How THE REPUBLIC 
 is GOVERNED 
 
 NOAH BROOKS 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 . 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
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 Deceived 
 
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HOW THE REPUBLIC 
 IS GOVERNED 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 SHORT STUDIES IN PARTY POLITICS. 
 With 27 Portraits. 16mo, $1.25. 
 
HOW THE REPUBLIC 
 IS GOVERNED 
 
 BY 
 
 NOAH BROOKS 
 
 [IFK1VBRSI1T] 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 1895 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 TROW DIRECTORY 
 
 PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY 
 NEW YORK 
 
. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ... 4 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE CONGRESS, 6 
 
 The Senate, 7 
 
 The House of Representatives, 12 
 
 General* Provisions Relating to Congress, . . 18 
 
 Legislative Methods, 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT, 29 
 
 Subdivisions of the Executive Department, . 31 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE JUDICIARY, 61 
 
 Supreme Court of the United States, ... 62 
 
 Circuit Courts of Appeal, 64 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Circuit Courts, 64 
 
 District Courts, 65 
 
 General Provisions Relating to Courts, ... 66 
 
 Courts of Claims, 68 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 NATIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS, 70 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 NATURALIZATION, . 74 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS, 75 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE TERRITORIES, 78 
 
 District of Columbia, 81 
 
 Alaska, 82 
 
 The Indian Territory, 83 
 
 Acquisitions of United States Territory, . . 84 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 TREASON, , . , 87 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TARIFFS AND CUSTOM HOUSES, 89 
 
 vi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XII. PAGE 
 
 THE INDIANS, 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE PUBLIC LANDS, 95 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, ASSAY OFFICES, . . 99 
 
 * 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS, 104 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 PENSIONS, 108 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE, no 
 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 112 
 
 TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTION, 121 
 
 INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION, 157 
 
 GENERAL INDEX, . 163 
 
 vn 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 THE fundamental law on which is built the 
 framework of the Government of the Re- 
 public of the United States is the Federal Con- 
 stitution. This instrument was constructed by 
 a convention of delegates, or deputies, from the 
 original thirteen States. It was finished and 
 signed by the members of the convention on 
 September 17, 1787.* 
 
 As originally drawn, the Constitution was 
 composed of seven articles. The seventh ar- 
 ticle provided that the ratification of at least 
 nine of the thirteen States should be necessary 
 to its adoption. The first State to ratify the 
 Constitution was Delaware, on December 6, 
 1787. The last to ratify was Rhode Island 
 (being the thirteenth to vote), on May 29, 
 
 *The names of the thirteen original States and the 
 order in which they ratified the Constitution may be 
 found on page 155. 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 1 790. But the ratification by the requisite nine 
 States was complete as early as June 21, 1788, 
 when New Hampshire ratified. 
 
 In the fifth article of the Constitution it is 
 provided that the instrument may be amended 
 in the following manner : Congress may at any 
 time propose amendments thereto, provided 
 two-thirds of the members of each house of 
 Congress shall vote in favor of said amend- 
 ments ; and then the proposed amendments 
 shall be submitted to the States and be ratified 
 by the Legislatures of, or by conventions of, 
 three-fourths of said States. Or, Congress may, 
 on the application of the Legislatures of two- 
 thirds of the States, call a convention of dele- 
 gates, or deputies, to propose amendments to 
 the Constitution, such amendments to be sub- 
 sequently acted upon by the State Legisla- 
 tures, as before provided. 
 
 The First Amendments to the Constitution 
 were ten in number, and were proposed by the 
 First Congress ; they were ratified by the States 
 between September 25, 1789, and December 
 
 The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by 
 the Eighth Congress, and was ratified between 
 December 12, 1803, and September 25, 1804. 
 
 The Thirteenth Amendment was proposed by 
 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 
 
 the Thirty-eighth Congress on February i, 
 1865, and was ratified by December 1.8, 1865. 
 
 The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed by 
 the Thirty-ninth Congress on June 16, 1866, 
 and was ratified by July 28, 1868. 
 
 The Fifteenth Amendment was proposed by 
 the Fortieth Congress, on February 27, 1869, 
 and was ratified by March 30, 1870. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 THE Government of the United States is 
 divided into three branches, or depart- 
 ments. These are the Legislative, the Execu- 
 tive, and the Judicial branches. 
 
 The Legislative branch is the Congress of 
 the United States ; and that body alone has the 
 power of enacting laws for the government of 
 the Republic. 
 
 The Executive branch of the Government has 
 for its head the President of the United States, 
 and under him are such officers as Congress may 
 authorize to be appointed, or otherwise chosen. 
 The function of the Executive department of 
 the Government is to execute and carry into 
 effect such laws as Congress may enact. 
 
 The Judicial branch of the Government is 
 composed of the Justices and Judges of the 
 United States courts. Its function is to inter- 
 pret and construe the laws of Congress and to 
 decide, when occasion arises, whether laws en- 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 acted by Congress or by State Legislatures, 
 are in accordance with the provisions of the 
 Federal Constitution. 
 
 Under some one of these three branches of 
 the Government of the United States every offi- 
 cer of the Republic derives his authority, and 
 each function and power of the Government is 
 exercised. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 E Congress of the United States is com- 
 JL posed of two branches, or houses, the 
 Senate and the House of Representatives. 
 
 The Senate has two members from each 
 State. No State is entitled to more than two 
 Senators at one time. No State can be deprived 
 of the right of sending two Senators to repre- 
 sent it in the Senate of the United States. 
 
 The House of Representatives is made up of 
 delegates, or representatives, from each of the 
 several States, one Representative being allot- 
 ted to each unit of representation. No State 
 may have less than one Representative, how- 
 ever small its population may be; but as the 
 basis of representation is population, the larger 
 States have the greater numbers of Representa- 
 tives. At present (1894), one Representative 
 is allotted to eacn Congressional district in 
 every State; and each Congressional district 
 must have at least 173,901 population as a 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 basis of representation, except where there are 
 not that many people in the whole State. 
 
 The Senate is designed to represent the 
 power and the dignity of the several States. 
 The House of Representatives, sometimes called 
 the popular branch of Congress, represents 
 more directly the population of the republic. 
 Both branches have equal power in the enact- 
 ment of all laws ; and no proposed law can be 
 made a valid statute of the United States unless 
 it receives a majority of the votes of each of 
 the two houses of Congress. 
 
 THE SENATE. 
 
 The Senate is comprised of Senators, each 
 two of whom represent one State. Each Sen- 
 ator is elected by the Legislature of a State, 
 and each serves for six years, unless he has been 
 appointed or elected to serve out an unexpired 
 term. 
 
 The Senate is so constituted that one-third 
 of its members go out of office every two years. 
 
 In case a Senator dies, resigns, or for any 
 cause is no longer able to discharge the duties 
 of his office, the vacancy thus created is filled 
 by the Legislature of the State to be repre- 
 sented ; and if such vacancy occurs while the 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 Legislature of the State is not in session, then 
 the Governor of said State may appoint a Sen- 
 ator to fill the vacancy until the next session of 
 that Legislature. 
 
 A Senator thus chosen by the Legislature 
 fills out the unexpired term for which he was 
 elected or appointed, and no more. 
 
 A Senator must be at least thirty years of 
 age when he is elected ; and he must have been 
 a citizen of the United States at least nine 
 years before such election. 
 
 Whenever a State is required to choose a 
 United States Senator, each House of the Leg- 
 islature must vote, viva voce, for Senator on the 
 Tuesday following its organization. On the 
 next day the two Houses are to hold a joint 
 meeting. If it then appears that the same per- 
 son has received a majority of the votes in each 
 House, he is declared elected. If not, the joint 
 meeting is to take place thereafter and take at 
 least one vote a day during the session of the 
 Legislature, until some person shall receive a 
 majority of the votes of the meeting, a majority 
 of each House being present. In case of a 
 vacancy occurring during the session of the 
 Legislature, the same procedure is to begin on 
 the Tuesday after the notice of the vacancy is 
 received. Should the Legislature fail to choose 
 8 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 a Senator before adjournment, the Governor is 
 empowered to fill the vacancy until the Legis- 
 lature shall meet and elect a Senator for that 
 term. 
 
 The powers of the Senate and of the House 
 of Representatives are equal in the enactment 
 of the laws ; but each branch of the Legisla- 
 tive department has its own peculiar functions. 
 Thus the Senate alone has the right to ratify, 
 or reject, treaties with foreign nations which 
 the Executive branch of the Government may 
 negotiate ; and no such treaty is valid unless it 
 has been approved by the Senate. The Senate 
 also has the right to confirm, or reject, nomina- 
 tions or appointments to office that may be 
 made by the President. 
 
 Such appointments to office, however, may 
 be made by the President without the consent 
 of the Senate, when the Senate is not in ses- 
 sion, provided a vacancy is then to be filled ; 
 and all such appointments must be confirmed 
 by the Senate as soon as that body again meets 
 in session ; otherwise, said appointments fall. 
 Sundry of the less important offices of the Gov- 
 ernment may be filled by appointment from the 
 Executive department without the advice and 
 consent of the Senate.' 
 
 When the Senate has under its consideration 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 the business of foreign treaties, or of appoint- 
 ments to office, it sits in secret with closed 
 doors ; and this is called an executive session, as 
 the Senate is then engaged in executive busi- 
 ness. A vote of two-thirds of the Senators vot- 
 ing is necessary to ratify a treaty. The vote of 
 a majority may confirm a nomination to office. 
 
 Each branch of Congress has sole and ex- 
 clusive right to determine whether any person 
 chosen to a seat in its chamber is eligible there- 
 to ; and each House chooses its own officers. 
 
 The Vice-President of the United States, by 
 virtue of his office, is the presiding officer of 
 the Senate ; but he has no vote in that body 
 except in case of a tie [the Senate being equally 
 divided on a vote], when the Vice-President 
 may give the casting vote. But he may not at 
 any time participate in the debate, or the de- 
 liberations, of the Senate. He is paid an an- 
 nual salary of $8,000. 
 
 In case of a vacancy in the office of Vice- 
 President, or of his absence from the Senate, 
 that body may choose from its own number 
 one who shall be President of the Senate. 
 While he holds that place he is called Presi- 
 dent pro tempore of the Senate, and he holds 
 office at the pleasure of the Senate. It is usual 
 for the Vice-President to absent himself from 
 10 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 the Senate for a while, soon after the beginning 
 of each session of Congress, in order that the 
 Senators may choose a President pro tempore ; 
 and that officer presides over the Senate only 
 when the Vice-President fails to appear to take 
 the chair. The presiding officer of the Senate 
 may call a Senator to take the chair tempo- 
 rarily during any single daily session, or part 
 of a daily session. 
 
 The other principal officers of the Senate are 
 the Secretary, whose duty it is to keep the 
 journal and the pay-accounts of the Senate ; 
 the Sergeant-at-Arms, whose duty it is to assist 
 the presiding officer in preserving order, the 
 allotment of seats, etc.; the Chaplain, the Post- 
 master, and the Librarian. 
 
 Each House of Congress has its own stand- 
 ing committees, to which are referred all bills 
 or proposed laws. The standing committees of 
 the Senate are chosen and arranged at a private 
 meeting, or caucus, of the Senators who consti- 
 tute a political majority of the Senate at the 
 time these committees are appointed. Senators 
 who at such time represent a minority of the 
 Senate are expected to present to the majority 
 caucus the names of those of their number 
 whom they desire to have places on the stand- 
 ing committees. It is customary that a ma- 
 ii 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 jority of each committee shall be composed of 
 Senators who represent the political majority in 
 the Senate. 
 
 In case any civil officer of the United States 
 is accused of a crime against the United States, 
 he is tried by the Senate, then sitting as a High 
 Court of Impeachment. The charges against 
 the accused are presented by the House of Rep- 
 resentatives and are called articles of impeach- 
 ment, corresponding to an indictment as found 
 by a grand jury in criminal practice. The 
 Senate acts as a trial jury, and a vote of two- 
 thirds of the Senators is necessary to secure a 
 conviction. When the President of the United* 
 States is the person accused, the Chief Justice 
 of the United States is the presiding officer of 
 the High Court of Impeachment. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 The presiding officer of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives is called the Speaker. He is chosen 
 from the members of the House by a vote of the 
 majority and is paid an annual salary of $8,000. 
 
 The Speaker holds office during the full term 
 of the Congress for which he was elected ; that 
 is to say, two years, unless sooner removed by 
 vote of the House. 
 
 12 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 The House may at any time, by a majority 
 vote, remove its Speaker and choose a Speaker 
 pro tempore. Or, should illness or other cause 
 prevent the attendance of the Speaker, the 
 House may choose one of its number to act in 
 his place temporarily. Or, the Speaker may 
 call to the chair a member of the House to act 
 in his place for one day, or for a shorter time ; 
 %ut he may not put any one in his place for a 
 longer time than a single day's session. 
 
 The other principal officers of the House are 
 the Sergeant-at-Arms, whose duty it is to ex- 
 ecute the orders of the Speaker in preserving 
 order and to keep the financial accounts of the 
 House ; the Clerk, who has charge of the 
 journals of the House, enrolled and engrossed 
 bills, and who generally supervises the records 
 and documents of the House ; the Doorkeeper, 
 who is charged with the appointment of the 
 keepers of the doors of the House and with 
 minor details of management ; and the Chap- 
 lain and the Postmaster. 
 
 The Speaker is the only officer of the House 
 who is a member of that body ; the other 
 officers of the House are chosen by the mem- 
 bers, after nomination by a caucus of the Rep- 
 resentatives who constitute a majority of the 
 whole membership. 
 
 13 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 The Speaker, being a Representative in Con- 
 gress from a State, is entitled to mileage and 
 other privileges of membership ; and he may 
 vote whenever he chooses, under the rules of 
 the House. Should the House be equally di- 
 vided on a question, the Speaker is required to 
 vote thereon, provided he has not already voted. 
 Or, if his vote would cause an equal division of 
 the House, and he has not already voted, then 
 he is required to vote ; and in case of such an 
 equal division the question is lost. 
 
 When the House acts as a committee, by it- 
 self, the session is known as that of the Com- 
 mittee of the Whole House and is presided 
 over by a member who is called to the chair by 
 the Speaker. When the sitting of the Commit- 
 tee of the Whole House is completed, the com- 
 mittee rises, and the result of its proceedings 
 is reported to the Speaker, who has resumed the 
 chair, by the chairman of the committee. 
 
 To be eligible to membership in the House 
 of Representatives one must be at least twenty- 
 five years of age, and have been a citizen of the 
 United States at least seven years. 
 
 The term of office of each member of the 
 House of Representatives is two years. 
 
 Each Congress is in existence two years, and 
 each is numbered from the beginning of the first 
 
 H 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 Congress, which assembled in 1789. There- 
 fore, to find the number of any Congress, past 
 or to come, reckon the number of years from 
 1789 to the year required, divide the sum by 
 two, and the quotient will give the number of 
 the Congress in question. 
 
 The functions and powers of the House in all 
 matters of legislation are the same as those of 
 the Senate, with few exceptions. The House 
 has no power to act on executive appointments, 
 and none in the ratification or rejection of 
 treaties with foreign nations. But the House 
 may, by delaying or withholding appropriations 
 for treaty purposes, hinder action thereon. 
 
 Only the House can prepare and present ar- 
 ticles of impeachment against a civil officer of 
 the United States ; and when the accused is 
 tried by the Senate, sitting as a High Court of 
 Impeachment, it is the duty of the House to 
 conduct the prosecution ; this is done by man- 
 agers on the part of the House, with such as- 
 sistants as they may be authorized to employ. 
 
 All bills for raising the revenue for public 
 purposes must originate in the House. The 
 Senate, when it receives from the House a bill 
 for raising the revenue, may alter and amend 
 such bill at its pleasure; or the Senate may 
 substitute for the House bill another of its own, 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 which would be in the nature of an amendment ; 
 but the Senate may not originate any such bill. 
 
 The practice of originating in the House all 
 bills for the raising of the public revenues has 
 led to the prevailing custom of leaving to the 
 House the originating of all bills appropriating 
 large sums for carrying on the Government. 
 Usually, all such bills are first drawn and con- 
 sidered in the House, that body having charge 
 of the ways and means for raising the money 
 needed for public purposes. But the Senate 
 may not only alter and amend these bills for 
 appropriating money ; it may originate appro- 
 priation bills and send them to the House for 
 its action. 
 
 No money can be drawn from the treasury of 
 the United States for any purpose whatever un- 
 less it has been appropriated for that purpose by 
 an act of Congress. 
 
 Each Territory is entitled to send one Repre- 
 sentative to the House. He is called a Delegate, 
 and although he may speak on any pending 
 question, or participate in the general business 
 of the House, he is not permitted to vote on 
 any proposition whatever. 
 
 The Legislature of each State is empowered 
 to divide its population into districts, allowing 
 to each district the number of persons fixed 
 16 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 upon by act of Congress as the basis, or unit, 
 of representation in the House of Representa- 
 tives. 
 
 In the case of a vacancy occurring in a Con- 
 gressional district, by the death, resignation, or 
 disability of the sitting member, it is the duty 
 of the Governor of the State in which said dis- 
 trict is situated to call a special election to fill 
 the vacancy ; and the member so chosen by 
 popular vote serves out the remainder of the 
 unexpired term. 
 
 The general elections for Congress, with a 
 very few exceptions, take place throughout the 
 United States in November of every other year. 
 Thus the elections for the Congress which meets 
 in December, 1895, were chosen by the people 
 in November, 1894. 
 
 The Congressional districts are, or may be, 
 rearranged by the Legislatures of the States 
 once in ten years, as soon as may be after the 
 taking of the decennial census of the population 
 under the authority of the United States. In 
 case the population has increased to an extent 
 equal to one unit, or more, prescribed as the 
 basis of representation, then that State is en- 
 titled to additional representation in the House. 
 If the population has diminished, the State's 
 representation is reduced in like manner. 
 
 VI1V1 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 When any State is entitled to two or more 
 Representatives in Congress, the districts from 
 which each is elected are numbered, as the 
 First, Second, Third, etc. But any State may, 
 by the action of its Legislature, choose to elect 
 all of its Representatives, or a part of them, on 
 one general ballot by all the people, and not by 
 the voters in the separate districts. Where one 
 Representative is so chosen by all the voters 
 of a State, he is called a Congressman -at- 
 Large. 
 
 The standing committees of the House, to 
 whom are referred the various matters of busi- 
 ness appropriate to each, are appointed by the 
 Speaker at the beginning of each session. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CONGRESS. 
 
 Senators and Representatives in Congress are 
 paid an annual salary of $5,000, each. They 
 are also entitled to draw money for the pay- 
 ment of their travelling expenses at the rate of 
 twenty cents for each mile travelled each way, 
 from and to their homes, at each session of 
 Congress. Each Senator and Representative is 
 also entitled to draw $125 a year for stationery 
 and newspapers. Absence without leave entails 
 deduction from the annual compensation. 
 18 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 It is customary for members of any legisla- 
 tive body to make an agreement with each 
 other by which two members who would have 
 voted on opposite sides of any question, or 
 series of questions, shall refrain from voting. 
 The result is thus left unaffected, and one or 
 both of the parties to the agreement may be 
 absent. This is called " a pair. ' ' 
 
 A majority of all the members of each House 
 is necessary for the legal transaction of business ; 
 but a smaller number may engage in debate un- 
 less objection is made by a member. 
 
 Either House may by itself pass resolutions 
 which do not take the form of law. These may 
 express the sentiments of the House passing such 
 resolutions, or may call on the Executive branch 
 of the Government for information, etc. ; but 
 they have no validity, and the Executive branch 
 may disregard them if it chooses. But a joint 
 resolution, which requires the concurrence of 
 both Houses of Congress, has the force and 
 effect of law when duly passed. 
 
 Neither House of Congress can adjourn for 
 more than three days at one time without the 
 concurrence of both branches. In case the 
 two Houses shall fail to fix on a day for adjourn- 
 ment, and the disagreement be final, then the 
 President may prorogue, or declare adjourned, 
 
 19 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 that session of Congress. But he may not 
 terminate a session except in such a case. 
 
