UC-NRLF $B n 7fiM o o ^^4^4f^>4^4^4f:4^4^4^4^4^4^4^4!^^4^4^4^4^^'i4'^^ ANTI - SOCIALISM H^ A Plea To PATRIOTISM price: 5 CENTS THE FEDERAL | CONSTITUTION W Anti-Socialist Press, Publishers 117 West I32d Street, New York City ANTI ■ SOCIALISM A PLEA TO PATRIOTISM THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION BY JOHN W. BATDORF Author of 'The Geometric Tax" 'The End of Strife" 'THE GEOMETRIC TAX SERIES" Anti-Socialist Press, Publishers 117 West I32d Street, New York City Young Men's Anti-Socialist League meets every Friday evening at 8 P.M., in the rooms of the League, No. 312 West Sixteenth Street, New York City. An invitation is extended to men w^ho desire to join a movement to oppose Socialism. ^3 Copyright, 1915, by JOHN W. BATDORF o DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF THE YOUNG MEN'S ANTI-SOCIALIST LEAGUE Preamble : Imbued with Patriotism toward our be- lief in Religious principles; the Moral Code founded upon it ; the ideal of the Declaration of Independence ; the force and power of the Federal Constitution to govern and give to the people the use of the "obliga- tion of contracts" — the Profit System to live ; the priv- ilege to secure to "persons" the right of private owner- ship of property; we hereby, as patriots, make our declaration that, as Socialism has determined, by the aid of political and sabotage action, to destroy the Profiit System and the right of a "person" to own property privately when publicly used, to be agnostic toward Religious principles and destructive to the Moral Code of the Federal Constitution, we hereon band ourselves by organization into and to be known as the Young Men's Anti-Socialist League, so that we may determinedly oppose Socialism with all its vag- aires and for the purpose of extending an invitation to all American patriots to join our cause and help bear the burden which our forebears have placed upon this generation to care for and continue, uncontaminated with false doctrines, an American democracy along the lines as laid down by Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and the eminent clergy of Religion who have lived and taught the Moral Code in all the decades of the past. 364912 First — A belief in Religious principles founded on the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Religious Thought and Practice. Second — A Moral Code, founded upon the belief in Religious principles, the ideal of the Declaration of Independence and the force and power of the Federal Constitution to govern one hundred millions of people. Third — An economic declaration founded upon the thought and mind of the Rev. John Augustine Ryan in the following words:* "The solution, I confidently believe, will be found along the following lines: Subnormal conditions of life and labor must be abolished; excessive gains to privileged capital must be made impossible, and ways must be found through which the majority of the workers will gradually become owners, at least in part, of the instruments of production." Fourth — A Program of Social Reform by Legisla- tion as follows: We hereby pledge ourselves to the following reform measures by legislation as a part of our object to help and improve social and industrial conditions: (1) A minimum wage for men and women. (2) Restriction of women and child labor. (3) An eight-hour day law. . (4) A belief that labor has a right to organize, and that the pure and legitimate labor- union movement should be encouraged. (5) State relief for the unemployed. (6) State housing of the working people. (7) Pensions for accidents, illness and old age. (8) Income and inheritance taxes. (9) Taxation of the future incomes in land values. * From Everybody's Mayadnc for April, 1914, p. 536. (10) Federal and State regulation of monopolies. (11) Prohibition of speculation within the ex- changes. (12) The establishment of boards of arbitration for industrial disputes. (13) A widowed mother's pension law for be- reaved women. Fifth — To provide a base upon which a true reason- ing may be found to support the harmonious and hon- est equities naturally belonging to both capital and labor, and to give power to legislation and to business propositions to carry out our Programme of Social and Industrial Reform, we present to the American people the ''Geometric Tax" amendments for adoption to the Federal Constitution, the text as follows : ARTICLE*** Section I. 1. It shall be unlawful after * * * for any corporation to buy or to sell any commodity, or operate a utility, or to trans- act any business within or between the States, without previ- ously having secured a certificate of actual inventoried efficient capital from the Inter-State Commerce Commission Court at Washington. 2. No such certificate shall be issued to any corporation, ex- cept after the court's acceptance of the applicant's inventory of free capital at cash value, judged solely by the cost of replacing of the same. 3. Upon this accepted certificate of capital value, the applying corporation shall be given the right to operate its business with- in or between the States, and to maintain a price upon its pro- ductions which will give to its treasury a ten per cent, annual dividend upon its accepted inventoried capital. 4. All excess corporate income above the ten per cent, per an- num distribution shall be wholly expended in maintenance of the corporation's property for the public benefit, or in higher wages ture's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." **We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- sent of the governed, that whenever any form of gov- ernment becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new government, laying its foundation on such princi- ples, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to efifect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that govern- ments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pur- suing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security." "We, therefore, . . . appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the name, and by authority of the good people of these Colonies, solenmly publish and declare . . . that