Civil Government of Virginia Part 2

8 Tell what you understand by freedom of elections, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and religious freedom

9. Tell the difference between civil rights and political rights.

10. What are public privileges?

11. What is involuntary servitude?

12. Define PRIVATE PROPERTY.

13. Who is ent.i.tled to vote, and who is eligible to office?

14. What is a citizen?

15. How may one become a citizen?

16. Define the terms BRIBERY, EMBEZZLEMENT, TREASON, FELONY, PEt.i.t LARCENY, and DUEL.

17. What are jurors?

18. When are the elections for State officers held?

19. How are elections conducted?

20. Define BALLOT, POLLS, and BOOTH.

21. What are State officers?

22. What is a corporation?

23. What is the meaning of QUALIFIED?

24. How many senators and representatives in Congress is the State ent.i.tled to?

25. How many votes is the State ent.i.tled to in the Electoral College?

26. What is the Electoral College?

27. How do the electors choose the President and Vice-President of the United States?

II.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

The legislative power of the commonwealth is vested in a General a.s.sembly consisting of a Senate and House of Delegates.

LEGISLATIVE POWER is the power to legislate or make LAWS, hence the General a.s.sembly is the LEGISLATURE of Virginia. COMMONWEALTH, which means COMMON WELL-BEING, or common good, is a name sometimes given to a State or country which has a republican form of government--that is, a government in which the people are the supreme power, and in which all the people have common (that is, equal) interests and common rights. CONSISTING means formed or made up of.

A DELEGATE is a person appointed or elected by others to do business for them as their representative. The members of the House of Delegates are elected by the people of the State to represent and act for them in the business of making laws.

The Senate.

Number. There are forty Senators, from thirty-nine senatorial districts. The Lieutenant-Governor is the presiding officer.

Elected. By the people; one-half being chosen every two years until the general election in 1907. At that time, and every four years thereafter, the entire senate will be chosen at one time for a term of four years.

Qualifications. A Senator must be an actual resident of the district for which he is elected; must be legally qualified to vote for members of the General a.s.sembly; must hold no salaried office under the State government.

Powers. Shall select its own officers; choose from its own body, in the absence of the Lieutenant-Governor, or when he exercises the office of Governor, a president PRO TEMPORE; confirms or rejects nominations; has sole power to try impeachment.

SENATORIAL DISTRICTS are the districts into which a State is divided for the election of senators. There are thirty-nine districts in Virginia, and each of them elects one senator, except the district formed of Richmond and the County of Henrico, which elects two. PRESIDING OFFICER is a person who PRESIDES or acts as president or chairman in any a.s.sembly or meeting.

A candidate for the Senate must be LEGALLY QUALIFIED TO VOTE for members of the General a.s.sembly. This means that he must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Virginia for two years, and have the other legal qualifications of voters as required by the Const.i.tution.

PRO TEMPORE is a Latin phrase meaning FOR THE TIME--that is, for a short time or temporarily. The Senate elects one of its own members to preside PRO TEMPORE if the lieutenant-governor happen to be absent, or when he is called upon to act as governor. (See under Powers and Duties of governor, page 28.) The Senate has the power to CONFIRM OR REJECT NOMINATIONS. Many public officers of the State are appointed by the governor, but when he nominates or NAMES a person for a public office he sends the nomination to the Senate, and it may confirm--that is, approve of--the nomination, or it may reject it. If it should reject the nomination, the person nominated is not appointed.

IMPEACHMENT means a charge of dishonesty or serious neglect of duty made against a public official. In an impeachment it is the House of Delegates which must make the charge and act as prosecutor, but it is the Senate which must try the case and pa.s.s sentence on the accused, if proved guilty.

House of Delegates.

Number. Composed of one hundred members apportioned by statute among the counties and cities of the State.

Elected. By the people for two years.

Qualifications. Same as for Senators.

Powers. Elects its own Speaker and all other officers; impeaches State officers, and prosecutes them before the Senate. The Clerk of the House of Delegates is also Keeper of the Rolls.

Apportioned means divided or distributed or allotted. A statute is any law, but the word is most commonly understood to mean a law made by a legislature representing the people. The number of delegates appointed to the counties and cities--that is, the number which each is ent.i.tled to elect--is decided by statute in proportion to the number of inhabitants.

The chairman of the House of Delegates is called the speaker. The same t.i.tle is given to the presiding officer of the lower house in nearly every legislature in English-speaking countries.

The rolls are the statutes in written form as pa.s.sed by the a.s.sembly. A law when proposed in the a.s.sembly is called a bill. To become a statute a bill must be voted on and have a majority three times in the House of Delegates and three times in the Senate and be signed by the governor. Then it is an act, or a Statute, or a law. The copy signed by the governor is an engrossed or written copy, and the official copies of the laws so engrossed are the rolls, and are preserved by the keeper of the rolls, who is the clerk of the House of Delegates.

General a.s.sembly. (Senate and House jointly.)

Sessions. Biennial. Beginning the second Wednesday in January of every even year, and continuing sixty days. The session may be extended not exceeding thirty days. It may be convened in special session by the Governor.

The Senate and House of Delegates jointly--that is, both together --are called the General a.s.sembly. Sessions means sittings or meetings for business, and biennial means happening once every two years. The General a.s.sembly meets once every two years, and it does business for sixty days. If the business necessary to be done require more time, the session may be extended--that is, lengthened--thirty days. A special session is a session convened-- that is, called to meet--for some special or particular business.

The governor may convene such a session whenever he thinks it necessary.

Powers. General powers of legislation under the const.i.tution.

Elects U. S. Senators, County and City Electoral Boards, Auditor of Public Accounts, Second Auditor, Register of the Land Office, Superintendent of Public Printing, the Judges of the Commonwealth; decides contests in the election of Governor and Lieutenant- Governor; confirms or rejects nominations of certain officers made by the Governor, the State Board of Education, etc.

Powers means what the General a.s.sembly has power to do.