 Each Senator and Representative in Con- 
 gress is allowed by law a certain number of 
 books and documents printed under the au- 
 thority and at the expense of the Government. 
 To aid in the circulation of these books and 
 documents, each member of Congress is allowed 
 to send said printed matter free through the 
 mails, under his own signature; but no other 
 exercise of the franking privilege is permitted 
 to members. 
 
 The first session of each Congress begins on 
 the first Monday of the December of the year 
 following that in which the Representatives 
 were elected. Thus the members elected in 
 November, 1894, do not meet in regular ses- 
 sion until the first Monday in December, 1895. 
 But the President may call Congress together 
 in special, or extraordinary : session at any 
 time whenever in his opinion the public busi- 
 ness shall require. 
 
 The second regular session of Congress be- 
 gins in like manner on the first Monday of De- 
 cember of the second year of its existence ; it 
 must end on the fourth of March next succeed- 
 ing, as the life of each Congress is terminated 
 on the fourth of March in the second year of 
 20 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 its existence. The first session of a Congress 
 closes when the two Houses, by a concurrent 
 vote, agree to adjourn. Hence the first session, 
 which usually lasts until late in the summer or 
 autumn after its meeting in March, is called 
 the long session ; the second, which must end 
 on the following fourth of March, is called the 
 short session. 
 
 Either branch of Congress may be called by 
 itself in special session by the President to con- 
 sider any matter which does not require the co- 
 operative action of the other branch. But this 
 never happens except when the Senate is called 
 to consider executive business (treaties or nomi- 
 nations to office), that may be laid before it by 
 the President. 
 
 Congress may by a joint resolution vote to 
 hold a special session at any time during its ex- 
 istence. Or it may in like manner vote to take 
 a recess of any length during its existence, 
 provided such recess does not extend over the 
 date on which the life of that Congress is ter- 
 minated by law. 
 
 Joint sessions of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives are rare. These are held only 
 on ceremonial* occasions and when the two 
 Houses meet to count the votes for President 
 and Vice-President. 
 
 21 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 LEGISLATIVE METHODS. 
 
 Nearly all the legislative business of Con- 
 gress is prepared in the standing committees of 
 each House. To each one of these is referred 
 the schemes of law which come under the pur- 
 view of such committee. Thus bills, or schemes 
 of law, relating to banks and banking are sent 
 to the Committee on Banking and Currency, 
 those relating to the management of the Indians 
 to the Committee on Indian Affairs, and so on. 
 
 The members of Congress are required to 
 take an oath to support the Constitution of the 
 United States, and the officers of Congress are 
 required to take an additional oath to perform 
 faithfully the duties of their office. 
 
 Bills, or schemes of law, are presented in 
 each House by the members of that House, and 
 usually take the regular order, being sent to 
 some one of the standing committees designated 
 for that purpose. In due course of time each 
 bill is considered by the committee and the de- 
 cision thereupon is reported back to the House. 
 A bill may be re-committed, or sent back to 
 the committee, or to some other committee, as 
 often as the Senate or House may choose. A 
 bill cannot pass either House unless it has re- 
 22 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 ceived the affirmative vote of a majority of all 
 the members present and voting. 
 
 A bill (or proposed law) is first written out 
 under the direction of the member of the Sen- 
 ate, or House, who introduces, it. When he 
 has brought it before the House of which he is 
 a member, it is usually ordered to be printed, 
 and it is referred to its appropriate committee. 
 Should the committee agree that a bill ought to 
 become a law, it is brought back to the House 
 with a recommendation that it do pass, fiut 
 if the committee is of the contrary opinion, 
 then an adverse report is brought in, and the 
 bill customarily fails to pass. The vote of a 
 majority of a committee is necessary to deter- 
 mine the favorable, or unfavorable, character of 
 the report on any bill. 
 
 When a bill has passed one of the two 
 branches of Congress, it is enrolled on large 
 sheets of paper, signed by the presiding officer, 
 and secretary or clerk of the House passing it, 
 and sent to the other branch by one of the 
 officers of said House. When a bill has passed 
 both Houses of Congress, it is engrossed on large 
 sheets of parchment, is signed by the presiding 
 officers of both Houses, and the Secretary of the 
 Senate and Clerk of the House, and is sent to 
 the President. 
 
 23 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 Should the President approve the bill, he 
 affixes to it his signature, and it becomes a law 
 and is then filed in the Department of State ; 
 and the President notifies Congress that he has 
 so signed the bill. 
 
 Should the President decline to approve a 
 bill so presented to him, he may retain it ten 
 days (provided Congress remains in session), 
 and during, or at the end of that time, he is re- 
 quired to return it to the House of Congress in 
 which it originated, giving his reasons for with- 
 holding his approval. This act is called send- 
 ing in a veto message. 
 
 Congress may re-pass a bill that the President 
 has vetoed ,. provided two- thirds of the members 
 of each House, present and voting, agree to pass 
 the bill, the President's objections to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding. 
 
 In such case, the bill becomes law without 
 the signature of the President ; and the certifi- 
 cate of the Secretary of State is appended 
 thereto in lieu of other Executive endorsement. 
 
 Should Congress adjourn at the end of a 
 session, leaving in the hands of the President 
 an unsigned bill, then the bill fails to become 
 a law ; but it may be taken up and passed again 
 as a new measure by both Houses of Congress, at 
 a subsequent session. When the President re- 
 24 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 tains a bill in this manner in order to prevent 
 it from becoming a law, his action is called a 
 " pocket veto " of the measure. 
 
 Should the President retain a bill in his pos- 
 session for ten days, while Congress remains in 
 session, without taking any action thereupon, it 
 becomes a law without his signature. 
 
 Each House of Congress makes its own rules 
 for the government of its members and to regu- 
 late the transaction of business. 
 
 In the House, debate is restricted in various 
 ways. Set speeches are limited to one hour in 
 delivery, except by unanimous consent of the 
 members present ; and the House may at any 
 time order " the previous question " to be taken 
 on any pending proposition, which has the ef- 
 fect of closing all debate whatsoever. Or, the 
 House may, by vote of its members, order that 
 no member shall speak more than a certain 
 number of minutes on a given question. 
 
 These rules do not prevail in the Senate ; but 
 no Senator may speak more than twice on the 
 same subject on the same day without leave of 
 the Senate ; this rule, however, is not often en- 
 forced. 
 
 In case the two Houses of Congress cannot 
 agree upon any detail of legislation which has 
 been considered by both Houses, a conference 
 
 25 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 committee, consisting of three members of 
 each House is appointed to consider the ques- 
 tions relative to the disagreement. If the mem- 
 bers of the conference committee agree as to the 
 matters in dispute, then they report that fact to 
 their respective Houses, and the acceptance of 
 the report concludes the action of the Houses 
 on the bill. In case the conference committee 
 fails to agree, and that fact is reported to the re- 
 spective Houses, another conference committee 
 is ordered, unless one of the two Houses votes 
 to recede from its previous action on the pend- 
 ing bill. If no agreement is finally reached by 
 a committee of conference, then the bill fails, as 
 the consent of both Houses is requisite to the 
 enactment of a law, or the passage of a joint res- 
 olution. 
 
 The salaries and compensation of all officers 
 of the Government are fixed and determined by 
 Congress, but the salaries and emoluments of the 
 President of the United States and the judges 
 of the United States courts may not be dimin- 
 ished during their continuance in office ; and 
 the President's salary may not be increased 
 during his official term. 
 
 When an election for President and Vice- 
 President is carried into the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, that election is determined by the 
 26 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 action of the Representatives voting together 
 as representing their State. In such case, each 
 State is entitled to one vote only ; and the sev- 
 eral Representatives must among themselves 
 decide for whom that vote shall be cast. A 
 majority of all the votes cast in the House is 
 necessary for a choice of President. 
 
 In case the choice of President devolves upon 
 the House of Representatives, that choice must 
 be made before the fourth day of March next en- 
 suing ; and if the House fails to make a choice, 
 then the Vice-President becomes President, as 
 in case of the death or disability of the Pres- 
 ident. The person having the greatest number 
 of votes cast for Vice-President is Vice-Pres- 
 ident, provided he has a majority of all the 
 votes cast by the Electors; and if no person 
 has a majority of the votes of the Electors, the 
 Senate is required to choose a Vice-President 
 from the two persons who stand first and second 
 on the list of persons voted for Vice-President 
 by the Electors. 
 
 State elections may be held in the several 
 States at any time, or on any day, that the 
 Legislature of said State may order. But 
 elections for the choice, or appointment, of 
 presidential electors must be held in every State 
 of the Union on one day the Tuesday follow- 
 27 
 
OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 ing the first Monday of November, in each 
 fourth year. 
 
 The Electoral College of each State must meet 
 in its State capital on the first Wednesday of 
 the December next succeeding the presidential 
 election ; and the counting of the votes in the 
 presence of both Houses of Congress must be 
 had on the second Wednesday of February next 
 succeeding the meeting of the Electoral Col- 
 leges. 
 
 The President and Vice-President take office 
 at noon on the fourth day of March next suc- 
 ceeding the counting of the votes by both 
 Houses of Congress. This induction into office 
 is usually a public ceremony ; but the law does 
 not require of either President or Vice-Pres- 
 ident anything at that time but the taking of an 
 oath to support and defend the Constitution and 
 faithfully to discharge the duties of his office. 
 
 28 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 THE chief officer of the Executive Depart- 
 ment of the Government of the United 
 States is the President. It is his duty to see 
 that the laws of Congress are faithfully exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 In addition to his civil powers, the President 
 is 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 ser- 
 vice of the National Government. Exercising 
 these functions, the President is bound to see 
 that the laws are executed and rebellion and 
 insurrection suppressed, by force if necessary. 
 
 The President must be a native of the United 
 States, be at least thirty-five years of age, and 
 have been a resident within the jurisdiction of 
 the United States fourteen years prior to his 
 election. 
 
 The salary of the President is fixed by Con- 
 gress and may not be increased or diminished 
 29 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 during his official term. At present his salary 
 is $50,000 a year ; and he is allowed the use 
 and occupancy of the Executive Mansion (or 
 White House), with certain employees who are 
 paid out of the public treasury. 
 
 In case of the death, resignation, or disability 
 of the President, he is succeeded by the Vice- 
 President, who then becomes President. The 
 Vice-President, therefore, must have all the 
 qualifications for his office that are required of 
 the President as regards age and nativity. 
 
 The President has the power of negotiating 
 treaties with foreign nations and of making ap- 
 pointments to office that are provided for by law 
 under the Constitution. It is also his duty to 
 lay before Congress, at the beginning of each 
 session such information respecting the state of 
 the country and recommendations relative to 
 the public business, as he may see fit. He 
 may also, from time to time, communicate to 
 Congress, by written message, any information 
 or recommendation that he may deem ad- 
 visable. 
 
 The term of office of the President begins on 
 the fourth of March next after his election, and 
 lasts four years from that date. He may be 
 impeached and removed by action of Congress, 
 as provided by the Constitution. 
 
 30 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPART- 
 MENT. 
 
 To assist him in the execution of the laws 
 the President is allowed, under the authority of 
 Congress, to appoint, with the advice and con- 
 sent of the Senate, certain officers who are not 
 only heads of the various sub-departments of 
 the Executive branch of the Government, but 
 are members of a council or cabinet. 
 
 Usage, not law, has given to these officers the 
 functions of a council ; and they are to a cer- 
 tain extent the advisers of the President ; but 
 their powers and duties as councillors are not 
 recognized or defined by the Constitution ; and 
 the President, if he chooses, may disregard 
 their advice, omit to call them together in ses- 
 sion, or dismiss any one of them at any time ; 
 although the Constitution authorizes the Presi- 
 dent to " require the opinion, in writing, of the 
 principal officer in each of the executive depart- 
 ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of 
 their respective offices. ' ' 
 
 The departments of which these officers are 
 the chiefs are as follows : Department of State, 
 Treasury Department, War Department, De- 
 partment of Justice, Post Office Department, 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Navy Department, Department of the Interi- 
 or, and Department of Agriculture. There are 
 other smaller subdivisions of the Executive 
 branch of the Government, independent of 
 these, whose chiefs report directly to the Presi- 
 dent, but who do not have places in the Cabi- 
 net of the President. 
 
 Each one of these departments and subdivi- 
 sions has been created by acts of Congress, and 
 that body may abolish them, or direct their 
 consolidation, or otherwise change their func- 
 tions and duties. 
 
 The annual salary of the members of the 
 President's Cabinet is $8,000 each. 
 
 In case of the inability of both the President 
 and the Vice-President to exercise the functions 
 of Chief Executive, the duties of that office de- 
 volve upon the members of the Cabinet in the 
 following order, provided that the officer so 
 succeeding has the requisite qualifications of 
 age, nativity, etc., and has been previously 
 confirmed by the Senate : The Secretary of 
 State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secre- 
 tary of War, the Attorney-General, the Post- 
 master-General, the Secretary of the Navy, the 
 Secretary of the Interior. The officer so suc- 
 ceeding to the presidential office thereby vacates 
 his place at the head of a department, and he 
 
 32 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 serves out the tmexpired term of the person 
 whom he has succeeded. 
 
 It is the duty of the heads of the eight Ex- 
 ecutive departments of the Government to make 
 annual reports to the President ; and these re- 
 ports are transmitted to Congress by the Presi- 
 dent along with his annual message. It is also 
 their duty to make special reports on subjects 
 relating to their offices whenever required to do 
 so by Congress, or by the President. 
 
 Official correspondence of the various 
 branches of the Executive department of the 
 Government, and public documents emanating 
 therefrom, are permitted to be transmitted free 
 through the mails under the frank of officers 
 designated for that purpose. But this franking 
 privilege does not extend to persons addressing 
 the departments, and its exercise by officers is 
 confined strictly to official business. 
 
 The Department of State. This is one of 
 the three Executive departments originally 
 created by Congress at the foundation of the 
 Government. The Secretary of State is some- 
 times (but erroneously) styled the Prime Minis- 
 ter, or Premier. There is no such officer in the 
 Government of the Republic. The functions 
 of the Secretary of State chiefly relate to the 
 foreign affairs and relations of the Government ; 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 and he is also the medium of communication 
 between the Executive of the United States and 
 the executive authorities of the several States. 
 He is also the organ of communication with all 
 other governments ; and, with the approval of 
 the President, he conducts the correspondence 
 with ministers and consuls residing abroad, and 
 with diplomatic representatives of other nations, 
 whether in the United States or abroad. He 
 has charge of all treaties, and of the engrossed 
 laws of the United States, and is the custodian 
 of the great seal of the United States ; he pub- 
 lishes the laws and resolutions of Congress, and 
 all treaties and executive proclamations ; he 
 also records and issues passports to Americans 
 travelling abroad, and countersigns state papers 
 that may be issued by the President. 
 
 The Secretary of State is aided in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of his office by three As- 
 sistant Secretaries of State, one of whom, in 
 the absence or disability of the chief officer, 
 may act as Secretary of State. 
 
 The routine business of the Department of 
 State is transacted in several bureaus, as ar- 
 chives and indexes, diplomatic, consular, ac- 
 counts, rolls and library, statistics, etc. 
 
 The foreign intercourse of the United States 
 is conducted abroad, under the direction of the 
 
 34 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 President and the Secretary of State, by am- 
 bassadors, ministers, consuls, and commercial 
 agents. 
 
 Diplomatic duties are discharged by ambas- 
 sadors who are accredited to the governments 
 of France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy, 
 and by ministers resident and ministers pleni- 
 potentiary, or envoys extraordinary, who are 
 accredited to other foreign governments. These 
 officers receive an annual compensation, or sal- 
 ary, varying from $17,500 to $5,000, each. 
 
 To each embassy, or legation of the United 
 States, in foreign parts, are attached a secretary 
 and a staff of clerks, as the duties of the place 
 may require. 
 
 Whenever the chief officer of an embassy, 
 or legation, is absent or disabled, the officer 
 designated to discharge temporarily the duties 
 of the post is styled charge d"* affaires ad in- 
 terim. 
 
 The consular service includes consuls-general, 
 consuls, and commercial agents. Their chief 
 duties and powers relate to the commercial in- 
 terests of the United States and include the 
 protection of American citizens and sailors 
 abroad, the ascertainment of ruling prices of 
 goods in foreign markets, and the verification 
 of invoices of goods shipped to the United 
 
 35 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 States. Nearly all of these officers are paid 
 an annual salary ; those at the least important 
 posts derive their compensation from fees. 
 
 In certain countries where the United States 
 exercises ex-territorial, or special, jurisdiction, 
 the consular officers sit in a tribunal which has 
 jurisdiction in criminal and civil cases in which 
 citizens of the United States may be either 
 plaintiff, or defendant, or both. 
 
 The Treasury Department. This is the 
 second of the three original Executive depart- 
 ments ; it is also the most extensive and com- 
 plex of all the subdivisions of the Government. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury is forbidden to 
 be engaged in the transaction of the business 
 of trade or commerce. He has charge of the 
 finances of the Government and is custodian 
 of its funds. He is required to keep the pub- 
 lic accounts, prepare plans to provide a public 
 revenue and to maintain the public credit, and 
 to report to Congress what sums of money are 
 required to carry on the Legislative, Executive 
 and Judicial branches of the Government. 
 
 In addition to this, it is the duty of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to superintend the 
 collection of the revenue, issue all warrants on 
 which money may be drawn from or paid 
 into the treasury of the United States ; manage 
 
 36 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 the public debt, coinage, and currency ; super- 
 vise the national banks, the internal revenue 
 service, the customs establishment, the revenue 
 marine, the light-house system, the coast and 
 geodetic survey, the life - saving service, the 
 marine hospitals, the commercial marine of the 
 United States, steamboat inspection, and con- 
 struction of public buildings. 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury is aided in 
 the discharge of his duties by three Assistant 
 Secretaries, to whom various subdivisions of 
 labor are assigned ; and one of these, in the 
 absence or disability of the Secretary, may act 
 in his stead. 
 
 The other principal subdivisions of the 
 Treasury Department are in charge of the chief 
 clerk, first and second comptrollers, the first, 
 second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth auditors, 
 the treasurer, the register of the treasury, the 
 director of the mint, the comptroller of the 
 currency, the commissioner of customs, the 
 commissioner of internal revenue, the commis- 
 sioner of navigation, the superintendent of 
 coast and geodetic survey, supervising inspector- 
 general of steam-vessels, supervising surgeon- 
 general of marine hospital service, general 
 superintendent of the life-saving service, super- 
 vising architect, chief of bureau of statistics, 
 
 37 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 chief of bureau of printing and engraving, su- 
 perintendent of immigration, and president of 
 light-house board. 
 
 The duties of most of these officers are in- 
 dicated by their titles. In addition to this it 
 may be explained that the first comptroller 
 countersigns all warrants issued by the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, whether designed to transfer 
 the public revenues to the treasury or to draw 
 moneys therefrom ; and he also receives, ex- 
 amines, and reports upon a variety of public ac- 
 counts. The second comptroller, in like man- 
 ner, has charge of such accounts as do not pass 
 through the office of the first comptroller. 
 
 The six auditors receive, examine, audit and 
 refer to the two comptrollers the public ac- 
 counts, to each auditor being allotted certain 
 classes of accounts, as those of the consular and 
 diplomatic service, the postal service, army pen- 
 sions, etc. 
 
 The War Department. This is the third of 
 the three Executive departments originally 
 created at the foundation of the Government. 
 The Secretary of War is charged with all 
 matters relating to the army, and generally of 
 the military establishment, including fortifica- 
 tions, arsenals, etc. He is under the direction 
 of the President, and has custody of all papers, 
 
 38 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 records and other documents relating to the 
 army ; also he is charged with the superintend- 
 ence of the purchase and distribution of mili- 
 tary stores and supplies, all military transpor- 
 tation, the signal service and meteorological 
 records, the military academy, the disburse- 
 ment of money appropriated for the improve- 
 ment of rivers and harbors and their survey, 
 the supply of arms, accoutrements, and muni- 
 tions of war, and the establishment of harbor 
 lines and the approval of bridges over naviga- 
 ble streams that may be authorized by act of 
 Congress. 
 
