THE 
 
 YOUNG AMERICAN CITIZEN 
 
 IC-NRLF 
 
 b?7 
 
 JOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
THE YOUNG AMERICAN CITIZEN 
 
INDEPENDENCE HALL 
 
THE 
 
 YOUNG AMERICAN 
 CITIZEN 
 
 CIVICS FOR GRAMMAR GRADES 
 
 BY 
 
 J. H. BINFORD 
 
 ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 
 
 AND 
 
 E. U. GRAFF 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 
 
 JOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 
 
Copyright, 1922, by 
 Johnson Publishing Company 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE principle of self-development through self-activity is now 
 well established in education. Modern schools have made remark- 
 able advances in its application. The child is no longer regarded as 
 a mere receptacle. Both the courses of study and the programs of 
 schools attempt to make provision for the training of children by 
 allowing them to carry on such activities as are needed to develop in 
 them certain desirable qualities. This principle is well understood 
 by most educators, but not so well by the general public. Many 
 activities criticized by school patrons as fads or entertainment 
 are in fact the very activities provided for learning by doing. 
 
 The value of the principle of self-development is so obvious 
 that subjects which lend themselves to this form of treatment are 
 assuming greater importance Jn the curriculum than ever before. 
 Among these subjects is* civics. Because it is a social study, it 
 is well adapted for direct application in the school and in the 
 community. 
 
 The ultimate purpose of the teaching of civics is to train for 
 citizenship. Necessarily, facts about government are a part of 
 this training, but the work should by no means end with a mere 
 knowledge of facts. There are so many ways in which to apply 
 social and political principles that it would be a pity to limit the 
 teaching of civics to the purely academic side of the subject. The 
 training that the pupil receives in home and in school in making him 
 a helpful, law-abiding member of his group is indeed the most 
 effective training for future citizenship possible. In the home he 
 learns the lessons of community of interest, division of labor, self- 
 denial, and obedience to constituted authority. In the school 
 he learns the same lessons in contact and association with a some- 
 what larger group, and thus develops the attitude and the habits 
 which fit him for community life. It should, however, be the 
 peculiar province of civics to bring the pupil into touch with the 
 great community problems, and thus definitely to enlarge his 
 horizon and prepare him for the duties of citizenship. 
 
 In The Young American Citizen the subjects of city, county, 
 state, and national government are treated in each of the three 
 parts of the book. This progressive treatment is necessary since 
 
 5 
 
 J525H70 
 
the pupil is unable on first presentation to grasp such subjects 
 in their entirety. The topics most easily understood come first, 
 more detailed study later, when the pupil is better prepared for it. 
 Such large and important subjects as health and thrift, which 
 because of their essential nature must be repeated at reasonable 
 intervals, are given the same spiral development. 
 
 This text has made provision for group activities by the 
 organization of a class club. The class club will find many oppor- 
 tunities for work in the school through various committees. For 
 example, one class club in a certain school had a "noon committee," 
 the function of which was to assist in taking care of the building 
 and grounds during the noon hour. It had a "room committee" 
 by whose efforts the schoolroom was made attractive. There were 
 boys' and girls' "basement committees," and a "lunch committee" 
 to supervise the lunch hour. There were also a "yard committee" 
 and a "hedge committee," the duties of which were to beautify the 
 grounds and building and to improve the appearance of the school. 
 Other occupations for the school club will suggest themselves to 
 every teacher. Such an organization can be made of real assistance 
 in obtaining the cooperation and the enthusiastic interest of the 
 pupils. 
 
 In addition to the class club, there are four principal ways 
 in which pupils may be stimulated to undertake applied work 
 in civics: (1) Dramatization and pageantry; (2) Student organi- 
 zations which exemplify the working of civic bodies; (3) Actual 
 participation by children in adult community activities; (4) Visits 
 to and study of community utilities. (See page 310.) 
 
 The authors earnestly believe that this text, which presents 
 high civic ideals and practical plans for putting these ideals into 
 effect, will be welcomed by teachers who aim to secure maximum 
 results from an elementary course in civics. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB ORGANIZED . . 11 
 
 II. WHAT A COMMUNITY Is 18 
 
 III. DIFFERENT KINDS OF COMMUNITIES 23 
 
 IV. THE PLAYGROUND 29 
 
 V. COURAGE AND FAIR PLAY 35 
 
 VI. WORK AND COOPERATION 40 
 
 VII. A HEALTH LESSON 46 
 
 VIII. THRIFT 52 
 
 IX. THE GOOD CITIZEN 56 
 
 X. OUR CITY 60 
 
 XI. OUR COUNTY 68 
 
 XII. OUR STATE , 73 
 
 XIII. OUR NATION 79 
 
 PART II 
 
 XIV. THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB REORGANIZED 85 
 
 XV. OCCUPATIONS ' 91 
 
 XVI. KEEPING THINGS CLEAN 98 
 
 XVII. SAVERS AND WASTERS 104 
 
 XVIII. BEAUTY Ill 
 
 XIX. SAFETY 116 
 
 XX. FIRE PREVENTION 124 
 
 XXI. EDUCATION 129 
 
 XXII. LAWS 136 
 
 XXIII. TRIALS 141 
 
 7 
 
CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIV. CITY GOVERNMENT 148 
 
 XXV. COUNTY GOVERNMENT 157 
 
 XXVI. STATE GOVERNMENT 163 
 
 XXVII. SOME THINGS THE NATION DOES FOR Us 175 
 
 PART III 
 
 XXVIII. THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB REORGANIZED 184 
 
 XXIX. CHOOSING A VOCATION 187 
 
 XXX. OUTDOOR LIFE 194 
 
 XXXl. AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING 202 
 
 XXXII. TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION 213 
 
 XXXIII. WHERE OUR LIBERTY CAME FROM 228 
 
 XXXIV. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 235 
 
 XXXV. THE PRESIDENT AND THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS . .241 
 
 XXXVI. CONGRESS AND ITS WORK 249 
 
 XXXVII. THE FEDERAL COURTS 255 
 
 XXXVIII. MONEY AND CREDIT 260 
 
 XXXIX. How THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT RAISES REVENUE . . 268 
 
 XL. POLITICAL PARTIES . . 271 
 
 XLI. NATURALIZATION 277 
 
 XLII. EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 283 
 
 XLIII. AMERICA AND THE WORLD 292 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 SECTION 
 
 I. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 299 
 
 II. MEETING OF A JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB 305 
 
 III. PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 310 
 
 IV. THE TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTION . , . . 314 
 
The American's Creed 
 
 I believe in the United States of 
 America as a government of the people, 
 by the people, for the people, whose 
 just powers are derived from the con- 
 sent of the governed ; a democracy in 
 a republic; a sovereign nation of many 
 sovereign states; a perfect union, one 
 and inseparable; established upon 
 those principles of freedom, equality, 
 justice, and humanity for which 
 American patriots sacrificed their 
 lives and fortunes. 
 
 I therefore believe it is my duty to 
 my country to love it; to .support its 
 Constitution; to obey its laws; to 
 respect its flag, and to defend it 
 against all enemies. 
 
 William Tyler Page 
 
HOUDON'S STATUE OF WASHINGTON, CAPITOL, RICHMOND, VA. 
 
The Young American Citizen 
 
 PART ONE 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB ORGANIZED 
 
 Problems: (1) To learn the value of organization; and 
 (2) to effect an organization. 
 
 A Great Fire. A fire broke out some years ago in 
 the city of Manila, in the Philippine Islands. The 
 lightly built wooden houses blazed like tinder, and in a 
 short time the flames spread until a large part of the 
 city was on fire, and its entire destruction seemed at 
 hand. The natives, unused to thinking quickly, were 
 in a state of panic. They could neither stop the fire 
 nor save their household belongings. Terrified, they 
 looked on helplessly at the leaping flames. 
 
 Help Appears. Two groups of helpers appeared on 
 the scene of the fire at the same time. One was the 
 fire company, which promptly set to work throwing 
 streams of water on the burning buildings. The other 
 was a patrol of Boy Scouts, who hurried to the fire at 
 the first alarm. They helped to carry furniture to a 
 place of safety; they gave help to the fire companies; 
 they bore messages. Acting in obedience to their 
 Scout Master and the chief of the firemen, who gave 
 orders, they did wonders. Their work that day 
 greatly lessened the horrors of the fire, which burned a 
 
 11 
 
great part of , Manila and left three thousand people 
 homeless. 
 
 Power of Organization. How was it that two bands 
 of workers could do so much while the natives stood 
 around helpless from fright? It was r through the 
 power of organization. The firemen had practiced their 
 calling for years. The boys were organized and trained 
 to be of use at just such times therefore they knew 
 what to do. They knew how to cooperate that is, 
 how to act together. They knew how to take orders 
 and carry them out. A small number of Boy Scouts, 
 organized and trained, were of more use than hundreds 
 of grown men who had had no experience in teamwork. 
 
 Girl Scouts. What is done for the world of boy- 
 hood by the Boy Scouts is done for girls by the similar 
 societies of Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. These 
 clubs have taught girls how to do .many things about 
 the house, given them a knowledge of outdoor life, and 
 helped to make them strong and healthy. Like the 
 Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls learn 
 the lessons of organization and the ideals of citizenship. 
 
 Organizing a Club. How would you like to organ- 
 ize your class into a club similar in many respects to 
 the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Girls? 
 This society will add to the pleasures of your school life 
 because its meetings will be different from your regular 
 classroom exercises, and it may lead you to undertake 
 a number of projects that you will enjoy. Through 
 this club you will take up a new study, civics, in which 
 you should learn many things about the history and 
 government of your country, facts that will help you 
 to vote rightly, when the time comes, and to be a good 
 
citizen in all ways. Just as the Boy Scouts organization 
 teaches boys to be strong, kind, courageous, and 
 honorable, so your Junior Citizens Club will train you 
 in the public duties of men and women in a free 
 country. 
 
 Way to Organize a Club. "How shall we organize 
 a Junior Citizens Club and what work shall we do 
 after we have organized?" you ask. This book has 
 been written to guide and help you. In each chapter 
 you will find a study of facts about your government or 
 a discussion of the duties of citizens. At the end of each 
 chapter you will find certain things outlined for your 
 club to do, questions to be discussed, and suggestions 
 for other work. 
 
 But we must first organize our Junior Citizens 
 Club. The following is an account taken down in 
 shorthand of the organization of a club in the 5-A grade 
 of a large city school. Read it carefully and then 
 organize your own club. 
 
 JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB OF LONGFELLOW SCHOOL 
 
 The class was called to order by the teacher, who 
 acted as chairman until the organization of the club was 
 completed. The teacher, after explaining the purpose 
 of the Junior Citizens Club as the teaching of citizen- 
 ship by practical lessons, appointed a committee to 
 bring in reports on a constitution for the club and a 
 pledge to be taken by the members. 
 
 On the following Friday the club met again. The 
 teacher, as chairman, called for the report of the com- 
 mittee on the constitution and pledge. The committee 
 made the following report: 
 
 13 
 
CONSTITUTION FOR JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB 
 
 Article 1. This organization shall be known as the 
 Junior Citizens Club of the Fifth Grade of Longfellow School. 
 
 Article 2. The object of this association shall be to 
 train members for real citizenship and, furthermore, to 
 accomplish each year at least one thing of importance for 
 the school or the community. 
 
 Article 3. The officers of the club shall be a president, 
 a vice president, a secretary, and a treasurer. They shall be 
 elected by ballot and shall hold office until the end of the 
 school year. 
 
 Article 4. The meetings of the Junior Citizens Club 
 shall be held on Friday afternoon of each week of the school 
 term and shall begin at two o'clock. 
 
 Article 5. The following committees shall be appointed: 
 Visiting, to visit sick members of the club; Improvement, to 
 assist the teacher in bettering the appearance of the school- 
 room ; and Entertainment, to get up programs for Christmas 
 and Easter, and other special days. Each committee shall 
 consist of three members, and the committees shall be 
 changed at the middle of the school year. 
 
 THE PLEDGE 
 
 We will never bring disgrace to our school, city, or 
 country. 
 
 We will obey our school, city, and country's laws. 
 
 We will stand for the right, with others or alone. 
 
 We will aid the poor, the old, the young, and all who 
 need help. 
 
 We pledge allegiance to the flag of our country and our 
 most earnest efforts to keep ourselves worthy of that flag. 
 
 The teacher then said: "All who are in favor of 
 adopting this constitution and this pledge as the law 
 of the Junior Citizens Club will say 'Aye." 
 
 A chorus of "Ayes" came from the class in reply. 
 
 The teacher went on: "All who are opposed to 
 adopting the constitution and pledge will say *No." : 
 
 Not a single student said "No." 
 
 14 
 
"As the 'Ayes' have it unanimously," said the 
 teacher, "the constitution and pledge are adopted as 
 the law of the Junior Citizens Club. The constitution 
 calls for the election of a president by ballot. Nom- 
 inations for president are now in order." 
 
 "I nominate Sam Blackburn," said Henry Brown, 
 rising. 
 
 "Sam Blackburn is nominated," went on the teacher. 
 "Are there any other nominations?" 
 
 Willie Smith rose from his seat. "I nominate 
 Mary O'Callaghan," he said. 
 
 "Mary O'Callaghan is nominated," said the teacher. 
 "Are there any other nominations?" 
 
 No one spoke, and the nominations were declared 
 closed. 
 
 "Sam Blackburn and Mary O'Callaghan are 
 nominated for president, and we are ready to vote," 
 said the teacher. 
 
 She appointed two boys to act as tellers. The 
 tellers tore up sheets of paper into small bits and gave 
 one piece or ballot to each member of the class. Accord- 
 ing to the teacher's direction, each member of the class 
 wrote on the piece of paper the name of the candidate 
 for whom he or she voted. When all the ballots had been 
 written, the tellers collected them and read them, one 
 by one, aloud. As they did so, the count was kept on 
 the blackboard by two students, a boy and a girl. It 
 was found that the result was as follows : 
 
 Sam Blackburn 22 
 
 Mary O'Callaghan ' . 18 
 
 "Sam Blackburn, having received a majority of the 
 
 15 
 
votes cast, is elected president of the Junior Citizens 
 Club," said the teacher, "and he will now come for- 
 ward and take the chair." 
 
 Sam Blackburn came forward, and the teacher gave 
 up her seat to him. Then the president called for the 
 election of a vice president in the same manner in 
 which he himself had been elected. The election of a 
 secretary and treasurer followed in order. 
 
 OFFICERS OF A Civics CLUB 
 
 After the election of officers, the president ap- 
 pointed the members of the Visiting Committee, 
 Improvement Committee, and Entertainment Com- 
 mittee, and asked them to report at the next meeting 
 of the club. 
 
 A general talk then took place as to the way in 
 which the club could best further the study of civics. 
 The teacher gave her views, and several of the students 
 spoke. It was decided that committees should report 
 
 16 
 
daily on the special topics at the end of each lesson in 
 the textbook. These committees were to be appointed 
 by the president with the aid of the teacher. It was 
 also agreed that committees should work out practical 
 projects suggested in the book. 
 
 The president called for a motion to adjourn. The 
 motion was made, seconded, and carried, and the 
 president declared the Junior Citizens Club adjourned 
 until the next meeting. 
 
 ORGANIZING YOUR CLUB 
 
 I. Appoint committees to report on the following : 
 Name of the organization. 
 Object of the club. 
 Constitution and Pledge. 
 Slogans. 
 
 Time and place of meetings. 
 II. Report of the committees. (The teacher will hold the chair until 
 
 the permanent organization is completed.) 
 III. Election of officers by ballot. 
 
