Civil Government in the United States Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins Part 22

g. The governments, state or national, to which these twelve subjects would have fallen in the United States.

10. Speak of the independence of the state courts.

11. In what cases only may matters be transferred from them to a federal court?

12. The const.i.tution of the state courts:--

a. Justices of the peace; the mayor's court.

b. County and munic.i.p.al courts.

c. The superior courts.

d. The supreme court.

e. Still higher courts in certain states.

13. The selection of judges and their terms of service:--

a. In the thirteen colonies.

b. In most of the states since the Revolution.

c. The reasons for a life tenure.

d. The tendency since 1869.

14. Mention a conspicuous advantage of our system of government over the French.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS.

1. Was there ever a charter government in your state? If so, where is the charter at the present time? What is its present value? Try to see it, if possible. Pupils of Boston and vicinity, for example, may examine in the office of the secretary of state, at the state house, the charter of King Charles (1629) and that of William and Mary (1692).

2. When was your state organized under its present government? If it is not one of the original thirteen, what was its history previous to organization; that is, who owned it and controlled it, and how came it to become a state?

3. What are the qualifications for voting in your state?

4. What are the arguments in favour of an educational qualification for voters (as, for example, the ability to read the Const.i.tution of the United States)? What reasons might be urged against such qualifications?

5. Who is the governor of your state? What political party supported him for the position? For what ability or eminent service was he selected?

6. Give ill.u.s.trations of the governor's exercise of the four functions of advising, vetoing, pardoning, and commanding (consult the newspapers while the legislature is in session).

7. Mention some things done by the governor that are not included in the enumeration of his functions in the text.

8. Visit, if practicable, the State House. Observe the various offices, and consider the general nature of the business done there. Attend a session of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Obtain some "orders of the day."

9. If the legislature is in session, follow its proceedings in the newspapers. What important measures are under discussion? On what sort of questions are party lines pretty sharply drawn? On what sort of questions are party distinctions ignored?

10. Consult the book of general or public statutes, and report on the following points:--

a. The magnitude of the volume.

b. Does it contain all the laws? If not, what are omitted?

c. Give some of the topics dealt with.

d. Where are the laws to be found that have been made since the printing of the volume?

e. Are the originals of the laws in the volume? If not, where are they and in what shape?

11. Is everybody expected to know all the laws?

12. Does ignorance of the law excuse one for violating it?

13. Suppose people desire the legislature to pa.s.s some law, as, for example, a law requiring towns and cities to provide flags for school-houses, how is the attention of the legislature secured? What are the various stages through which the bill must pa.s.s before it can become a law? Why should there be so many stages?

14. Give ill.u.s.trations of the exercise of federal government, state government, and local government, in your own town or city. Of which government do you observe the most signs? Of which do you observe the fewest signs? Of which government do the officers seem most sensitive to local opinion?

15. Are the sessions of the legislature in your state annual or biennial? What is the argument for each system?

For answers to numbers 16, 17, 18, and 19, consult the public statutes, a lawyer, or some intelligent business man. A fair idea of the successive steps in the courts may be obtained from a good unabridged dictionary by looking up the technical terms employed in these questions.

16. What is the difference between a civil action and a criminal?

a. In respect to the object to be gained in each?

b. In respect to the party that is the plaintiff?

c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case goes against him?

17. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action that is tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider (1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) the recognizance, (5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, (9) the arguments,(10) the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and its enforcement.

What is an appeal?--This procedure seems c.u.mbrous, but it is founded in common sense. What one of the foregoing steps, for example, would you omit? Why?

18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is tried with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun in a lower court where the first five stages are the same as in number 17. Then follow (6) the examination of witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to appear before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or county attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of the grand jury upon the indictment, (11) the challenging of jurors before the trial, (12) the arraignment, (13) the plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) the charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sentence, with its penalty and the enforcement of it. What are "exceptions?"--Why should there be a jury in the higher court when there is none in the lower? What is the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing steps? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish crime? Why should an accused person receive so much consideration?

19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. Consider (1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the summons to the defendant, (4) the return, (5) the pleading, (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) the judgment or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution.--If the action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides the question at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in points of law.

20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and acquitted, has he any redress?

21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your community?

22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and property in your community?

23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a law and the enforcement of that law? If so, what is it?

24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 177 may be taken as a special topic. Consult any modern history of England.

25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for the citizen,--an acquaintance with the principles and details of government and law, or a law-abiding and law-supporting spirit? What reasons have you for your opinion? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with, those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce it? (Suppose a case in which you do not approve the law, and then answer.)

26. May you ever become an officer of the law? Would you as a citizen be justified in withholding from an officer that obedience and moral support which you as an officer might justly demand from every citizen?

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

The State.--For the founding of the several colonies, their charters, etc., the student may profitably consult the learned monographs in Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, 8 vols., Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite full in details, is given in Lodge's _Short History of the English Colonies in America_, N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account of the revision and transformation of the colonial governments in Bancroft's _History of the United States_, final edition, N.Y., 1886, vol. v. pp. 111-125.

The series of "American Commonwealths," edited by H.E. Scudder, and published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be found helpful. The following have been published: Johnston, _Connecticut: a Study of a Commonwealth-Democracy_, 1887; Roberts, _New York: the Planting and Growth of the Empire State_, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, _Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, 2d ed., 1884; Cooke, _Virginia: a History of the People_, 1883; Shaler, _Kentucky: a Pioneer Commonwealth_, 1884; King, _Ohio: First Fruits of the Ordinance of 1787_,1888; Dunn, _Indiana: a Redemption from Slavery_, 1888; Cooley, _Michigan: a History of Governments_, 1885; Carr, _Missouri: a Bone of Contention_, 1888; Spring, _Kansas: the Prelude to the War for the Union_, 1885; Royce, _California: a Study of American Character_, 1886; Barrows, _Oregon: the Struggle for Possession_, 1883.

In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is advised to consult Dole's _Talks about Law: a Popular Statement of What our Law is and How it is Administered_, Boston, 1887. This book deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive way it gives an account of such facts and principles of law as ought to be familiarly understood by every man and woman.