle divided governments into three chief cla.s.ses, based upon the number of persons const.i.tuting the governing element, as follows: government by _one_, monarchy; by the _few_, oligarchy; by the _many_, democracy.

Subdivisions of these cla.s.ses may be made as follows.

1. By _one_, monarchy; hereditary or elective; absolute or limited.

2. By the _few_, oligarchy or aristocracy.

3. By the _many_, democracy or republic.

Definitions and examples.--A hereditary monarchy is one in which the succession is acquired by birth, the usual order being from father to eldest son; examples, England, Prussia, etc.

An elective monarchy is one in which the succession is by election; the term for life; example, the old German empire, in which the emperor was chosen by certain princes called "electors." [Footnote: Our mode of electing a president may have been suggested in part by this old practice.]

An absolute monarchy is one in which the three functions of government as related to law--the legislative, executive and judicial--are all vested in one person; examples, Russia and Turkey in Europe, and most of the countries of Asia and Africa.

A limited monarchy is one in which the sovereign's power is confined chiefly to executing the laws framed and interpreted by other departments; examples, England, and most of the other countries of Europe.

An oligarchy is that form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the hands of a few (_oligos_, few); example, the triumvirates of Rome.

An aristocracy is really a government by the best (_aristos_, the select, the best). This is the sense in which the word was first used. It has come to mean government by a privileged cla.s.s. Aristocracy seldom, if ever, exists alone.

A democracy is that form of government in which the functions are administered directly by the people, only the clerical or ministerial work being done by officers, and they appointed by the people; examples, the old German tribes, some of the states of ancient Greece, some of the present cantons of Switzerland, the early settlements of New England, and in a limited sense our own school districts and towns.

A republic is a representative democracy. A democracy is practicable only within a very limited area. When the area grows large the people must delegate much of work of government to representatives. Examples, the United States, each state in the Union, Switzerland, and most of the countries of America.

The Origin of Each Typical Form.--Monarchy and oligarchy both probably owe their existence to war. The successful chieftain or leader in war became the king, and his retainers or followers became the privileged cla.s.ses.

Those who were subdued either became slaves or were simply "the common people." Democracy had its beginnings, and flourishes best, in times of peace. The people, though they had to fight again and again to secure recognition, have really won their right to it by the arts of peace.

The Criteria of Good Government.--Among the tests by which the goodness or badness of a government, or form of government, may be determined, are the following:

1. A good government is _stable_. Stability is the foundation of worthiness of character in governments as well as in persons. The basis of progress is permanence--one cannot grow wise, or rich, or strong, unless he can preserve at least a part of what he gains. "Conduciveness to progress includes the whole excellence of government." [Footnote: Mills Representative Government.]

2. A good government _tends to increase the sum of good qualities in the governed_. Strength comes from exercise. Therefore a government is excellent in proportion as it works up to the possibilities of a people for self-government and fits them to go on advancing in intellectual and moral power.

3. A good government _has proper machinery_. This should be "adapted to take advantage of the amount of good qualities which may at any time exist, and make them instrumental to right purposes." [Footnote: Mills Representative Government.]

"Representative Government the Ideally Best Polity."--Every student who has access to Mills' Representative Government should read the chapter with the heading at the beginning of this paragraph. He combats the proposition, "if a good despot could be insured, despotic monarchy would be the best form of government." Granting that much good might be done, he shows that the very pa.s.sivity of the people must result in deterioration, "that is, if the nation had ever attained anything to decline from." On the other hand, he shows that partic.i.p.ation in public affairs gives a mental and moral training otherwise unattainable. After showing the nature of the mental development acquired, he says: "Still more salutary is the moral part of the instruction afforded by the partic.i.p.ation of the private citizen, if even rarely, in public functions. He is called upon, while so engaged, to weigh interests not his own; to be guided, in case of conflicting claims by another rule than his private partialities; to apply, at every turn, principles and maxims which have for their reason of existence the general good; and he usually finds a.s.sociated with him in the same work minds more familiarized than his own with these ideas and operations, whose study it will be to supply reasons to his understanding, and stimulation to his feeling for the general good. He is made to feel himself one of the public, and whatever is their interest to be his interest. Where this school of public spirit does not exist ... a neighbor, not being an ally or an a.s.sociate, since he is never engaged in any common undertaking for the joint benefit, is therefore only a rival."

Dangers in Each Form of Government.--While each of the typical forms has merits of its own,--the monarchy having stability, the aristocracy securing the benefit of inherited good qualities, and democracy the advantages referred to in the preceding paragraph--there is danger in each form. Monarchy continually tends toward that inconsiderate exercise of power which we call tyranny. Aristocracy tends toward oligarchy; government by the _best_ is p.r.o.ne to decline into government by the _few_ without regard to qualification. And democracy is in danger of degenerating into mob rule.