 17 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WHAT A COMMUNITY IS 
 
 Problems: (1) To learn what a community is; and (2) 
 to find out all you can about the early history of your com- 
 munity. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. Suppose you were the only 
 person on an island : would you be happy? You know 
 you would not, for you would be lonely and in constant 
 fear that some wild beast or savage man would kill 
 you. You have read the story of Robinson Crusoe, who 
 was shipwrecked on a lonely island in the Pacific 
 Ocean. He had to do everything for himself, since 
 there was no one to help him. He built a house; killed 
 goats and dried their flesh; fashioned furniture; 
 molded pots from clay; and made from goatskins a 
 hat, a suit of clothes, leggings, and an umbrella. 
 
 His Own Master. Robinson had all the necessaries 
 of life and he was master of his island. He could do 
 as he liked all the time. He rose in the morning when 
 it pleased him and spent the day as he chose. He cut 
 down as many trees as he wished and killed goats 
 whenever he felt like going shooting. He had no taxes 
 to pay, no rent, no grocery and clothing bills. Yet he 
 was unhappy because he was alone. As the years 
 passed, his desire for the sight of a human face and the 
 sound of a human voice grew almost unbearable. 
 
 Footprints in the Sand. One day while he was 
 walking along the seashore, Robinson suddenly came 
 
 18 
 
across the footprints of a man in the sand. He stopped, 
 almost overcome by his feelings. There was another 
 man or men on the island ! He knew that they must 
 be savages, and so enemies to himself, and yet the very 
 presence of other people on his lonely isle filled his 
 heart anew with the thirst for human companionship. 
 Some time later he saw several canoes approaching the 
 shore. A number of savages landed, carrying with 
 them two prisoners. One of these was killed and cut 
 up to eat. The other, before he could be put to death, 
 made a dash for freedom. He ran toward the spot 
 where Robinson lay hidden in the bushes, followed by 
 two of his captors. Robinson made up his mind to help 
 the fleeing savage. He knocked down one of the 
 pursuers and killed the other with a shot from his 
 gun. 
 
 Friday. The captive fell on his knees on the sand 
 to show his gratitude for his rescue. Then he spoke 
 some words in a language that Robinson did not under- 
 stand. Sweeter sounds never came to Robinson's 
 ears. At last, after years of loneliness, he heard a 
 human voice and felt the comfort of human compan- 
 ionship. He took the man to live with him and named 
 him Friday, because he had come on that day of the 
 week. 
 
 A Community Formed. The coming of Friday 
 changed Robinson Crusoe's life. Why was this? 
 There was some one to be with, to talk to, and to work 
 alongside. As the Bible says, man was not made to 
 live alone: he was made to live with others. Some- 
 thing else followed from Friday's coming. Robinson 
 Crusoe had to think of another besides himself. Before 
 
 19 
 
Friday came he could do as he chose, but now he had to 
 consider his companion's rights and interests as well 
 as his own otherwise, he and Friday could not have 
 lived together. What resulted from Friday's coming 
 was that a community was formed. True, it was the 
 smallest possible community only two men but it 
 was a community, because each had to help the other. 
 
 A PIONEER'S HOME 
 
 Cpoperation is the essential feature of any community: 
 it is the cement that binds the parts together. 
 
 Jamestown and Plymouth. The story of Robinson 
 Crusoe is fiction, but the history of the early colonists 
 who settled our country shows that men must live in 
 communities that this is the natural mode of living. 
 Suppose the settlers who landed at Jamestown and 
 Plymouth had at once gone out as separate families 
 
 20 
 
into the forest. What would have become of them? 
 They would have perished from hunger or from attacks 
 of Indians. So at first they lived together in settle- 
 ments, and in this way subdued the forest, conquered 
 disease and famine, and kept the savages at bay. Even 
 when they scattered, they had a community organi- 
 zation binding together the settlers in a region. The 
 colonists in Virginia called their communities "hun- 
 
 A COLONIAL HOME 
 
 dreds," and the New England settlers named theirs 
 "towns." 
 
 Community Life. From the study of history we 
 learn that it is natural and necessary for people to live 
 in communities. It is because of this fact that they 
 have risen from savagery to a state of civilization. 
 There could be no farms, factories, railroads, stores, 
 churches, and schools if men did not dwell and work 
 
together. Because people live in communities, they 
 have learned to observe certain agreements that are 
 for the good of all. These we call laws, and the power 
 that enforces laws we call government. The community 
 you know is your neighborhood. Go to the top of a 
 tall building or high hill, and your community spreads 
 out before you with its homes, roads, streets, churches, 
 stores, and schoolhouses. Farther than the eye can 
 see lie larger communities of which you are also a citizen 
 your city, county, state, and nation. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of the things you would like to show a visitor to your 
 community. 
 
 2. Write the names of the men and women from your community 
 who have played a prominent part in the building of our nation. 
 
 3. Find out from histories or from old people facts about the first 
 settlement of your community: from what place (or places) the settlers 
 came; why they moved; and how they made the journey. 
 
 4. Describe the difference between your community as it is now and 
 as it was in the days of your grandfather. 
 
 5. Tell: (a) what a citizen receives from his community; (b) how he 
 can help his community. 
 
 6. Let each club member bring in writing on a slip of paper one answer 
 to the following question, "How Can We Help Our Community?" Write 
 the five best answers on the blackboard. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 DIFFERENT KINDS OF COMMUNITIES 
 
 Problems: (1) TO study the different kinds of communi- 
 ties; and (2) to learn about the spirit that makes each 
 community a success. 
 
 The First Community. The community formed by 
 Robinson Crusoe was accidental that is, it was the 
 result of the meeting of two lonely men on a desert 
 isle. But the first community that all of us know is a 
 natural one the home. Wherever a father, mother, 
 and child live together is a home. 
 
 Rights of Home. Friday had certain rights that 
 Robinson Crusoe was obliged to respect; and in the 
 same way the child in the home has rights. You have 
 the right to good food, good training, good surround- 
 ings, and other advantages, which your parents gladly 
 give you. However, what the home teaches primarily 
 is that every member of the little community has 
 rights which it is necessary to observe. You have 
 the right to play in the fresh air as much as you wish. 
 But if some one lies ill near your playground, you will 
 go elsewhere to play or not play at all for the time: 
 to make a noise near a sick person is to disregard the 
 rights of others. In the home father, mother, and 
 child have rights, and the proper observance of these 
 rights is the first step to be learned in the larger 
 cooperation of life. 
 
 Home Old as the Race. The home is as old as 
 
 23 
 
the human race. Ages ago, before men were civilized 
 and lived in houses or even tents, when their dwelling 
 places were nothing but caves, they lived in families 
 and had homes. The home has remained ever since, 
 through the thousands of years of human progress, as 
 the greatest institution of humanity, the base on 
 which everything else rests. 
 
 What Has Grown Out of Homes. In early times, 
 
 Copyright. Publishers Photo Service 
 
 A COMFORTABLE COUNTRY HOME 
 
 before the beginning of civilization, each home was a 
 little community all to itself, ruled by the father. 
 Then a number of families combined to form a tribe, 
 which elected some one to be chief. Later, a number 
 of tribes united to form a little city. This process of 
 combining tribes and cities has gone on ever since, 
 until there have come into being the great empires 
 and republics of today. 
 
 24 
 
Government Springs from the Home. The first 
 government was that of the home itself. But at a very 
 early period men found that they could not live to 
 themselves, with their families. They had to come 
 together for mutual benefit. Before there were any 
 laws and rulers, the men of a locality would meet and 
 talk over matters of common concern. Perhaps dis- 
 putes over land were to be settled. Perhaps the cattle 
 of one man had been seized by another. Perhaps 
 enemies were troubling the neighborhood and there 
 was need of defense against them. For the protection 
 of all, the families in a neighborhood most of them 
 relatives would combine to form a larger community, 
 putting some man or men at the head. They would 
 agree to do or not to do certain things, and these 
 agreements came in time to be called laws. 
 
 The Church. Families united for other reasons 
 besides mutual protection. Even in very early times 
 the tribes came together for worship, and neighbor- 
 hoods have gone on ever since meeting in churches. 
 The church is an important community. It teaches 
 the relation of God to man and right living, but in 
 the past it did much more than this. A few genera- 
 tions ago the majority of people could not rea^d or write. 
 They depended on preachers, who were educated men, 
 to teach them by means of sermons. Many people 
 obtained their whole knowledge of history, politics, 
 geography, and other subjects by attending church. 
 In public meetings the preacher played a leading part 
 because he was well informed. No matter how poor 
 and ignorant a neighborhood might be, there was 
 almost always a Bible in it and some people able to 
 
 25 
 
read the Bible. The laws and moral ideas of the 
 Hebrews thus became the rule of conduct for Europe 
 and America. 
 
 The School. In still another way families meet 
 to form a community a community much newer than 
 home and church. The school is a community formed 
 by the union of families. Formerly, in the country, 
 
 A COTTNTRY SCHOOL 
 
 / 
 
 the school was a small community because bad roads 
 made it impossible for the children to come long 
 distances to school. But with modern good roads, 
 there have arisen consolidated schools, which have 
 large buildings and a considerable number of students. 
 Because of this consolidation, it is possible for country 
 children to have wider opportunities in study and in 
 play. 
 
Teamwork in School. The school itself includes 
 smaller communities. Members of baseball and foot- 
 ball and basket-ball teams are parts of little com- 
 munities, for they are persons working, or rather 
 playing, together for a common end. Teamwork, or 
 cooperation, is the essence of success in athletics as 
 in many other affairs of life. Students who learn 
 teamwork not only play games better; they do better 
 work in the schoolroom and they feel a common 
 interest in the welfare of the school. They try to 
 make the school, outside and inside, a more attractive 
 place in which to live, and they sometimes have a 
 newspaper in which to record the various activities 
 of the school community. 
 
 County and Town. These first communities the 
 home, the church, the school serve to introduce us 
 to the larger communities of which we are also mem- 
 bers. The study of civics deals with these larger 
 communities political communities of which every 
 man and every woman are parts. The first of the 
 political communities with which we come in contact 
 is the county or the town. The county is a community 
 made up of all the farms and villages and stores and 
 churches with the people in a certain part of a 
 state. The town or city is the community made up of 
 all the people living within the limits of a group of 
 houses large enough to form a town or city. 
 
 The State. The next political community is the 
 state. A number of counties, cities and towns form 
 a state, which is a community of importance. The 
 state makes most of the laws under which we 
 live. Most courts which interpret the laws are state 
 
 27 
 
courts. The state officers who enforce the laws come in 
 contact with everybody in one way or another. In 
 nearly all the relations of life we touch the state and 
 its government. 
 
 The Nation. The largest community of which 
 we are members is the nation. The American nation 
 is made up of forty-eight states and the District of 
 Columbia. The nation makes certain laws under 
 which we live and attends to our relations with foreign 
 nations. The well-being of all the citizens of our 
 country is dependent on the wisdom with which the 
 national affairs are conducted. This is the reason 
 that it is so important to have a good President and a 
 competent Congress. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Give a brief account of the growth of the home and tell how govern- 
 ment springs from it. 
 
 2. Discuss in class this question: Should children receive a weekly 
 allowance for chores done at home? (See page 302.) 
 
 3. Organize your club into committees to do the following tasks: 
 
 Keep the floor clean and free of paper. 
 
 Beautify the walls. 
 
 Purchase pictures. 
 
 Beautify the school grounds by cleaning up and planting trees 
 
 and flowers. 
 
 Make money to buy books for a library. 
 Make the school more healthful. 
 
 4. Make a list of all the communities of which you are a member. Ex- 
 plain why the following are communities: a baseball team; a school; a home. 
 
 5. Show how your neighborhood community helps other communities. 
 
 6. Show how communities in other parts of the state and nation help 
 your community. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE PLAYGROUND 
 
 Problems: (1) To study organization as shown in the 
 playground; and (2) to organize some kind of team. 
 
 Organization. The best place in which to learn 
 organization is in your play. You have found that 
 when you play games you must have government, 
 unless the play is to be mere romping. Without rules 
 you cannot play any game, because you do not know 
 what may and what may not be done in the course of 
 the game. All cooperation depends on such rules. 
 
 Rules in Games. Boys' games are played according 
 to strict rules. The game of marbles even employs a 
 term used in law, for a boy sometimes says "venue" 
 when he wishes to gain a certain advantage, and 
 unless he says "venue" before another boy can say 
 it he loses the advantage. Most girls' games also have 
 rules that must be observed carefully; indeed, children 
 pay more attention to them than grown people. 
 
 Baseball. It is, however, in the leading athletic 
 games, such as baseball, football, basket ball, and 
 hockey, that the importance of regulations is seen. 
 There are many rules in baseball, and they must be 
 known to the umpire. The umpire is the person who 
 decides what happens in each play and enforces the 
 rules. If the umpire is not obeyed the game breaks up, 
 because the same play cannot be decided in two ways. 
 If the umpire says that a batter is out at first base, 
 
 29 
 
the decision must be accepted, even if it is wrong. 
 Usually the umpire is right; we go ahead on the 
 principle that he is, because if we act on any other 
 plan there can be no government of the game. 
 
 Football. The rules of football are even more 
 numerous and rigid than those of baseball. Thus, 
 one cannot tackle or seize hold of anyone but the boy 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 HARVARD PRACTICING FOR THE VARSITY ELEVEN 
 
 with the ball, cannot run out of bounds, and in making 
 a forward pass must observe a number of things. The 
 principal official of a football game is the referee; 
 he decides when a play is ended and when the penalties 
 for making mistakes should be applied. Two linesmen 
 determine whether or not the required distance has 
 been made in the number of plays allowed. 
 
 30 
 
The Captain. The playing of baseball and football 
 is under the control of captains. Every baseball, 
 football, or basket-ball team has its captain, who 
 governs it. The captain makes up his mind as to 
 what boys, or girls, are to be on the team and what 
 style of game is to be played. In football, the quarter- 
 back decides what plays are to be made while the 
 game is going on, because he is the player who gives 
 the signals. The team is taught to know and obey the 
 signals, and if one of the players fails to attend to 
 them the result is disastrous to his side. The eleven 
 which has good teamwork usually beats an opposing 
 eleven which has finer players but poorer teamwork. 
 In fact, the game of football is a most excellent training 
 in organization. The boy who plays football learns 
 from it the value of government better than in almost 
 any other way, because the good lessons we learn 
 while we are enjoying ourselves are the best lessons 
 of all. We see what they mean to us. 
 
 Choosing the Captain. At the end of every season 
 a football team chooses a captain for the next season. 
 Who is chosen a fractious boy? Never. The men 
 who coach, or train, the team have a voice in the 
 election of the captain, and they always want a boy 
 who knows how to work with others. The boy who 
 can do this will be the best one to teach other boys 
 cooperation and that means success in football as 
 in most of the other things of life. The captain must 
 be a good player, or the other players will not respect 
 him. He must, too, be a leader that is, he must know 
 how to make others follow his leadership. He must 
 be an honorable boy, one in whom the other boys feel 
 
 31 
 
confidence, or else they will not believe that he is 
 fair in choosing the players to make up the team. 
 In football the rule of merit must apply; otherwise 
 good players will give up the effort to get on the team. 
 This choosing of the captain is the first step that boys 
 and girls take in government. You are called on to 
 vote for the baseball, football, or basket-ball captain 
 now, and when you grow up you will be called on to 
 vote for the officers of the government. The judg- 
 ment you develop in helping to choose the right captain 
 will aid you in later life in selecting the right governor, 
 or Congressman, or President. 
 