 The Secretary of War is aided in the dis- 
 charge of his duties by an Assistant Secretary, 
 who may, in the absence of his chief, act in his 
 stead. The other principal civil officer of the 
 department is the chief clerk, who has charge 
 of the official mail and who discharges certain 
 routine duties. 
 
 The general business of the War Department 
 is transacted in the military subdivisions, or 
 bureaus, the chiefs of which are officers of the 
 army who are assigned to these duties and each 
 of whom receives the pay of a brigadier-general. 
 These bureaus are as follows : Adjutant-General, 
 Inspector-General, Quartermaster-General, Com- 
 missary-General, Surgeon-General, Paymaster- 
 
 39 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 General, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ord- 
 nance, Judge-Advocate-General, Chief Signal 
 Officer. 
 
 The Adjutant-General issues the orders of 
 the President, the Secretary of War, and the 
 General commanding the army. He also con- 
 ducts the correspondence of the office with the 
 army, issues commissions, receives resignations 
 and reports, keeps the muster-rolls, and is cus- 
 todian of the roster and records of the army. 
 The Inspector- General inspects and reports 
 upon the condition of the army, the military 
 posts, and the accounts of disbursing offi- 
 cers. The Quartermaster-General has charge of 
 transportation, equipage, forage, clothing, etc. 
 The Commissary-General has charge of the 
 subsistence of the army and the purchase of ra- 
 tions. The Surgeon-General supervises the 
 medical department of the army, including 
 military hospitals. The Paymaster - General 
 keeps the accounts and disburses the pay of the 
 army. The Chief of Engineers is command- 
 er of a corps that is charged with the care of 
 fortifications, military bridges, and river and 
 harbor surveys and improvements, etc. The 
 Chief of Ordnance has charge of all arms and 
 munitions of war, artillery, arsenals, and weap- 
 ons. The Chief Signal Officer superintends 
 40 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 the signal service and the meteorological, or 
 weather bureau. The Judge Advocate- General 
 receives and reviews proceedings of courts- 
 martial and other military tribunals, and fur- 
 nishes opinions and reports on legal questions 
 when called upon by the Secretary of War. 
 
 The United States Military Academy is es- 
 tablished for the purpose of training young 
 men to serve as officers of the army. Each 
 Representative and Delegate in Congress is 
 authorized to appoint a cadet at the academy, 
 provided the appointment previously made for 
 his district has expired. In addition to these, 
 there are ten appointments at large, and one 
 for the District of Columbia, which are filled 
 by the President. The course of instruction 
 lasts four years, and the cadets, while at the 
 academy, are under strict military discipline. 
 The officers of the establishment are detailed 
 from the army, and the establishment is subject 
 to the articles of war. On graduation, provided 
 there are vacancies in the army, each cadet is 
 commissioned as second lieutenant and assigned 
 to duty. In case there are few vacancies in the 
 army, the graduating cadets, or so many of 
 them as may exceed the number of vacancies 
 to be filled, are honorably discharged with the 
 payment of one year's annual salary. Cadets, 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 while at the academy, are allowed an annual 
 salary of $500. 
 
 The Department of Justice. The chief offi- 
 cer of this department is the Attorney -General. 
 His office was created in 1789 ; but the Attor- 
 ney-General was not made a member of the 
 President's cabinet until 1814 ; and the Depart 
 ment of Justice was not organized under that 
 title as one of the executive departments of the 
 Government until 1870, when Congress placed 
 under the supervision of the Attorney-General 
 the various law officers of the Government 
 whose functions are to interpret and apply the 
 statutes governing the business of the several 
 departments and bureaus and to prosecute vio- 
 lations of the law in certain cases. 
 
 The Attorney-General is the head of the De- 
 partment of Justice and is the chief law officer 
 of the Government. He advises the President 
 and other executive officers of the Government, 
 when required, on questions of law. He also 
 exercises a general supervision over the United 
 States attorneys and marshals in the judicial 
 circuits and districts of the several States and 
 Territories ; and he provides special counsel for 
 the United States when requested to do so by 
 any of the executive departments. Either he 
 or the Solicitor- General conducts and argues 
 42 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 before the United States Supreme Court and 
 the Court of Claims all cases in which the 
 Government is a party to the suit. 
 
 The Solicitor-General assists the Attorney- 
 General in the discharge of his duties, and in 
 the absence or disability of that officer he is 
 the acting Attorney-General. The Solicitor- 
 General may be sent by the Attorney- General 
 to represent the United States in any case 
 brought in any State or United States court, or 
 foreign tribunal, when the interests of the 
 Government may require. 
 
 Four Assistant Attorneys-General assist the 
 Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General in 
 the discharge of their duties. These are charged 
 with the argument and preparation of causes in 
 the Supreme Court, the defence of the United 
 States in the Court of Claims, and the defence 
 of claims for Indian depredations. 
 
 The different law officers of the various exec- 
 utive departments exercise their functions under 
 the supervision of the Department of Justice. 
 These are the Assistant Attorney -General for 
 the Department of the Interior, the Assistant 
 Attorney-General for the Post-Office Depart- 
 ment, the Solicitor of the Treasury, the Solicitor 
 of Internal Revenue, and the Solicitor for the 
 Department of State. The legal advisers of 
 
 43 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 the War and Navy departments are a Judge- 
 Advocate-General in each. 
 
 The Department of Justice is also charged 
 with the business management of the judicial 
 department of the Government, including the 
 appointment, or recommendation for appoint- 
 ment, of judges, attorneys, marshals, and other 
 officers of United States courts in all the States 
 and Territories, and the examination and allow- 
 ance of the accounts of the same. 
 
 The district attorneys (whose official title is 
 assistant attorney of the United States) and the 
 United States marshals are appointed for four 
 years by the President, with the advice and 
 consent of the Senate ; they are paid partly by 
 salaries and partly by fees, but their compensa- 
 tion is limited by law to a maximum of $6,000 
 a year. Clerks of the United States courts are 
 appointed by the judges and are paid by fees, 
 their total compensation being limited by law. 
 
 The Post- Office Department. This depart- 
 ment was created by act of Congress in 1794 ; 
 but the office of Postmaster-General had been 
 in existence since the foundation of the Gov- 
 ernment. The Postmaster- General did not be- 
 come a member of the President's cabinet until 
 1829. 
 
 The Postmaster-General has the direction and 
 
 44 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 management of the Post - Office Department. 
 He appoints all its officers and employees, with 
 the exception of the four Assistant Postmasters- 
 General, who are appointed by the President, 
 with the advice and consent of the Senate. He 
 also appoints all postmasters whose compensa- 
 tion does not exceed $1,000 per annum; all 
 others are appointed by the President and Sen- 
 ate and are called presidential postmasters. 
 The Postmaster-General also (with the advice 
 and consent of the President) makes postal 
 treaties with foreign governments, awards con- 
 tracts, and directs the management of the do- 
 mestic and foreign mail service of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Postmaster - General has the power to 
 establish and discontinue post - offices (but not 
 post-roads) ; to control the styles of and the 
 times for issuing and recalling postal stamps, 
 envelopes, wrappers, etc.; to prescribe the 
 manner of keeping and transmitting accounts 
 of postal employees, and to control the ex- 
 penditure of the moneys that may be appropri- 
 ated for the maintenance of the postal service. 
 
 In case of the absence, death, or disability 
 of the Postmaster-General, the duties of his 
 office are discharged by some one of the four 
 Assistant Postmasters- General, in the order of 
 
 45 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 their rank ; and the officer thus temporarily in 
 charge is Acting Postmaster-General. 
 
 The duties of the four Assistant Postmasters- 
 General are divided in such a way as to place 
 in each bureau several allotments of the routine 
 business of the department. 
 
 The First Assistant Postmaster-General has 
 charge of the following subdivisions : salaries 
 and allowances, free delivery, money-orders, 
 dead letters, and correspondence. 
 
 The Second Assistant Postmaster - General 
 has charge of the transportation of all mails, 
 and his bureau embraces six subdivisions, as 
 follows : contracts, inspection, railway adjust- 
 ment, mail equipment, railway mail service, 
 foreign mails. 
 
 The Third Assistant Postmaster-General has 
 charge of the finance department of the ser- 
 vice; and the subdivisions of his office are 
 those of accounts and finances, postage- stamps 
 and stamped envelopes, registered letters, classi- 
 fication of mail matter, special delivery, and of- 
 ficial files and indexes. 
 
 The Fourth Assistant Postmaster- General has 
 general charge of .the bureau of appointments, 
 of bonds and commissions of appointees, of 
 post-office inspectors and of depredations on 
 the mails, and violations of the postal laws. 
 46 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 The salaries of the postmasters of the United 
 States are fixed by law ; and those who do not 
 receive annual salaries are compensated by com- 
 missions determined on the amounts of the re- 
 ceipts of the respective offices. 
 
 The Department of the Navy. This depart- 
 ment and the office of Secretary of the Navy 
 were created by act of Congress, in 1798. 
 Previous to that time the affairs of the navy 
 were administered by the Secretary of War. 
 There is no law of Congress under which the 
 Secretary has been made a member of the cabi- 
 net of the President ; but usage has permitted 
 this. The Secretary exercises over the man- 
 agement of the navy the same functions that 
 are exercised over the affairs of the army by 
 the Secretary of War. He performs such du- 
 ties as the President, who is Commander-in- 
 Chief, may assign to him ; and he has general 
 superintendence of construction, manning, 
 equipment, armament, detail, and employment 
 of the vessels of war. 
 
 The other principal civil officers of the 
 department are an Assistant Secretary of the 
 Navy and a chief clerk. The Assistant Secre- 
 tary performs such duties as may be assigned 
 to him by the Secretary, and in case the Secre- 
 tary of the Navy becomes disabled or is for any 
 
 47 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 reason unable to discharge the duties of his 
 office, the Assistant becomes Acting Secretary 
 of the Navy. 
 
 The routine business of the department is 
 transacted in eight bureaus, the chiefs of which 
 are officers of the navy who are detailed for 
 this duty. Each of these officers must have 
 reached the rank of captain ; and the pay of 
 the officers is $5,000 a year while on duty. 
 
 The bureaus of the Navy Department, like 
 those of the War Department, are charged 
 with duties so classed as to embrace the several 
 branches of the service ; they are as follows : 
 yards and docks, equipment and recruiting, 
 navigation, ordnance, construction and repair, 
 steam engineering, provisions and clothing, 
 medicine and surgery, supplies and accounts. 
 
 In addition to these the Navy Department 
 has supervision of the Naval Academy, the Naval 
 Observatory, and a hydrographic office which 
 provides charts, sailing directions, etc., to the 
 vessels of the navy and for the use of navigators 
 generally. 
 
 The Bureau of Yards and Docks has charge of 
 all buildings and other structures within the 
 limits of the naval reservations of the United 
 States, but not of hospitals and magazines out- 
 side of those limits. The bureau is responsi- 
 48 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 ble for the care and maintenance of all such 
 buildings and grounds and the appliances re- 
 quired thereupon. 
 
 The Bureau of Equipment is charged with the 
 duty of providing for the equipment of the 
 naval vessels with ship stores, supplies, rigging, 
 fuel, apparatus, and all other appliances that 
 may not be otherwise provided for in the duties 
 of other subdivisions of the department. 
 
 The duties of the Bureau of Ordnance com- 
 prise all that relate to the manufacture of naval 
 ordnance and ammunition, the armament of 
 vessels of war, the arsenals and magazines, the 
 trials and tests of ordnance, arms and ammu- 
 nition, torpedo stations and experimental bat- 
 teries. 
 
 The chief of the Bureau of Construction and 
 Repairs has charge of all dry docks and all ves- 
 sels undergoing repairs ; the designing, building, 
 and fitting-out of vessels, and the armor of iron- 
 clads. 
 
 The chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering 
 directs and supervises the designing, construc- 
 tion, fitting-out, and repairing of the steam 
 marine engines, boilers, and other appurtenances 
 employed on the vessels and in the workshops 
 of the naval establishment. 
 
 The chief of the Bureau of Provisions and 
 
 49 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Clothing has charge of the purchase and distri- 
 bution of provisions, clothing, small stores, and 
 water for drinking and cooking purposes, on 
 board the vessels of the navy. 
 
 The chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Sur- 
 gery has charge of everything relating to the 
 conduct and maintenance of the medical depart- 
 ment of the navy and naval hospitals. 
 
 The Bureau of Supplies and Accounts has 
 charge of all the accounts of the naval estab- 
 lishment, except those otherwise provided for ; 
 and it is the office of the Paymaster-General of 
 the Navy, who is charged with the duty of pay- 
 ing officers, enlisted men, and civil employees 
 of the navy. 
 
 The Judge-Advocate-General, under direc- 
 tion of the Secretary of the Navy, receives, re- 
 vises, reports upon and records the proceedings 
 of all courts-martial and courts of inquiry in the 
 navy, examines claims, and is the law officer of 
 the department. 
 
 The Commandant of the Marine Corps is re- 
 sponsible for the general efficiency and disci- 
 pline of the corps, distributes the officers and 
 men, and executes such orders and instructions 
 as may be necessary for the employment and 
 recruiting of that force. 
 
 Attached to the Navy Department are these 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 boards and officers : naval war records, nauti- 
 cal almanac, inspection and survey, naval in- 
 telligence, museum of hygiene, naval examin- 
 ing board, retiring board, medical examining 
 board, hydrography, and naval intelligence. 
 
 The Naval Academy was established by act of 
 Congress, in 1845, for the purpose of educating 
 and training young men as officers of the navy. 
 One cadet is appointed by each member of Con- 
 gress, or Territorial Delegate, provided appoint- 
 ments for the district represented have previous- 
 ly expired. There are, in addition to these, 
 ten appointments at large and one appointment 
 for the District of Columbia, to be made by the 
 President. The term of a cadet is for six years, 
 the last two years being spent on sea duty. On 
 final graduation, the cadets are assigned to duty 
 in some one of the divisions of the naval service, 
 with the rank of ensign. Cadets not assigned 
 to service after graduation are honorably dis- 
 charged with one year's pay. The pay of a 
 cadet during his term at the academy is $500 
 a year ; and he is allowed an increase in pay 
 for additional expenses while on a cruise before 
 final graduation and commission as ensign. 
 
 The Department of the Interior. This de- 
 partment was created by act of Congress in 
 1849, and was called, in that act, The Home 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Department ; but usage has substituted the 
 name by which it is now universally and offi- 
 cially known. The Secretary of the Interior is 
 by usage a member of the President's cabinet ; 
 but there is no authority in law for the custom. 
 Before the establishment of the Department of 
 the Interior, the functions of the department 
 were distributed among the executive depart- 
 ments then in existence, excepting the office of 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior is charged with 
 the supervision of all public business relating to 
 patents for inventions ; bounty lands and pen- 
 sions; the survey and sale, or other disposition, 
 of the public lands ; the Indians, education, rail- 
 roads, the geological surveys, the census of 
 the United States, reservations other than mil- 
 itary or naval, distribution of appropriations 
 for mechanical and agricultural colleges in the 
 United States ; public hospitals and charitable 
 institutions in the District of Columbia, and 
 certain duties and powers in relation to the Ter- 
 ritories of the United States. 
 
 The Secretary of the Interior is aided in .the 
 discharge of his duties by two Assistant Secre- 
 taries. The First Assistant Secretary considers 
 a certain class of appeals from the Commission- 
 er of the General Land Office ; examines com- 
 
 52 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 plaints against officers and employees of the 
 department ; instructs Indian and mine inspect- 
 ors ; supervises purchases of Indian supplies, 
 and all matters relating to the Indian bureau 
 service, generally ; has oversight of the afore- 
 mentioned Government reservations, and of the 
 governmental institutions in the District of 
 Columbia, and acts as Secretary of the In- 
 terior in the absence of that officer. 
 
 The Second Assistant Secretary of the In- 
 terior considers appeals from the Commissioner 
 of Pensions, generally supervises the business 
 matters relating to violations of the pension 
 laws, and decisions in the Patent Office, and 
 has the examination of official bonds and con- 
 tracts. 
 
 The Chief Clerk has the general supervision 
 of the clerks and employees of the department, 
 the correspondence of the department, and of 
 the printing and general order of the establish- 
 ment. 
 
 The Commissioner of Patents is charged with 
 the duty of examining all applications for pat- 
 ents for inventions and the renewal of patents 
 already granted, and the registration of trade- 
 marks and labels. He supervises all matters re- 
 lating to the issue of letters-patent for such in- 
 ventions. 
 
 53 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 The Commissioner of Pensions supervises the 
 examination and adjudication of all claims aris- 
 ing under the laws of Congress granting bounty 
 land or pensions to any person on account of 
 services rendered to the United States. 
 
 The Commissioner of the General Land 
 Office is charged with the survey, mapping, sale 
 or other disposition of the public lands, under 
 the authority of the laws of Congress. 
 
 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has 
 charge of all matters relating to the various In- 
 dian tribes that are under the care of the United 
 States, whether in the States or the Territories. 
 He issues instructions and receives reports from 
 agents and school superintendents; and he 
 superintends the purchase and distribution of 
 supplies and presents for the Indians and the 
 payment of annuities due them, subject to the 
 orders of the Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 The Commissioner of Education collects such 
 statistics and facts as may relate to the condi- 
 tion and progress of education in the United 
 States, publishes and disseminates such infor- 
 mation, and generally aids in the promotion 
 of popular education throughout the United 
 States. 
 
 The Commissioner of Railroads prescribes a 
 system of reports to be rendered to him by rail- 
 
 54 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 road companies whose roads have been aided in 
 their construction by grants of land, loans, or 
 subsidy in bonds by the Government. It is 
 his duty to see that the laws relating to the 
 management of such railroads are strictly com- 
 plied with ; and he is obliged by law to make 
 an annual report which shall fully set forth all 
 matters relating to these and other railroads 
 that may be useful for the information of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 The Superintendent of the Census supervises 
 the taking of the decennial census of the United 
 States and the subsequent publication of in- 
 formation so collected ; such information re- 
 lates not only to the numbers of the population 
 of the States and Territories, but to the wealth 
 and industry, social condition, educational ac- 
 quirements, and other characteristics of the 
 people of the United States. 
 
 The Department of Agriculture. This De- 
 partment was established by act of Congress, 
 May 15, 1862. The chief officer of the de- 
 partment was a Commissioner who had no seat 
 in the cabinet of the President. Congress sub- 
 sequently (in 1889) created the office of Sec- 
 retary of Agriculture, and that officer was as- 
 signed to a seat in the cabinet. 
 
 The Secretary of Agriculture supervises all 
 
 55 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 business relating to the industry of agriculture. 
 He appoints all officers and employees of his 
 department except the Assistant Secretary and 
 the Chief of the Weather Bureau, who are ap- 
 pointed by the President ; directs the manage- 
 ment of all the subdivisions of his department, 
 and has supervision of all quarantine stations for 
 the detention and examination of cattle im- 
 ported from foreign lands or transferred from 
 States in which contagious diseases may exist. 
 
 The Secretary is aided in the discharge of 
 his duties by an Assistant Secretary, who, in 
 the absence of the chief, acts in his stead. 
 
 The subdivisions of the Department of Ag- 
 riculture have charge of the following concerns 
 relating to agriculture : Botany, pomology, 
 vegetable pathology, microscopy, chemistry, 
 economic ornithology, mammalogy, entomol- 
 ogy, animal industry, forestry, seeds, experiment 
 stations, weather bureau, irrigation inquiry, 
 fibre investigation, statistics, and illustration. 
 
 It is the duty of the chiefs of these bureaus 
 and offices to collect information relating to all 
 the interests of the industry of agriculture, and 
 to prepare the same for distribution to the pub- 
 lic in the form of reports and press notices. 
 
 Minor Subdivisions. There are several sub- 
 divisions of the Executive Department of the 
 
 56 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Government, independent of those already 
 named, whose chiefs are not included in the 
 cabinet of the President. 
 