as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour." To emphasize the force and power which governs the American people, under the autocracy of the Fed- eral Constitution, we need only to quote the words of Article VI, as follows : ''This Constitution and the laws of the United States, which shall be made in Pursuance thereof, . . . shall be the supreme Law of the land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." To give the American people freedom and liberty in personal activities, no restriction was laid upon them except in the following words written in Article I, sec- tion X, as follows. "No State shall pass any law im- pairing the obligation of contracts." These provisional words, as a part of the Constitution, compel everybody to recognize the "people's rule" whenever anyone buys or sells food to live, clothing and shelter for protection, and luxury for comfort. The force of this law is im- mutable, and should be so, as it is intended that all Americans must be madeto respect the rights of others where contracts are entered into among and between themselves. The protection to "persons" to own property priv- ately is lodged in Amendment Articles V and XIV, which says : "Nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, with- out just compensation." And, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or prop- erty, without due process of law; nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Constitution, therefore, enthrones the "Profit System," so that American citizens may en- gage in trade with each other and with the people of the world, vC^hereby they may have a means to make profit and live ; and, from the savings of earning power, they may accumulate capital (property) and enjoy a fundamental agency to conserve and preserve it. WHY THE GEOMETRIC TAX? Thomas R. Malthus, in 1798, published his theory that population increases in geometrical progression, while subsistence from the land could, at best, give food to this increase of population only in an arithmet- ical ratio in its progression. That is to say, that while population doubles — say, every twenty-five years — the land, even if intensive farming is prosecuted, can dou- ble up its production but once ; the second time popula- tion doubles, with possibilities that it will maintain its geometrical ratio of increase in population, not a parti- cle of hope is extended that subsistence from the land will increase more than the equal of the first or orig- inal amount of food. Geometrical progression, there- fore, means that its increase in ratio may be expressed as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc. Arithmetical pro- gression may be expressed in ratio as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, etc. We now find, one hundred years later, that it is an axiomatic truth that everything that has power to re- produce its kind, and in turn has power to again re- produce, a geometrical reproduction has taken place in exactly the same proportion as is made in population. Therefore, those who own large fortunes and who do not consume in living the interest and dividends re- ceived, and those who do not practice a wasteful per- sonal expenditure, then, naturally, interest and divi- dends are again reinvested for profit, which, in its turn, is again reinvested, and in the measurement of interest and profit equaling the original principal when un- consumed or not wasted is accumulated, geometrical progression in finance has taken place exactly in the same ratio as Malthus showed in the ratio of increase in population. Therefore, if a geometrical increase in population tends to restrict food to the people, bring- ing in with it disease, pestilence, plague, famine, des- titution, and finally war, then, it follows, that a geo- metrical increase in wealth to the favored few would bring in the same corresponding poison to destroy pop- ulation as is brought in by the geometrical growth of population. Extreme wealth is only gained by the power given under statute law to capitalize the earnings of the peo- ple. Its owner prospers only by having a force of mo- nopoly to collect its interest and profits ; and, say, in time, it doubles up once, possibly twice, without public injury, but after that the poison of its geometrical re- production reaches the vitals of the people, and we have unemployment, lack of food, restriction of oppor- tunity to individualism, by bringing in with it an in- tense centralization to business and social life; and finally, revolution and anarchy. Therefore, as nature forces a restriction upon human beings from reproduc- ing more than can live by the subsistence gained from land, governments must give a fundamental principle of restriction upon the geometrical growth of fortunes, when its growth depends upon restricting the opportu- nities of its people. Therefore, as geometrical progression has been the medium in mathematics to gain concentration of wealth and to give power to it to restrict the freedom of opportunity to a people of an equal franchise, then it follows that to give a freedom of opportunity to such a people, a restrictive tax must be laid upon all citizens in such measurement as will apply to all equally. If this tax brings about a limitation of personal income (which the Geometric Tax does at $500,000) at a point which is deemed destruc- tive of opportunity to the people, then to keep pure the intention of Nature to give unrestricted ambition to men, so as to bring about the natural right that the fit- test alone shall survive, those who have the legal right to collect incomes above the progressive limitation, if set by mathematical calculation, should have power to decentralize these surplus incomes to the heirs at law or for the public benefit. As this is a fundamental question, then if we are to give governmental equity to all the people, we must consent that this geometric tax principle shall be fixed in the fundamental law by adding an amendment to the Federal Constitution. JOHN W. BATDORF, Author. QUESTIONS AND REMEDIES INTRODUCED BY THE GEOMETRIC TAX PROBLEMS. Corporations: How Formed and Operated. Concentration of Wealth: the Causes of Its Birth and Meaning to Americans. The Foundations: the Force of Its Being and Good and Bad Sides Relating to the Constitu- tional Equities and Freedom of the People. Equities due to Corporate Captial. Equities due to Corporate Labor. Equities due to Private Capital. Equities due to Competitive Labor. Equities due to the Consumers as a Class. The Federal Constitution: the Supreme Law of the Land. The Four American Lawful Ruling Powers. Articles of the Constitution Bearing upon Eco- nomic Equality and Security. The Abolition of Poverty: How to Attain It. Higher Wages and Lower Prices: A Consum- mation of Necessity. Jobs for the Jobless: The Cure of the Unem- ployment Problem. Reducing the Cost of Food One-Half: It Can Be Done. Governmental Socialism : Can State Socialism Win ? Governmental Anti-Socialism: The Power of the Profit System Given to the Common People That They May Live. Equal Opportunity : How Owned by the Amer- ican Citizen. The Malthusian Doctrine for Birth Control Made Moral and Acceptable in Consonance with the Laws of Nature. TABULATION OF THE GEOMETRICAL CALCULATIONS AS APPLIED, MATHEMATICALLY, TO ESTABLISH THE GEO- METRIC TAX. THE INDUSTRIAL CO-HERENT RIGHT WITH CAPITAL, AND FOR THE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF INDIVIDUAL INCOMES.* Tax Rate Personal Taxation Per Cent. Incomes. to Pay. .01 $100 $0.01 .02 200 .04 .03 300 .09 .04 400 .16 .05' 50O .25 .06 600 .36 .07 700 .49 .08 800 .64 .09 900 .81 .1 1,000 1.00 .2 2,000 4.00 .3 3,000 9.00 .4 4,000 16.00 .5 5,000 25.00 .6 6.000 36.00 .7 7,000 49.00 .8 8,000 64.00 .9 9,000 81.00 1. 10,000 100.00 2. 20,000 400.00 3. 30,000 900.00 4. 40,000 1,600.00 5. 50,000 2,500.00 6. 60,000 3,600.00 7. 70,000 4,900.00 8. 80,000 6,400.00 9. 90,000 8,100.00 10. 100,000 10,000.00 20. 200,000 40,000.00 30. 300,000 90,000.00 40. 400,000 160,000.00 50. 500,000 250,000.00 To illustrate: The one thousand dollar income or accumulated wage geometrically squared (1,000 multiplied by 1,000 equals 1,000,000) equals one million. One-one-millionth of this product is one; for two thousand it is four; for three thousand it is nine; for five thousand it is twenty- five; for ten thousand it is one hundred, and, in the same exact measure- ment, up to the geometrical limitation of five hundred thousand this con- stant divisor, controlled solely by environment, may be mathematically used to declare by society what should be a right and equitable distribu- tion from earnings for a laborer's pension due in old age, or, what the exact sum should be for a Federal tax to be paid by each person upon incomes gained from wages, interest and profits. ♦"The Geometric Tax," p. 13, by John W. Batdorf. IMPERIAL INDUSTRIALISM VS. THE COMING DEMOCRACY As the 100-year war, 600 years ago, freed the com- mon people from slavery and gave them serfdom ; as the 30-year w^ar, ending 1648, gave to the common peo- ple the right to worship God as each pleased; as the 7-year v^ar, ending 1763, gave to the common people the rights and privileges of a common education — how to read, write and calculate; as the American Revolution, ending 1783, gave to the common people the right to live and enjoy political equality in the first great governmental democracy established; as the Civil War of the American States, ending 1865, as- sured to the common people that chattle slavery shall no more exist in any civilized nation ; then the com- mon people, of this age and generation, may have hope that the present world-war may give to them the right to enjoy a Coming Constitutional Industrial De- mocracy. IMPERIALISM An Imperial Industrialism means: That the employer — the corporation — now enjoys the full power of the Federal and State Constitu- tions, and the statute laws, to hire whom and when it pleases, to pay what salaries and wages it pleases, to discharge whom and whenever it pleases. This power gives it the autocracy of a Czar in industry. Shall this power be destroyed by a Coming Democracy? SOCIALISM A Social Industrial Democracy Means: That an industrial system shall be formed by a political evolution occurring in industry, whereby all the means of production, distribution and ex- change shall be controlled by an elective co-oper- ative Commonwealth. The intent of its object is to destroy the concentration of v^^ealth, the cen- tralization of capital and all forms of business mo- nopoly, but, in its place, enthrone the political power of the working class by means of an elect- ive chamber of labor representatives controlling a flexible constitution. The Proposition of Socialism. STATE SOCIALISM Regulative Industrial Democracy Means: That industry shall be controlled by the legisla- tion of statutory laws, enacted from time to time as the evolution compels ; whereby, to cure the in- dustrial misery of the working people, transitory laws shall be passed for its relievement, and its cost charged either to taxation or to the industry, and thus to the community, with an open acknowl- edgment that these charges mean an accepted higher cost of living to a nation's people. Progressive Party's Proposition. AMERICANISM A Constitutional Industrialism means: That the power to rule industry must be outlined by amendments to the FEDERAL CONSTITU- TION, and wealth, capital, labor and all people would, by this, be compelled to bow to its auto- cratic decree. This power would then insure a positive protection to centralization, whereby neither wealth, capital, labor nor the consuming public could be unduly robbed by a so-called ex- ploiting class of the whole. In fact, all would then live in peace and harmony because of the autocratic limitation placed upon all by the peo- ple's ruling power — the Federal Constitution. The Geometric Tax Amendments Are Respectfully Submitted, JOHN W. BATDORF, Author. THE REMEDY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT* To give a fundamental power to cure unemployment, the "Geometric Tax" Amendment Article to the Fed- eral Constitution is recommended ; whereby, in a nat- ural manner of procedure in American law, the base is founded upon which the statutory laws can have pow- er to define how the distribution of