 Sacrifices of Play. Sometimes boys and girls are 
 called on to make sacrifices in games. Perhaps a 
 girl has to give up her place on the basket-ball team 
 because another girl has become a better player and 
 will help the team more. President Roosevelt on one 
 occasion did honor to a football player for the fine 
 spirit of sacrifice he showed in a Harvard- Yale game. 
 One of the Harvard halfbacks had played splendidly 
 through both halves of a hard-fought game: largely 
 by his efforts the ball had been brought close to the 
 Yale goal posts. But the game was near the end and 
 would result in a tie unless Harvard could kick a 
 field goal. Then the halfback who had played so 
 well was taken out of the game in order to make way 
 for another player who could kick goals. He went 
 without a word of remonstrance, and the newcomer 
 kicked a goal and won the game. The sacrifice of the 
 first player made victory possible. 
 
 Freedom in Play. Organization does not mean the 
 doing away with freedom, either at home or in play. 
 
 32 
 
In homes where there is organization, the children have 
 more time for themselves than in houses where there 
 is constant quarreling, where meals are not on time, 
 and where the children do not go to bed and get up at 
 regular hours. In the same way, the football player 
 who cooperates loyally with his team mates has more 
 freedom than the player who does not. The very fact 
 that he plays in harmony with ten other boys, and 
 helps them and is helped by them, gives him a chance 
 to do things he otherwise could not hope to do. It is 
 by teamwork that the ball is advanced toward the 
 goal, near enough for the watchful player to seize his 
 opportunity. Then, suddenly, he is thrown the ball 
 and is free to do his best behind the screen of fellow 
 players who protect him and are called his "inter- 
 ference." He is free to make a touchdown and win 
 the game, when without teamwork, or cooperation, 
 he could accomplish nothing. 
 
 The Benefits of Play. There are great benefits to 
 be derived from play: the development of character 
 and the strengthening of the body. There are other 
 good things besides. Play trains for later life. Most 
 boys who play games well and learn the value of 
 organization do well in after life often they do much 
 better than brilliant students. The reason for this 
 is that they know how to do their best under hard 
 circumstances, how to work with others, and how to 
 stand rough knocks. Play also develops judgment, 
 good will, sportsmanship, and a sense of justice and 
 honesty. The world is not an easy place to succeed in: 
 it demands all of the qualities mentioned cooperation, 
 hard work, and endurance particularly. If you learn 
 
 33 
 
these things at play, you have learned most valuable 
 lessons. 
 
 Playgrounds. Once upon a time people paid little 
 attention to playgrounds for children. That was 
 before they realized the great importance of play in 
 the life of a child and his training. Today we sometimes 
 fear that children will not get enough play. We have 
 learned that happy, healthy children will make happy, 
 healthy men and women, and that in depriving them 
 of fresh air and plenty of play we are depriving them 
 of their birthright. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of games which can be played in your section in summer; 
 in winter. 
 
 2. If you have no baseball, football, basket-ball, or hockey teams, 
 organize one or more of them now. 
 
 3. Make plans for raising money for these teams. 
 
 4. Suggest games suited to a lower grade and help teach the boys and 
 girls of that grade how to play them. 
 
 5. Make fields or courts for games. 
 
 6. Write good cheers and songs for your team. 
 
 7. Make a large poster on which members of teams will sign their names. 
 
 8. Make a list of the recreations provided by your community. 
 
 9. Go to the front of the room and speak for two minutes on your 
 favorite game, giving your reason for preferring it. 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 COURAGE AND FAIR PLAY 
 
 Problems: (1) To discuss courage and fair play; and 
 (2) to tell of instances of fair play in your school life. 
 
 Courage. Both physical and moral courage can be 
 learned, in a high degree, on the playground. It re- 
 quires bravery to be a good football player. It takes 
 courage to dive at the man running with the ball, and 
 it demands courage to run with the ball when you 
 know that you will be tackled and thrown to the 
 ground. This is physical courage. Moral courage 
 comes in not losing heart when the odds seem against 
 you. Often a football team is beaten before the game 
 begins, because of its fear of the other team. We 
 should make up our minds to play our best and refuse 
 to acknowledge defeat beforehand, no matter what the 
 odds may be. 
 
 Moral Courage in Play. A good example of moral 
 courage was shown by a Harvard football team in a 
 Harvard- Yale game a few years ago. Yale had won all 
 of its previous games; Harvard had had a bad season. 
 Almost everybody thought that Yale would win easily, 
 but the Harvard players refused to be beaten before- 
 hand. When the contest began, it was evident that the 
 Yale players were heavier and stronger; they made 
 great gains at first. But Harvard always rallied when 
 the danger seemed greatest and held Yale from its 
 goal line. The first half passed, the second half was 
 
 35 
 
nearing an end, and still the weaker Harvard team was 
 not beaten and the stronger Yale team was not the 
 victor. Then, suddenly, something happened. The 
 lightest and frailest player on the field, the Harvard 
 quarterback, made a great run that changed the whole 
 course of the game. Harvard turned from the defensive 
 to the offensive, stormed across Yale's goal line and 
 won the game. It was a triumph of " gameness," gained 
 because the team which everybody expected to lose 
 resolved on victory and won. 
 
 Patrick Henry. There is another and harder kind 
 of moral courage, and that consists in doing what you 
 think to be right when the crowd is against you. It 
 sometimes happens in life that the crowd is against 
 you that the majority is mistaken. A great example 
 of moral courage was shown by Patrick Henry in 1765, 
 in the Virginia House of Burgesses. The English 
 Parliament had put a tax on the American colonies. 
 The Americans felt that the tax was wrong, but a 
 majority in the House of Burgesses also thought that it 
 would be wrong to refuse to pay the tax. Then Patrick 
 Henry arose and declared that the tax was tyranny and 
 should not be paid, that the king of England was a bad 
 ruler. It took both moral and physical courage to do 
 that. The House of Burgesses might have looked on 
 Henry as a traitor; the British government might have 
 hanged him. As it was, his courage and oratory carried 
 the House of Burgesses with him; the majority agreed 
 with him, and the American Revolution began. 
 
 Need of MoralCourage. The need of moral courage 
 is no less now than then. Our country at the present 
 time faces dangers of many kinds. If it rises above 
 
 36 
 
them, it will be because we are brave and dutiful. We 
 must learn to be brave in civic matters to oppose 
 cheating and waste and the election of bad men to 
 office. We must learn to vote as we think right, even 
 if it is sometimes to our disadvantage. We must learn 
 to put what we believe to be the good of the country 
 above all other things. If we do this, the future of 
 America will be great and glorious. 
 
 Need of Fair Play. There is another quality needed 
 in civics, as in all other affairs of life, and that is a sense 
 of fair play. We must be just to others. To do this 
 takes courage. The coward seldom believes in it or 
 practices it. We may say that fair play is the motto 
 of our country: always the United. States has stood 
 for that. The republic was founded on the great idea 
 of seeing that everybody gets justice. In the relations 
 of this country with foreign powers, we have always 
 contended for fair play. We have fought for it, and, 
 if necessary, we will fight for it again. 
 
 Fair Play on the Playground. The way to learn 
 fair play is on the playground. There are always oppor- 
 tunities to cheat in games or to do something that is not 
 quite right. If you are playing football, you will be 
 tempted to "hold" an opposing player, which is wrong. 
 If you are running the bases in a baseball game, you 
 will be tempted to cut them if you think the umpire is 
 not looking. Make up your mind to lose rather than 
 do these things. The great law .of life is Play the game 
 by the rules. 
 
 A Fair Play Story. Owen Johnson, in one of his 
 stories, has given a fine example of fair play and also of 
 moral courage. Two football teams in a school were 
 
 37 
 
playing for the school championship. Dink Stover, 
 one of the boys, had expected to play, but instead he 
 was made a linesman that is, one of the officials of 
 the game. Both teams played well and the contest was 
 hard fought. Stover was wild to see his own team win, 
 the team on which he hoped to play next time. In the 
 last moments of play the opposing team made a touch- 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 A STRUGGLE AT THE GOAL 
 
 down, tying the score. Then the goal was kicked, but 
 there was doubt whether it was really a goal. Every- 
 thing depended on this. If a goal had been kicked, 
 Stover's team was beaten; if it had not, the game was a 
 tie. This is what followed: 
 
 " No goal," said Slugger Jones, the umpire. " Time's up ! " 
 
 The other team, the Woodhull, began to dispute the 
 
 decision. Slugger Jones, surrounded by the mass of shouting 
 
 38 
 
boys, began to take the vote of the officials. The referee and 
 the linesman for the Woodhull both said that it was a goal. 
 Then the question was put to Stover for decision. 
 
 "Dink, was it a goal or no goal?" 
 
 Stover suddenly found himself in a whirling, angry 
 mass the decision of the game in his own hands. He saw 
 the faces of Tough McCarty and the Coffee-Colored Angel in 
 the crowd about him and he saw the sneer on their faces 
 as they waited for his answer. Then he saw the faces of his 
 own team mates and knew what they, in their frenzy, ex- 
 pected from him. 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 "Goal or no goal?" cried the umpire, for the second time. 
 
 Then suddenly, face to face with the hostile mass, the 
 fighting blood came to Dink. Something cold went up his 
 back. He looked once more above the riot, to the shadowy 
 posts, and then, with a snap to his jaws, he answered: 
 
 "Goal!" 
 
 Thus Dink Stover, risking unpopularity, stood for 
 fair play. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Give instances of moral and physical courage shown on your 
 playground. 
 
 2. Tell stories you have read of moral and physical courage. 
 
 3. Discuss "fair play" in the following cases: 
 
 When a big boy fights a little one. 
 When a number of boys haze one boy. 
 When an outsider is put on a school team. 
 
 39 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 WORK AND COOPERATION 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the growth of occupations; and 
 (2) to learn the value of cooperation. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe on his island home had to do 
 everything for himself: he was a hunter, gunsmith, 
 carpenter, potter, cook, tailor, hat maker, shoemaker, 
 and he did many other things. Having no one to help 
 him, he had to be a Jack-of -all-trades. 
 
 Colonial Life. What was true of Robinson Crusoe 
 was true of the whole world once, before people learned 
 to cooperate. This was true even in the United States, 
 in the colonial period. Every farm or plantation 
 produced nearly everything that the people living 
 on it needed. All the food was raised on the place 
 or killed in hunting. The wool was clipped from 
 the sheep; and carded, spun on a spinning-wheel, woven 
 into cloth, and the cloth cut and sewed into clothes 
 by the women of the plantation. The ironwork was 
 also done on the place; and bullets were molded 
 out of lead by the children. All that the people had 
 to buy were powder and lead and tea. Everything 
 else was supplied by the farm or plantation. There 
 were not many physicians in those days; the women 
 of the family doctored the sick with medicines made 
 from herbs. Bad teeth were pulled with strings. Often 
 there were no churches, and then the head of 
 the family sometimes held prayers. Nearly all the 
 
 40 
 
Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 (41) OLD METHOD OF SPINNING 
 
functions of life were performed on the farm or plan- 
 tation itself. 
 
 Modern Life. Why do we not live in this way to- 
 day? Because we have come to see that the old manner 
 of living is wasteful. If a man has to do a dozen things, 
 he cannot give time enough to any one activity to 
 
 MAKING COTTAGE CHEESE 
 
 become expert in it. We have learned that we can 
 accomplish more by doing one thing to the best of our 
 ability and by depending on other people to do other 
 things for us. Thus one man becomes a farmer and 
 gives all of his time and attention to raising cotton or 
 wheat and corn. When he wants shoes, he sells a part 
 of his farm products and buys them. When he has 
 
 42 
 
need of a doctor or dentist, he sells something and goes 
 to town to be treated. The shoemaker does nothing 
 but make shoes, and by doing this for the farmer he 
 gets flour and meat. Likewise, the doctor and dentist, 
 by treating the farmer, earn their food. When the 
 farmer wishes amusement, he takes some of the money 
 
 MAKING LARD 
 
 he receives for his wheat and goes to a moving-picture 
 show. The moving pictures are made by managers 
 and actors who spend their whole time in doing this 
 one thing, relying on the farmer to give them food in 
 exchange for entertainment. 
 
 Cooperation. In this way, everybody in the com- 
 munity who makes an honest living helps everybody 
 
 43 
 
else. By such cooperation the community thrives. 
 The blacksmith who shoes horses and repairs farming 
 implements helps the farmer in his work of growing 
 food. The clothing factory makes clothes for him; 
 the shoe factory makes shoes for him; the lawyer pro- 
 tects his property; the doctor and dentist attend to his 
 health; the moving pictures furnish amusement; the 
 preacher cares for his soul. The farmer provides food 
 and the raw material of clothing for everybody else in 
 the community, and everybody else does something 
 for the farmer in return. 
 
 The Law of Service. You will see from this that 
 everyone who makes an honest living does good to 
 other people he performs some service for others. 
 This is the beautiful law of service. While you are 
 earning a living and gaining property for yourself, you 
 are at the same time helping your fellow men. You are 
 feeding them, or clothing them, or curing them, or 
 amusing them, or elevating them, or helping them in 
 some other way. 
 
 Idleness. In every community there are people 
 who will not work that is, will not perform any 
 service for other people. There are young men who 
 lounge around country stores, or pool rooms in towns 
 and cities. There are young women who never learn 
 to do any useful work, such as cooking and sewing, but 
 spend all of their time in seeking pleasure. These 
 persons wish to live without doing anything; they wish 
 to have food and clothes and shelter given them by 
 others without giving anything to others in return. We 
 say that they consume and do not produce. Such 
 persons are of little worth to their communities. 
 
 44 
 
CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of the occupations in your community. Tell what 
 preparation is needed for each. 
 
 2. List the occupations which you consider most useful to the 
 community. 
 
 3. Answer these questions: 
 
 What occupation do you expect to take up when you are through 
 school? What are you doing to get ready for it? What 
 studies will help you prepare for it? 
 
 Why does a stenographer get a higher salary than a waitress? 
 
 Why should a rich young man engage in business or other work 
 rather than spend his time in idleness? 
 
 4. Find out whether there are any cooperative markets in operation 
 in your section. If there are, tell all you can about them. 
 
 5. Trace the growth of some of our industries, as, for instance, the 
 making of cloth. 
 
 6. Write a short paper on "What I Wish to Do When I am Grown." 
 
 45 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A HEALTH LESSON 
 
 Problems: (1) To study health conditions of the com- 
 munity; and (2) to plan ways of improving them. 
 
 A Typhoid Story. Mary Card well was a bright 
 sixth grade schoolgirl living in the village of Pleasant 
 View. Late in the summer she was stricken with 
 typhoid fever and for many days her life was despaired 
 of. She finally recovered from the fever but was 
 several months in regaining her health and strength. 
 When she re-entered school in the first week of Novem- 
 ber, she found herself far behind her classmates. At 
 the end of the term, Mary failed for the first time in 
 her school life. 
 
 Cause of Illness. Why did Mary have typhoid? 
 Nobody knew at first, because the water supply of the 
 village was good and there had been no epidemic of 
 fever. Finally, an inspector sent by the state board 
 of health came to Pleasant View and spent two days 
 working on the case. He succeeded in tracing the 
 fever to the farm of a small dairyman who supplied 
 Mary's family with milk. The dairyman's daughter 
 was ill with the fever at the time of the inspector's 
 visit and died soon after. The inspector found every- 
 thing about the dairy farm dirty and illy kept. The 
 house was not screened against flies; the stable was in 
 a filthy condition, and one of the boys on the place 
 milked the cows without washing his hands. The 
 
 46 
 

 result of such carelessness was that the farmer's 
 daughter was taken with typhoid fever and Mary 
 Car dwell contracted it from the same source. But 
 for the inspector's visit, many more people might 
 have been stricken. 
 
