Citizenship Part 3

A great number of our offices of government are appointed and not elected. Over 300,000 positions are filled under the national government appointment. On January 16th, 1883, Congress pa.s.sed the Civil Service law which established a United States Civil Service Commission composed of three members, of which not more than two should belong to the same political party. The commission is appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate.

The ordinary "Civil Service" examinations are held twice a year at different places in the country designated by the commission.

This commission appoints boards of examiners who hold examinations at least twice a year at Washington, D. C., and in the states and territories.

The commission encourages efficiency by promotion from lower to higher grades of public service. Some of the places that come under the civil service system are clerks in Washington connected with the national government, officials in the postal service, the letter carriers and clerks in post offices and railway mail service, employees in custom houses, government printing office, Indian service and revenue service.

Senators and representatives are not allowed to recommend any applicant to the board of examiners appointed by the commission.

The examinations are practical and the questions pertain to the nature of the work the applicant is to do.

Persons employed in such public service are under obligations not to contribute to any political fund, or to render service to any political party.

CHAPTER III.

STATE GOVERNMENT.

The state const.i.tution adopted by the voters is the fundamental law of the state.

A state Const.i.tution cannot interfere with the Federal Const.i.tution, neither can the Federal Const.i.tution interfere with the regulation of the state. As has been said the Kentucky Const.i.tution was adopted on April 3, 1792, at a convention which met in Danville.

A state Const.i.tution is a law made by the people and cannot be changed by the legislature, but may be amended or revised by the voters.

Amendments are usually submitted to the legislature and then to the voters.

The revision of the Const.i.tution is by means of a convention of delegates elected by the people.

The three departments of state governments are: The legislative, the lawmaking power; the judicial, the law interpreting power; and the executive, the law enforcing power.

All state governments are divided into these three cla.s.ses, the legislative, judicial and executive.

The legislature pa.s.ses laws which govern people in their relation to each other.

The Kentucky legislature convenes at the capital at Frankfort every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January and remains in session for sixty working days, not including Sundays and national holidays.

It is composed of two houses, the House of Representatives, known as the lower house with one hundred members, and the Senate, known as the upper house with thirty-eight members.

The Kentucky General a.s.sembly is composed of one hundred and thirty-eight members elected by the voters of the State in the counties and districts in which they reside.

The State is divided into senatorial and representative districts, with a representation based upon population.

The term of office for Senators is four years. A Senator must be thirty years old, a citizen of the United States for nine years and must live in the State and district from which he is elected.

A State Senator in Kentucky receives $10.00 per day for his services during the sitting of the legislature, mileage to and from home at the rate of ten cents per mile, and stationery.

The Lieutenant Governor is the presiding officer of the Senate.

The Senate sits as a court and tries all impeachments.

The president pro tem. of the Senate is elected by the members of the body, also the clerks, doorkeeper and pages.

The president pro tem. presides in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor, and in case of vacancy to this office would become Lieutenant Governor.

The president of the Senate appoints the standing committees, unless the opposite party is in power, then the president pro tem. virtually controls said appointments.

To be a member of the House of Representatives a person must be twenty-four years old.

His term of office is only two years but he receives the same salary as a Senator, $10.00 per day, mileage and stationery.

The body elects its speaker and other officers, and has the sole power of impeachment.

The princ.i.p.al work in both houses are done through the committees appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House.

A bill is prepared and introduced by a member of the Senate or House.

If it pertains to revenue and taxation, it must originate in the House of Representatives.

When a bill is introduced the clerk of the body reads it by t.i.tle only. The President of the Senate or Speaker of the House then refers it to the proper committee (of the body in which the bill originated).

It is numbered and ordered printed when referred to the committee. The committee considers the bill and usually reports it back with expression of opinion that it should or should not pa.s.s to the body in which it originated. (The committee may pigeonhole it and not report it, or may report it too late for action by the body.)

The bill and the report from the committee is printed and placed on the calendar and takes its turn to be brought up for pa.s.sage. (By consent a bill is acted upon out of its turn.)

The bill is taken in its regular order from the calendar and read the second time in full by the clerk. It is open to debate or amendment unless the previous question is ordered, which if adopted cuts off debate and amendment. Then the bill is read the third time by t.i.tle only. (Any member may demand the reading in full of the engrossed bill if he desires.) It is then placed on its pa.s.sage by the presiding officer of the body, and if pa.s.sed it is then transmitted to the Senate by the House clerk, if a House bill. If a Senate bill, it is taken by the Senate clerk to the House for consideration.

A bill goes through the same form in either body, after which it is returned to the body in which it originated with or without amendments. If the bill is pa.s.sed it goes into possession of the clerk of the body in which it originated. Then the enrolling clerk of the body in which the bill originated enrolls it verbatim from the original. After it is enrolled it is compared by the committee on enrollment in each House. If found correctly enrolled the chairman of each committee reports it to the body, and it is compared again by the clerks of each body and signed by the clerk of the body in which it originated, also signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. (The presiding officer of the House in which it originated signs first.) Then the clerk of that body takes it to the Governor for his approval. If the Governor approves it he does so with his signature. It becomes a law at once if it has an emergency clause; otherwise, in ninety days after its signature by the Governor. It is then filed with the Secretary of State. Then later on the bills pa.s.sed during the session are compiled by the Attorney General and known as the Acts of the General a.s.sembly of that session. If the Governor vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in session, it may be taken up in the house in which it originated, and pa.s.sed over his veto, but must receive a two-thirds vote in each house.

The Governor is allowed ten days after the General a.s.sembly adjourns for approving bills, and if not signed within that time they become the law without his signature.

The pa.s.sage of a bill in all the states is about the same.

CHAPTER IV.

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT.

The state courts derive their powers and jurisdiction from the Const.i.tution and laws of the state. The courts in different states go by different names, yet the jurisdiction is about the same.

The Court of Appeals is the highest court in Kentucky. It holds annual sessions from about September fifteenth to about June twenty-second at the State Capitol, Frankfort, Kentucky.

Seven judges and one commissioner const.i.tute the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, and each receives a salary of five thousand dollars per year, a clerk or secretary and an office furnished in the new capitol building.

A person to be a member of the Court of Appeals must be thirty-five years old and a citizen of the State for five years. He must have resided two years in the judicial district from which he is elected.