Government and Administration of the United States Part 7

The Lieutenant-Governor of the State is _ex officio_ President of the Senate. In all States, except six, sessions of the legislature are held only once every other year, and even then the length of the session is limited to a fixed number of days. As in Congress, business is conducted by means of committees, but are in both Houses elected by ballot. The State legislatures have full charge and control of all local governments within their individual States. The Senate has the power of trying impeachments of State officials. It also ratifies appointments of the Governor. In all States, except four, acts of the legislature require the signature of the Governor before they become laws. To pa.s.s a bill over a veto requires in twenty-three States a two-thirds vote in both Houses; in two, a three-fifths vote, and in nine, a majority vote of the total number of members. A State legislature can enact no law which will be effective beyond its own boundaries.

_#State Executive.#_--The chief executive of the State is the Governor.

Other chief officials are the Lieutenant-Governor, Treasurer, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. The term of office of the Governor varies in different States from one to four years. He has but small powers of appointment, most of the State officials being elected by the people. In all but four States he has a veto on legislation. He has the power of pardoning. The Lieutenant-Governor is President of the Senate.

_#State Judiciary.#_--The State judiciary includes three sets of courts:

1. A Supreme Court of Appeals, the highest court, from which cases involving Federal questions may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

2. Superior courts of record.

3. Various local courts, such as county courts, corporation courts, etc.

Each State recognizes the judgments of other States, and gives credit to their public acts and records, and delivers up to justice, on demand of the executive, any criminal fleeing from other States into her borders.

In most of the States the judges are elected by the people, though in eight they are appointed by the Governor, and in five by the legislature. The Attorney-General conducts cases in which the State is a party, and manages other legal business in which the State is interested.

CHAPTER XV.

Local Government.

In the chapter on Government we learned that the people of the United States owe allegiance to two systems of government; the one a central national government, the other the state governments. We have now to mention a third system of governments, namely, local governments; for citizens of the United States live, in reality, under three distinct governments: first and highest, the National United States Government; second, State governments, and third, local governments. It is concerning local governments in the United States that we shall learn in this chapter.

Just as the whole United States is divided into forty-eight sections, each section being a State or Territory, so each State is in turn, for convenience in the administration of its government, divided into small local areas, each division managing those affairs which appertain to its own area. Many of these divisions were not formed by dividing up the States. The divisions came first, or sprang up naturally within the States as soon as the colonies were settled. Social governments were the first governments formed in the settlement of our Western territory. Dr.

Edward Bemis has described the beginnings of government in a new State in the following interesting manner:

"The genesis of local government in Western hamlets is very simple.

First comes the settler who, ax in hand, clears the ground for his humble dwelling, and plants whatever seed he has brought with him. Then comes another settler and another until perhaps a dozen families are established near. Two wants are now felt: roads, or at least paths from house to house, from hamlet to market town, and a school-house for the multiplying children. There is no strong central authority to provide these things, but the settlers meet and vote to tax themselves. The services of a supervisor, collector, clerk, constable and justice of the peace are required."[1] This is the beginning of the township and county. As population increases, other wants arise which only a stronger government can supply. A territorial, and then a State government are consequently formed.

[Footnote 1: Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest. _J.H.U.

Studies in History and Political Science._ Vol. I, No. 5, p. 11.]

The princ.i.p.al duties of local governments are those of education, police, sanitation, charity, the construction and maintenance of public roads, the administration of justice, the a.s.sessment and collection of taxes, etc.

There are three types of local government in the United States: First, the New England type, in which the unit of government is the town or township; second, the Southern type, in which the unit is the county; and third, the Western system, in which the New England and Southern systems are combined.

_#1st. Local Government New England.#_--Here the unit of government is the township, or town, as it is usually called. There are few towns exceeding five square miles in area, and the population is generally less than 3,000. The New England township is therefore not a thickly settled area. When a town becomes closely settled it is incorporated as a city.

In the New England towns the people govern themselves directly. In the State and Federal governments the people are governed not by themselves, but through representatives chosen by themselves. The town or township form of government is that of a pure democracy; the States and Federal governments are representative governments or republics.

The supreme governing power of a town is in the town meeting, composed of all qualified voters of the town. The town meeting is held in the Spring of each year. After the choice of a Moderator, officers are elected for the ensuing year, reports of officers for the past year read, and the amount of taxes to be raised and expenditures to be made during the year, determined upon. The officers are the Selectmen, three, five, seven or nine in number, who const.i.tute the executive officers of the town, and administer the ordinances pa.s.sed by the town meeting; a town clerk, who keeps a record of the proceedings of the town meeting, and a record of births, deaths, marriages, etc.; a treasurer, a.s.sessors and collectors of taxes, constables, and various other petty officers.

Several offices are frequently given to the same individual.

The county also exists in New England, and is formed by the union of several towns, but it is of very little importance, and has but few duties. The township system is found in the Middle States, but in a modified form. It is less democratic as a rule--officers being elected by ballot, the town meeting generally absent, and county government more important.

_#2d. Local Government in the South.#_--Here the town (township) does not exist, except in a few instances. The unit of government for performing local duties is the county, which is much larger than the New England townships. The county government is managed by a Board of County Commissioners. These are elected not in open meeting as are the town officers, but by ballot. County government is therefore a representative or republican government. The county, wherever found, is primarily a judicial district. The chief officer for executing the decrees of the county judiciary is the sheriff. Other county officers are the treasurer, a.s.sessor, etc.