 Community Health. This case will give you some 
 idea of the importance of health regulations for the 
 protection of the community. In old days, there were 
 no health rules, and then smallpox, typhoid fever, 
 and diphtheria visited whole towns and counties, 
 causing many deaths. Nowadays there are laws for 
 health protection, and all cities have health officers to 
 enforce them. The counties do not always have health 
 officers of their own, but the state board of health 
 does a great work in making known to the country 
 people the means of preventing disease. In cities 
 there are regulations for protecting the milk supply 
 and inspectors to enforce them. Persons violating the 
 regulations are punished. Dairies are kept clean and 
 the milk is put in bottles, which must be scalded 
 before being used again. Milkers must wash their 
 hands before milking. Houses where cases of contagious 
 diseases exist, together with their occupants, are 
 quarantined. In many cities the water supply is 
 treated with chemicals or filtered, in order to prevent 
 typhoid fever. Children are vaccinated against small- 
 pox. In the great influenza epidemic of 1918, schools, 
 churches, and theaters were closed to prevent the 
 spread of the disease. 
 
 Health Departments. We have seen that cities, 
 and sometimes counties, have health departments and 
 these departments make and enforce rules about 
 
 47 
 
quarantines, the water supply, plumbing, trash and 
 garbage, stables and pigpens, and about other health 
 matters. In some communities the health board em- 
 ploys physicians, school and visiting nurses, inspectors, 
 chemists and bacteriologists to protect the public 
 health and give aid to sick people who have not adequate 
 means to care for themselves. There is much less sick- 
 
 STORY TELLING AT A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 
 
 ness and death in such communities than in others 
 where less attention is paid to health. In some cities 
 mothers are given instruction in the feeding and care 
 of babies, in order to prevent the many deaths that 
 would otherwise occur. In all cities of any size, there 
 are hospitals for the treatment of sick people at public 
 expense. All of the states have departments of health, 
 which care for the health of the people. If a certain 
 
 48 
 
disease, such as typhoid, breaks out in a section of the 
 state, an inspector is sent to search for the cause. 
 Cases of contagious diseases are studied, and epidemics 
 are carefully looked into in order to prevent other 
 outbreaks. Tons of literature are sent out to the 
 people of the state telling them how to keep from having 
 typhoid, hookworm, and other diseases. Diphtheria 
 
 MODERN HEALTH CRUSADERS GIVING A PLAY 
 
 and anti-typhoid vaccine are sometimes given free of 
 charge. No department of the state government is 
 busier than the board of health, and no money that 
 the people pay in taxes is better expended. Money 
 spent on disease prevention earns a return a thousand 
 times over. 
 
 Modern Health Crusade. Many people are deeply 
 
 49 
 
interested in spreading information regarding health 
 and in teaching children good health habits. The 
 Modern Health Crusade was organized to carry on 
 this great work. Have you joined it? Millions of 
 children are members of the organization, which teaches 
 them how to care for their bodies. Here are the 
 "Health Chores," to be done each day by all those 
 who become Modern Health Crusaders: 
 
 1. I washed my hands before each meal today and before 
 handling food prepared for eating. 
 
 2. I gave thorough attention to personal cleanliness 
 today. I endeavored to keep both myself and my immediate 
 surroundings neat. 
 
 3. I kept out of my mouth and nose today every object 
 that I have reason to consider unclean or injurious to my 
 health. 
 
 4. I brushed my teeth thoroughly before breakfast and 
 after the evening meal today. 
 
 5.1 took ten or more slow, deep breaths of fresh air 
 today. If I spit, coughed, or sneezed, I was careful to pro- 
 tect others. 
 
 6. I had more than thirty minutes of muscular exercise 
 or active play outdoors or with windows open today. 
 
 7. I was in bed I ^ * } hours or more last night and kept 
 
 my windows open. 
 
 8. I drank six glasses of water today, including one before 
 each meal. I drank nothing that I have reason to consider 
 injurious to my health. 
 
 9. I was careful today (1) to eat only wholesome foods, 
 meeting the varied requirements of nutrition and promoting 
 proper bowel action; (2) to chew thoroughly; and (3) to 
 attend to each need of my body at its regular time. 
 
 10. I endeavored today to maintain a straight posture, 
 standing and sitting; to keep my thoughts clean, cheerful, 
 courageous, and constructive; and to be helpful to others. 
 
 50 
 
11. I took a full bath on each of those days of the week 
 that are checked (X). 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Discuss some rules made by the health department of your 
 community. 
 
 2. Name some diseases that are quarantined in your community. 
 
 3. Mention some rules a consumptive should follow for the protection 
 of those with whom he lives and works. 
 
 4. Appoint a committee to inspect the school premises and report on 
 how the health of the pupils can be better protected. 
 
 5. Appoint a committee to gather newspaper clippings relating to the 
 health of the community. Post these clippings on the bulletin board. 
 
 6. Let each member of the class tell of one thing he has done to make 
 his home more healthful. 
 
 7. Get the secretary of your Junior Citizens Club to write to the 
 National Tuberculosis Association, 381 Fourth Avenue, New York City, 
 for full particulars about the Modern Health Crusade and see if your club 
 will not vote in favor of introducing it in your class. 
 
 8. Decide what steps should be taken when unsanitary conditions are 
 found in your community. 
 
 51 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THRIFT 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the benefits of thrift; and (2) 
 to establish a school savings bank. 
 
 Waste. A feature of the savage the world over is 
 improvidence. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for to- 
 morrow you die, " is his motto. When the savage kills 
 game, he gorges himself so that he can hardly move; 
 he seldom puts away any of the food for winter and 
 hard times. When winter comes he starves. Even in 
 the most civilized communities there are people who 
 are as thriftless as savages. They spend all the money 
 they get on the desire of the moment and make no 
 provision for the "rainy day." Then when trouble 
 comes they are dependent on the charity of their 
 neighbors. Such people are not entirely civilized. 
 They still have the savage's improvidence. What 
 distinguishes civilization above all other things is its 
 vast capital, and capital is simply wealth, or money 
 that has been saved. All the buildings you see, and 
 all the other property, are the result of saving. When 
 you look at a great skyscraper, remember that it could 
 never have been constructed if people had not saved 
 the money to build it. The railroad you travel on was 
 also built by savings, and the same thing is true of all 
 the houses, factories, and steamships. The tallest 
 building in the world, the Wool worth Building in 
 New York, resulted from the savings of the owner of 
 
 52 
 
a chain of five and ten cent stores. In some parts of 
 the world there are no railways, no churches, no fac- 
 tories, no schoolhouses, or any of the other comforts of 
 our life. The reason for this condition is the people 
 in that part of the world have not produced and 
 saved wealth. They are satisfied with what nature 
 gives them and do not seek to make money and keep 
 it. Needless to say, these regions are ignorant and 
 backward. 
 
 Savings Banks. The man who saves is a help to 
 the community. It is not enough to make money; we 
 must save it. If the people in a town have earned ten 
 thousand dollars in a week and if a circus comes on 
 Saturday and carries away the greater part of the ten 
 thousand dollars, the town is little better off as a result 
 of that week's work. But if the ten thousand dollars 
 goes into savings banks, it will remain in the town and 
 bring a return to the owners. 
 
 A School Savings System. Have you a savings 
 account? If you have not, you should lose no time 
 in opening one. The boy or girl who does not learn to 
 save in school will not be likely to save afterward. 
 Such habits are formed in youth or not at all. Hun- 
 dreds of schools have put in savings systems. Each 
 student who opens an account is given a pass book or 
 card in which is entered his deposits as he makes them. 
 The money is placed in a bank and interest is paid on 
 the deposits. Have you a savings system in your* 
 school? If you have not, discuss the matter at the 
 next meeting of the Junior Citizens Club and appoint 
 a committee to work out a scheme for a savings system. 
 The great advantage of the school savings plan is that 
 
 53 
 
a student may deposit any amount cents, nickels, and 
 dimes while in regular savings banks the smallest 
 amount accepted in opening an account is a dollar. 
 
 Postal Savings. Another good way of saving is to 
 invest in Postal Savings. Postal Savings stamps are 
 sold at post offices by the United States government. 
 A stamp costs ten cents. When the buyer has pasted 
 
 CHILDREN DEPOSITING IN A SCHOOL SAVINGS BANK 
 
 ten stamps on a Postal Savings Card, he can exchange 
 the card for one Treasury Savings Stamp. This stamp 
 is pasted on a Treasury Savings Card, which has spaces 
 for twenty stamps. When this is filled, the buyer may 
 receive twenty dollars or exchange it for a Treasury 
 Savings Certificate worth twenty-five dollars in five 
 years. 
 
 Thrift Maxims. The great men of the world have 
 
 54 
 
usually understood the value of thrift and practiced it. 
 The following are a few of their sayings on this subject: 
 
 Economy makes happy homes and sound nations. In- 
 still it deep. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. 
 It chiefly depends on two words industry, frugality. 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 Teach economy. That is one of the first and highest 
 virtues. It begins with saving money.-- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 The man who does not and cannot save money cannot 
 and will not do anything else worth while. ANDREW 
 CARNEGIE. 
 
 Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can. 
 JOHN WESLEY. 
 
 Thrift is such a simple thing and it means so much. It 
 is the foundation of success in business, of contentment in 
 the house, of standing in society. RUSSELL SAGE. 
 
 No boy ever becomes great as a man who did not, in his 
 youth, learn to save money. JOHN WANAMAKER. 
 
 If the young man ever expects to succeed in business he 
 must be economical. No matter how small the sum the boy 
 or young man is receiving, he should always save a portion 
 of his income. HENRY C. LYTTON. 
 
 It's hard for an empty bag to stand upright. BENJAMIN 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Mention different ways by which boys and girls may earn money. 
 
 2. Discuss this problem: Mary who is twelve years old is given an allow- 
 ance of fifty cents a week. Tell how much she should spend per week for 
 the following items: 
 
 Amusements. 
 
 Church and Sunday school. 
 
 Charity. 
 
 Savings account. 
 
 3. Make plans for establishing a savings bank in your school. 
 
 55 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE GOOD CITIZEN 
 
 Problems: To find out (1) what are the qualities of a 
 good citizen; and (2) how you may be one now. 
 
 The Boy or Girl Citizen. Can a boy or girl be a 
 good citizen? Yes, you can be a good citizen now. 
 Here are some of the things boys and girls may do. 
 Study them carefully and see if you can give a reason 
 why each of them helps you to be a good citizen: 
 
 The good citizen takes care of his health. 
 
 He is clean in person and neat in dress. 
 
 He exercises self-control. 
 
 He is law-abiding. 
 
 He is generous. 
 
 He loves fair play. 
 
 He practices thrift. 
 
 He is courteous to classmates. 
 
 He works with and for his group. 
 
 He is honest, truthful, and courageous. 
 
 The Citizen at School. In your school life you 
 will have a daily opportunity to become a good citizen. 
 You can show consideration for others by entering 
 the school building quietly and by doing nothing in 
 the schoolroom to interfere with the rights of your 
 classmates. You can take part in all class activities 
 and learn how to cooperate with others. On the play- 
 
 56 
 
ground you will have many chances to develop team- 
 work and to stand for fair play. 
 
 Qualities of Good Citizenship. The good citizen 
 has the following primary virtues: ability to cooperate, 
 industry, honesty, and thrift. These are very necessary 
 qualities, and because the majority of Americans pos- 
 sess them the United States is the greatest country 
 on earth. But another quality is needed in the make- 
 up of the good citizen. Industry, honesty, and thrift 
 have to do with our own immediate concerns: they 
 are the qualities we use in our daily work, in dealing 
 with the people with whom we come in contact. The 
 one other thing needful in the good citizen is the 
 performance of public duty. Public duty is the du.ty 
 one owes to all the members of the community "the 
 community of the town or county, the state and 
 the nation. 
 
 Voting. There are duties we owe the government 
 as well as the body of our fellow men. These duties 
 are called political duties. Nobody is a thoroughly 
 good citizen, no matter how honest and industrious 
 he is, who neglects such duties. The reason for this 
 is that bad men will come to control the government 
 if good men fail to take interest in it. Sometimes 
 you may hear a man say that he will not vote, that 
 he will have nothing to do with politics. But whether 
 he does or does not have anything to do with politics, 
 politics will have something to do with him. The wel- 
 fare and happiness of all depend, in no small degree, on 
 the kind of government we have. We cannot have a 
 good government when citizens are careless. This is a 
 danger at the present time. There are thousands of 
 
 57 
 
Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 VOTING BY BALLOT Box 
 
 (58) 
 
educated people who neglect to take any part in the 
 government of the country. They pay no attention to 
 public questions and they do not vote: they are 
 shirkers. To read about public questions in the news- 
 papers is somewhat troublesome, but it is a duty that 
 every citizen of a free country owes that country. 
 When you get old enough to vote, inform yourself 
 upon the questions of the day, register, your name, 
 and pay your poll tax. Then vote in every election. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Name some other virtues which a good citizen ought to possess in 
 addition to those listed in the lesson. 
 
 2. Tell how books, magazines, and newspapers help to make good 
 citizens. f 
 
 3. Discuss in class these questions: 
 
 Can an ignorant person be a good citizen? 
 
 Is a grown person who fails to vote a good citizen? 
 
 4. Prepare a class poster for your schoolroom setting forth the most 
 important virtues to be possessed by boys and girls who are good citizens. 
 The poster may be made by inviting each pupil to prepare a poster or by 
 the appointment of committees. The poster should be approved by vote 
 of the class before being posted. 
 
 59 
 
CHAPTER X 
 OUR CITY 
 
 Problems: (1) To study your city (or the nearest city); 
 and (2) to discuss plans for making a "City Beautiful." 
 
 
 
 The Manufacturing Section. Let us take a ride over 
 a city. We will first go into the manufacturing section. 
 Here we see a great factory from which comes the 
 steady hum of machinery. Perhaps it is an iron works, 
 and the flash from the forges gleams through the 
 windows. Perhaps it is a shoe factory, and we hear 
 the clatter of the sewing machines. There are factories 
 of many sorts in this part of the city, each of them 
 contributing to the wealth of the community. 
 
 Office Buildings. Let us turn now into the office- 
 building section. Here we pass skyscrapers filled with 
 the offices of business men and lawyers, and the street 
 swarms with hurrying people bent on making a living 
 for their families. Here, too, are the banks, and 
 crowds of men and women are going in and coming 
 out of them. This section is -the real heart of the city, 
 the place where the business is done that brings pros- 
 perity to the community. 
 
 The Shopping District. Next we go to the shopping 
 district. Here we see few men but crowds of women. 
 This is the most attractive part of the city. The streets 
 are lined with shops displaying every kind of goods. 
 Now and then we come to a great department store, 
 with immense plate-glass windows, running the length 
 
 60 
 
of a block. If it is near Christmas, this is the busiest 
 part of the town, for people are buying Christmas 
 gifts. Everywhere there are toys and candy and the 
 other things that children like. 
 
 The City Hall. The city hall is the home of the \7 
 city government the city capitol. Here the officers 
 of the local government have their offices, and here 
 are the courts. People come to the city hall to pay 
 taxes, to get permits for various purposes, to record 
 
 THE JOHN HANDLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, WINCHESTER, VA. 
 
 deeds, and for all the other reasons that bring them 
 into contact with the government. 
 