 The Department of Labor is in charge of a 
 Commissioner, who is directed by law to ac- 
 quire and diffuse among the people of the 
 United States useful information concerning 
 labor ; especially with relation to hours, rates 
 of wages, earnings of working people, and the 
 best means for the promotion of the material, 
 intellectual, social, and moral prosperity of 
 working men and women. It is also his duty 
 to collect and disseminate information relating 
 to trusts, controversies between employers and 
 employed, costs of production, etc., and other 
 matters of interest to persons employed in every 
 variety of manual labor. 
 
 The Inter - State Commerce Commission, 
 established by Congress under authority of the 
 clause of the Constitution relating to the 
 power " to regulate commerce," is charged 
 with the duty of looking into the management 
 of all common carriers whose business is that of 
 transporting merchandise and passengers on 
 lines that extend outside of the boundaries of 
 any single State. Generally, the Commission 
 inquires into the details of interstate communi- 
 cation by rail, with special reference to rates of 
 
 57 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 traffic, their reasonableness, etc.; but the func- 
 tions of the commission extend to some super- 
 vision of the foreign trade of the United States, 
 so far as rates and charges are concerned. 
 
 The United States Civil Service Commission 
 is directed by law to prepare rules and regula- 
 tions for the admission of persons to the civil 
 service of the Government, for promotions in 
 the service and for the advancement of the 
 efficiency of the same. 
 
 The Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, is 
 charged with the duty of collecting and circu- 
 lating useful information concerning the prop- 
 agation of food fishes in the saline and fresh 
 waters of the United States; to inquire into 
 the causes of the diminution of said supply ; to 
 study the characteristics of the fishing grounds 
 of all the waters of the United States ; to pro- 
 mote the distribution of means to increase the 
 supply of food fishes, and to collect and publish 
 statistics of the fisheries, etc. 
 
 The Public Printer has charge of all print- 
 ing, binding, and illustration of books and docu- 
 ments ordered to be printed at the expense of 
 the Government. 
 
 The Board on Geographic Names is com- 
 posed of experts from several departments of 
 the Government, who are charged with the 
 
 58 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 duty of settling all questions relating to the 
 spelling of geographic names, in order that a 
 uniform nomenclature shall obtain in all of the 
 departments of the Government. 
 
 The Bureau of American Republics collects 
 and publishes information relating to the repub- 
 lics of North America and South America, with 
 special reference to the development of their 
 material interests. 
 
 The Intercontinental Railway Commission is 
 charged with the duty of examining and re- 
 porting upon the most feasible routes, and 
 their cost, for a railway that shall connect the 
 United States of America and other American 
 republics. 
 
 Tenure of Office. The Constitution does 
 not limit the term of any officer of the United 
 States except those of President and Vice- 
 President. Congress has provided by law that 
 no officer, subject to confirmation by the Sen- 
 ate, shall be removed except by consent of the 
 Senate. During any recess of the Senate the 
 President may suspend such officer, and the 
 suspension shall hold until the end of the next 
 session of Congress, subject to an agreement 
 meantime between the President and the Sen- 
 ate. Where Congress has fixed a limit to the 
 term of civil officers, it has been limited to four 
 
 59 
 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 years ; but the great majority of the civil 
 officers of the United States Government hold 
 their places at the pleasure of the appointing 
 power. Civil service rules forbid the removal 
 of subordinate officials and employees except 
 for just cause. 
 
 60 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE JUDICIARY 
 
 r I ^HE National Judiciary comprises the fol- 
 JL lowing courts : the Supreme Court of 
 the United States, the Circuit Courts of Ap- 
 peals, the Circuit Courts, and the District 
 Courts. In addition to these, though not 
 immediately related to them and embodied in 
 the same system, are the United States courts 
 in the Territories and the District of Columbia, 
 the Court of Claims, and the Court of Private 
 Land Claims. 
 
 The United States courts, with the exception 
 of those in the Territories and the District of 
 Columbia, and the courts of claims above 
 named, have jurisdiction of all cases which in- 
 volve the rights of States ; the true meaning of 
 the articles of the Constitution ; the meaning, 
 constitutionality, and enforcement of the laws 
 of Congress ; the construction and enforcement 
 of treaties with foreign nations ; the rights and 
 privileges of foreign ambassadors and other 
 diplomatic or consular agents accredited to the 
 Government of the United States ; the rights 
 61 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 and duties of Federal officials ; and in all cases 
 in which the plaintiff and defendant are States, 
 or citizens of one State and the government 
 of another State. These courts also have juris- 
 diction of admiralty cases, that is to say, those 
 which arise out of the navigation laws collisions 
 of vessels, maritime contracts, the taking of 
 prizes at sea, etc. All crimes against the pub- 
 lic revenue (smuggling dutiable goods, coun- 
 terfeiting coins, bank-notes, or postage-stamps, 
 etc.), and violations of the postal laws, patent 
 laws, and other enactments of Congress, are 
 cognizable only in the courts of the United 
 States. 
 
 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 This tribunal is provided for in the Constitu- 
 tion. All lesser and inferior courts are left to 
 be created by Congress at its discretion. 
 
 The Supreme Court, as now constituted, is 
 composed of one Chief Justice and eight As- 
 sociate Justices. These are appointed by the 
 President, with the consent of the Senate, for 
 life, or during good behavior. They receive 
 an annual salary of $ 10,000 each, with the ex- 
 ception of the Chief Justice, whose salary is 
 $10,500 a year. 
 
 62 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 The Constitution forbids that the compensa- 
 tion of United States justices and judges shall 
 be diminished during their terms of office. 
 
 The Justices.of the Supreme Court may retire 
 with full annual .pay on reaching the age of 
 seventy years, provided such incumbent shall 
 have served ten years previous to retirement. 
 
 The Supreme Court of the United States has 
 original jurisdiction (that is, suits are to be 
 begun in this court) only in two classes of cases 
 those which affect ambassadors, consuls, and 
 other public ministers, and those to which a 
 State, or the United States, may be a party. 
 All other cases must be begun in some one of 
 the inferior courts ; but certain of such cases 
 may reach the Supreme Court on appeal from 
 the courts below. 
 
 All sessions of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States are held in the Capitol building 
 at Washington. The officers of the court are 
 appointed by the justices of the court. 
 
 Under the judicial system of the United 
 States, the Republic is divided into nine judicial 
 circuits, each presided over by the Chief Justice 
 or one of the eight Associate Justices, one in 
 each circuit. Each of these nine circuits com- 
 prises two or more States, but the boundaries 
 of no circuit includes a fraction of any State. 
 
 63 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 THE CIRCUIT COURTS OF APPEAL. 
 
 These courts are next lower ii\ order after the 
 Supreme Court, and to them are carried a cer- 
 tain class of cases appealed from the courts 
 below. In each circuit is established one of 
 these courts of appeal ; and the judges compos- 
 ing the judicial officers are the Supreme Court 
 Justice assigned to that circuit, the Circuit 
 Judge, and an additional Circuit Judge ap- 
 pointed under the law creating the tribunal 
 known as the Circuit Courts of Appeal. 
 
 The sittings of these courts are at different 
 points in the circuits, as the public convenience 
 may require ; always in buildings of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Circuit Judges must reside in the circuit 
 for which they are appointed. Their salary is 
 $6,000, each, per year. 
 
 THE CIRCUIT COURTS. 
 
 Next in order below the courts of appeal are 
 the Circuit Courts, one in each of the nine cir- 
 cuits above referred to. 
 
 The original jurisdiction of these courts lies 
 under the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme 
 
 64 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 Court. From the final judgment of a circuit 
 court, when the matter in dispute exceeds the 
 value of $5,000, an appeal lies to the next 
 higher court. But in cases in which are in- 
 volved violations, or the construction, of the 
 pension or the patent laws, the right of appeal 
 is not limited by the amount of value. 
 
 In each circuit, court may be held by the 
 Associate Justice of the. Supreme Court alone, 
 or by either of the Circuit Judges alone, by 
 either of these two together, or by either one 
 of the superior judges with the District Judge. 
 
 THE DISTRICT COURTS. 
 
 The lowest court in the judicial system is the 
 District Court. The nine judicial circuits are 
 subdivided into districts, sixty-four in all ; and 
 the boundaries of each district are comprised 
 within the boundaries of a State, the more pop- 
 ulous States having two or more districts as the 
 public needs may require. 
 
 In each district there is appointed a District 
 Judge, who has an annual salary of $5,000, and 
 who receives his appointment from the Presi- 
 dent, with the consent of the Senate. The Dis- 
 trict Attorney in each one of these districts 
 receives appointment from the Department of 
 
 65 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 Justice, and is paid in fees, the amount of 
 which is limited by law to a fixed sum. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 In addition to these tribunals, United States 
 Commissioners are appointed by law to reside 
 at the various centres of population throughout 
 the United States. The functions of these 
 officers relate to a cognizance of minor offences 
 against the laws of the United States and to the 
 verification of papers to be certified from one 
 State to another under the laws of the United 
 States; or a commissioner may sit as a com- 
 mitting magistrate in certain cases of the viola- 
 tion of the statutes. 
 
 Criminal cases, relating to violations of the 
 patent, internal revenue, pension, and" other 
 laws, must originate in the Circuit and District 
 Courts. Certain of these cases may be carried 
 to the court of last resort, which is the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. Civil cases be- 
 tween different States, or between persons of 
 different States, must originate in a Circuit 
 Court ; and there is a right of appeal in suits 
 of sufficient importance on which they may be 
 carried to the Circuit Court of Appeals. 
 
 The Circuit Court of Appeals may, without 
 66 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 trying a case brought before it, order it to the 
 United States Supreme Court ; or the Supreme 
 Court may order a case to be taken from the 
 docket of the Circuit Court of Appeals and 
 transferred to its own docket. 
 
 A case involving the construction of consti- 
 tutional law, originating in one of the lower 
 courts, does not go on appeal to the Circuit 
 Court of Appeals, but directly to the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 Cases may be taken directly to the Supreme 
 Court of the United States from the higher 
 courts of the States, but only under certain re- 
 strictions. 
 
 Criminal cases have been rarely appealed 
 from State courts to the Supreme Court ; but 
 appeals have been taken when the appellant 
 complained that he was about to be deprived 
 of life, liberty, or other natural rights, without 
 due process of law. 
 
 Of the possible cases arising under constitu- 
 tional law, may be mentioned those which in- 
 volve the right of a State to enact laws that 
 may be violative of the rights and privileges of 
 citizens of the United States, or contrary to the 
 spirit of the Federal Constitution. 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 COURTS OF CLAIMS. 
 
 The Court of Claims, established by act of 
 Congress in 1855, takes cognizance of all claims 
 founded upon any law of Congress, or upon any 
 regulation of any executive department, or upon 
 any contract with the Government of the United 
 States, and of all claims that may be referred to 
 it by Congress. 
 
 All such claims, however, are barred unless 
 presented to the court within six years from the 
 time when the claim shall have accrued. In 
 case the claim is so barred, the claimants may 
 petition Congress for redress, and that body 
 may waive the statute of limitations and order 
 a reference of the claim to the court. 
 
 The Court of Claims was created for the 
 purpose of relieving Congress of the considera- 
 tion of a great variety of claims against the 
 Government, and that tribunal is still regarded 
 as more intimately connected with the legis- 
 lative branch than with any other department 
 of the Government of the United States. Con- 
 gress, accordingly, may order any demand or 
 claim against the Government to be taken to 
 this court for adjudication and determination. 
 
 In a limited class, cases may be taken on ap- 
 68 
 
THE JUDICIARY 
 
 peal to the Supreme Court of the United States 
 from this court. 
 
 The justices of the Court of Claims are a 
 Chief Justice and three Associate Judges, each 
 of whom is paid an annual salary of $4,500; 
 under certain conditions, any one of these may 
 be retired with full annual pay. 
 
 The sittings of this court are held in Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 The Court of Private Land Claims was also 
 created by act of Congress to relieve that body 
 of the consideration of a certain class of claims 
 arising under the laws of the United States re- 
 lating to land grants and concessions in the 
 more recently acquired territory of the United 
 States. 
 
 This court has a Chief Justice and four As- 
 sociate Justices, who receive an annual com- 
 pensation of $5,000 and necessary travelling 
 expenses. The court sits in the State of Col- 
 orado and the Territory of New Mexico. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 NATIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS 
 
 THE Republic of the United States is an 
 indestructible union of independent 
 States. 
 
 Each State is sovereign in all things except 
 those whose sovereignty has been conceded to 
 the National Government. 
 
 Under the Constitution, the National Gov- 
 ernment has the exclusive right to levy and 
 collect duties on goods imported from foreign 
 countries, coin money, make treaties with or 
 declare war against foreign governments, enact 
 naturalization laws, establish post-offices and 
 post-roads, regulate commerce between the 
 States and with foreign nations and with In- 
 dian tribes, grant patents and copyrights, fix a 
 standard of weights and measures, constitute 
 tribunals under the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, grant letters of 
 marque and reprisal in time of war, and issue 
 passports to Americans travelling in foreign 
 lands. 
 
 70 
 
NATIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS 
 
 Each State has the exclusive right to legislate 
 concerning the duties, rights, and privileges of 
 its own citizens ; to enact laws relating to the 
 administration of justice within its borders, to 
 regulate its militia, to limit or enlarge the right 
 of suffrage for its own citizens, to provide for 
 the regulation of the affairs of counties, cities, 
 and towns, and, generally, to regulate the do- 
 mestic affairs of the people of the State. 
 
 The National Government has no right to in- 
 terfere with the processes of the courts of any 
 State, or with the acts of any State Legislature, 
 so long as these processes and acts are not con- 
 trary to the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 Offences against the laws of a State are cog- 
 nizable only in courts organized by State laws. 
 Offences against the laws of Congress are cog- 
 nizable only in courts of the United States. 
 
 Should there be any question as to the right 
 of a State to enact certain laws, that question 
 is referable finally to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States ; and its decision is conclusive in 
 any such case, as there is no court to which ap- 
 peal can thereafter be taken. 
 
 Treason against the National Government 
 is cognizable only in courts of the United 
 States ; and all acts of American citizens, or of 
 foreign residents in the United States, that may 
 
NATIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS 
 
 be contrary to the provisions of treaties between 
 the Government of the United States and for- 
 eign nations, are referable only to the National 
 courts. 
 
 The Government of the United States is Na- 
 tional ; it is distinct from the governments of 
 the several individual States. 
 
 The government of each State is independ- 
 ent ; in the making of its laws and the regula- 
 tion of its own domestic concerns it cannot be 
 interfered with by any other State, or by the 
 National Government, provided always that its 
 acts are not in contravention of the provisions 
 of the National Constitution, nor invasive of 
 the rights of another independent State. 
 
 As all questions that relate to an alleged in- 
 vasion of the rights and privileges guaranteed 
 by the National Constitution are finally deter- 
 mined by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, the sovereignty of the National Govern- 
 ment is assured. 
 
 A citizen of the United States owes allegiance 
 to the National Government, which manages 
 the affairs of the nation ; to it he pays taxes, 
 direct or indirect, for its maintenance. He 
 also owes allegiance to the State within whose 
 limits he lives ; and the State Government has 
 authority to tax him for the maintenance of its 
 72 
 
NATIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS 
 
 legislative, executive, and judicial officers, pub- 
 lic schools, and the administration of justice, 
 and for the establishment and maintenance of 
 such other public institutions as may be au- 
 thorized by the constitution and laws of the 
 State. The citizen is also subject to taxation 
 for the maintenance of the county government 
 and the municipal government within whose 
 jurisdiction he has fixed his place of residence; 
 and he is entitled to participate in the manage- 
 ment of said governments in any of their several 
 branches. 
 
 State constitutions and State laws may not 
 agree with the laws and constitutions of other 
 States in their methods of regulating the rights 
 of suffrage ; methods of amending the State 
 Constitution; treatment of alien residents; capi- 
 tal punishment for crime ; management of banks, 
 taxation, divorces, and bankruptcy ; the par- 
 doning power, pay and official tenure of legis- 
 lative, executive, and judicial functionaries ; 
 frequency of legislative sessions ; observance of 
 the Sabbath ; punishment for civil and criminal 
 offences ; provision for public schools and main- 
 tenance of a militia, and other matters of exclu- 
 sive State jurisdiction. 
 
 73 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 NATURALIZATION 
 
 THE Congress of the United States has 
 sole jurisdiction of all matters per- 
 taining to the naturalization of foreign-born 
 persons. But Congress may confer upon State 
 courts, or other judicial authority, any portion 
 of the process of naturalization. As a matter 
 of fact, Congress has given to State courts cer- 
 tain authority in these particulars. 
 
 Any State may admit aliens to the rights of 
 citizenship, or exclude them therefrom, so far 
 as the exercise of those rights, or the denial 
 thereof, does not conflict with the provisions 
 of the National Constitution. 
 
 The conditions which Congress exacts of 
 foreign-born persons desiring to become citizens 
 of the United States relate chiefly to the length 
 of time during which the applicant has resided 
 within the jurisdiction of the Government of 
 the United States. 
 
 In order to secure naturalization, the ap- 
 plicant must be a free white person, or a person 
 of African descent. 
 
 74 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS 
 
 AN elector is a person who has a legal right 
 to vote at an election held for the pur- 
 pose of filling any office. In the usage of the 
 people of the United States, an elector (usually 
 known as a presidential elector), is a person 
 designated by vote of the people to signify their 
 choice in the election of a President and Vice- 
 President. 
 
 The Constitution provides that 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 Repre- 
 sentatives to which said State shall be entitled 
 in Congress. Therefore, to find how many 
 presidential electors are allowed to any State, 
 add together the number of Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives in Congress to which said State 
 is at that time entitled, and the result will show 
 the number of electoral votes belonging to that 
 State. 
 
 75 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS 
 
 In the early years of the Republic of the 
 United States, some of the States appointed 
 their presidential electors by act of Legislature; 
 some chose them by vote of the people ; and 
 other States combined the two methods. At 
 present, all the States agree in choosing their 
 electors by vote of the people. 
 
 Candidates for presidential electors are 
 named by conventions of voters ; and each 
 man so nominated is expected to vote for the 
 candidates for President and Vice-President 
 who are the choice of the convention of voters 
 which nominated the candidates for electors. 
 But any presidential elector may lawfully vote 
 for any candidate for President or Vice-Presi- 
 dent whom he chooses. 
 
 An Electoral College is the meeting of the 
 presidential electors of a State, convened for the 
 purpose of casting their votes for President and 
 Vice-President. 
 
 When those votes have been cast, a certified 
 list of the persons voted for, the titles of the 
 places to be filled, and the number of votes cast 
 in each case, is made out by the electors. 
 Copies of this list are sent to the presiding 
 officer of the United States Senate, by mail ; 
 to the same officer by messenger, and to the 
 judge of the United States district court within 
 76 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS 
 
 whose jurisdiction the Electoral College has 
 met. 
 
 The lists transmitted to the presiding of- 
 ficer of the United States Senate are opened 
 in the presence of both branches of Congress, 
 in joint convention, and, their contents being 
 made known, tellers representing both houses 
 of Congress are appointed to keep account 
 thereof; and, when the result is ascertained, 
 declaration of the same is made. 
 
 The persons having a majority of the votes 
 cast for President and for Vice-President are 
 declared elected. In case no person has a ma- 
 jority of the votes cast, then the House of Rep- 
 resentatives is charged with the duty of choos- 
 ing the President of the United States ; the 
 only candidates eligible under such circum- 
 stances are the three highest on the list of those 
 who have been voted for by the presidential 
 electors. 
 
 77 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 THE TERRITORIES 
 
 TERRITORIES of the United States are 
 under the exclusive control of Congress. 
 They are formed from domains known as the 
 public lands, and are governed under regula- 
 tions prescribed by Congress, the power of 
 appointing officers therein being vested in the 
 executive branch of the United States Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Congress may pass an act to organize a 
 Territory, or the first step in that direction 
 may be taken by the people of a district of 
 territory applying for an organic act. But in 
 any case, Congress must provide the frame- 
 work for such Territorial government, or that 
 which is provided by the people of said district 
 must be approved by Congress before it can be- 
 come operative. 
 
 The Governor of a Territory is appointed for 
 four years ; he has power to pardon offences 
 against the Territorial laws and to reprieve of- 
 
 78 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 fences against United States laws until an ap- 
 peal can be made to the President. 
 