future earnings may be given to corporate capital and to labor. (1) Corporate capital, because of this power, would enjoy perfect safety for itself, with an assurance that its yearly dividend would be sufficient to guarantee a quick sale to its owner whenever he wished to turn the investment into cash. (2) Corporate labor, because of the same power, would have a security in the ownership of the job with capital, so that the laborer could not be displaced ex- cept for disloyalty. One sells out and deserts the cor- poration business ; the other is unfortunate and care- lessly permits a destruction of corporate property, or, by inattention to duty, may bring injury to life and limb to its patrons from whom it derives its earning power to live. (3) The individual merchant or manufacturer, be- cause of giving personal attention to back the use of * From "Jobs for the Jobless," by John W. Batdorf. his money invested, may not be satisfied with the lim- ited percentage return permitted by the "Geometric Tax" amendment to the Constitution, and naturally desires to reinstate himself in private business, v^here- in the fundamental law guarantees to individuals the power to use the ''obligation of contracts" to make greater profits. This proposition, if established, would bring in a new form of competitive business and give a greater opportunity than at present for the employ- ment of competitive or roaming labor. (4) Government, with the aid of the agricultural banks, must, for the public welfare, find a way to as- sist the over-population of towns and cities to find lodgment among the under-population now living upon a part of the tillable lands of the nation, whereby, to live, they may be of use to themselves and provide food to those fixed in employment in industrial and business conductions. To epitomize our thought we be- lieve ''that the United States should follow Germany in instituting here a system similar to the Prussian landschaft." In our Appendix to this book, we re- print from the New York Times, of date July 11th, 1915, Mr. David Lubin's splendid elucidation of this proposition to make farm land investment attractive to trust estates, men and women with excess incomes wanting a perfectly safe security, and to farmers who would rather place their idle money upon farm lands than to invest it in the watered securities of the cor- porations.* These four propositions, if adopted, would tend to automatically adjust the disproportion in population * The above referred appendix is published in "Jobs for the Jobless," by John W. Batdorf. now existing between the numbers of people living in towns and cities and those who live upon the farms. One portion of population now demands more food; the other portion of population produces too little to satisfy an increasing demand. The remedy must come, if at all, by the observance of the natural law governing self-interest, wherein the semi-starved population of the cities would seek the productivity of vacant land to live. For the public wel- fare, the Government must aid the agricultural banks and owners of vacant tillable lands to accommodate the city emigration to country districts. This evening- up process would not only transform a consuming popu- lation into a producing one, but would tend to vastly increase the food supply to those who had remained in cities because of a natural releasement of the rigors of unemployment. OVERPOPULATION* A crisis has come in the affairs of nations. The world is at war. Mankind is bewildered and industry is at a standstill. Yet man must obtain food to live, clothing and shelter for protection, but, alas, oppor- tunity to earning power is diminishing, which means, of course, that ultimately buying power will disappear, so that man will be unable to secure those things which are necessary for human existence. Population, however, is increasing, and with it the problem of un- employment rises as a black specter to plague both the rich and the poor. State Socialism, practiced by both * From "Children, Not a Menace to Society," by John W. Batdorf. England and Germany, has brought the fact home to the rich that no longer can the rich and powerful pass the cost of industrial relievement to the backs of the Common People; hence the cry of too much popula- tion and the organization of "Leagues for Birth Con- trol." Doctors, Sociologists, Scientists, Socialists and Atheists are advocating that the time has come when mankind must place a restriction upon the natural law of impulse. Of course, if the arrival of new population is restricted, so that it equals the number that die, as in France, the care by the rich of those out of employ- ment will cease. To give a shade of reasoning why we should disobey the laws of nature, the above class of people say that it is unwise to bring babies into the world to inherit poverty, and for the lack of food, shelter and clothing, to suffer the miseries brought on by disease, pestilence, plague, famine, and finally, anarchy and war. To solve the seemingly unsolvable problem to sup- ply a plentiful store of food, clothing and shelter, we must give a logical argument how to abolish poverty; raise wages and lower prices; give jobs to the jobless; cut the cost of food one-half as compared with pres- ent prices; offer a restriction which should be placed on the drug and alcohol habits ; place an equitable re- striction on the concentration of wealth without com- mitting a confiscatory wrong against human ambition ; and, lastly, place a fundamental restriction on human selfishness and the inordinate greed now naturally lo- cated in financial and business operations. We commend our thesis for earnest reading and analysis. JOHN W. BATDORF. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILLITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENCE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, AND SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY, DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ARTICLE I. Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, land the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Repre- sentative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 3 ; Massachusetts, 8 ; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1 ; Connecticut, 5 ; New York, 6 ; New Jersey, 4 ; Pennsylvania} 8 ; Delaware, 1 ; Maryland, 6 ; Virginia, 10 ; North Carolina, 5 South Carolina, 5, and Georgia 3*. 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Section III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated '^See Article XIV, Amendments. at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make tem- porary appointment until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States. 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concur- rence of two-thirds of the members present. 7. Judgement in case of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party con- victed shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law. Section IV. 1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to places of choosing Senators. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section V. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide. 2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two- thirds expel a member. _ 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section VI. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileded from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. 2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. Section VII. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills. -* 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States ; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; and if approved by two-thirds of that House it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return ; in which case it shall not be a law, 3. E^very order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and the House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Section VIII. 1. The Congress shall have power: To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform through- out the United States. 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States. 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes. 4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States. 5. To coin money, regulate the value theeeof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures. 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States. 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads. 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries. 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. _ 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captt:res on land and water, 12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years, 13. To provide and maintain a navy. 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces, 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of fhe Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. 16. To provide iav organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the ser- vice of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of partic- ular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Govern- ment of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dry-docks, and other needful buildings. 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. Section IX. 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importa- tion, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro- portion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another, nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States. And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state. Section X. 1. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- federation, grant letters of marque and reprisal, coin money, emit bills of credit, make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts, pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing; the obligration of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. ARTICLE II. Section I. 1, The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his ofKce during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be appointed an elector. 3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote. A quorum, for this purpose, shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the _ States, and majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.]* 4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 5. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty- five years and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a President shall be elected. 7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument front the United States, or any of them. * This clause is superseded by Article XII., Amendments. 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office he shall take the following oath or affirmation : "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Section II. 1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States except in cases of impeachment. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate by granting commission, which shall expire at the end of their next session. Section III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their con- sideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, ne may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Section IV. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- demeanors. ARTICLE III. Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall at stated times receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Section II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and citizens of another State, Detween citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and bet^yeen a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before-mentioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachme»t shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. Section III. 1, Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confes- sion in open court. 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainer of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attained. ARTICLE IV. Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. Section II. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. Section III. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so_ con- strued as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. Section IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in tlMs Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each o£ them against invasion, and, on application of the Legislature, ^ or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence. ARTICLE V. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Consti- tution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may ue proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the Ninth Section of the First Article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. ARTICLE VL 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under .this Constitution as under the Confederation. 2. This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notw^lthstanding. 3.' The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mem- bers of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ARTICLE VII. The ratification of the Convention of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ARTICLE IL A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. AITICLE III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. ARTICLE IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be siczed. ARTICLE V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same ofTence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor sliall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, with- out due process of Inw; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. ARTICLE VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. ARTICLE VII. In suits of common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law. ARTICLE Vin. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. ARTICLE IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. ARTICLE X. The powers not delegated/ to the United States* by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. ARTICLE XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States, by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. ARTICLE XII. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves: they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Govern- ment of the United Statecs, directed to the President of the Senate ; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Represtiitatives oi)eii all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person liaving the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President.if such number be a majority, of the whole number of electors appointed and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. ARTICLE XIII. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. ARTICLE XIV. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. ISo State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any persor within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male members of such State, being of twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein* shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age^ in such State. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or holding any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or give aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bountiea for services in suppressing insurrection and rebellion, shall not be ques- tioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV. 1. The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation. ARTICLE XVL The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. ARTICLE XVn. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies : Provided, That the Legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 3. The amendment shall not be so construed as to aflfect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. The Constitution was ratified by the thirteen original States in the following order : Delaware, December 7. 1787, unanimously. Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787, vote 46 to 23. New Jersey, December 18, 1787, unanimously. Georgia, January 2, 1788, unanimously. Connecticut, January 9, 1788, vote 128 to 40. Massachusetts, February 6, 1788, vote 187 to 168. Maryland, April 28, 1788, vote 63 to 12. South Carolina, May 23, 1788, vote 149 to 73. New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. vote 57 to 46. Virginia, June 25, 1788, vote 89 to 79. New York, July 26,' 1788, vote 30 to 28. North Carolina, November 21, 1789, vote 193 to 76. Rhode Island, May 29. 1790. vote 34 to 32. RATIFICATION OF THE AMENDMENTS. I. to X. inclusive were declared in force December 15, 1791. XI. was declared in force January 8, 1798. XII., regulating elections, was ratified by all the States except Connecti- cut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, which rejected it. It was declared in force September 28, 1804. XIII. The emancipation amendment was ratified by 31 of the 36 States; rejected by Delaware and Kentucky, not acted on by Texas; conditionally ratified by Alabama and Mississippi. Proclaimed December 18, 1865. XIV. Reconstruction amendment was ratified by 23 Northern States; rejected by Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and 10 Southern States, and not acted on by California. The 10 Southern States subse- quently ratified under pressure. Proclaimed July 28, 1868. XV. Negro citizenship amendment was not acted on by Tennessee, rejected by California, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, and 'Oregon; ratified by the remaining 30 States. New York rescinded its ratification January 5, 1870. Proclaimed March 30, 1870. XVT. Income tax amendment was ratified by all the States except Con- necticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and Virginia. Declared in force February 25, 1913. XVII. Providing for the direct vote of United States Senators cy the people, was ratified by all the States except Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia. Declared in force May 31, 1913. RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. m. m JUN 1 2004 -im 7?M -p_ 'VgD FEB 27 ^67 -9 AM LOAN DEPT, LD21A-60»i-7,'66 (G4427sl0)476B General Library University of California Berkeley Stf^/i