 The Residential Section. Leaving the business 
 section, we ride past large hotels into the residential 
 portion of the city. Here we see street after street of 
 dwelling houses, some of them neat and small, some 
 of them fine and large. Now and then we come to a 
 park offering recreation and a breathing space in the 
 wilderness of houses. From time to time we see a 
 schoolhouse, and if we are strangers in the city we will 
 judge it largely by the look of the schoolhouses. If 
 
 61 
 
they are well built and modern in appearance, we may 
 know that the city is prosperous and progressive. 
 Nothing tells more of the character of a community 
 than its schoolhouses. 
 
 As you know, the people of a city elect officers to 
 pass laws and carry on the public work of the com- 
 munity. In this chapter we wish you to make a study 
 of what the city does for the good of the people. 
 
 The Streets. One of the most important public 
 works of the city government is the care of the streets. 
 We cannot get out of our homes to play or go to school 
 without using the streets. Can you imagine a city 
 without well-paved streets? Well, it has not been so 
 many years since streets were paved with roughest 
 cobblestones or not paved at all. In some towns wagons 
 were stalled in the mud of the streets in winter time, 
 and people crossed them with difficulty. Formerly 
 in many places it was the custom to throw trash of all 
 sorts in the streets and leave it there to decay. Do 
 you think that such streets were pleasant or healthy? 
 They were not, and public-spirited citizens urged 
 improvement until intelligent care was given to the 
 highways. Nowadays in all cities worthy of the name 
 the streets are cleaned and kept in repair, so that even 
 in the worst weather, and soon after a snowfall, they 
 are just as passable as in summer. The good streets 
 that we enjoy are one of the features of modern 
 civilization. 
 
 The Police. What would you do if some one were 
 to annoy or threaten you on the street? Your first 
 thought would be of the police, those protectors of the 
 people. If a policeman were in sight, you would feel 
 
 62 
 
that your troubles were over that you were safe. 
 You would call to him, or he would come of his own 
 accord if he saw that you needed help. In homes and 
 schools, in moving-picture theaters, on the streets, 
 in church, and everywhere we go, we are protected 
 by the police. This was not always the case. In 
 olden times there were no police to protect citizens. 
 Life and property were both very unsafe before the 
 government took into its hands the matter of caring 
 for citizens. Nowadays the police are always at work, 
 hunting down criminals, arresting people as they 
 break the laws, and protecting houses, banks, and 
 stores from thieves and burglars. Another important 
 work they do is to regulate traffic. By their efforts 
 the thousands of automobiles and trucks pass through 
 the crowded streets with few accidents. But for the 
 police there would be many accidents each day, and 
 all traffic would be dangerous. So you see that the 
 money spent in supporting the police force is well 
 expended, since the welfare of us all depends on the 
 sturdy "guardians of the law." 
 
 The Fire Department. The city has laws for the 
 prevention of fires. However, since there are fires, 
 the city also maintains a fire department; but for 
 the fire department a large part of each city would be 
 burned frequently and many lives would be lost. In 
 spite of the great size of modern cities and the tall 
 buildings, fires were much more numerous once than 
 they are now. Owing to our fire departments, most 
 fires are put out before much damage is done, and not 
 very many people lose their lives in burning buildings. 
 Only a few generations ago, cities did not have regular 
 
 63 
 
fire departments. Fires were put out by volunteer 
 fire companies. These volunteers would leave their 
 work at the sound of the fire bell and come running 
 to the firehouse to drag the hose through the streets 
 to the burning building. Needless to say, this method 
 was ineffective, and regular fire departments were 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 A MODERN FIRE ENGINE 
 
 found necessary. The fireman, like the policeman, 
 is one of our best friends. Like the policeman, he 
 follows a dangerous calling. In all large cities firemen 
 lose their lives in fighting the flames and saving the 
 property of citizens. 
 
 The Public Library. Another public service per- 
 formed by most cities is the maintenance of free 
 libraries. Usually there is a central city library, 
 
 64 
 
with branches in various parts of the town. These 
 libraries are of the utmost value to the community. 
 They enable high school and college students to go 
 more deeply into subjects than school libraries do; 
 they offer grown people of little education a means of 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 SCENE IN RAINIER NATIONAL PARK 
 
 cultivating themselves in their spare time; they afford 
 thousands of people innocent recreation without cost. 
 Most city libraries have children's rooms where boys 
 and girls may read books. Have you a public library 
 in your city? 
 
 Parks and Playgrounds. You have no doubt 
 heard of Central Park in New York City. This park, 
 one of the largest in the world, is daily visited by 
 
 65 
 
thousands of people, especially women and children, 
 who wish to get away from stuffy tenement houses and 
 hot streets. It is a lake of green vegetation a,mid 
 the grim stone desert of the mighty city a place to 
 benefit the body and refresh the mind. The land 
 which Central Park occupies is worth many mil- 
 lions of dollars, but the city thinks that the money 
 
 Courtesy of Miss Kmilie Yunker 
 
 VACANT LOT TRANSFORMED INTO A PARK 
 
 is well invested in maintaining this breathing place 
 for the people of New York. In the same way, every 
 city keeps parks of varying size and attractiveness. 
 One of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in 
 the country is Druid Hill Park at Baltimore. In 
 addition to the parks, which are usually playgrounds 
 as well, in many cities there are playgrounds especially 
 
 66 
 
maintained for children. Does your city have parks 
 and playgrounds to help make it a "City Beautiful"? 
 If it does not, it fails to do its full duty both to the 
 grown people and the children. They must have such 
 open spaces and playgrounds if they are to be healthy 
 and happy. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of things done by the city in addition to those outlined 
 in this chapter. 
 
 2. Write a list of the leading articles manufactured in your city. 
 
 3. Make a list of the places of historic interest. 
 
 4. Write a list of the city offices, with the names of the officers if you 
 can get them. 
 
 5. Describe the most beautiful street in your town or city. 
 
 6. Describe the most beautiful park you have seen. 
 
 7. Find out how your city gets money to carry on its work. 
 
 8. Write a composition on your city, telling about its history, indus- 
 tries, and attractions. 
 
 9. Discuss these questions in class: 
 
 Who is more useful, the policeman or the fireman? 
 Which are more important, parks or libraries? 
 
 10. Carry out a definite undertaking that will make your city more 
 beautiful. The picture on the opposite page illustrates the work of school 
 children in Louisville, Kentucky. 
 
 11. Invite a city official to talk to you about the work of the city. 
 
 67 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 OUR COUNTY 
 
 Problems: To discuss (1) another unit, the county; 
 and (2) the advantages of country life. 
 
 Country Life. About one half of all the boys and 
 girls in the United States live either on farms or in 
 small towns and villages. You will often hear people 
 speak of the "advantages of the city," but if you live 
 in the country you will know of the advantages of the 
 country. The average person is probably better off 
 in the country than in the city, because of the fresh 
 air and the outdoor life. Most city work is done indoors, 
 not out in the sunshine. Living in the city is very 
 costly, because rents are high and most people do not 
 own their homes and because there are many expenses 
 people do not have in the country. The country 
 dweller does not pay the high city taxes. His taxes 
 are usually small, because the country does not keep 
 up departments requiring the services of large numbers 
 of persons. Crime is less frequent in the country 
 than in cities, as criminals usually live in towns. 
 
 Roads and Bridges. There is much that the 
 county does for its citizens. When you leave your home 
 for school, you probably pass over a concrete bridge. 
 That bridge was put there by the county. You may 
 travel for several miles on a good road. The county 
 made that road. Country people pay higher taxes 
 than they used to do, but they are willing to pay 
 
 68 
 
more and have beautiful roads in place of the mud 
 lanes of the old days. Indeed, good roads have made 
 living in the country a different thing from former 
 times. Formerly people were often kept at home for 
 months at a time because of the muddy roads. At 
 present, the country boy and the country girl find 
 little difficulty in going to school or church or visiting 
 at any season of the year. 
 
 Schools. The county also spends much more tax 
 money on schools than it used to do. Once upon a 
 time the good schools were in the city and the poor 
 schools in the country. Sometimes the buildings were 
 log cabins, unworthy of the name of schools. The 
 teachers knew little, and the students used books that 
 had been in service for many years and were torn and 
 dirty. All that is changed now. There are large and 
 beautiful schoolhouses, many of them consolidated 
 schools, in every country section of the United States; 
 the school term has been much lengthened; the 
 teachers are graduates of normal schools and receive 
 fair salaries. If you live in a county which has good 
 school buildings, a nine-months term, and well-paid 
 teachers, you have a right to be proud of it. It is a 
 progressive county. 
 
 Protecting Life and Property. In the country, 
 citizens are sometimes called on to help protect the 
 community from lawless men. Every county has its 
 sheriff or constable who is paid to look out for the 
 safety of the community. Usually the sheriff is a 
 brave and competent man. If a crime is committed, 
 he arrests the criminal, alone or with the help of several 
 deputy sheriffs. If a dangerous criminal defies the law, 
 
 69 
 
the sheriff calls on all good citizens to help him, and 
 these citizens are sworn in as policemen for the occasion. 
 The sheriff and his helpers then go, with guns and 
 pistols, and arrest the lawbreaker. Often sheriffs and 
 deputies are killed in the doing of their duty, but 
 danger does not deter them. In spite of the fact that 
 there are no regular policemen in the country, life 
 
 I COURTHOUSE AT WILLIAMSBURG, JAMES CITY COUNTY, VA. 
 
 and property are safer there than in cities. Crime 
 is rare in the country at a distance from cities. 
 
 The Courthouse. Each county has a county seat 
 which corresponds to the capital of a state or to Wash- 
 ington, the capital of the nation. At the county seat 
 are the courthouse, the clerk's office, and the jail. 
 The courthouse and the clerk's office correspond to the 
 city hall of the town. There cases are tried before 
 
 70 
 
the circuit court, records are preserved and examined, 
 and taxes are paid. Prisoners are kept in the county 
 jail. Most of the county officials, such as the superin- 
 tendent of schools, the sheriff, the treasurer, and the 
 commonwealth's attorney, have their offices at the 
 county seat. You have, no doubt, often visited your 
 county seat and seen the courthouse and other buildings. 
 Perhaps you have been there on court day, when cases 
 were being tried and the people for miles around came 
 to hear them. When you are grown, you will have 
 to do your part as a citizen of your county. You will 
 serve on juries; you will vote for the county officials 
 and you will pay taxes perhaps you will run for the 
 legislature and represent your county at the state 
 capital. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of the leading crops of your county. 
 
 2. Make a list of the manufactured articles Vhich your county sends 
 to other sections. 
 
 3. Make a list of food products brought into your county. 
 
 4. Make a list of your county officers and lell their duties. 
 
 5. Invite a citizen to talk to your club on the early history of your 
 county. 
 
 6. Discuss in class this question: Which is the better place in which to 
 live, the city or the country? 
 
 7. Draw a map of your county showing the county seat, the principal 
 towns and villages, rivers, railroads, and improved highways. 
 
 8. Draw another map showing where schools might well be consolidated. 
 
 71 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 OUR STATE 
 
 Problems: (1) To study a larger unit, the state; and (2) 
 to carry out some plans that will make you more familiar 
 with your state. 
 
 Work of the State. We have seen that tjie home, 
 school, and church are communities. We have also 
 given some study to larger communities made up of 
 homes, churches, and schools the city and county. 
 W r e come now to a still larger community, made up of 
 cities and counties the state. In this chapter we 
 shall learn some of the things the state does for its 
 citizens. Just as the city and county perform certain 
 duties, the state does certain other things necessary 
 to the welfare of its citizens. The city and county 
 take care of the streets and roads, give police and 
 fire protection, keep up schools, and care for the health 
 of the community. The work of the state is similar, 
 but in addition it has other -activities that counties 
 and cities do not attempt. 
 
 Colleges and Public Schools. All counties and 
 cities have schools and high schools, and some cities 
 have colleges. . The state maintains a university for 
 the people of the whole state, as the University of 
 Virginia, the University of North Carolina, and the 
 University of Indiana. State universities usually have 
 schools of law and medicine in addition to under- 
 graduate college courses. Besides the universities, the 
 
 73 
 
states, aided by the federal government, maintain 
 agricultural and mechanical colleges, such as the 
 Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College and 
 the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. They maintain 
 normal schools and colleges, and in some instances 
 colleges of other kinds, such as the Virginia Military 
 Institute, and The Citadel, of South Carolina, which 
 are military schools much like the United States Mili- 
 tary Academy at West Point. The states spend millions 
 of dollars each year in keeping up these universities and 
 colleges, some of which, as the University of Michigan, 
 the University of Wisconsin, and the University of 
 Illinois, are among the foremost institutions of learning 
 in the world. Besides these higher institutions, the 
 state aids in maintaining the public schools in the cities 
 and counties. In some states, a community receives a 
 grant of money from the state to aid in building high 
 schools on condition that the community itself raises a 
 certain sum. 
 
 Hospitals. The state also supports hospitals for 
 the insane, who are kept in these institutions at the 
 expense of the taxpayers. We believe that it is better 
 for the government to care for these unfortunate 
 people than to have them as a burden on their families 
 or their communities. In some states, there are also 
 institutions for the feeble-minded, where they receive 
 a training which often enables them io earn a living. 
 Sanatoriums for consumptives are maintained by 
 most states. These valuable hospitals restore to 
 health many people who lack the means to go to private 
 sanatoriums. 
 
 Imprisonment. Counties and cities keep jails for 
 
 74 
 
the imprisonment of persons awaiting trial or those 
 convicted of small offenses. Imprisonment for seri- 
 ous crimes is one of the duties of the state. Persons 
 found guilty of stealing large sums, or of burglary, or 
 of manslaughter, or sometimes of murder, are sentenced 
 to the penitentiary for terms varying from two years 
 to a lifetime. In this prison are electric chairs or 
 gallows, by which persons who have been convicted of 
 murder, or some other "capital" crime, are put to 
 death. 
 
 Good Roads. In recent years the states have 
 created highway departments to assist the counties in 
 building good roads. In some states, notably New 
 York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, millions of 
 dollars have been spent in this work. The highway 
 departments keep engineers whose duty it is to see that 
 road making is properly done. 
 
 The Governor. The head of the state government, 
 or the chief executive officer, is the governor. He is 
 elected for different terms in different states, usually 
 two or four years. The various departments of the 
 state government are under the general direction of 
 the governor; he has many duties. He appoints some 
 officers and sometimes removes them. la some states 
 he appoints supreme court judges. He proposes 
 measures to the legislature and vetoes bills. The 
 governor takes part in most of the honorary activities 
 of the state: if a statue is unveiled, he is usually 
 present to make a speech; if a great man visits the 
 state, the governor welcomes him; he also makes 
 addresses at school and college commencements. 
 Another important duty of the governor is to provide 
 
 75 
 
for the protection of the people in cases which the 
 police of the cities and the sheriffs of the counties can- 
 not handle. Sometimes a riot breaks out and much 
 damage is done. The rioters may be so numerous that 
 they are able to defy the police. Then the governor 
 calls out the soldiers, or militia, of the state and sends 
 them to the scene of the riot to restore order. 
 