_#Local Government in the West.#_--Here, as before stated, we find the New England and the Southern systems combined, but combined in different States in such various degrees as to make impracticable any attempt to describe them more particularly.[1] In consequence of the grants of land by the Federal Government to Western States for education, local areas for the administration of these funds have been formed. These are called school districts. Local government has tended to center around these districts, and they have in many cases become important administrative districts. Their boundaries coincide with the boundaries of the townships and counties, though a number of school districts may be in one county or township.

[Footnote 1: More detailed accounts of the various systems of Local Government in the United States may be found in the early numbers of the _Johns Hopkins University Studies_, and also in Professor George E.

Howard's _Local Const.i.tutional History_, an extra volume in the same series.]

CHAPTER XVI.

City Government.

The proportion of people in the United States who reside in cities is increasing. In 1790 there were only thirteen cities of 5,000 inhabitants and none with 40,000. Now there are over 500 that have a population exceeding 5,000 and 28 with a population of 100,000. In 1790 33 per cent. of the total population lived in cities of over 8,000 inhabitants, while to-day over 25 per cent live in cities of this size or over.

When any small area becomes thickly and permanently settled, and a certain population is reached (which varies in different States), the state legislature is appealed to, and a charter of incorporation as a city is granted. This enables the incorporated district to act independently of the county or township, to levy munic.i.p.al taxes and carry out public improvements. Rapid as has been the growth of cities, the duties required of city governments have increased still faster.

The government of our large cities has become a question of vital importance. It would be difficult to give a complete list of the duties devolving upon them. The princ.i.p.al duties are (1) the collection of munic.i.p.al and state taxes, (2) the establishment and care of public schools, (3) the administration of justice, (4) police supervision, (5) the support of a fire department, (6) the care of the streets, (7) of street gas and electric lighting, (8) of sewerage, (9) of the water supply, (10) of public parks, (11) of sanitation and public health, (12) of prisons, (13) the supervision of the liquor traffic, (14) the regulation of street railways, (15) the enforcement of building regulations, (16) the supervision of charities, hospitals, asylums, etc.

The form of government of all our large cities is much the same. It is substantially a reproduction, in form, of the state governments. First, there is a mayor, who is the chief executive, and is elected directly by the people of the city. His term of office is sometimes only one year, though more often two, three, or four years. In almost all cases he has a veto on acts of the city legislature, which veto may, however, be overridden by a two-thirds vote.

Other subordinate officials are, the treasurer, collector of taxes, chief of police, health officer, etc. They are in part elected by the people, in part appointed by the mayor, or appointed by the city legislature. Practice varies in different cities.

City legislatures are of one or two houses. The larger cities usually have two houses, and the smaller cities one house.

The legislature is usually called the City Council, the upper branch the Board of Aldermen, and the lower and more numerous branch, the Common Council. The members of the city council are elected by the people. The acts of the council are called ordinances. They are not sufficiently general to merit the designation of laws.

City judges are usually elected by the people. The administration of the various duties of munic.i.p.al government are generally given to special boards of officers, as the police department, fire department, etc. For election purposes, cities are divided into wards, and the wards into voting precincts.

Our methods of munic.i.p.al government have proved the least successful of any of our inst.i.tutions. Corruption and grave abuses exist in almost every one of the larger cities. Problems connected with city government are among the most important questions of our time.

CHAPTER XVII.

Government Revenue and Expenditure.

Government is an enormous business enterprise, maintained and operated by its citizens, that certain duties of a general interest and benefit may be performed. The magnitude of the work performed necessarily requires the expenditure of vast sums of money. The chief source from which these sums are derived is taxation. Taxes have been defined to be "the legally determined and legally collected contributions of individuals for meeting the necessary and general expenses of the State."[1] In the large majority of cases this is a good definition, but in a few instances it is too narrow. There are some taxes that are levied not primarily for the purpose of raising an income to meet the expenses of the government, but to subserve some other purpose. For instance, the maintenance of our high duties on articles imported into the United States from foreign countries has for its main purpose the protection of our industries from European compet.i.tion. The large revenues that are derived therefrom are incidental. High liquor licenses, also, are maintained for the express purpose of lessening the consumption of intoxicating beverages.

[Footnote 1: Carl Knies.]

The aim of every good government is to distribute its burdens of taxation, as well as its benefits, fairly and equitably among its citizens. It is the duty of every citizen to a.s.sist in the realization of this aim, by an intelligent, honest and disinterested vote. Equality of taxation means equality of sacrifice. Each person should contribute towards the support of the government in proportion to his means and the benefits enjoyed. It is the duty of every citizen, first to see that just and expedient tax laws are pa.s.sed, then to pay his proper proportion, and lastly, to see that his neighbors likewise contribute their share. To obtain an equitable system of government revenue and expenditure has been the great motive force which, in the past, has urged the people forward in their efforts to secure popular forms of government.

The power to tax is legislative, and, according to our theory, can be exercised only by representatives directly elected by the people. The refusal of England in the last century to extend this principle of "no taxation without representation" to her colonies in America, lost her these possessions. A government to be stable and efficient must possess adequate powers for the collection of its revenue. The miserable condition to which the old Confederation was reduced by reason of the inadequacy of its powers in this respect, has already been discussed.

Says Fiske: "Between the old Continental Congress and the government under which we have lived since 1789, the differences were many; but by far the most essential difference was that the new government could raise money by taxation, and was thus enabled properly to carry on the work of governing."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Civil Government_, p. 77.]

The sources of government revenue other than taxes, are various, and differ in different countries. In our consideration of the revenues and expenditures of our national, state, and local governments we shall have occasion to notice the various means by which their treasuries are filled.

_#The Federal Government#_ raises its revenues independently of the other governing bodies, from different sources, and by a different set of officials. Besides taxation, the princ.i.p.al source of revenue is from the sale of public lands. Federal taxes are of two kinds: