Government in the United States, National, State and Local Part 21

_Marine Corps._--Officers in the Marine Corps have the same ranks as in the army. While serving generally under the direction of the secretary of the navy, the corps may serve with the army by order of the President.

=Bankruptcy Legislation.=--The Const.i.tution confers upon Congress the power to pa.s.s uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. Bankruptcy is the condition of a person whose liabilities exceed his a.s.sets, and a bankruptcy law is one which provides for the distribution of the a.s.sets of such a person among his creditors and for his discharge from further legal obligation to pay his debts, thus enabling him to make a new beginning in business. The discharge is only from the _legal_ obligation; the _moral_ obligation remains, and should be fulfilled in case of ability to do so in the future.

_State Insolvency Laws._--Before the adoption of the Const.i.tution the states pa.s.sed insolvency laws discharging debtors from their legal obligations, and it has been held by the Supreme Court that they may still pa.s.s such laws, subject to the condition that they can affect only citizens of the state in which the law is pa.s.sed, and apply only to such contracts as may be entered into subsequent to the enactment of the law.

If there is a federal bankruptcy law in force it supersedes all conflicting provisions in the state laws on the subject.

_Federal Acts._--Since the Const.i.tution went into effect Congress has enacted four different bankruptcy laws, namely, in 1802, 1840, 1867, and 1898, the first three of which were in operation only fifteen years altogether. The present law--that of 1898--provides for both "voluntary" and "involuntary" bankruptcy. Any debtor, except a corporation, may voluntarily have himself adjudged a bankrupt by filing a pet.i.tion in a United States district court, showing that his liabilities are in excess of his a.s.sets. Any debtor except a corporation, a wage earner, or a farmer, may, against his will, upon pet.i.tion of his creditors, be declared a bankrupt under certain conditions.

Bankruptcy pet.i.tions are referred to "referees" for examination and report. After hearing the testimony on the pet.i.tion the referee reports his findings to the court, which makes its decision largely on the basis of such findings.

=Implied Powers.=--After expressly enumerating in succession the various powers of Congress, the more important of which have been described above, the Const.i.tution concludes with a sort of general grant, empowering Congress to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution those enumerated above. This is sometimes called "the elastic clause," since it is capable of being stretched by interpretation to cover many matters that Congress might not otherwise feel authorized to deal with. It is doubtful, however, whether it really adds anything to the power of Congress, since that body would unquestionably have authority to do whatever is necessary and proper to carry into effect the powers expressly conferred upon it. It is a maxim of const.i.tutional construction that wherever power to do a particular thing is conferred, the means for doing it are implied. Manifestly it would have been impossible to set forth in detail all the incidental powers necessary to be exercised in carrying into effect the mandates of the Const.i.tution relating to taxes, coinage, post offices, making war, etc.

_Liberal vs. Strict Construction._--The question of the interpretation of the scope and meaning of this grant of powers arose very early in the history of the national government, in connection with the proposition of Hamilton to establish a United States bank. Hamilton contended that the authority to establish such an inst.i.tution was clearly implied in the power to borrow money and pay the debts of the United States. A federal bank, he urged, was a proper if not a necessary means for carrying into effect these important powers of Congress, just as the establishment of a mint was necessary to carry out the power relating to the coinage of money. Jefferson and his school of political thinkers, however, held to a strict interpretation of the Const.i.tution and maintained that Congress had no right to exercise any power which was not expressly conferred. The view of the "loose" or "liberal"

constructionists, however, prevailed, and from the beginning Congress has relied upon the doctrine of implied powers for its authority to legislate on many important questions.

_Examples of Implied Powers._--It was upon this authority that foreign territory has been purchased and governed; that a protective tariff has been levied; that a national bank was established; that legal tender paper money has been issued; that the construction of the Panama Ca.n.a.l has been undertaken; that ship subsidies have been granted; that postal savings banks have been established; that education has been fostered; and many other activities undertaken. The policy of liberal interpretation was first adopted by Chief Justice Marshall of the Supreme Court and his a.s.sociates, and with rare exceptions has been followed by the court throughout its entire history. The effect has been to strengthen the national government and render it capable of fulfilling the great purposes for which it was created. The whole course of our political and const.i.tutional history is different from what it would have been had the view of the strict constructionists prevailed.

=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Const.i.tution, pp. 120-148.

BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xix. COOLEY, Principles of Const.i.tutional Law, pp. 94-111. FAIRLIE, National Administration, chs. ix, x, xii. HART, Actual Government, ch. xxiv.

=Doc.u.mentary and Ill.u.s.trative Material.=--Copies of the annual reports of the Postmaster-General, the Librarian of Congress, the Commissioner of Patents, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, all of which may be obtained gratis from the officials mentioned.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Why should the postal service be conducted by the government? Should the transportation of the mail be a government monopoly?

2. Should the rates of postage on second-cla.s.s matter, in your opinion, be increased? Why?

3. What are the advantages of a postal savings bank system?

4. Ought the government to establish a parcels post system? To what extent do we already have a parcels post service?

5. Do you think our postal facilities with South America and the Orient should be improved by means of ship subsidies?

6. What would be the advantage of making the tenure of postmasters permanent?

7. Why should the granting of copyrights and patents be placed under the jurisdiction of the national government rather than under that of the state governments?

8. Why should the term of a copyright or patent be limited?

9. Socialists argue that since the granting of a patent to an inventor secures to him a monopoly of the manufacture and sale of his invention, the government ought not to grant patents for such purposes. What is your opinion of this argument? Would it be better for the government to compensate the inventor and remove the restrictions upon the manufacture and sale of his invention?

10. Why are the appropriations for the maintenance of the army limited to two years?

11. Should the expenditures on account of the army and navy, in your opinion, be reduced?

12. What do you understand by the movement among the nations for disarmament? Do you think disarmament desirable or practicable?

13. Tell something of the objects and results of The Hague Peace Conferences. Give examples of some disputes between the United States and other countries that have been settled by arbitration.

14. What is the purpose of a bankruptcy law, and why should the power to enact bankruptcy legislation be conferred upon Congress rather than left to the states?

15. What is the distinction between "implied" and "inherent" powers under the Const.i.tution? Give some examples of each.

16. Which in your judgment is the safer policy, that of strict construction of the Const.i.tution or liberal construction?

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATE, WAR, AND NAVY BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MIDSHIPMEN OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, ON THEIR WAY TO A DRILL SHIP]

CHAPTER XV

THE PRESIDENCY: ORGANIZATION AND MODE OF ELECTION

=The Presidential Office.=--One of the weaknesses in the organization of the government under the Articles of Confederation was, as we have seen, the lack of an executive to carry into effect the resolutions of Congress and the treaties of the United States. There was no doubt, therefore, in the minds of the framers of the Const.i.tution in regard to the desirability of providing for an executive department coordinate with the legislative department. It was accordingly declared that the executive power should be vested in an officer called the President of the United States.

_Proposed Executive Council._--While the convention was practically unanimous in the view that the supreme executive power should be vested in a single person, a good many members looked with favor on a proposition to a.s.sociate with the President an executive council which should share with him the exercise of the executive power in certain important fields. Most of the state const.i.tutions then in force had provided such councils, and now that a national executive with far larger powers was being created there was all the more reason why it should be placed to some extent under the guardianship of a council. But the proposition was rejected, and in its place the Senate was charged with acting as an executive council to the President in negotiating treaties and the making of appointments, but in no other respects.

=Qualifications of the President.=--The Const.i.tution requires that the President shall be a natural born citizen of the United States,[58] that he must have attained the age of thirty-five years, and must have been fourteen years a resident of the United States. The same qualifications are required of the Vice President.