 The Governor and Jerry. The governor encour- 
 ages all kinds of movements tending to aid the state. 
 A few years ago a boy named Jerry received a letter 
 from the governor of his state inviting the lad to visit 
 him in his office in the capitol. Jerry was excited at 
 receiving a personal invitation from the chief executive 
 and gladly accepted it. He lived on a farm several 
 miles from the railroad, but his father drove him to 
 the station, bought him a ticket, and saw him off to 
 the capital. Jerry arrived in the city and went to the 
 capitol building. When he entered the governor's 
 outer office in the capitol, he found a large room 
 crowded with people waiting to see the great man and 
 he felt very small and young: he supposed that he 
 would have to wait his turn. But, on the contrary, 
 some one came to him and conducted him into the 
 governor's private office. There the governor greeted 
 the boy warmly, shook hands with him, patted him 
 on the back, and finally pinned on his coat a beautiful 
 gold medal. Needless to say, Jerry felt very proud at 
 being so highly honored. Why do you suppose he 
 received a medal from the governor? Because he 
 was the champion corn grower of South Carolina, 
 having raised two hundred and twenty-eight bushels 
 of corn on one acre of land. The governor knew 
 
 76 
 
that by honoring Jerry for his ability and industry 
 he was encouraging other boys to do likewise, and 
 so aiding the development of the community. 
 
 The Courts. There is also the judicial branch of 
 state governments. The courts that try small offenses 
 and small "civil cases" in cities are city courts and are 
 maintained by the city. The other courts are state 
 courts. The lowest of these are the justices' courts 
 in the counties; then come county courts or circuit 
 courts. Most states are divided into circuits or dis- 
 tricts, composed of several counties, and judges ap- 
 pointed by the state, or elected by the people, preside 
 over them. The highest court in the state is the 
 supreme court, which deals with all cases brought up 
 to it from the lower courts for retrial. In some states 
 there are still other courts of a special nature. 
 
 The Legislature. We have studied in this chapter 
 two branches of state government .the executive and 
 judicial. The executive is the branch, presided over by 
 the governor, which has to do with the various depart- 
 ments. The courts form the judicial branch. There is 
 still another branch the legislative. This is the law- 
 making part of the government, and the lawmaking 
 body of the state is known as the legislature. The 
 members of the legislature are elected by the vote of 
 the people. It meets in the capitol at certain periods 
 and passes laws for the government of the state. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Prepare a map showing the various state institutions such as col- 
 leges, normal schools, and hospitals. 
 
 2. Make a list of some of the more important state officers, telling their 
 duties. 
 
 77 
 
3. Answer these questions: 
 
 . How did your state get its name? 
 When was it admitted to the Union? 
 . What is the capital city? 
 W T ho is the present governor? 
 \Vho are your representatives in the legislature? 
 What great men were born in your state? 
 W 7 hat is its population? 
 What are its principal industries? 
 How does the state help to support your school? 
 How does the state help to build good roads? 
 What are some ways in which the state helps the farmer? 
 Why is your state "the best state in the Union"? 
 How does the state get the necessary money to do its work? 
 Why are some lawbreakers sent to the penitentiary while others 
 are sent to jail? 
 
 4. Invite one of your representatives in the legislature to talk to you 
 about how laws are made. 
 
 5. Collect pamphlets from your state department of agriculture and 
 from the chambers of commerce of various cities for your classroom library. 
 
 6. At the next social meeting of the club let each member represent a 
 state institution or a state officer. Make this a guessing contest. 
 
 78 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 OUR NATION 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the largest unit, the nation; 
 and (2) to tell of some of its special activities. 
 
 The United States. We have seen that homes make 
 up cities and counties, and that cities and counties 
 make up states. We are to consider now the com- 
 munity that states make up the largest community 
 of which we are members. This is the nation. The 
 name of our nation is the United States of America, 
 though we speak of it as the United States, and abbre- 
 viate it as U. S. We sometimes playfully apply the 
 letters U. S. to refer to "Uncle Sam," who is shown in 
 comic pictures as a tall, thin man with stars on his 
 coat and stripes on his trousers. It would be better, 
 perhaps, to say that the two letters stand for US; for 
 our country consists simply of the men, women, and 
 children who live under the star-spangled banner. The 
 United States is a country that belongs to the whole 
 people. 
 
 The Land of the Free. Sometimes the United 
 States is called "the Land of the Free." Do you know 
 what is meant by that term? Before the Revolution, 
 the United States consisted of colonies of England, 
 subject to the English king. They could not make 
 laws without the king's consent, and the English 
 
 t'arliament sought to lay taxes on them for the benefit 
 >f England. This led to the memorable American 
 79 
 
Revolution (1775-1783), which resulted in the United 
 States winning its liberty under the leadership of 
 George Washington; since that time the American 
 people have had no king to govern them. The chief 
 ruler is the President. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson 
 wrote in the Declaration of Independence that all men 
 have the right to be free. In America the people 
 elect their President. Congress, which consists of the 
 Senate and the House of Representatives, is also elected 
 by the people. In the Capitol at Washington, where 
 Congress meets, the United States Supreme Court 
 sits. This is the highest court in the land and the 
 members are appointed by the President for life. 
 Washington, the capital of the United States, is a city 
 of wide streets, beautiful parks, and fine government 
 buildings. You will probably visit the national capital 
 some day in order to see these buildings and Congress 
 in session. Then you may wonder if you are destined 
 to be a Congressman and to take part in making your 
 country's laws. 
 
 Coinage. The national government has many 
 important duties. One of the principal things it does 
 is to make money. Once upon a time the states made 
 money, and even cities have done so. This may seem 
 odd to you, but it is a fact. In the Revolutionary War, 
 both the United States and the states issued large 
 quantities of paper money ; but after the United States 
 adopted its present system of government, under what 
 is called the Constitution, the right of making money 
 was taken away from the states and from all other 
 bodies. Only the national government makes money. 
 The United States makes the coin used in the country 
 
 80 
 
in several money factories, called mints. Perhaps you 
 will visit the great mint at Philadelphia some day. 
 Here metallic money is minted. Red-hot gold, silver, 
 nickel, and copper run into molds, and great presses 
 stamp imprints on the metal disks as they come from 
 the molds. Then the coins are ready to be exchanged 
 for food and clothing and everything else that people 
 buy. 
 
 Paper Money. The United States makes paper 
 money in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at 
 Washington. These are silver and gold certificates 
 and the bank notes issued by the Federal Reserve 
 System and by other authorized banks. These forms 
 of paper money vary in color and in wording but 
 are otherwise similar. There is not much difference 
 between one-dollar and one-thousand-dollar bills. Have 
 you ever seen a hundred-dollar or a thousand-dollar 
 bill ? The government even issues a ten-thousand-dollar 
 bill, but few such bills are made because people do not 
 need large single pieces of money. Imagine going into 
 a store and asking the storekeeper to change a ten- 
 thousand-dollar bill! Do you think he could do it? 
 Only workmen of the highest skill are employed in 
 engraving paper money, and only fine paper of a 
 singular kind is used. This paper is full of silk threads 
 and other marks in order to prevent persons, called 
 counterfeiters, from trying to make money just like it 
 and deceiving and robbing people with the false bills. 
 Counterfeit money was once very plentiful; it is now 
 rare, because the difficulties of making an exact imi- 
 tation of bills are so great that counterfeiters are 
 usually promptly found out and arrested. 
 
 81 
 
The Post Office. Another duty undertaken by the 
 national government, and not by the city and the 
 county or the state, is that of sending and distributing 
 mail. Once upon a time letters were sent by private 
 business companies, just as express packages are 
 today. But this was such an expensive system that 
 the government took over the post office itself and 
 
 A PARCEL POST DELIVERY TRUCK 
 
 charged a small fee for carrying letters. Benjamin 
 Franklin established the postal system of the United 
 States before the Revolution. When he became Post- 
 master-General of the colonies, there were only seventy- 
 five post offices in America; now there are many 
 thousand. When Franklin was postal chief it took 
 weeks to send a letter from New York to Charleston; 
 now it takes only a few days to send a letter from New 
 
 82 
 
York to San Francisco. Thousands of people are 
 employed as postmasters and clerks, and the amount 
 of mail handled amounts to millions of tons annually. 
 Not only letters are carried: you may send almost 
 any package you wish by the Parcel Post for a small 
 fee and you may send money by the Money Order. 
 You may also deposit the money you save in the 
 Postal Savings Banks. The government not only 
 delivers mail in the city but in the country as well. 
 The Rural Free Delivery takes mail to every part of 
 the country in some cases many miles from any town. 
 The accuracy and speed of the system are such that 
 letters are seldom lost and are sent from one part of the 
 country to another in a short time. Letters that are 
 lost are usually lost because of the carelessness of the 
 writers. Every year millions of letters go to the Dead 
 Letter Office at Washington because the writers have 
 addressed them illegibly or because they have sent 
 them to the wrong addresses. 
 
 The Government is Yours. You see that the 
 national government does a great many things for you. 
 The money you earn and spend is good because the 
 authority and credit of the government are behind it. 
 The letters you write to your friends go for a trifling 
 fee to their addresses because the government carries 
 them. The banking system of the country is largely 
 under the management of the government. Later on 
 you will find that the railroads and many other activi- 
 ties of the country are mainly under governmental 
 control. The government works for you and belongs 
 to you. The President in the White House is taking 
 measures for your safety and welfare; Congress passes 
 
 83 
 
laws to protect you; the Supreme Court of the United 
 States looks out for your rights as a citizen. If you 
 realize that the national government is yours, you will 
 be a better and more useful citizen because you will be 
 willing to do your part toward making the government 
 a success. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Name as many different postage stamps as you can. 
 
 2. Get some member of your class to tell how to send a package by 
 parcel post. 
 
 3. Answer these questions: 
 
 When was Washington inaugurated President and where? 
 ^ow many of our Presidents have been assassinated? 
 Can you name some things which the nation alone has the right 
 
 to do? 
 
 Who is your Representative in Congress? 
 Why would it be unwise to let private individuals and states 
 
 issue money? 
 If the baby at home should tear into small pieces a twenty-dollar 
 
 bill, would there be any way to redeem it? 
 Why do you think the government stopped coining one-dollar 
 
 and two-and-a-half-dollar gold pieces? 
 
 f 
 
 X 
 
 84 
 
PART TWO 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB REORGANIZED 
 Problem: To reorganize your Junior Citizens Club. 
 
 Reorganizing Your Club. In the opening chapter 
 of this book suggestions were given for organizing your 
 class into a civics club. (See page 13.) The first 
 thing to do on resuming the study of civics is to re- 
 organize your club by electing a full set. of officers. 
 The next step is to plan some work to be carried on 
 during the present term. Club meetings should be 
 held weekly or at least twice a month. You are now 
 prepared to have short debates at your meetings, and 
 you may wish to give a play or a historical pageant. 
 Your club can also do something for the improvement 
 of the community. The following is a stenographic 
 report of the meeting of a school club. Read it carefully. 
 It will suggest work for your organization. 
 
 A MEETING OF A JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB 
 
 TEACHER: It is now two o'clock and time for the 
 Junior Citizens Club to hold its regular meeting. The 
 officers will come forward and take charge. 
 
 The president and secretary advance to the front 
 of the room and occupy chairs at the teacher's desk. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: We will open our meeting by 
 standing and repeating our class pledge: 
 
 85 \ 
 
We will never bring disgrace to our school, city, or 
 country. 
 
 We will obey our school, city, and country's laws. 
 
 We will stand for the right, with others or alone. 
 
 We will aid the poor, the old, the youtag, and all who 
 need help. 
 
 We pledge allegiance to the flag of our country and our 
 earnest efforts to keep ourselves worthy of that flag. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: The secretary will please read 
 the minutes of the last meeting. 
 
 The secretary reads the minutes of the last meeting 
 from a blank book kept for the purpose. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: Are the minutes correct? 
 
 FRANK BROWN: Mr. President, the minutes, as 
 read, state that I was appointed a member of the 
 Program Committee. This is not correct. I was 
 added to the Committee on School Grounds. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: You are right. The secretary 
 will please make this correction. If there are no other 
 objections to the minutes, I declare them approved. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: We will now have the report of 
 the treasurer. 
 
 TREASURER: Mr. President, I make the following 
 report : 
 
 Balance on hand from last month . $4.60 
 
 Receipts from dues . .65 
 
 Profits on sale of candy for library 
 
 books . , .2.10 
 
 Total balance on hand. . $7.35 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: If there is no objection, the 
 treasurer's report will be filed with the secretary, who 
 will record it in the minutes. We will now hear from 
 our standing committees. 
 
 86 
 
SUSIE LOWE: Mr. President, as chairman of the 
 Room Committee I wish to report that we have talked 
 with two members of the club who continually drop 
 paper on the floor. Both have promised to stop 
 this practice and they seem to be living up to their 
 promise. I wish further to report that the plants 
 you see in the windows were given to the class by 
 Mrs. Bowers, the mother of our fellow club member, 
 Frank Bowers. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: What will you do with this report? 
 
 MAUDE ELAM: Mr. President, I move that our 
 secretary write a note of thanks to Mrs. Bowers for 
 the flowers she has given us. 
 
 ABRAHAM LEVY: Mr. President, I second Maude's 
 motion. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: All who favor this motion will 
 say "Aye." The vote is unanimous. The secretary 
 will write the letter and read it tomorrow at the Current 
 Events period. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: We will now hear from the 
 Committee on School Grounds. 
 
 JAMES CABOT : We think that too much waste 
 paper is left on the school grounds at the noon hour. 
 We went to our principal and asked him to get two 
 waste paper barrels. He agreed to do this if our club 
 would appoint a committee of three to report to him 
 all who fail to put lunch wrappers "n the barrels. We 
 therefore recommend the appointment of such a 
 committee. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: What will you do with this 
 report? 
 
 ADA WORKS: Mr. President, I don't like this plan. 
 
 87 
 
1 think that waste paper barrels should be furnished. 
 But instead of reporting to the principal those who 
 fail to put their lunch wrappers in these barrels, I 
 think we should report them to their clubs. I do not 
 believe that many pupils of this school will throw 
 waste paper on the ground if barrels are put in con- 
 venient places. If a few pupils are found guilty of 
 doing this, their clubs should try them and punish 
 them. I therefore move that Mr. Williams, our prin- 
 cipal, be requested to get the barrels; but that he 
 also be asked to leave to the pupils the matter of 
 seeing that waste paper is put in them. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: Is this motion seconded? 
 
 BEATRICE WADE: Mr. President, I second this 
 motion. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of this motion say 
 "Aye." All who are opposed say "No." The "Ayes" 
 have it; and the motion is carried. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: Are there reports from any other 
 standing committees? If not, we will now hear from 
 the Special Committee on the Classroom Library. 
 
 WILLIAM COBB: Mr. President, we recommend 
 that the following books be bought for our class 
 library: 
 
 Brooks' Stories of South America .... $ .80 
 Williamson's Life of Lee 60 
 
 Total $1.40 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: You have heard the recommenda- 
 tion of William Cobb. What will you do with it? 
 
 JANET BOYD: Mr. President, I move that the books 
 be bought. 
 
 88 
 
OSCAR SIMMS: I second the motion. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: All who favor this motion say 
 "Aye"; all opposed, "No." The motion is carried. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: We will now have the special 
 program. Irma Brownlow, the chairman of the Pro- 
 gram Committee, will please come forward and take 
 charge of the meeting. 
 
 IRMA BROWNLOW: We will have a debate on the 
 following subject: Resolved, That every boy and 
 girl should graduate from high school. 
 
 The debaters on the affirmative are: 
 
 FRANK BUTZNER 
 MILDRED SMITH 
 
 Those representing the negative are: 
 
 JAMES SIMPSON 
 REBECCA FAIRCLOTH 
 
 The first speaker was Frank Butzner. Frank was 
 followed by James Simpson, after which the other 
 two speakers presented their arguments. The rebuttal 
 then came: that is, an opportunity was given each 
 debater to answer arguments advanced by his op- 
 ponents. After the debate had closed, the club mem- 
 bers decided by a vote of twenty-eight to six that 
 the affirmative side had won. 
 
 IRMA BROWNLOW: This completes the program. 
 I will now turn the meeting back to the president. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: Is there any other matter to 
 come before the club? If not, I await a motion to 
 adjourn. 
 
 89 
 
ADA WHITE: I move that we adjourn. 
 
 ZIHLA KAPLAN: I second the motion. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: All who favor adjournment will 
 say "Aye"; all opposed, "No." The motion is carried, 
 and the club stands adjourned. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Reorganize your club. 
 
 2. Appoint standing committees: committees for improvement, for 
 entertainment, and to visit the sick. 
 
 3. Write new songs, new cheers, and a class slogan. 
 
 Courtesy of Miss Ernilie Yunker 
 
 HANGING MAY BASKET AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 
 
 90 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 OCCUPATIONS 
 
 Problems: (1) To make a study of occupations; and 
 (2) to discuss your future vocation. 
 
 What do you intend to make of yourself? What 
 is the calling in life you wish to follow? Are you going 
 to be a farmer, or a business man, or a lawyer, or a 
 doctor, or a preacher, or a teacher, or an accountant, 
 or a mechanic, or a painter, or a plasterer, or a car- 
 penter, or a mason, or what? 
 
 Making Up Your Mind. Perhaps you have not 
 made up your mind yet as to your life work. Perhaps 
 you have not given the matter much thought. Pos- 
 sibly you are so absorbed in your school and your 
 play that you have not taken time to think what you 
 will do when your school life is ended and you enter 
 the great world. The sooner you make up your mind 
 as to the vocation you are to follow the better for you, 
 because you can then shape your education and training 
 for a definite end. The world is full of people who drift 
 about from one occupation to another without ever 
 knowing what they really wish to do. Such people 
 seldom succeed. They hold minor positions all their 
 lives and have little chance to reveal their talents. 
 They never function properly, we say. 
 
 Choosing Early. On the other hand, a few long- 
 headed people make up their minds early in life as to 
 what calling they will pursue. This gives them the 
 
 91 
 
advantage of being on the lookout for everything that 
 may help them to realize their aim. The girl who 
 decides at the age of thirteen to be a teacher has an 
 advantage over the girl who simply drifts into teaching 
 at the end of her schooling: the former will make a 
 better teacher than the latter. The boy who decides 
 to be a doctor at an early age will pay special attention 
 to science in his school work and will go to college 
 better prepared to study for his profession than the 
 boy who enters medicine merely because it seems to 
 be a profitable occupation. The same thing is true of 
 the boy who expects to be a lawyer, or preacher, or 
 anything else. Nature decides for many of us. You 
 may see the future business man trading with the 
 other boys on the playground and getting the best of 
 his bargains. The future lawyer is usually a keener 
 debater than the other boys; the future newspaper 
 reporter writes for the school paper; the future me- 
 chanic knows all about automobiles; the future sales- 
 man is noted for his persuasive talk. 
 
 Few Callings Once. In early times there were 
 few callings, because people had not ' specialized then 
 as they have today. A man would be a farmer and 
 nine out of ten men in the United States were farmers 
 or he might become a clerk in a store or a mechanic. 
 Only a few men became lawyers, doctors, and preachers, 
 partly because there was not a great demand for pro- 
 fessional men in those days and partly because edu- 
 cation was very expensive and difficult to get. Nobody 
 could make a living in literary vocations, and teachers 
 had to be instructors in private schools or open schools 
 of their own. 
 
 92 
 
Modern Vocations. In the last hundred years most 
 modern vocations have come into existence. Railroads 
 give employment to hundreds of thousands of people. 
 Early in the nineteenth century the only public means 
 of transportation by land was the stage coach, and 
 there were few stage coaches. Automobiles have opened 
 a number of occupations that did not exist twenty -five 
 years ago, when private transportation was by horse- 
 drawn vehicles. A few generations since there were 
 no insurance agents, stenographers, typewriters, real 
 estate dealers, electricians, house painters, photogra- 
 phers, trained nurses, brokers; and hundreds of other 
 callings now employing thousands of people were 
 unthought of. This diversity of occupations is at once 
 a blessing and a drawback: it gives us a far wider 
 range of choice than our ancestors had, but at the same 
 time it puts us in danger of making a mistake in our 
 choice. With so many roads to success open, we are 
 likely to enter one for which we are not suited. The 
 occupation that one likes is usually best, for a man 
 or woman does far better work when the work is 
 congenial than when it is not. Indeed, nothing is 
 more difficult than to succeed in a distasteful calling. 
 
 Farming. Although the range of vocations is so 
 much wider today than even one generation ago, it 
 nevertheless remains a fact that farming is still in many 
 ways the best calling of all. The farmer profits by the 
 inventions which brought so many new occupations 
 into existence. Labor-saving machinery makes it 
 cheaper for him to produce crops than formerly; and 
 automobiles, telephones, and radiophones do away 
 with the old-time loneliness of country life. The 
 
 93 
 
farmer who owns his own farm if it is fairly good 
 land is the most independent of all men. He is not 
 worried constantly, as nearly all city dwellers are, by 
 the increasing cost of living. He does not pay rent 
 and he makes most of his own food. In bad seasons he 
 will not save much money, but he always earns a 
 living. He has far more leisure than any other class 
 of workers, for he has holiday much of the winter. 
 
 A HAYFIELD 
 
 His children help him on the farm instead of being a 
 great expense, as children are in the city. In many 
 ways the farmer in the long run of years has an ad- 
 vantage over other men. 
 
 Other Outdoor Vocations. Other outdoor occupa- 
 tions are: civil engineering, structural iron work, 
 house painting, insurance soliciting, lumbering, forestry, 
 street cleaning, road making, automobile driving. Out- 
 
 94 
 
door work is usually healthier than indoor employment, . 
 but the number of outdoor occupations is far smaller 
 than of indoor vocations. With the exception of 
 farmers, the bod of the people of the United States 
 do their work in houses. 
 
 Indoor Occupations. The great world of business 
 and manufacture is mainly an indoor realm. Merchants 
 and business men of many sorts, clerks, stenographers, 
 typewriters, secretaries, lawyers, doctors, dentists, 
 factory and mill workers, do their work indoors. 
 Indoor work is not injurious to the health, provided 
 the worker gets outdoor exercise after hours and on 
 Sundays. In many ways it is better than outdoor 
 work, for there is no exposure to bad weather and less 
 hard manual labor. 
 
 Skilled and Unskilled Occupations. Nearly all 
 people with any education are skilled workers. In 
 fact, this is the main advantage of education, for 
 skilled workers are paid more and have easier working 
 conditions than unskilled laborers. The most highly 
 skilled occupations are the professions, which require 
 years of training. It is a mistake to think, however, 
 that they pay better than other occupations. The 
 callings that pay the best for the amount of training 
 and education involved are skilled trades. In propor- 
 tion to their education, locomotive engineers are 
 among the highest paid workers in the world. Print- 
 ers, carpenters, masons, paper hangers, plasterers, 
 structural steel workers, steel mill workers, and, in 
 fact, nearly all members of the skilled trades receive 
 good wages. Some of these workers make more money 
 than the average doctor, lawyer, or business man. 
 
 95 
 
Few clerks in business offices get as much pay as the 
 workers in skilled trades and they are not as indepen- 
 dent. Boys and girls have an excellent chance in 
 junior high school to take vocational classes. These 
 classes are in wood and metal work, printing, electricity, 
 millinery, dressmaking, and other subjects. By giving 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 MANUAL TRAINING IN SCHOOL 
 
 attention to them one may find that he has a talent 
 for some skilled trade a talent the cultivation of 
 which will lead to success in life. 
 
 Unskilled Labor. Contrasted with the skilled 
 trades is what is known as unskilled labor. This latter 
 range of vocations includes ditch digging, street work 
 of most kinds, house wrecking, shifting materials, 
 
the rough labor of railway construction, mining, and a 
 number of other occupations. Unskilled labor is poor- 
 ly paid in comparison with skilled work, though much 
 better paid now than formerly. Few people that pass 
 through high school become unskilled laborers. The 
 work is too severe, the pay too small, the chance of 
 advancement too poor to make this kind of occupa- 
 tion attractive. 
 
 Practical Education. Make up your mind that you 
 will have a good practical education one that will defi- 
 nitely fit you for some bread- winning occupation. Much 
 of education is of little practical benefit, as, for instance, 
 knowledge of the Greek language. Formerly most edu- 
 cation was of this sort, and students left high school or 
 college poorly fitted for the battle of life. Modern edu- 
 cation, however, is all the time becoming more practical 
 and therefore more beneficial. All that you learn at 
 school and high school will prove of value to you in the 
 struggle of making a living. And if you go to college 
 resolved to secure a useful education, you may select 
 studies that will do much to insure your success in life. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Give the laws concerning child labor in your state. 
 
 2. Debate this question: Resolved, That the work of a farmer is more 
 useful than that of a merchant. 
 
 3. Write a short paper showing that an early choice of an occupation 
 is necessary to success in life. 
 
 4. Plan and give a pantomime in which the members of the club 
 represent the various occupations. 
 
 97 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 KEEPING THINGS CLEAN 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the relation of cleanliness to 
 health; and (2) to organize a campaign against mosquitoes, 
 flies, and other pests. 
 
 Cleanliness and Health. One of the most im- 
 portant dates in the history of the United States is 
 1850. In that year the modern bathtub was invented. 
 Few inventions have done more for the happiness 
 and welfare of humanity. Because of this invention 
 the people of the United States adopted the habit 
 of cleanliness, and the example of the United States is 
 converting the whole world. People have found that 
 they are far healthier, and therefore far happier, when 
 they are clean. 
 
 Clean Houses. In former times many people 
 cared little for the cleanliness of their houses. This 
 was natural, because they cared little for the cleanli- 
 ness of their bodies. Clean houses came with clean 
 bodies. It is considered a disgrace now for a family 
 to live in a dusty, dirty house. Trash that once was 
 allowed to lie on the floor is removed, and floors are 
 swept and furniture is dusted. Dust is dangerous, as 
 people have come to learn. This has led to the use 
 of vacuum cleaners, which take up dirt and dust 
 without letting particles fly into the air. Clean floors, 
 dustless furniture, and clean beds insure us against 
 many sicknesses which used to play havoc with hu- 
 
 98 
 
inanity. Dirt and disease go together. If you wish 
 to be healthy, keep yourself clean and live in clean 
 surroundings. 
 
 Clean Streets. People who have neat houses wish 
 to live in a clean city. Once upon a time the streets 
 of cities were filled with rubbish of all kinds. They 
 were never cleaned by the city government and were 
 sometimes inches deep in mud. On busy streets, 
 where there was constant passing, street sweepers 
 made paths across the mud, for which they received 
 coppers in return. All this is changed. Garbage, 
 rubbish, and ashes are carted away and destroyed. 
 Trash receptacles are kept in certain places, so that 
 people will not throw things in the street. In some 
 cities rotary street sweepers are used. In others, 
 the streets are flushed with water at night, the best 
 method of all. Cities that wash the streets regularly 
 have a low disease rate. 
 
 Clean Yards and Beautiful. Strangely enough, 
 many people are still somewhat careless about their 
 yards, especially back yards. In cities back yards 
 are often littered with waste paper, tin cans, and 
 garbage. In the country you sometimes find pigsties 
 near dwelling houses and barnyards covered with 
 rotten straw and other refuse. Such conditions pro- 
 mote disease. It is not difficult to remedy them. 
 A few hours' work each week will make your back 
 yard a healthful and beautiful spot instead of an 
 eyesore. Instead of weeds you may have beautiful 
 flowers blooming. The same thing applies to your 
 school lawn. Is it ornamented with grass, shrubbery, 
 shade trees and flowers, or is it just a bare, unsightly 
 
 99 
 
lot covered with paper and ashes? The Junior Citizens 
 Club should do something each year to make the 
 school grounds the most attractive spot in the whole 
 community. 
 
 Swatting the Fly. One of the ways in which you 
 can help to make things clean is by killing flies and 
 by destroying their breeding-places. Kill every fly 
 
 A NEGLECTED BACK YARD 
 
 you see. The common house fly is more dangerous 
 to the human race than all the lions, tigers, and other 
 beasts of prey put together: it is a spreader of disease. 
 Fly-killing is a matter of even more importance in the 
 country than in cities, because flies are more numerous 
 in the country than in cities. In the country, where 
 the people have no assistance in cleaning up, flies still 
 breed numerously in stables and barnyards. The 
 
 100 
 
best way to prevent flies is to keep the premises so 
 clean that they will have no breeding-places. And 
 when one of the pests does appear, "Swat the fly!" 
 should be the cry raised immediately. 
 
 Pure Water. Clean water is our prime necessity. 
 In former times people paid little attention to the 
 cleanliness of water, with the result that thousands 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 COVERING FOOD FROM FLIES 
 
 died annually from typhoid fever and other diseases. 
 They did not know then what caused these ills. When 
 it was learned that water is the chief medium in which 
 typhoid is conveyed, cities began to study the sources 
 of their water supply. If the water supply comes from 
 lakes or streams, care is usually taken to see that 
 garbage and filth are removed from the neighborhood. 
 Sometimes water is brought from great distances in 
 
 101 
 
order to insure purity: New York City is supplied 
 with water brought from the Catskill Mountains, 
 a hundred miles away. In some cities chemicals are 
 used to make the water pure, but purified water 
 is not so good as water originally pure. Country 
 people now take pains to have their wells and springs 
 
 WATER SUPPLY FOR A CITY 
 
 clean. They know that if they do not they are likely 
 to be sick. 
 
 The Pledge. In some cities clubs have been 
 organized to further the great work of making cities 
 cleaner and healthier. The following is the pledge taken 
 by the members of a "Keep Your City Clean Club" 
 organized in a large city school: 
 
 102 
 
MOTTO 
 
 I will do all in my power to make a cleaner and more 
 beautiful city. 
 
 PLEDGE 
 
 I will not throw paper, fruit skins, or other trash in the 
 streets, alleys, or school yard. 
 
 I will not write on fences, buildings, posts, or sidewalks. 
 
 I will keep my front and back yards free from waste 
 paper, weeds, and all rubbish. 
 
 I will help to keep all garbage at my house covered up. 
 
 I will make every day a Clean-Up Day at my home. 
 
 I will help to make my school the prettiest in the city. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Tell how some diseases can be prevented. Which is better, to pre- 
 vent or to cure disease? 
 
 2. Appoint a member of your class to write to your state health depart- 
 ment for a pamphlet on pure drinking water for schools and homes. 
 
 3. Get your class to make a survey of the school premises in order to 
 learn in what respects health conditions might be improved. 
 
 4. Explain how parks and playgrounds promote health. 
 
 5. Answer these questions: 
 
 What diseases does your board of health quarantine? 
 What disposition is made of sewage in your community? 
 How is garbage disposed of? 
 
 What is being done about the water supply? The milk supply? 
 What officer in your community is responsible for health? 
 Why are city dump piles a menace to health? 
 What is the bubonic plague and how is it spread? 
 What is the hookworm disease and how is it spread? 
 Which of the following water supplies is most dangerous: a well; 
 a spring; a stream? Why? 
 