 The Secretary of a Territory is appointed 
 for four years, and it is his business to record 
 all the official acts of the Governor and the 
 Territorial Legislature and to transmit certified 
 copies of the same to the President. 
 
 The Legislature is partly appointed by the 
 President and partly elected by the people. 
 Its acts must be in consonance with rules laid 
 down in the act of Congress organizing the 
 Territory. Congress retains the right to dis- 
 approve and annul any of the acts of a Terri- 
 torial Legislature. 
 
 The judiciary of a Territory consists of a 
 chief justice and two or more associate judges, 
 appointed for four years. The courts are also 
 provided with marshals, attorneys, and other 
 needed officials. 
 
 Each Territory is entitled to send a Delegate 
 to Congress, who is allowed all the privileges 
 of a Representative from a State except that of 
 voting. 
 
 The salaries of the Federal officials appointed 
 to places in a Territorial government, and all 
 the other expenses of a Territorial government, 
 are paid out of the National treasury under au- 
 thority of an act of Congress. 
 
 79 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 The name chosen for the title of a newly 
 organized Territory is fixed in the act to or- 
 ganize said Territory ; but when the people 
 of a Territory accept an act to enable them 
 to enter the Union as a State, they may 
 change that name for any other that they may 
 choose. 
 
 Local courts, under the jurisdiction of the 
 Territorial courts that have been authorized by 
 act of Congress, may be created by the Terri- 
 torial Legislature ; and the Legislature may 
 provide ways and means for county, municipal, 
 and other forms of local government. 
 
 When the constitution proposed for a new 
 State has been approved by Congress and the 
 President, and has been ratified by the people 
 of the Territory to be admitted as a State, that 
 community is thereby admitted to the Federal 
 Union, due proclamation of said admission be- 
 ing made by the executive branch of the Govern- 
 ment of the United States ; and the new State 
 is thereafter entitled to choose two members of 
 the United States Senate, and at least one 
 member of the House of Representatives; or 
 more than one Representative, provided the 
 State has sufficient population to present more 
 than one unit of the basis of representation. 
 
 When once admitted to the Federal Union, 
 80 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 there is no power in Congress to relegate a 
 State to the condition of a Territory. 
 
 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 The District of Columbia is a portion of the 
 territory of the United States which is governed 
 directly by Congress. 
 
 It was originally ceded to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment as a site for the National capital, by 
 the States of Virginia and Maryland ; the land 
 lay on either side of the Potomac River, and 
 was ten miles square. The buildings of the 
 United States Government were erected on the 
 Maryland side of the river, and that portion of 
 the territory that lay on the Virginia shore was 
 subsequently re-ceded to that State by Congress. 
 
 The District of Columbia may have its form 
 of government changed by Congress at any 
 time ; but the usage of Congress has been to 
 place the executive power of the local govern- 
 ment in the hands of a board of commissioners, 
 appointed by the President, with the consent of 
 the Senate. 
 
 Under certain restrictions, this governing 
 
 board makes provision for the creation and the 
 
 filling of lesser local offices ; and the right to 
 
 vote for some of the local officials may be vested 
 
 Si 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 in the inhabitants of the District. But for the 
 most part, every branch of the government is 
 directly supervised by Congress. 
 
 Citizens of States employed by the Federal 
 Government in the District of Columbia, do 
 not lose their rights of citizenship in the States 
 from which they may have been appointed, un- 
 less they choose to surrender them. They may 
 return to their respective States and exercise 
 those rights just as if they had not been absent. 
 
 No permanent resident of the District of 
 Columbia has the right to vote for any officer 
 whatever, except for such local officers as may 
 be chosen under the authority of an act of Con- 
 gress ; and the District is not permitted direct 
 representation in either House of Congress. 
 
 The judicial system of the District comprises 
 a Court of Appeals and a Supreme Court, with 
 lesser police justices and committing magis- 
 trates. 
 
 THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA. 
 
 This Territory (purchased from Russia in 
 1867), is yet unorganized. It is governed by 
 direct authority from Congress, the executive 
 power being lodged in the hands of a governor 
 and a commission, appointed by the President, 
 with the consent of the Senate. 
 82 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 There is no legislative branch of the govern- 
 ment, and the judicial authority is vested in a 
 court created by act of Congress. 
 
 An attorney, marshal, and other minor offi- 
 cials are also appointed by the executive branch 
 of the National Government. 
 
 The inhabitants of Alaska are not represent- 
 ed in Congress, and they have no opportunity 
 to exercise the right of suffrage. 
 
 THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 
 
 This Territory was set apart and dedicated 
 exclusively to settlement by civilized tribes of 
 Indians (June 30, 1834), and comprises the 
 lands lying south of Kansas, west of Missouri 
 and Arkansas, north of Texas, and east of the 
 one hundredth meridian. 
 
 The inhabitants retain their tribal organiza- 
 tions; but they are under the sovereignty of 
 the United States ; and Congress has exercised 
 that sovereignty by the extension of revenue 
 laws over the Territory. 
 
 A United States court, with one judge, 
 assisted by other officers, appointed by the 
 President, exercises judicial jurisdiction over of- 
 fences committed against the laws of the United 
 States within the Territory. 
 
 83 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 White persons are not permitted to settle in 
 the Territory, or acquire land titles therein, ex- 
 cept by treaty with the tribes, or unless they 
 have been lawfully adopted into some one .of 
 the said tribes. 
 
 THE ACQUISITIONS OF UNITED STATES TERRI- 
 TORY. 
 
 The territory outside of the boundaries of the 
 original thirteen States, lying east of the Mis- 
 sissippi River, was formerly covered by the 
 claims of several of those States. The western 
 boundaries of many of the States were not de- 
 fined. Many of the States claimed, with justice, 
 that their colonial charters granted them juris- 
 diction of all the lands lying westward of them 
 as far as the Pacific Ocean, although none vent- 
 ured to carry its claims westward of the Mis- 
 sissippi River. 
 
 Finally, between the years 1783 and 1802, 
 all that territory lying between the Mississippi 
 River and the western boundaries of the origi- 
 nal thirteen States was ceded to the United 
 States by the respective claimants, with the ex- 
 ception of Florida, which was purchased from 
 Spain in 1819. 
 
 From the territory thus acquired were subse- 
 
 84 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 quently organized several Territories, and these 
 in due time were admitted to the Union as 
 States, as follows : Alabama, Mississippi, Ten- 
 nessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and 
 Michigan. 
 
 The next considerable acquisition of territory 
 was the purchase of the Louisiana territory 
 from France by the United States, in 1803. 
 From this territory were subsequently created 
 the States of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, 
 Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North 
 Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, 
 the Indian Territory, and portions of Idaho and 
 Colorado. All of these States first passed 
 through the intermediate condition of Terri- 
 torial existence. 
 
 The Oregon territory was claimed by the 
 United States by right of discovery (1792), by 
 right of exploration (1805), by right of settle- 
 ment (1811), and was finally acquired by for- 
 mal treaty with Great Britain, in 1846. From 
 this territory were created the States of Oregon 
 and Washington and portions of the States of 
 Idaho and Wyoming ; all of which were first 
 organized as Territories. 
 
 By conquest from, and treaty with, the Re- 
 public of Mexico, the United States acquired, 
 in 1845-48, the territory lying west of the 
 
 85 
 
THE TERRITORIES 
 
 boundaries of Texas and the Louisiana purchase, 
 and south of Oregon Territory. From these 
 lands were subsequently organized the States of 
 California, Nevada, and Utah, and the Terri- 
 tories of Arizona and New Mexico; and por- 
 tions of the States of Colorado and Wyoming 
 lie within the limits of that tract. 
 
 Texas was admitted as a State, in 1845, by 
 annexation. California was admitted as a 
 State, without having passed through the pre- 
 liminary stage of territorial existence, in 1850. 
 Nevada was originally organized as a Territory 
 in 1 86 1, and was admitted as a State in 1864. 
 
 Portions of the States of Colorado and Kan- 
 sas, and the Territory of New Mexico, were in- 
 cluded in the original limits of Texas, but were 
 ceded by that State to the United States. 
 
 West Virginia was originally a part of Vir- 
 ginia ; it was set off from that State and ad- 
 mitted to the Union as a sovereign State, in 
 1863. 
 
 86 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 TREASON 
 
 TREASON is the crime of disloyalty to a 
 government ; it can be committed only 
 by a person who owes allegiance to said govern- 
 ment. Under the Constitution treason against 
 the United States is defined to consist " only in 
 levying war against them, or in adhering to 
 their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." 
 
 Under the laws of the United States, passed 
 in conformity with the provisions of the Consti- 
 tution, treason is punishable with death, or im- 
 prisonment for a term of not less than five years, 
 and a fine of not less than $10,000, and the 
 convicted person is forever debarred from the 
 right to hold office under authority of the 
 United States ; and his slaves, provided he had 
 any, were by the law of 1862 to be declared free. 
 
 Misprision of treason is the concealment of 
 the crime by any person who knows that it has 
 been committed, and who by such concealment 
 becomes an accessory thereto. 
 
 87 
 
TREASON 
 
 A citizen accused of treason must be tried in 
 one of the Circuit Courts of the United States, 
 having first been indicted by a United States 
 grand jury. 
 
 Several of the States have constitutional pro- 
 visions for the punishment of the crime of 
 treason against the State; but prosecutions of 
 this nature, on behalf of a State, are very rare. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 TARIFFS AND CUSTOM-HOUSES 
 
 A TARIFF is a law providing for and reg- 
 ulating the imposition of duties to be 
 paid on goods imported from a foreign coun- 
 try. 
 
 A fiscal tariff, or a tariff for revenue only, is 
 one which makes provision only for the raising 
 of money to carry on the government. A pro- 
 tective tariff is one which adjusts the duties to 
 be paid on imports in such a way as to hinder 
 the competition of foreign goods and products 
 with the goods and products of the country into 
 which such articles are to be imported. 
 
 Ad valorem duties are those which are laid 
 on imported goods with sole regard to the cost 
 or value of the commodities in the country 
 in which they are produced. Specific duties 
 are those which are laid upon goods without 
 reference to cost, the duty being levied and 
 collected solely with reference to weight, 
 measurement, or quantity. 
 
TARIFFS AND CUSTOM-HOUSES 
 
 Custom-houses are United States establish- 
 ments for the collection of the duties levied 
 upon imported goods. These were formerly 
 situated only at seaports, as the principal im- 
 port trade with foreign countries is carried on 
 by sea ; but since the growth of the Republic 
 has developed many large cities in the interior, 
 custom-houses are now established in all the 
 great centres of population ; and foreign goods 
 imported by sea are transported to the interior 
 under certain conditions, and the duties are 
 collected thereon at the custom-house of the 
 district to which the goods are consigned. 
 
 The entire Republic is divided into collection 
 districts ; the chief officer of each district is a 
 collector of customs ; and he is assisted in his 
 duties by other officers of varying degrees of 
 importance and responsibility ; in the more im- 
 portant districts these officers are numerous and 
 their duties are important. 
 
 In addition to the duty of collecting the 
 revenues arising from the customs, the officers 
 of each collection district are charged with 
 many other duties regarding the commercial 
 marine of the United States. All vessels of 
 American build, doing business in the waters of 
 the United States, or engaged in foreign trade, 
 must be enrolled in the custom-house of the 
 90 
 
TARIFFS AND CUSTOM-HOUSES 
 
 district in which they are owned. And foreign 
 vessels entering a customs district for any pur- 
 pose must report to the customs officers of that 
 district. 
 
 These reports of entering and departing from 
 a collection district are known as entry and 
 clearance; they are binding on all vessels of 
 whatever nationality. 
 
 Revenue cutters are small vessels employed 
 under the authority of the customs service to 
 cruise along the coasts of the district to which 
 each is assigned, for the purpose of enforcing 
 the revenue laws, the prevention of crimes 
 against said laws, and to render assistance to 
 vessels in distress. 
 
 The higher officers of the customs service are 
 forbidden to engage in foreign trade while they 
 are in office. All the officers are compensated 
 by the payment of fixed salaries or wages. 
 
 The three principal officers of the larger and 
 more important collection districts are a col- 
 lector, a surveyor, and a naval officer. The 
 first-named of these collects the customs duties, 
 issues manifests and clearances for vessels, re- 
 ceives their entrance papers, supervises bonded 
 warehouses and generally oversees and orders 
 the business of the district. The surveyor 
 weighs and measures goods imported and liable 
 
TARIFFS AND CUSTOM-HOUSES 
 
 to duty, and superintends the discharge of 
 cargoes of imported goods. The naval officer 
 countersigns papers issued from the collector's 
 department and, by a system of ledger accounts, 
 acts as an auditor of the collector's accounts. 
 In the appraisers' department of a custom- 
 house the value of the goods and merchandise 
 on which duties are to be levied and collected 
 is determined. 
 
 The customs service of the United States is 
 under the immediate supervision of the Com- 
 missioner of Customs ; and he is one of the 
 officers of the Department of the Treasury. 
 
 92 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 THE INDIANS 
 
 North American Indians still living 
 JL within the boundaries of the United 
 States are, with a very few exceptions, the 
 wards of the National Government. Nearly all 
 of them have sold their lands to the Govern- 
 ment, and they are now supported by the rev- 
 enues arising from the money derived from sales 
 of these lands. 
 
 Indians are not taxed, except in a very few 
 instances of individuals, and they do not have 
 the right of suffrage, nor are they included in 
 an enumeration of the population as a basis of 
 representation in any National or State legis- 
 lative body. 
 
 Large bodies of Indians are established upon 
 tracts of lands reserved for this purpose by the 
 National Government. While they remain upon 
 these reservations the Indians are entitled to 
 receive supplies for their sustenance and sup- 
 port. 
 
 93 
 
THE INDIANS 
 
 In all such cases, the work of supervision, 
 distribution, etc., is intrusted to agents of the 
 National Government, usually civilians, al- 
 though Congress, or the President, may order 
 army officers to discharge these duties. 
 
 No white person is permitted to enter upon 
 any of the Indian reservations, or to trade with 
 the Indians, except under such strict regulations 
 as may be prescribed for such intercourse. 
 
 Annuities and subsidies are paid to the Ind- 
 ians out of funds which have been accumulated 
 by the sale of lands originally belonging to the 
 Indians and which have been sold by them to 
 the United States, and may have since been 
 sold by the Government to citizens. 
 
 The general management of Indian affairs is 
 under the direction of the Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs, who is an officer of the Depart- 
 ment of the Interior. 
 
 94 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE PUBLIC LANDS 
 
 ALL lands lying within the boundaries of 
 the United States, and not owned by 
 private individuals, or States, or public or pri- 
 vate corporations, or by tribes of Indians, are 
 designated as public lands, and are the property 
 of the United States. 
 
 These lands have been acquired by the Na- 
 tional Government by treaty with foreign nations 
 and Indian tribes, by cession from the States, 
 or by conquest, or purchase. 
 
 The public lands, when it is desirable to 
 bring them into the market, are surveyed into 
 sections of one mile square, thirty-six of which 
 sections in one block are denominated a town- 
 ship. The sections are subdivided into halves, 
 quarters, and eighths ; and as each section com- 
 prises six hundred and forty acres, the frac- 
 tional parts thereof each comprise three hundred 
 and twenty, one hundred and sixty, and eighty 
 acres, respectively. 
 
 95 
 
THE PUBLIC LANDS 
 
 The prices of the public lands have varied 
 from time to time, and the methods of acquir- 
 ing them are fixed according to circumstances. 
 But the commonest method has been to allow 
 actual settlers to enter upon and improve lands, 
 allowing one hundred and sixty acres to each 
 person so entering, the price to be paid being 
 $1.25 per acre. 
 
 But by the homestead law, enacted in 1862, 
 heads of families can enter upon and secure 
 possession of one hundred and sixty acres of 
 public land at the nominal price of $10 for the 
 quarter-section, under certain regulations de- 
 signed to restrict the conveyance of the pub- 
 lic lands to actual settlers for homestead pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Lands containing valuable mines of minerals 
 are divided into small lots and sold at public 
 auction. 
 
 Persons who have served the Nation in the 
 army or navy are entitled, under certain con- 
 ditions, to a portion of the public lands, the 
 amount varying, according to the length of ser- 
 vice, from twenty to one hundred and sixty 
 acres. Written authority to enter upon and 
 prove title to a given area of public lands is 
 issued by the Government, and these documents 
 are called land warrants ; they entitle the 
 
THE PUBLIC LANDS 
 
 holder of the warrant, whoever he may be, to 
 enter upon and occupy any public land that he 
 may find unoccupied, his claim thereto being 
 limited by the number of acres for which the 
 warrant is issued. 
 
 To encourage the building of railroads and 
 other means of public transportation, Congress 
 has granted large tracts of public lands to cor- 
 porations, on condition that said transportation 
 lines shall be completed and equipped within a 
 given limit of time, and that the building and 
 management of said lines shall be to a certain 
 extent under the supervision of the National 
 Government. 
 
 To facilitate the survey and sale, or other 
 disposal, of the public lands, the total area is 
 divided into land districts, in each one of which 
 is established a central office managed by a 
 register and a receiver, assisted by subordinate 
 officials. All business relating to the survey 
 and purchase of public lands in each district 
 must be transacted at the office for such dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Papers are issued by government officers from 
 time to time to certify to the claim of each pur- 
 chaser, or settler, as his claim is matured. 
 When title is finally acquired, a deed, or land- 
 patent, signed by the President of the United 
 
 97 
 
THE PUBLIC LANDS 
 
 States, is issued to the lawful owner of the land 
 so acquired. 
 
 The general management of the public lands, 
 under the authority of Congress, is in the hands 
 of the Commissioner of Public Lands, who is 
 an officer of the Department of the Interior. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, AND ASSAY 
 OFFICES 
 
 THE Government of the United States con- 
 ducts its own system of banking, keeps 
 its coin, bullion, and bank-notes in its own 
 vaults, and in the form of checks, drafts, and 
 warrants, issues its own notes against said cash. 
 
 In the Treasury building at Washington are 
 the treasury vaults and the office where coin, 
 bullion, etc., are kept, and where notes, checks, 
 etc., are issued. But, for the convenience of 
 the people who live in various parts of the Re- 
 public, sub-treasuries are established in several 
 of the larger cities of the United States. 
 
 These sub-treasuries are, to all intents and 
 purposes, branches of the main treasury at 
 Washington, and are under the management 
 and supervision of the Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury. 
 
 The principal officer of a sub-treasury is 
 called an Assistant Treasurer of the United 
 
 99 
 
SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, AND ASSAY OFFICES 
 
 States. In the more important sub-treasuries, 
 the Assistant Treasurer is aided in the dis- 
 charge of his duties by subordinates. 
 
 It is the duty of an Assistant Treasurer to 
 receive and pay out moneys of the United 
 States Government, on the order of the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury; and it is his duty to 
 keep safely in the vaults of the sub-treasury all 
 deposits of coin, notes, etc., that the law may 
 require or allow to be deposited with him to 
 the credit of the Government of the United 
 States. 
 
 The parent, or principal mint of the United 
 States Government was established at Philadel- 
 phia while that city was the seat of govern- 
 ment of the Republic. It has remained there 
 ever since. 
 
 In order to bring the facilities of the United 
 States system of mintage within the reach of all 
 the people, and to save the expense of trans- 
 porting coin and the precious metals over long 
 distances, other mints have been established 
 from time to time in several cities of the Unit- 
 ed States nearest to mines in which gold and 
 silver are found. These mints were at first 
 known as branches of the parent establishment 
 at Philadelphia, but by the act of Congress of 
 February 12, 1873, this distinction of branch 
 100 
 
SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, AND ASSAY OFFICES 
 
 mints was abolished, and all the mints and 
 assay offices of the United States were placed 
 under the supervision of an officer denominated 
 Director of the Mint, whose office is in the 
 Treasury Department at Washington. 
 
 This functionary is under the direction of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury. The chief officer of 
 each mint is a superintendent, and he is assisted 
 by several subordinate officers ; all of these re- 
 ceive annual salaries. 
 