[58] Or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Const.i.tution. This exception was made out of respect to the distinguished men of foreign birth, such as Alexander Hamilton and James Wilson, who were members of the convention that framed the Const.i.tution. As more than a hundred years have elapsed since the adoption of the Const.i.tution, the exception, of course, no longer has any meaning.

=The Presidential Term.=--There was considerable discussion in the convention regarding the term of the President. It was first decided that the term should be seven years and the President made ineligible to a second term, but upon further consideration the convention decided to fix the term at four years and nothing was said in regard to reeligibility. The result is, the President may serve as many terms as the people may see fit to elect him. The following Presidents have been elected to two terms: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, and Wilson.[59] Cleveland, after serving one term, was renominated by his party but was defeated by the Republican candidate. He was then nominated for the third time by his party and was elected. Washington declined a third term and his example has been followed by his successors. The precedent thus established, that the President shall serve only two terms, has become part of our unwritten const.i.tution, and but two attempts have ever been made to break the custom.[60]

[59] Mr. Roosevelt became President by the death of President McKinley about half a year after the beginning of the latter's second term. He served out the unexpired term of Mr. McKinley and was elected to the following full term of four years.

[60] The first was made by ex-President Grant, who in 1880 was a candidate for the Republican nomination for a third term, but failed to secure it. The second was made by ex-President Roosevelt in 1912.

=Mode of Election.=--No question consumed so much of the time of the convention as that relating to the method of choosing the President.

Various schemes were proposed. A few members favored election by the people; others urged election by Congress. Against the method of popular choice it was argued that the people were not competent to choose a chief magistrate for the entire country, and besides, under such a system, they would be influenced by demagogues and scheming politicians.

Again, the tumults and disorders, the "heats and ferments" of a popular election would convulse the community to the breaking point. Against the method of election by Congress, it was urged that the President would be a mere creature or tool of that a.s.sembly and would be under the temptation of making promises or entering into bargains with influential members in order to secure an election. Moreover, such a method was contrary to the great principle upon which all the members were agreed, namely, that the three departments of the national government should be kept separate and independent of one another.

The clause as finally adopted provides that the President shall be chosen, not directly by the voters, but by electors to be appointed in each state in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, each state to have as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress.

_Breakdown of the Electoral Plan._--It was at first expected that the electors of the different states, composed of leading citizens presumably well acquainted with the qualifications of the candidates for the chief magistracy, would meet at the state capitals, discuss among themselves the strength and weaknesses of the several candidates, and then exercising their full judgment, cast their votes for the fittest.

But the scheme quickly broke down in practice, and instead of a real choice by small bodies of men, we have a system which amounts to direct election by the ma.s.ses of the voters, though the form of indirect election is still followed. As soon as political parties were thoroughly organized, the electors, who were intended to be men "capable of a.n.a.lyzing the qualities adapted to the Presidential office," were reduced to the position of party puppets who no longer exercised their own judgment in choosing the President but merely registered, like automata, the will of their party. As Ex-President Harrison once remarked, an elector who should fail to vote for the nominee of his party would be the object of execration and in times of very high excitement might be the subject of a lynching.[61] So closely do the electors obey the will of their party that we always know at the close of election day, on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, when the electors themselves are chosen, who will be the next President, though in fact the electors do not meet in their respective states until the following January, formally to register the choice of the people.

[61] "This Country of Ours," p. 77.

=Choosing Presidential Electors.=--In the beginning the presidential electors of each state were chosen by the legislature, either by joint ballot of the two houses sitting together, or by concurrent vote. In the course of time, however, popular election of electors was introduced, South Carolina (1868) being the last state to choose its electors by the legislature.

_Choice by General Ticket._--When the system of popular choice of electors was adopted, two different methods were followed: choice by districts, and choice on general ticket from the state at large; but by 1832 all the states except Maryland had adopted the general ticket method, and now there is no state which follows the district method.