 Coinage is the exercise of one of the highest 
 functions of a sovereign power. It cannot be 
 exercised by any one of the States, nor by any 
 private individual or corporation; and any 
 semblance of imitating the coinage of precious 
 metals used for money, or of printed notes or 
 bonds of the United States, is strictly prohibit- 
 ed under the most severe penalties. 
 
 At all mints of the United States, the pre- 
 cious metals used as a circulating medium are 
 coined into money, stamped with the devices 
 and insignia of the Nation's sovereignty, as the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, under the authority 
 of Congress, may direct. 
 
 At these mints are established assay offices, 
 in which the true value and fineness of metals 
 used in coinage are determined. 
 
 Any person may bring to the mints any quan- 
 
 101 
 
SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, AND ASSAY OFFICES 
 
 tity of gold or silver, and, on the payment of a 
 small sum for the expense of coinage, receive it 
 back in the form of coins ready for circulation. 
 
 When the assayer of a mint has determined 
 the true value of the precious metals so deposited, 
 he issues to the depositor a certificate of the value 
 of the deposit, and on that certificate the chief 
 officer of the mint will pay to the holder thereof 
 the sum of money for which it calls. These 
 certificates may be used in the transaction of 
 commercial business, and they answer the pur- 
 pose of checks, notes, or treasury warrants. 
 
 Another function of the mints and assay offi- 
 ces is to melt gold and silver and run the metal 
 into bars, or ingots, and to stamp on each bar 
 or ingot the true value thereof, according to 
 the United States standard. 
 
 For the convenience of the people, assay 
 offices are established in several cities where 
 there are no mints. At these offices gold and 
 silver bullion and foreign coins are received, 
 melted, refined, and cast into bars or ingots, 
 and the true value thereof is stamped thereon, 
 the depositor paying a fee for the work so 
 done. 
 
 Or, the depositor may have foreign coins, 
 or gold and silver bullion, cast into coins of 
 the United States, as before provided, after 
 102 
 
SUB-TREASURIES, MINTS, AND ASSAY OFFICES 
 
 the assay office has ascertained the true value 
 thereof. 
 
 Seigniorage is a percentage upon bullion 
 brought to the mint to be coined or to be ex- 
 changed for coin. It is the amount claimed by 
 the Government for the exercise of its exclusive 
 right to coin the metal, and it represents the 
 difference between the intrinsic value of a 
 mass of gold or silver bullion and the face value 
 of the coins that the Government may make 
 from the mass. 
 
 103 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS 
 
 T ETTERS-PATENT are granted under the 
 J ^ authority of the United States Govern- 
 ment to the inventor, or discoverer, of any new 
 and useful art, machine, manufacture, or com- 
 position of matter, or any new and useful 
 improvement thereof, not known or used by 
 any others in this country, or not patented or 
 described in any foreign country. 
 
 The person receiving letters-patent for such 
 useful invention, discovery, or improvement, 
 has exclusive right to manufacture, sell, and use 
 said invention. Or he may assign, sell, or 
 otherwise transfer to others the rights which he 
 has derived under the letters-patent. 
 
 The exclusive rights conveyed to a patentee 
 are his for the term of seventeen years. But 
 Congress may, by a special act, extend that 
 term in any individual case at its discretion. 
 
 An inventor, before he can obtain letters- 
 patent for his invention, must prepare a clear 
 104 
 
PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS 
 
 and intelligent description of it, and, if re- 
 quired, must also send to the Patent Office with 
 said description a model of the article sought to 
 be patented. 
 
 When the chief officer of the Bureau of 
 Patents has been satisfied that the invention is 
 useful and original (or patentable), he issues to 
 the applicant the letters-patent entitling him to 
 the rights and privileges above mentioned. The 
 patentee pays a fee to the bureau in each case 
 of a patent applied for. 
 
 The expenses of the Bureau of Patents are 
 paid out of these fees, and a considerable 
 surplus therefrom, amounting to more than 
 two hundred thousand dollars annually, is paid 
 into the National treasury. 
 
 In the granting of patent rights, no discrim- 
 ination is made between citizens and aliens. 
 Persons of foreign birth are allowed the same 
 privileges in the granting of patents that are 
 extended to American citizens. 
 
 All legal proceedings in cases arising under 
 the patent laws, except those for a breach of 
 contract (which belong in the State courts) 
 must be begun in the circuit courts ; but an 
 appeal from those tribunals may be carried, 
 under certain conditions, to the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. 
 
 105 
 
PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS 
 
 The chief officer of the Bureau of Patents is 
 the Commissioner of Patents. He is aided in 
 the discharge of his duties by a large staff of 
 assistants and examiners ; all of these officers 
 are paid annual salaries. 
 
 The Bureau of Patents is under the control 
 and supervision of the Department of the 
 Interior. 
 
 Copyright is the exclusive right to publish 
 and sell any work of literature or art. This 
 includes all original written or printed matter, 
 paintings, engravings, photographs, drawings, 
 etchings, sculptures, and other works of art; 
 also maps, charts, diagrams, and musical com- 
 positions and plays. 
 
 A copyright is a species of property, and may 
 be sold or transferred like any other property. 
 
 Copyrights are granted by the Government of 
 the United States to the authors or composers 
 of the works sought to be so protected ; and 
 such copyright runs for twenty-eight years from 
 the date of its issue ; but the person to whom a 
 copyright is issued may have its term extended 
 fourteen years ; or such extension may be se- 
 cured by his widow or his children after his 
 death. 
 
 Copyright letters are granted by the Librarian 
 of Congress under certain conditions ; and the 
 
 1 06 
 
PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS 
 
 holder of a copyright has all the rights' in the 
 courts of the United States, in case of infringe- 
 ment, etc. , that are granted to holders of letters- 
 patent for useful inventions and discoveries. 
 
 Manufacturers' trade-marks and labels are 
 registered in the Bureau of Patents, and are 
 protected in the same manner as patents. 
 
 107 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 PENSIONS 
 
 A PENSION is the annual allowance of a 
 sum of money to a person by a govern- 
 ment in consideration of past services. 
 
 The Congress of the United States alone has 
 the power to authorize the granting and pay- 
 ment of pensions from the National treasury. 
 
 Under existing laws, pensions are paid to 
 persons who have served the Republic in the 
 army or navy of the United States in any of the 
 wars in which the Nation has been involved ; 
 but in a few cases pensions have been granted 
 to the widows of Presidents who have died in 
 office. Congress has also granted pensions to 
 women for special services to the Republic, or 
 in compensation for services rendered by those 
 upon whom the pensioner was dependent when 
 he was living. 
 
 The total sum of money appropriated by Con- 
 gress for the payment of pensions for the fiscal 
 year ending June 30, 1894, was $165,000,000. 
 1 08 
 
PENSIONS 
 
 Pensions are granted to persons who have 
 served in the naval and military service, as 
 aforesaid, under certain conditions, and to their 
 widows or minor children. 
 
 Applications for pensions are made through 
 the local pension agencies, the application be- 
 ing accompanied in each case by such docu- 
 mentary evidence as to the rightfulness of the 
 claim, etc., as may be prescribed by law. 
 
 Pension agencies are established in all the 
 States and Territories of the United States 
 for the distribution, four times a year, of 
 the moneys granted to pensioners. Money so 
 granted is exempt from attachment, garnishee, 
 or other legal process by which a creditor may 
 obtain the satisfaction of a claim against a 
 debtor. 
 
 109 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE 
 
 THE right of suffrage is the right to vote 
 or otherwise participate in government. 
 In a representative government, the exercise of 
 this privilege carries with it the right of partici- 
 pating in the election of public officers and the 
 adoption, or rejection, of laws. 
 
 The right of suffrage in the United States is 
 conferred only by the States ; and the Consti- 
 tution of the United States does not in any case 
 confer upon any person the right to vote. 
 
 The conditions upon which the right to vote 
 is granted vary in the several States. In some 
 States are exacted certain conditions of birth ; 
 in others, the ownership of a certain amount of 
 property ; in others, the payment of a head- 
 tax ; or ability to read and write, or other 
 qualifications are required. 
 
 In most States infamous crimes are punished 
 by deprivation of the right of suffrage. In all 
 States it is required that the voter shall have 
 no 
 
THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE 
 
 arrived at the age of twenty -one years and shall 
 be a native of the United States, or shall have 
 been duly naturalized therein, if of foreign 
 birth. 
 
 Generally, the right to vote is enjoyed in the 
 United States only by male persons of full age 
 who are by birth, or naturalization, citizens of 
 the Republic. 
 
 The Federal Constitution provides that when 
 the right to vote is denied to any of the 
 male inhabitants of the United States by any 
 State, or is in any way abridged, except as 
 punishment for crime, the representation in 
 Congress of such State shall be reduced in due 
 proportion thereto. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Territories, the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, and Alaska, are not permit- 
 ted to exercise the right of suffrage except in 
 local elections, as provided by acts of Congress. 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPEN- 
 DENCE. 
 
 IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 
 
 By the Representatives of the United States in Congress 
 assembled. 
 
 A DECLARATION 
 
 WHEN, in the course of human events, 
 it becomes necessary for one people to 
 dissolve the political bands which have con- 
 nected them with another, and to assume among 
 the powers of the earth the separate and equal 
 station to which the laws of nature and of nat- 
 ure's God entitle them, a decent respect for 
 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 en- 
 dowed 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 consent of 
 
 112 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 the governed ; that whenever any form of gov- 
 ernment becomes destructive of these ends it is 
 the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, 
 and to institute a new government, laying its 
 foundation on such principles, and organizing 
 its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
 most likely to effect 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 suffer- 
 able, than to right themselves by abolishing the 
 forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
 a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
 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. Such has been the patient suf- 
 ferance of these colonies ; and such is now the 
 necessity which constrains them to alter their 
 former system of government. The history of 
 the present king of Great Britain is a history of 
 repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
 direct object the establishment of an absolute 
 tyranny over these states. To prove this, let 
 facts be submitted to a candid world. 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 He has refused his assent to laws the most 
 wholesome and necessary for the public good. 
 
 He has forbidden his governors to pass laws 
 of immediate and pressing importance, unless 
 suspended in their operation till his assent 
 should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, 
 he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 
 
 He has refused to pass other laws for the ac- 
 commodation of large districts of people, unless 
 those people would relinquish the right of rep- 
 resentation in the legislature a right inestima- 
 ble to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 
 
 He has called together legislative bodies at 
 places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from 
 the depository of their public records, for the 
 sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
 with his measures. 
 
 He has dissolved representative houses re- 
 peatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, 
 his invasions on the rights of the people. 
 
 He has refused, for a long time after such 
 dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; 
 whereby the legislative powers, incapable of an- 
 nihilation, have returned to the people at large 
 for their exercise ; the state remaining, in the 
 meantime, exposed to all the danger of invasion 
 from without and convulsions within. 
 
 He has endeavored to prevent the population 
 
 114 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 of these states; for that purpose obstructing the 
 laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to 
 pass others to encourage their migration hither, 
 and raising the conditions of new appropria- 
 tions of lands. 
 
 He has obstructed the administration of 
 justice, by refusing his assent to laws for es- 
 tablishing judiciary powers. 
 
 He has made judges dependent on his will 
 alone for the tenure of their offices and the 
 amount and payment of their salaries. 
 
 He has erected a multitude of new offices, 
 and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass 
 our people and eat out their substance. 
 
 He has kept among us, in times of peace, 
 standing armies, without the consent of our 
 legislatures. 
 
 He has affected to render the military in- 
 dependent of and superior to the civil power. 
 
 He has combined with others to subject us 
 to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and 
 unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent 
 to their acts of pretended legislation, 
 
 For quartering large bodies of armed troops 
 among us : 
 
 For protecting them, by a mock trial, from 
 punishment for any murders which they should 
 commit on the inhabitants of these states: 
 
 "5 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 For cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
 world : 
 
 For imposing taxes on us without our con- 
 sent : 
 
 For depriving us, in many cases, of the 
 benefits of trial by jury : 
 
 For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried 
 for pretended offences : 
 
 For abolishing the free system of English 
 law in a neighboring province, establishing 
 therein an arbitrary government, and enlarg- 
 ing its boundaries so as to render it at once 
 an example and fit instrument for introducing 
 the same absolute rule into these colonies : 
 
 For taking away our charters, abolishing our 
 most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally 
 the forms of our government : 
 
 For suspending our own legislatures, and 
 declaring themselves invested with power to 
 legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 
 
 He has abdicated government here by de- 
 claring us out of his protection, and waging 
 war against us. 
 
 He has plundered our seas, ravaged our 
 coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the 
 lives of our people. 
 
 He is at this time transporting large armies 
 of foreign mercenaries, to complete the works 
 116 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 of death, desolation, and tyranny, already be- 
 gun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy 
 scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
 and totally unworthy the head of a civilized 
 nation. 
 
 He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken 
 captive on the high seas, to bear arms against 
 their country, to become the executioners of 
 their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves 
 by their hands. 
 
 He has excited domestic insurrections 
 amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on 
 the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
 Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare 
 is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
 sexes, and conditions. 
 
 In every stage of these oppressions we have 
 petitioned for redress in the most humble 
 terms ; our petitions have been answered only 
 by repeated injury. A prince whose character 
 is thus marked by every act which may define a 
 tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 
 
 Nor have we been wanting in attention to 
 our British brethren. We have warned them, 
 from time to time, of attempts made by their 
 legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdic- 
 tion over us. We have reminded them of the 
 circumstances of our emigration and settlement 
 117 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 here. We have appealed to their native justice 
 and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, 
 by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow 
 these usurpations, which would inevitably in- 
 terrupt our connections and correspondence. 
 They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice 
 and consanguinity. We must therefore acqui- 
 esce in the necessity which denounces our sep- 
 aration, and hold them, as we hold the rest of 
 mankind, enemies in war in peace, friends. 
 
 We, therefore, the representatives of the 
 United States of America, in General Congress 
 assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of 
 the world for the rectitude of our inten- 
 tions, do, in the name and by the authority 
 of the good people of these colonies, sol- 
 emnly publish and declare that these United 
 Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
 and independent states ; that they are absolved 
 from all allegiance to the British crown, and 
 that all political connection between them and 
 the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
 totally dissolved ; and that, as free and inde- 
 pendent states, they have full power to levy 
 war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab- 
 lish commerce, and to do all other acts and 
 things which independent states may of right 
 do. And for the support of this declaration, 
 118 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 with a firm reliance on the protection of Di- 
 vine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 
 other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
 honor. 
 
 Signed by order and in behalf of the Con- 
 gress. 
 
 JOHN HANCOCK, President. 
 Attested, CHARLES THOMPSON, Secretary. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 JOSIAH BARTLETT, 
 WILLIAM WHIPPLE, 
 MATTHEW THORNTON. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS, 
 JOHN ADAMS, 
 ROBERT TREAT PAINE, 
 ELBRIDGE GERRY. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND, &c. 
 
 STEPHEN HOPKINS, 
 WILLIAM ELLBRY. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 ROGER SHERMAN, 
 SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, 
 WILLIAM WILLIAMS, 
 OLIVER WOLCOTT. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 RICHARD STOCKTON, 
 JOHN WITHERSPOON, 
 FRANCIS HOPKINSON, 
 JOHN HART, 
 ABRAHAM CLARK. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 ROBERT MORRIS, 
 BENJAMIN RUSH, 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 JOHN MORTON, 
 GEORGE CLYMER, 
 JAMES SMITH, 
 GEORGE TAYLOR, 
 JAMES WILSON, 
 GEORGE Ross. 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 CAESAR RODNEY, 
 GEORGE READ, 
 THOMAS M'KEAN. 
 
 119 
 
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 WILLIAM FLOYD, 
 PHILIP LIVINGSTON, 
 FRANCIS LEWIS, 
 LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 GEORGE WYTHE, 
 RICHARD HENRY LEE, 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
 BENJAMIN HARRISON, 
 THOMAS NELSON, Jr., 
 FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, 
 CARTER BRAXTON. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 WILLIAM HOOPER, 
 JOSEPH HEWES, 
 JOHN PENN. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 SAMUEL CHASE, 
 WILLIAM PACA, 
 THOMAS STONE, 
 CHARLES CARROLL, OF 
 Carrollton. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 EDWARD RUTLEDGE, 
 THOMAS HEYWARD, Jr., 
 THOMAS LYNCH, Jr., 
 ARTHUR MIDDLETON. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 BUTTON GWINNETT, 
 LYMAN HALL, 
 GEORGE WALTON. 
 
 1 20 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 UNITED STATES.* 
 
 WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order 
 to form a more perfect Union, establish Jus- 
 tice, insure domestic Tranquility, 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 
 
 * In May, 1785, a committee of Congress made a report 
 recommending an alteration in the Articles of Confedera- 
 tion, but no action was taken on it, and it was left to the 
 State Legislatures to proceed in the matter. In January, 
 1786, the Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution pro- 
 viding for the appointment of five commissioners, who, or 
 any three of them, should meet such commissioners as might 
 be appointed in the other States of the Union, at a time 
 and place to be agreed upon, to take into consideration the 
 trade of the United States ; to consider how far a uniform 
 system in their commercial regulations may be necessary 
 to their common interest and their permanent harmony ; 
 and to report to the several States such an act, relative to 
 this great object, as, when ratified by them, will enable the 
 
 121 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
 and House of Representatives. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The House of Representatives 
 shall be composed of Members chosen every 
 
 United States in Congress effectually to provide for the 
 same. The Virginia commissioners, after some corre- 
 spondence, fixed the first Monday in September as the 
 time, and the city of Annapolis as the place for the meet- 
 ing, but only four other States were represented, viz. : 
 Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania ; the 
 commissioners appointed by Massachusetts, New Hamp- 
 shire, North Carolina, and Rhode Island failed to attend. 
 Under the circumstances of so partial a representation, the 
 commissioners present agreed upon a report, (drawn by 
 Mr. Hamilton, of New York,) expressing their unanimous 
 conviction that it might essentially tend to advance the in- 
 terests of the Union if the States by which they were re- 
 spectively delegated would concur, and use their endeav- 
 ors to procure the concurrence of the other States, in the 
 appointment of commissioners to meet at Philadelphia on 
 the second Monday of May following, to take into consid- 
 eration the situation of the United States ; to devise such 
 further provisions as should appear to them necessary to 
 render the Constitution of the Federal Government ade- 
 quate to the exigencies of the Union ; and to report such 
 an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress 
 assembled as, when agreed to by them and afterwards con- 
 firmed by the Legislatures of every State, would effec- 
 tually provide for the same. 
 
 Congress, on the 2ist of February, 1787, adopted a 
 resolution in favor of a convention, and the Legislatures 
 of those States which had not already done so (with the 
 exception of Rhode Island) promptly appointed delegates. 
 On the 25th of May, seven States having convened, George 
 Washington, of Virginia, was unanimously elected Presi- 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 second Year by the People of the several States, 
 and the Electors in each State shall have the 
 Qualifications requisite for Electors of the 
 
 dent, and the consideration of the proposed constitution 
 was commenced. On the iyth of September, 1787, the 
 Constitution as engrossed and agreed upon was signed by 
 all the members present, except Mr. Gerry, of Massachu- 
 setts, and Messrs. Mason and Randolph, of Virginia. The 
 president of the convention transmitted it to Congress, 
 tfith a resolution stating how the proposed Federal Gov- 
 ernment should be put in operation, and an explanatory 
 letter. Congress, on the 28th of September, 1787, directed 
 the Constitution so framed, with the resolutions and letter 
 concerning the same, to "be transmitted to the several 
 Legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention of 
 delegates chosen in each State by the people thereof, in 
 conformity to the resolves of the convention.'' 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1789, the day which had been fixed 
 for commencing the operations of Government under the 
 new Constitution, it had been ratified by the conventions 
 chosen in each State to consider it, as follows : Delaware, 
 December 7, 1787 ; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787 ; 
 New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia, January 2, 
 1788 ; Connecticut, January 9, 1788 ; Massachusetts, Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1788 ; Maryland, April 28, 1788 ; South Carolina, 
 May 23, 1788 ; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788 ; Virginia, 
 June 26, 1788; and New York, July 26, 1788. 
 
 The President informed Congress, on the 28th of Jan- 
 uary, 1790, that North Carolina had ratified the Constitu- 
 tion November 21, 1789 ; and he informed Congress on 
 the ist of June, 1790, that Rhode Island had ratified the 
 Constitution May 29, 1789. Vermont, in convention, rati- 
 fied the Constitution January 10, 1791, and was, by an 
 act of Congress approved February 18, 1791, " received 
 and admitted into this Union as a new and entire mem- 
 ber of the United States." 
 
 123 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 most numerous Branch of the State Legisla- 
 ture. 
 
 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 not, when 
 elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which 
 he shall be chosen. 
 
 * [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 deter- 
 mined 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 Representa- 
 tives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thou- 
 sand, but each State shall have at Least one 
 Representative ; and until such enumeration 
 shall be made, the State of New Hampshire 
 
 * The clause included in brackets is amended by the 
 I4th amendment, 2d section, p. 153. 
 
 124 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts 
 eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Planta- 
 tions one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New 
 Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
 Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina 
 five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the Representa- 
 tion from any State, the Executive Authority 
 thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such 
 Vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall chuse 
 their Speaker and other Officers ; and shall have 
 the sole Power of Impeachment. 
 
 SECTION. 3. 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. 
 
 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 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 Ex- 
 piration of the sixth Year, so that one-third 
 may be chosen every second year ; and if Va- 
 cancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, 
 
 125 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 during the Recess of the Legislature of any 
 State, the Executive thereof may make tem- 
 porary Appointments until the next Meeting of 
 the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va- 
 cancies. 
 
 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 Inhabi- 
 tant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 The Vice President of the United States shall 
 be President of the Senate, but shall have no 
 Vote, unless they be equally divided. 
 
 The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, 
 and also a President pro tempore, in the Ab- 
 sence of the Vice President, or when he shall 
 exercise the Office of President of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole Power to try 
 all Impeachments. When sitting for that Pur- 
 pose, 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. 
 
 Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not 
 extend further than to removal from Office, and 
 disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of 
 126 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 honor, Trust or Profit under the United States : 
 but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be 
 liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judg- 
 ment and Punishment, according to Law. 
 
 SECTION. 4. The Times, Places and Manner 
 of holding Elections for Senators and Repre- 
 sentatives, shall be prescribed in each State by 
 the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may 
 at any time by Law make or alter such Regu- 
 lations, except as to the Places of chusing 
 Senators. 
 
 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. 5. 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 Attend- 
 ance of absent Members, in such Manner, and 
 under such Penalties as each House may pro- 
 vide. 
 
 Each House may determine the Rules of its 
 Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly 
 Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two 
 thirds, expel a Member. 
 127 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Each House shall keep a Journal of its Pro- 
 ceedings, 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. 
 
 Neither House, during the Session of Con- 
 gress, shall, without the Consent of the other, 
 adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
 other Place than that in which the two Houses 
 shall be sitting. 
 
 SECTION. 6. 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 privileged from Arrest during 
 their Attendance at the Session of their respec- 
 tive 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. 
 
 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 en- 
 128 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 creased during such time ; and no Person hold- 
 ing any Office under the United States, shall be 
 a Member of either House during his Continu- 
 ance in Office. 
 
 SECTION. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall 
 originate in the House of Representatives ; but 
 the Senate may propose or concur with Amend- 
 ments as on other Bills. 
 
 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 recon- 
 sider 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 
 129 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 (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 Re- 
 turn, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 
 
 Every 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 
 hinij or being disapproved by him, shall be re- 
 passed by two thirds of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, according to the Rules and 
 Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 
 
 SECTION. 8. 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 throughout the United 
 States ; 
 
 To borrow Money on the credit of the United 
 States ; 
 
 To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, 
 and among the several States, and with the Ind- 
 ian Tribes ; 
 
 To establish an uniform Rule of Naturaliza- 
 
 130 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 tion, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bank- 
 ruptcies throughout the United States ; 
 
 To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, 
 and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of 
 Weights and Measures ; 
 
 To provide for the Punishment of counter- 
 feiting the Securities and current Coin of the 
 United States; 
 
 To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 
 
 To promote the Progress of Science and use- 
 ful Arts, by securing for limited Times to 
 Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to 
 their respective Writings and Discoveries ; 
 
 To constitute Tribunals inferior to the su- 
 preme Court ; 
 
 To define and punish Piracies and Felonies 
 committed on the high Seas, and Offences against 
 the Law of Nations ; 
 
 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque 
 and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Capt- 
 ures on Land and Water ; 
 
 To raise and support Armies, but no Appro- 
 priation of Money to that Use shall be for a 
 longer Term than two Years ; 
 
 To provide and maintain a Navy ; 
 
 To make Rules for the Government and Reg- 
 ulation of the land and naval Forces ; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the Militia to 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insur- 
 rections and repel Invasions ; 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- 
 ciplining, 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 Mil- 
 itia according to the discipline prescribed by 
 Congress ; 
 
 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 the Government 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, dock-Yards, and other needful Build- 
 ings ; And 
 
 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. 9. The Migration or Importation 
 132 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 of such Persons as any of the States now exist- 
 ing 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 Im- 
 portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
 Person. 
 
 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. 
 
 No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law 
 shall be passed. 
 
 No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be 
 laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enu- 
 meration herein before directed to be taken. 
 
 No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles ex^ 
 ported from any State. 
 
 No Preference shall be given by any Regula- 
 tion of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of 
 one State over those of another : nor shall Ves- 
 sels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged 
 to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 
 
 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. 
 
 133 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 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. 10. No State shall enter into any 
 Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation ; grant Let- 
 ters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin Money ; 
 emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold 
 and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; 
 pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, 
 or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, 
 or grant any Title of Nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the Consent of the 
 Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Im- 
 ports or Exports, except what may be abso- 
 lutely necessary for executing it's inspection 
 Laws : and the net Produce of all Duties and 
 Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Ex- 
 ports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of 
 the United States ; and all such Laws shall be 
 subject to the Revision and Controul of the 
 Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the Consent of 
 Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep 
 Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter 
 
 134 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 into any Agreement or Compact with another 
 State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in 
 War, unless actually invaded, or in such immi- 
 nent Danger as will not admit of delay. 
 
 ARTICLE. II. 
 
 SECTION, i. The executive Power shall be 
 vested in a President of the United States of 
 America. He shall hold his Office during the 
 Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice 
 President, chosen for the same Term, be elect- 
 ed, as follows : 
 
 Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as 
 the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number 
 of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Sen- 
 ators and Representatives to which the State 
 may be entitled in the Congress : but no Sena- 
 tor or Representative, or Person holding an 
 Office of Trust or Profit under the United 
 States, shall be appointed an Elector. 
 
 [" 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 them- 
 selves. 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 Sen- 
 ate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of 
 
 135 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 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 chuse 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 chuse the President. But in chusing the 
 President, the Votes from two-thirds of the States, and a 
 Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. 
 In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Per- 
 son 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 chuse 
 from them by Ballot the Vice-President. "] 
 
 This clause has been superseded by the twelfth amend- 
 ment, p. 150. 
 
 The Congress may determine the Time of 
 chusing the Electors, and the Day on which 
 they shall give their Votes ; which Day shall 
 be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 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. 
 
 In Case of the Removal of the President 
 
 136 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ' 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, Res- 
 ignation 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. 
 
 The President shall, at stated Times, receive 
 for his Services, a Compensation, which shall 
 neither be encreased nor diminished during the 
 Period for which he shall have been elected, 
 and he shall not receive within that Period any 
 other Emolument from the United States, or 
 any of them. 
 
 Before he enter on the Execution of his Of- 
 fice, he shall take the following Oath or Af- 
 firmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
 that I will faithfully execute the Office of Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and will to the best 
 of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the 
 Constitution of the United States. ' ' 
 
 SECTION. 2. The President shall be Com- 
 mander 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 
 
 137 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Consent of the Senate, 
 shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Minis- 
 ters 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 Depart- 
 ments. 
 
 The President shall have Power to fill up 
 all Vacancies that may happen during the Re- 
 cess of the Senate, by granting Commissions 
 which shall expire at the End of their next 
 Session. 
 
 SECTION. 3. He shall from time to time give 
 
 138 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 to the Congress Information of the State of the 
 Unicm, and recommend to their Consideration 
 such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
 expedient ; he may, on extraordinary Occa- 
 sions, convene both Houses, or either of them, 
 and in Case of Disagreement between them, 
 with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he 
 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 Com- 
 mission all the Officers of the United States. 
 
 SECTION. 4. 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 Misdemeanors. 
 
 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 Con- 
 gress may from time to time ordain and es- 
 tablish. The Judges, both of the supreme and 
 inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during 
 good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, re- 
 ceive for their Services, a Compensation, which 
 
 139 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 shall not be diminished during their Continu- 
 ance in Office. 
 
 SECTION. 2. 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 af- 
 fecting 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 ; 
 between Citizens of different States, be- 
 tween Citizens of the same State claiming 
 Lands under Grants of different States, and be- 
 tween a State, or the Citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Trial of all Crimes, except in Case^ of 
 140 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Impeachment, shall be by Jury ; and such Trial 
 shall be held in the State where the said Crimes 
 shall have been committed ; but when not com- 
 mitted within any State, the Trial shall be at 
 such Place or Places as the Congress may by 
 Law have directed. 
 
 SECTION. 3. 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 
 Confession in open Court. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to declare the 
 Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of 
 Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or 
 Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person 
 attainted. 
 
 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 pre- 
 scribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records 
 and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect 
 thereof. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The Citizens of each State shall 
 141 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of 
 Citizens in the several States. 
 
 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. 
 
 No Person held to Service or Labour 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 Labour, but shall be delivered up on 
 Claim of the Party to whom such Service or 
 Labour may be due. 
 
 SECTION. 3. 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. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of 
 and make all needful Rules and Regulations 
 respecting the Territory or other Property be- 
 longing to the United States ; and nothing in 
 142 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
 Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or 
 of any particular State. 
 
 SECTION. 4. The United States shall guaran- 
 tee to every State in this Union a Republican 
 Form of Government, and shall protect each of 
 them against Invasion ; and on Application of 
 the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the 
 Legislature cannot be convened) against do- 
 mestic 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 Constitution, 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 
 be 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 
 
 143 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 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. VI. 
 
 All Debts contracted and Engagements en- 
 tered into, before the Adoption of this Consti- 
 tution, shall be as valid against the United 
 States under this Constitution, as under the 
 Confederation. 
 
 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United 
 States which shall be made in Pursuance there- 
 of; and all Treaties made, or which shall be 
 made, under the Authority of the United States, 
 shall be the supreme Law of the Land j and the 
 Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, 
 any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any 
 State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 The Senators and Representatives before 
 mentioned, and the Members 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 Af- 
 firmation, to support this Constitution ; but no 
 religious Test shall ever be required as a Quali- 
 fication to any Office or public Trust under the 
 United States. 
 
 144 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ARTICLE. VII. 
 
 The Ratification of the Conventions of nine 
 States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment 
 of this Constitution between the States so rati- 
 fying the Same. 
 
 DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Con- 
 sent of the States present the Seventeenth 
 Day of September in the Year of our Lord 
 one thousand seven hundred and Eighty 
 seven and of the Independance of the United 
 States of America the Twelfth. IN WITNESS 
 whereof We have hereunto subscribed our 
 Names, 
 
 GQ WASHINGTON 
 Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE.' 
 JOHN LANGDON, NICHOLAS OILMAN. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 NATHANIEL GORHAM, RUFUS KING. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 WM. SAML. JOHNSON, ROGER SHERMAN. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 WIL: LIVINGSTON, WM. PATERSON, 
 
 DAVID BREARLEY, JONA. DAYTON. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 B. FRANKLIN, THOMAS MIFFLIN, 
 
 ROBT. MORRIS, GEO : CLYMER, 
 
 THO: FITZSIMONS, JARED INGERSOLL, 
 
 JAMES WILSON, Gouv: MORRIS. 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 GEO: READ, GUNNING BEDFORD, Jun'r, 
 
 JOHN DICKINSON, RICHARD BASSETT. 
 
 JACO: BROOM, 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 JAMES M'HENRY, DAN : OF ST. THOS. JENI- 
 
 DANL CARROLL . FER, 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 JOHN BLAIR, JAMES MADISON, Jr, 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 WM. BLOUNT, RICH'D DOBBS SPAIGHT 
 
 Hu. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 J. RUTLEDGE, CHARLES COTESWORTH 
 
 CHARLES PINCKNEY, PINCKNEY, 
 
 PIERCE BUTLER. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 WILLIAM FEW, ABR. BALDWIN. 
 
 Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 
 
 146 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 OF AMERICA, PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND 
 RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE 
 SEVERAL STATES PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH 
 ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL 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 II. 
 
 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. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quar- 
 tered in any house, without the consent of the 
 Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to 
 be prescribed by law. 
 
 147 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their 
 persons, houses, papers, and effects, against un- 
 reasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
 violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon 
 probable cause, supported by Oath or affirma- 
 tion, and particularly describing the place to 
 be searched, and the persons or things to be 
 seized. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capi- 
 tal, or otherwise 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 offence to 
 be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor 
 shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be 
 a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
 life, liberty, or property, without due process 
 of law ; nor shall private property be taken for 
 public use, without just compensation. 
 
 148 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 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 where- 
 in 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 at 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-exam- 
 ined in any Court of the United States, than 
 according to the rules of the common law. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor ex- 
 cessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual 
 punishments inflicted. 
 
 149 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution, of cer- 
 tain 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 respec- 
 tively, or to the people. 
 
 ARTICLE XL 
 
 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 them- 
 selves ; they shall name in their ballots the per- 
 150 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 son voted for as President, and in distinct bal- 
 lots 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 lists 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 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 for Presi- 
 dent, shall be the President, if such number be 
 a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- 
 pointed ; and if no person have such majority, 
 then from the persons having the highest num- 
 bers not exceeding three on the list of those 
 voted for as President, the House of Repre- 
 sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, 
 the President. But in choosing the President, 
 the votes shall be taken by states, the repre- 
 sentation from each state having one vote ; a 
 quorum for this purpose shall consist of a mem- 
 ber or members from two-thirds of the states, 
 and a majority of all the states shall be neces- 
 sary to a choice. And if the House of Repre- 
 sentatives shall not choose a President when- 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
 them, before the fourth day of March next fol- 
 lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as 
 President, as in the case of the 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 num- 
 ber 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 Presi- 
 dent shall be eligible to that of Vice-President 
 of the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII. 
 
 SECTION i. Neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude, except as a punishment for crime 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convict- 
 ed, shall exist within the United States, or any 
 place subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to 
 enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 
 
 152 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 ARTICLE XIV. 
 
 SECTION i. All persons born or naturalized 
 in the United States, and subject to the juris- 
 diction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
 and of the State wherein they reside. No State 
 shall make or enforce any law which shall 
 abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens 
 of the United States j nor shall any State de- 
 prive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law ; nor deny to any 
 person within its jurisdiction the equal protec- 
 tion of the laws. 
 
 SECTION 2. Representatives shall be appor- 
 tioned among the several States according to 
 their respective numbers, counting the whole 
 number of persons in each State, excluding Ind- 
 ians not taxed. But when the right to vote at 
 any election for the choice of electors for Presi- 
 dent 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 inhabitants of such State, being twen- 
 ty-one years of age, and citizens of the United 
 States, or in any way abridged, except for par- 
 ticipation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis 
 
 153 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 of representation therein shall be reduced in the 
 proportion which the number of such male cit- 
 izens shall bear to the whole number of male 
 citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 
 
 SECTION 3. No person shall be a Senator or 
 Representative in Congress, or elector of Presi- 
 dent and Vice President, or hold 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 Con- 
 stitution of the United States, shall have en- 
 gaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
 same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
 thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two- 
 thirds of each House, remove such disability. 
 
 SECTION 4. The validity of the public debt 
 of the United States, authorized by law, in- 
 cluding debts incurred for payment of pensions 
 and bounties for services in suppressing insur- 
 rection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. 
 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 
 
 154 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 debts, obligations and claims shall be held 
 illegal and void. 
 
 SECTION 5. The Congress shall have power 
 to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the pro- 
 visions of this article. 
 
 ARTICLE XV. 
 
 SECTION i. The right of 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. 
 
 SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power 
 to enforce this article by appropriate legisla- 
 tion. 
 
 RATIFICATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The Constitution was adopted by a conven- 
 tion of the States, September 17, 1787, and 
 was subsequently ratified by the several States, 
 in the following order, viz. : 
 
 Delaware, December 7, 1787. 
 
 Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787. 
 
 New Jersey, December 18, 1787. 
 
 Georgia, January 2, 1788. 
 
 Connecticut, January 9, 1788. 
 
 155 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Massachusetts, February 6, 1788. 
 
 Maryland, April 28, 1788. 
 
 South Carolina, May 23, 1788. 
 
 New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. 
 
 Virginia, June 26, 1788. 
 
 New York, July 26, 1788. 
 
 North Carolina, November 21, 1789. 
 
 Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. 
 
 The State of Vermont, by convention, rati- 
 fied the Constitution on January 10, 1791, and 
 was, by act of Congress, February 18, 1791, 
 ' ' received and admitted into this Union as a 
 new and entire member of the United States of 
 America. ' ' 
 
 156 
 
INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 ABRIDGED, immunities of 
 citizens not to be, 153. 
 
 Accused, to have a speedy 
 trial, 149. 
 
 Actions at common law, 149. 
 
 Acts and proceedings of 
 another State, faith and 
 credit given to, 141. 
 
 Adjournment, President 
 may convene and adjourn 
 Congress, 139. 
 
 Admitted, new States may 
 be, 142. 
 
 Advice and consent of the 
 Senate required, 138. 
 
 Age of Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives, 124, 126. 
 
 Aid and comfort to ene- 
 mies, 141. 
 
 Alliance or confederation, 
 
 134- 
 
 Ambassadors, President 
 may appoint, 138. 
 
 Amendments to the Consti- 
 tution, 143. 
 
 Answer for crimes, 148. 
 
 Appellate jurisdiction, Su- 
 
 preme Court shall have, 
 140, 141. 
 
 Apportionment of represen- 
 tation, 124, 153, 154. 
 
 Appropriate legislation, 
 power of Congress, 130- 
 132. 
 
 Armies, land and naval 
 forces, 131. 
 
 Attainder, ex-post-facto law, 
 
 133, 134. 
 Authors and inventors, 131. 
 
 BALLOT for President and 
 
 Vice-President, 150-152. 
 Bankruptcies, 131. 
 Bills of credit, 134. 
 
 CAPITAL crimes, 148. 
 Census, 124, 133. 
 Chief-Justice shall preside, 
 
 when, 126. 
 Citizens of the United 
 
 States, 141, 142 ; who are 
 
 included as, 153. 
 Classification of Senators, 
 
 125, 126. 
 
 157 
 
INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Coin a tender for payment 
 of debts, 134. 
 
 Color, or previous condition 
 of servitude, 155. 
 
 Commander-in-chief of the 
 Army and Navy, Presi- 
 dent, when, 137. 
 
 Commerce or revenue, 
 
 133- 
 
 Compact with another 
 State, 134, 135. 
 
 Compensations v official, 
 128, 137, 138. 
 
 Congress, powers vested 
 in, 130-132. 
 
 Constitution, executive and 
 legislative powers under, 
 130, 132, 137, 144. 
 
 Convention for proposing 
 Amendments to Constitu- 
 tion, 143. 
 
 Copyrights to authors, 131. 
 
 Courts of law, 139, 140. 
 
 Crimes, capital or other- 
 wise, 140, 141, 148, 149. 
 
 DEATH or resignation of 
 the President, 137. 
 
 Debts of the United States, 
 154- 
 
 Defence and general wel- 
 fare, 139. 
 
 Departments, 138. 
 
 District of Columbia, 132. 
 
 Domestic violence, 143. 
 
 Due process of law, 148. 
 
 Duties, imposts, and ex- 
 cises, 134. 
 
 ELECTION of President and 
 Vice-President, 135, 136, 
 150, 151 ; of Senators and 
 Representatives, 127. 
 
 Electors, presidential, 135, 
 136, 150, 151. 
 
 Establishment of the Con- 
 stitution between the 
 States, 145. 
 
 Executive powers, 135. 
 
 Expel a member, 127. 
 
 Exports or imports, 134, 135. 
 
 Ex-post-facto\&w t 134. 
 
 FOREIGN nations, regula- 
 tion of commerce with, 
 130. 
 
 Forfeiture for treason, 141. 
 
 Form of government, a re- 
 publican, guaranteed, 143. 
 
 Freedom of speech and 
 press, not to be invaded, 
 147- 
 
 Fugitives from crime, 142. 
 
 GENERAL welfare (pream- 
 ble), 121. 
 
 Gold and silver a tender, 
 134. 
 
 HABEAS corpus, 133. 
 House of Representatives, 
 122-125, 153, 154. 
 
 158 
 
INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 IMMUNITIES from arrest, 
 
 etc., 128, 147, 148, 156. 
 Impeachment, 126, 127, 139. 
 Imports and exports, 134, 
 
 135- 
 
 Indictments, 148. 
 Insurrection or Rebellion, 
 
 132, 154. 
 Inventors and authors, 131. 
 
 JUDGES of courts, 139. 
 Judicial powers, 139, 140, 
 
 150. 
 Jury, trial by, 141, 149. 
 
 LAWS and treaties, 140. 
 
 Legal tender, 134. 
 
 Legislation, in all cases in 
 power of Congress, 121, 
 122. 
 
 Letters of Marque and Re- 
 prisal, 131. 
 
 Liberty (preamble), 121. 
 
 MARQUE and Reprisal, 
 
 Letters of, 131. 
 Measures, Weights and, 
 
 131- 
 
 Meeting of Congress, 127. 
 Misdemeanor, high crimes 
 
 and, 139. 
 
 NATURALIZATION, Con- 
 gress to establish rules 
 for, 130. 
 
 Navy, Congress to provide 
 for, 131. 
 
 New States, may be ad- 
 mitted, 142. 
 
 Nobility, no title of shall 
 be granted, 134. 
 
 Nominations for office by 
 the President, 138. 
 
 Number of electors, 135. 
 
 OATH of office by the Pres- 
 ident, 137. 
 
 Obligation of contracts, 
 134. 
 
 Offences against the United 
 States, 138. 
 
 PARDONS, the President 
 may grant reprieves and, 
 138. 
 
 Pensions and bounties, 154. 
 
 Powers not delegated, 150. 
 
 President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent, manner of choos- 
 ing, 135, 150-152. 
 
 President of the United 
 States, 135-139. 
 
 President pro tempore, 126. 
 
 Privileges and immunities 
 of citizens, 147, 148, 153. 
 
 Property of the United 
 States, 142. 
 
 Prosecutions, 149. 
 
 Punishment according to 
 law, 127, 149. 
 
 QUALIFICATIONS for of- 
 fice, 123, 126, 136, 152. 
 
 159 
 
INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Quorum to do business, a 
 majority required, 127. 
 
 RACE, color, and condition 
 of servitude, 155. 
 
 Ratification of amend- 
 ments, 143. 
 
 Ratio of representation, 
 
 124, 153- 
 
 Rebellion, 133, 154. 
 Redress of grievances, 147. 
 Regulation of commerce, 
 
 133. 
 
 Religious test, no, 144. 
 
 Representation in any 
 State, 122-125. 
 
 Representatives in Con- 
 gress, 122, 123. 
 
 Reprieves and pardons, 
 138. 
 
 Republican form of gov- 
 ernment guaranteed, 143. 
 
 Resignation of the Presi- 
 dent, 137. 
 
 Revenue, etc. , of one State 
 over another, 133. 
 
 Rights in the Constitution, 
 150- 
 
 SCIENCE and the useful 
 Arts, 131. 
 
 Seat of Government, 132. 
 
 Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives, 121, 122. 
 
 Senate of the United States, 
 
 125, 126. 
 
 Senators, 125, 126, 135, 154. 
 
 Servitude, previous condi- 
 tion of, 152, 155. 
 
 Ships of war, 134. 
 
 Slavery, 152. 
 
 State of the Union, 139. 
 
 States, what they may not 
 do, 134, 135. 
 
 Suits at common law, 149, 
 150- 
 
 Suppression of insurrec- 
 tion, 132. 
 
 Supreme Court, 139. 
 
 Supreme law of the land, 
 144- 
 
 TAX or Duty, 130, 133. 
 
 Tender in payment of 
 debts, 134. 
 
 Term of four years, offi- 
 cial, 135. 
 
 Territory of the United 
 States, 142. 
 
 Title of nobility, prohib- 
 ited, 134. 
 
 Treason, denned, 141. 
 
 Treaties, power to make, 
 in the President, 138. 
 
 UNION, to establish a more 
 perfect (preamble), 121. 
 
 Unreasonable searches and 
 seizures, 148. 
 
 VACANCIES in office, 125, 
 138. 
 
 160 
 
INDEX TO THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 Veto power in the Presi- 
 dent, 129. 
 
 Vice-President, to be Pres- 
 ident of the Senate, 126 ; 
 manner of choosing, 150, 
 
 151- 
 
 Vote, each Senator shall 
 have one, 125. 
 
 Vote of two -thirds of a 
 House to expel a Mem- 
 ber, 127. 
 
 WAR against the United 
 
 States, of what to consist, 
 141. 
 
 Weights and Measures, 131. 
 
 Witnesses in criminal pros- 
 ecutions, 149. 
 
 Writ of habeas corpus, 133. 
 
 Writs of election, 125. 
 
 Written opinions of princi- 
 pal officers, 138. 
 
 YEAS and nays, when to be 
 entered on the Journals 
 of Congress, 129. 
 
 161 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 ACADEMY, Military, 4 ; Na- 
 val, 51. 
 
 Adjutant - General, duties 
 of, 40. 
 
 Adjournment of Congress, 
 19, 20. 
 
 Agriculture, Department 
 and Secretary of, 55 ; 
 functions of, 56 ; Assist- 
 ant Secretary of, 56. 
 
 Allegiance of citizens of 
 United States, 72. 
 
 Alaska, Territory of, 82, 83. 
 
 American Republics, bu- 
 reau of, 59. 
 
 Appropriations in Senate 
 and House, 15, 16. 
 
 Appeal, circuit courts of, 
 64 ; carried up in United 
 States courts, 66, 67. 
 
 Assay offices, 100-103. 
 
 Architect, supervising, 
 United States, 37. 
 
 Attorney-General, United 
 States, duties of, 42. 
 
 Auditors of Treasury De- 
 partment, 37, 38. 
 
 BRANCHES of the Govern- 
 ment, 4, 5. 
 
 Bills, revenue and appropri- 
 ation in Congress, 15, 16 ; 
 or schemes of la.w, how 
 disposed of in Congress, 
 22, 23 ; how may become 
 laws, 24; veto of by the 
 President, 24, 25. 
 
 Bureaus of Navy Depart- 
 ment, 48. 
 
 CABINET, the President's, 
 salaries, powers, and du- 
 ties of members, 31, 32; 
 when members may suc- 
 ceed to Presidency, 32- 
 
 33- 
 Cadets, military, 41 ^ naval, 
 
 Si- 
 
 Census, duties of Superin- 
 tendent of, 55. 
 
 Civil Service Commission, 
 58. 
 
 Circuits, judicial, 63 ; courts 
 of appeal, 64 ; judges and 
 functions of, 65. 
 
 163 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Clerks of United States 
 courts, 44. 
 
 Claims, Court of, jurisdic- 
 tion of and how con- 
 stituted, 68, 69 ; court of 
 private land, 69 ; for pub- 
 lic lands, 97. 
 
 Comptroller of the Curren- 
 cy, 37, 38. 
 
 Comptroller of the Treas- 
 ury, 38. 
 
 Copyright, defined, how 
 obtained, 106. 
 
 Columbia, District of, how 
 organized and governed, 
 81. 
 
 Coast Survey, Bureau of, 
 
 37- 
 
 Commissioners, United 
 States, functions of, 66 ; 
 Civil Service, 58. 
 
 Commissary-General, 40. 
 
 Construction and Repairs, 
 Naval Bureau of, 49. 
 
 Criminal and civil cases in 
 United States courts, 66. 
 
 Courts of the United States, 
 how constituted and juris- 
 diction of, 61, 62 ; United 
 States Supreme, justices 
 of, 62 ; jurisdiction of, 63 ; 
 of claims, 68, 69. 
 
 Constitution of the United 
 States, when completed 
 and signed, i ; ratifica- 
 tions of, by the thirteen 
 
 original States, i, 2, 155 ; 
 amendments thereto, 
 when proposed and rati- 
 fied, 2, 3 ; how amended, 
 2 ; text of, 121, 155. 
 
 Congress, legislative 
 branch of government, 4 ; 
 sole power to enact laws, 
 4 ; how composed, 6 ; 
 length of each Congress 
 and session, 14, 15 ; gen- 
 eral elections for, 17 ; res- 
 olutions of, 19 ; neither 
 house may adjourn, 19 ; 
 regular and special ses- 
 sions of, 20, 21. 
 
 Congressional districts, 
 how defined, 16, 17; va- 
 cancies in, how filled, 17 ; 
 conference com mittees 
 of, 25 ; business of, 23, 
 24. 
 
 Consuls and commercial 
 agents, United States, 
 35 ; consular courts, 36. 
 
 Cutters, revenue, 91. 
 
 Customs, Commissioner of, 
 37, 92 ; officers of service, 
 9L 92. 
 
 DELEGATES, territorial, 16. 
 Debate, restriction of, in 
 
 Congress, 25. 
 Department of State, sub- 
 
 divisions of, 33, 35 ; 
 
 Treasury, 36, 38; War, 
 
 164 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 39, 41 ; Justice, 42, 43 ; 
 Post-office, 44 r 45 ; Navy, 
 47 ; Interior, 51 ; Agri- 
 culture, 55. 
 
 Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, 112, 120. 
 
 District Attorneys, United 
 States, 44. 
 
 District of Columbia, how 
 organized and governed, 
 81, 82. 
 
 Duties, customs, how lev- 
 ied and collected, 89, 90. 
 
 EDUCATION, Commission- 
 er of, 54. 
 
 Eligibility of members of 
 Senate, 8 ; of House of 
 Representatives, 14. 
 
 Elections, Congressional, 
 17, 18 ; of President and 
 Vice-Presiderit, by House 
 of Representatives, 26, 
 27 ; by presidential elec- 
 tors, 27, 28. 
 
 Electoral College, of States, 
 to meet, 28, 76 ; electors, 
 presidential, 27, 28 ; vote 
 of, sent to the seat of gov- 
 ernment, 76 ; opened and 
 counted, 77. 
 
 Engineers, Army Corps of, 
 chief of, 40. 
 
 Engineering, Naval Bureau 
 of, 49. 
 
 Entry of public lands, 96. 
 
 Equipment, Bureau of Na- 
 val, 49. 
 
 Executive branch of gov- 
 ernment, functions of, 4 ; 
 departments of, names 
 of, 31, 32 ; reports of, 
 33 ; minor subdivisions 
 of, 56. 
 
 FISH Commission, 58. 
 
 Foreign ministers of the 
 United States, salaries 
 and duties of, 35. 
 
 Franking privilege of Mem- 
 bers of Congress, 20 ; of 
 other officers, 33. 
 
 Functions of the three 
 branches of the Govern- 
 ment, 4, 5 ; peculiar to 
 the Senate, 9 ; to the 
 House of Representa- 
 tives, 15. 
 
 GEOGRAPHIC Names, Bu- 
 
 reau of, 58. 
 House of Representatives, 
 
 when it may choose a 
 
 President, 77. 
 Homestead law, 96. 
 
 IMPEACHMENT of civil offi- 
 cers, how conducted, 12, 
 
 Immigration, Superintend- 
 ent of, 38. 
 
 165 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Internal Revenue, Com- 
 missioner of, 37. 
 
 Inspector-General, of Ar- 
 my, 40. 
 
 Interior Department, sub- 
 divisions of, 52, 53; duties 
 of Secretary of, 52 ; As- 
 sistant Secretary, 52, 53. 
 
 Independence, Declaration 
 of, 112. 
 
 Indian Affairs, Commission- 
 er of, 54, 92 ; Territory, 
 83 ; reservations, 93 ; care 
 of the Indians by the 
 United States, 91, 92. 
 
 Inter-State Commerce 
 Commission, 57. 
 
 Intercontinental Rail way 
 Commission, 59. 
 
 JUDICIAL branch of Gov- 
 ernment, functions of, 4, 
 5- 
 
 Justice of the United States, 
 Chief, when he presides 
 at impeachment trial, 12. 
 
 Judge - Advocate - General, 
 army, 41 ; navy, 50. 
 
 Justice, Department of, 
 officers of, 43, 44. 
 
 Judiciary, Federal, 61. 
 
 LAW officers of depart- 
 ments, 43. 
 
 Labor, Department of, 57. 
 Lands, public, disposition 
 
 f? 95i 97 I divided into 
 districts, 97 ; Commis- 
 sioner of, 98. 
 
 Labels, may be copyright- 
 ed, 107. 
 
 Legislative branch of Gov- 
 ernment, functions of, 4. 
 
 Legislatures of States, to 
 elect Senators, 7, 8. 
 
 Life-saving service, 37. 
 
 Light-house board, 38. 
 
 MARINE Hospital Service, 
 
 37- 
 Marshals, United States, 
 
 44. 
 Message, President's, t o 
 
 Congress, 30. 
 
 Medicine and Surgery, Na- 
 val Bureau of, 50. 
 Mileage of Senators and 
 
 Representatives, 18. 
 Ministers of the United 
 
 States, foreign, salaries, 
 
 etc., 35. 
 Mint, Director of the, 37, 
 
 101. 
 Mints and assay offices, 
 
 100. 
 
 NAVIGATION, Commission- 
 er of, 37. 
 
 Navy, subdivisions of De- 
 partment, 47, 50 ; duties 
 of Secretary of, 47. 
 
 Naval Academy, 51. 
 
 1 66 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 National and State Rights, 
 
 70-73- 
 
 Naturalization, National 
 and State jurisdiction in, 
 74 ; conditions of, 74. 
 
 OATHS, Congressmen re- 
 quired to take, 22. 
 
 Office, nominations to, in 
 the Senate, 9. 
 
 Officers of the Senate, n ; 
 of the House, 13 ; of the 
 customs, 91, 92. 
 
 Office, tenure of, 59. 
 
 Ordnance, Army Bureau 
 of, 40 ; Naval, 49. 
 
 PATENT-RIGHTS, defined 
 and how secured, 104, 
 105. 
 
 Patents, Commissioner of, 
 
 53- 
 " Pairs " of Members of 
 
 Congress, 19. 
 Paymaster-General of the 
 
 Army, 40 ; of the Navy, 
 
 50. 
 Pensions, Commissioner of, 
 
 54 ; how granted, 108 ; 
 
 agencies, 109. 
 *' Pocket veto," defined, 25. 
 Postmaster-General, duties 
 
 and functions of, 44, 45 ; 
 
 Assistants' duties, 46. 
 President of the United 
 
 States, head of Executive 
 
 branch, 4 ; may approve 
 or veto bills of Congress, 
 24, 25 ; when chosen by 
 the House of Representa- 
 tives, 26, 27 ; when he 
 and Vice-President take 
 office, 28 ; duties, func- 
 tions, compensation, qual- 
 ifications for office, pro- 
 visions for filling vacancy 
 in office, 29, 30, 32 ; when 
 chosen by the House of 
 Representatives, 77. 
 
 Presidential electors, how 
 nominated and chosen, 
 75. 76. 
 
 President of the Senate, 
 how chosen, 10, 12. 
 
 Public Printer, the, 58. 
 
 Printing and Engraving, 
 Bureau of the Treasury, 
 38. 
 
 Provisions and Clothing, 
 Naval Bureau of, 49, 50. 
 
 Public lands, disposition of, 
 95-97 ; Commissioner of, 
 98. 
 
 Public documents, how cir- 
 culated, 20. 
 
 QUARTERMASTER-GENER- 
 AL of Army, 39. 
 
 RAILROADS, Commissioner 
 of, 54 ; Intercontinental 
 Commission, 59. 
 
 167 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Resolutions of Congress, 
 joint and otherwise, 19. 
 
 Reports of Executive de- 
 partments, 33. 
 
 Representatives, House of, 
 15 ; Committee of the 
 Whole, 14; officers of, 12; 
 standing committees of, 
 18 ; salary of members, 
 18 ; when the House 
 elects President and Vice- 
 President, 26, 27, 77. 
 
 Revenue, bills for raising, 
 in House and Senate, 15 ; 
 cutters, 91 ; tariff for, 
 only, 89. 
 
 SALARIES, of Senators and 
 Representatives, 18 ; of 
 other officers of the Gov- 
 ernment, how fixed, 26. 
 
 Senate of the United States, 
 representation in, 6 ; va- 
 cancy in, how filled, 7, 8; 
 special functions of,' 9 ; 
 principal officers of, u ; 
 standing committees of, 
 ii ; when sitting as a high 
 court of impeachment, 
 12. 
 
 Senators, length of term 
 and qualifications f^'r of- 
 fice, 7, 8 ; how chosen, 8. 
 
 Sessions of Congress, dura- 
 tion of, etc., 20, 21. 
 
 Seignorage, defined, 103. 
 
 Speaker of the House, du- 
 ties, functions, and salary 
 of, 13, 14 ; may be re- 
 moved by House, 13. 
 
 Solicitor-General of United 
 States, 43. 
 
 Signal Officer of Army, 40, 
 4i. 
 
 States, rights of, 70-73 ; in- 
 dependent governments 
 of, 72 ; governments may 
 differ with each other, 73 ; 
 how admitted, 80. 
 
 Steam vessels, supervision 
 of, 37- 
 
 Statistics, Treasury Bu- 
 reau, 37. 
 
 State Department, func- 
 tions and subdivisions 
 
 of, 33-35- 
 
 Surgeon-General, army, 40. 
 
 Supplies and accounts, na- 
 val bureau of, 50. 
 
 Sub-treasury system, 99, 
 100. 
 
 Suffrage, right of, no ; ille- 
 gal denial of, to any citi- 
 zen of the United States, 
 in. 
 
 TARIFFS and custom- 
 houses, 89-92 ; protective 
 and fiscal, 89. 
 
 Tenure of office, 59. 
 
 Territories, how organized, 
 78 ; legislative, executive, 
 
 168 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 and judicial officers of, 
 79, 80 ; names, how given, 
 80 ; Delegate in Congress, 
 79 ; how admitted to state- 
 hood, 80 ; the Indian, 83 ; 
 acquisitions of, by the 
 United States, 84-86. 
 
 Treaties, action upon, by 
 the Senate, 9. 
 
 Treasury Department, 
 functions of, subdivisions, 
 36-38 ; United States and 
 branches, 99. 
 
 Treasurer of the United 
 States, 37. 
 
 Trademarks of manufact- 
 urers, 107. 
 
 Treason, denned and how 
 punished, 87, 88. 
 
 VACANCIES in the Senate, 
 how filled, 7, 8 ; vaca.ncies 
 in the House, 17 ; in the 
 office of President, 27, 30. 
 
 Vessels, entrance and clear- 
 ance of, 91. 
 
 Veto of bills by the Presi- 
 dent, 24, 25. 
 
 Vice-President of the Unit- 
 ed States, duties, func- 
 tions, salary, etc., 10 ; 
 vacancy in the office of, 
 how filled, 10 ; when he 
 succeeds to the office of 
 the President, 27, 30. 
 
 Votes, electoral, sent to the 
 seat of government, 
 opened, and counted, 76, 
 77- 
 
 WAR, Department of, sub- 
 divisions of, etc. , 39-41 ; 
 duties of Secretary, 38, 
 39- 
 
 YARDS and Docks, Naval 
 Bureau of, 48. 
 
 ilTTj 
 
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 169 
 
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