 6. Organize a campaign against mosquitoes, flies, and other pests. 
 (See page 304 for suggestions.) 
 
 7. Organize a neighborhood "clean-up" campaign. Consult your local 
 or state board of health for plans and methods. 
 
 103 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 SAVERS AND WASTERS 
 
 Problems: (1) To study how others have succeeded by 
 thrift; and (2) to learn how to save and to spend wisely. 
 
 Meaning of Thrift. Many of us have an idea 
 that thrift simply means self-denial going without 
 the things we want. This is a mistake. Thrift does 
 mean going without certain things. It means going 
 without unnecessary and often not very desirable 
 things in order to gain other things more necessary 
 and.highly to be sought. It means giving up the pleasure 
 of the moment in order to win lasting happiness. 
 This is the point that should be understood, because 
 it makes saving easy thrift is far more than self- 
 denial: it is profit, gain, prosperity. 
 
 Andrew Carnegie. When Andrew Carnegie was 
 a boy he was very poor. He came of a family of work- 
 ers; his father was a weaver of linen who was ruined 
 by the introduction of machinery in linen making. So 
 Andrew had to go to work at an early age. While 
 he was still a young boy, the family moved from 
 Scotland to America and settled in Pittsburgh. Andrew 
 went to work in a factory there at a very small wage. 
 Leaving the factory, he rose to be an operator in a 
 telegraph office. All the time he was saving a little 
 money, it is true, because the family largely depended 
 on him, but still a little. At last the chance came 
 to secure a good investment. The family mortgaged 
 
 104 
 
its humble house in order to eke out Andrew's savings, 
 and thus he was able to make his first investment. 
 This was the beginning of such success as few men 
 have ever gained. From a boy working in a factory, 
 Andrew Carnegie rose to be one of the greatest million- 
 aires on earth. Thrift was the basis of his success. It 
 was better for him to have denied himself the pleasures 
 of the moment, in order to win immense wealth and 
 high position in later life, than to have spent his money 
 as he made it and so lose his chance for the future. 
 That is the essence of thrift: it is the building of a 
 future. Almost all people who are thrifty in youth 
 do well in later life, because money, as the saying is, 
 breeds money. The thrifty boy or girl is not only 
 making money by his or her own efforts but by the 
 use of the money saved. He or she has two sources 
 of income work and interest, which as the payment 
 made for the use of money. It is easy to see that the 
 thrifty person soon outdistances the people who have 
 to depend altogether on work. 
 
 Return on Money.- This return on money is the 
 reason for thrift. All grown people, if they are sensible, 
 practice thrift to some extent, but children frequently 
 are not expected to do so. Children often spend 
 every cent given them or that they earn on candy, 
 moving pictures, or in other ways that bring in no 
 return. They expect to save, but at some time in the 
 future, not realizing that thrift cannot begin too soon, 
 that no one is too young to observe it. If you regularly 
 put a little money in a savings bank you will be sur- 
 prised to see how much it will amount to in a few years. 
 Often one has a chance to lend money at six per cent 
 
 105 
 
interest that is, to receive a return of six dollars for 
 the use of a hundred dollars for a year. Sometimes 
 one is able to get eight dollars for the use of a hundred 
 dollars for a year. In an old church a twenty-dollar 
 gold piece, which bore the date 1808, was recently 
 found. If that gold piece had been loaned from 1808 
 to 1922, at six per cent interest, compounded semi- 
 annually, it would have increased to $16,474.64. 
 You see from this how money grows. 
 
 A Budget. But it is not easy to save before saving 
 has become a habit. The dimes and nickels get away 
 from us without our knowing how they go; the stores 
 are full of things we want. How then shall we set about 
 saving? The best way to save is to begin by keeping 
 an expense account. Put down in a little tablet every 
 cent you spend each day for a month; then look at 
 the account. You will be surprised to see how much 
 money you spend on things you do not need and which 
 do not give you great satisfaction. Perhaps you 
 bought ten cents' worth of candy three times a week: 
 once a week would do as well.. Perhaps you have been 
 to the moving pictures six evenings in the month: 
 four would be enough. After you have kept an expense 
 account for some time, you will begin to see how you 
 might save here and there and yet have just as much 
 pleasure. Make what is called a budget. Put down 
 your necessary expenses and then make a certain 
 addition for pleasure and extras. If you keep to the 
 budget, you may be sure you are thrifty. If you spend 
 much more than it calls for, you may know that there 
 is a leak, that money is going unnecessarily. 
 
 Need of Thrift Universal. Everybody needs to 
 
 106 
 
exercise thrift. Even rich men will not get along if 
 they spend money recklessly. If this is true of the 
 rich, how much more so is it of the poor! Thrift indeed 
 usually marks the difference between the employee, 
 the man who takes orders, and the employer. The 
 man who saves nothing is always under some one 
 else, always insecure, always afraid that he will lose 
 his place and not be able to get another. The thrifty 
 person the person who has money in bank or who 
 owns property does not have this worry, because he 
 knows that even if he should be out of work for a time 
 he will have something to fall back on. If he con- 
 tinues to be thrifty, he will become an employer of 
 others and will give orders instead t)f receiving them. 
 Needlessness of Waste. The great thing about 
 thrift is that after one begins to be thrifty, thrift 
 comes easy. It is largely a matter of thought. We 
 do not wish to spend money on unnecessary things, 
 yet we often waste. We obtain pleasure from spend- 
 ing money for amusements, but when we waste we get 
 nothing at all in return. There is no pleasure in waste. 
 In most families much good^ food is wasted food 
 which could be served the second day in some appetiz- 
 ing form but which, instead, is thrown in the garbage 
 can. Clothes are often wasted in the same way: why 
 should we not wear old clothes at certain times and 
 save our good ones? Frequently we throw away 
 shoes that would last for months by patching. Furni- 
 ture is sometimes allowed to go to pieces for lack of 
 a little repairing. Children often destroy school books 
 which could be sold or passed on to another child in 
 the family. Likewise, they waste paper by writing 
 
 107 
 
only on a part of a sheet and then throwing it away. 
 There are a thousand ways in which we waste: nearly 
 all of us are guilty of it in some form and to some 
 extent. We should fight against it: waste is not only 
 wrong; it is stupid. If we come to understand how 
 much saving means, we are far less likely to waste. 
 
 When People Save. If a farmer does not spend 
 all of his earnings for clothing, amusements, the doctor 
 and dentist, and in other ways, he has a sum left over. 
 With this he may buy a few more acres of land. The 
 new acres will mean that next year he will raise a 
 larger crop and get more money; and, if he is a very 
 thrifty man, he may go on in this way year after year 
 until he turns a small farm into a great estate. If a 
 business man does not spend all of his earnings for 
 food, clothing, doctor's bills, and in other ways, he 
 has a sum left over. This will enable him to buy more 
 goods next year, and the larger stock of goods will 
 mean an increased profit. He can do this year after 
 year; his wealth will increase, and he may eventually 
 become rich, perhaps a millionaire. The same thing, 
 in some degree, is true of the professional man, the 
 mechanic, the factory worker, and nearly every body else. 
 
 How You May Save. You have a chance to earn 
 money by thrift, just as the farmer and business man 
 and doctor have. You can begin by putting a little 
 money in a savings bank or in Postal Savings stamps. 
 If you put one dollar in a savings bank, you will receive 
 three cents at the end of the year for the use of your 
 money. This may seem a small amount, but if you 
 put ten dollars in the savings bank you will get thirty 
 cents in interest, and one hundred dollars will bring 
 
 108 
 
you in a return of three dollars. There are other ways 
 of investment. Nobody need be without means of 
 gaining interest on money. 
 
 The Way to Wealth. Thrift is the way to wealth. 
 There is really no other way. Nearly everyone who 
 has made a success of life has done so by thrift. The 
 man who spends all he makes and never saves any- 
 thing is at the mercy of every misfortune. He must 
 borrow money when he is sick or in trouble, and he 
 has no means to invest when opportunities come. 
 Such men almost never become rich. The place to 
 be is in the ranks of the thrifty, the savers, and not 
 in the ranks of the unthrifty, the wasters. Those who 
 take this stand and stick to it will be practically 
 certain to meet with some measure of success at least. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of different ways in which people waste time; money 
 material. 
 
 2. Write a short composition on " Why I Should Have a Bank Account." 
 
 3. Find out all you can about the manner in which the banks in your 
 community are conducted. 
 
 4. Let the club originate and give a "Thrift" play. The proceeds may 
 be used to add books to the library. 
 
 109 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 BEAUTY 
 
 Problems : (1) To learn the importance of beauty in one's 
 surroundings; and (2) to take steps to beautify your own 
 community. 
 
 Beauty of Washington. If you go to Washington, 
 you will find a city different from any you have seen 
 before. You will see wide, asphalt-paved streets, 
 bordered by beautiful trees; parks, whose refreshing 
 loveliness will tempt you to linger in them; public 
 buildings, massive and yet graceful and pleasing. 
 Nowhere will you see smoke and dirt and confusion. 
 The reason for this is that Washington is a city where 
 beauty has been greatly considered and where efforts 
 for improvement have been put forth for many years. 
 There is probably no more beautiful city in the whole 
 world than the capital of our country. 
 
 Beauty in Other Cities. What has been done so 
 well in Washington is being done to some extent in all 
 the cities of the country. For many years Americans 
 were too intent on growth to care much for appearances. 
 The fine old houses that had been built in the early 
 period of our history were neglected; buildings were 
 put up for purposes of usefulness alone and with no 
 regard to grace and beauty; telegraph, telephone, and 
 trolley poles raised their unsightly heads everywhere; 
 front yards were neglected; hideous advertisements 
 were scattered through the streets, even the best 
 
 111 
 
residential streets; there were few parks; there were 
 few streets with trees. But a number of years ago 
 some of the public-spirited people of the country began 
 a movement to improve the appearance of our cities, 
 and this has been under way ever since. Much has 
 been accomplished. In many large cities telegraph 
 and telephone poles have, been taken down; streets 
 are properly paved; trees are planted throughout 
 residential sections; frequently ugly houses have been 
 replaced by pleasing ones. Everywhere our cities have 
 been cleaned up; the streets are no longer left littered 
 with paper and rubbish: window boxes bloom in 
 houses. The former hardness and bareness of our 
 cities is fast being replaced by soft beauty by grass 
 and trees and flowers. 
 
 Beautifying the Yard. In no respect has the move- 
 ment for beauty accomplished more than in the beauti- 
 fying of yards. The time was when we paid little atten- 
 tion to front yards, especially in the smaller cities. 
 Now nearly everybody who has a front yard has a 
 lawn. In many places the competition between house 
 owners in the matter of fine lawns is keen. When men 
 come home from work they like to trim the grass with 
 the lawn mower, and each season they make efforts 
 to have better grass. Often flowers add a dash of 
 color to the cool and grateful green of the grass. Not 
 so much has been done in the case of the back yard. 
 Sometimes fine houses with well-kept lawns have 
 unsightly back yards: cans, waste paper, and rubbish 
 still litter back yards, even in good streets. This 
 should not be the case. We should have clean yards. 
 But we may have back yards sufficiently clean for 
 
purposes of health and yet bare and dreary. A little 
 patch of grass, a border of flowers, a row of trees, or a 
 creeping vine will add immensely to the attractiveness 
 of the surroundings. People are insensibly affected by 
 their surroundings; a man with a beautiful back yard 
 will be happier than one who looks out on dismal 
 bricks and mortar unrelieved by vegetation. 
 
 Trees. Perhaps the most important factors in 
 community beauty are trees. Nowadays we are so 
 alive to the value of trees that we not only plant large 
 numbers of young ones, but we pay much attention 
 to old ones. There are "tree doctors" whose work 
 is to save trees beginning to decay. An old tree is 
 treated by surgery and medicine, somewhat as a sick 
 man is. In some cities people are fined for cutting 
 down trees, even on their own places, unless the trees 
 are replaced by others. In nearly all the cities of the 
 country there are long tree-lined streets which are the 
 pride of the community. Trees are not only beautiful; 
 they are an advantage in many ways. They screen 
 houses from the glare of the summer sun, and they 
 protect passers-by from the heat. They soothe the 
 eyes and help tired nerves. They benefit body and 
 mind. 
 
 Better Housing. Another movement which con- 
 cerns both health and beauty is that of affording better 
 houses for working people. Formerly, in many cities, 
 working people lived in tenements large, bare, bar- 
 racklike places without grace or ornament or in 
 little tumble-down houses on the outskirts. These 
 brought a low rent and the owners spent little or 
 nothing in repairs. Fortunately this condition of 
 
 113 
 
affairs is passing away. Only houses of decent appear- 
 ance may now be built in most cities, and owners are 
 required to clean up and keep buildings in repair. 
 We demand good living conditions for citizens. 
 
 Advertisements. Twenty years ago visitors from 
 foreign countries spoke most unfavorably of the adver- 
 tisements which then flooded every city. No section 
 of an American city was free from enormous signs 
 
 BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOL GROUNDS, CHESTER (\ T A.) HIGH SCHOOL 
 
 advertising every commodity under the sun in a glar- 
 ing manner. Billboards stood on nearly every vacant 
 lot, even on the finest streets. Roads and railroads 
 were lined with advertisements of every sort. Turn 
 where one would, there was no escaping signs. Within 
 the last few years this condition has been improved. 
 In some cities large signs can be put up only in certain 
 sections; in other sections advertisements are restricted. 
 Besides, the advertisements themselves have changed. 
 
 114 
 
They have become much more artistic and pleasing, 
 and the traveler's sense of beauty is no longer offended 
 on every side as formerly. 
 
 What You Can Do. All of us can help to create 
 civic beauty. You have an opportunity to do much 
 yourself. In the first place, you can help to make 
 your own home beautiful. You can see that the lawn 
 is cut and the back yard free of cans and rubbish. 
 You can plant trees and paint the fences and gates 
 around your home. More than this, you can aid in 
 making your school beautiful. Most school buildings 
 are built for beauty as well as use: in every city there 
 are handsome and graceful schools. But sometimes 
 the surroundings of these schools are not what they 
 should be. It is there that you can help. You can take 
 part in the movement for making the outside of the 
 school beautiful and for keeping the inside clean and 
 attractive. This is an important matter. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Find out what town or city ordinances aid in beautifying your com- 
 munity. Name others which might be made. 
 
 2. Keep a class record of various efforts made to beautify your 
 community. 
 
 3. See what your club can do to prevent needless destruction of trees 
 or other natural beauty in your locality.' 
 
 4. Appoint committees to take steps to beautify your schoolroom and 
 school yard. 
 
 115 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 SAFETY 
 
 Problems: (1) To make a study of " safety -first " regu- 
 lations; and (2) to suggest means of carrying them out. 
 
 Drive to the Right. Certain things are agreed on 
 for the good of all. Suppose there were no road laws 
 and no traffic regulations for the streets: everyone 
 who rode in an automobile or crossed a street on 
 foot would be in imminent danger of death, for one 
 could never tell in which direction cars would be com- 
 ing. Collisions would be endless. Every curve in 
 every road .would have its accident, because auto- 
 mobiles going in opposite directions and traveling on 
 the same side of the road would crash into each other. 
 As it is, the road law is to keep to the right, and this 
 simple regulation makes travel possible. Drivers know 
 just what to do. In cities regulations are much more 
 elaborate: automobiles must go at a certain speed; 
 those going in certain directions have the right of way 
 and certain streets are used for one-way traffic. Un- 
 fortunately, however, regulations are sometimes broken, 
 and the breaking of them leads to the death and maim- 
 ing of many persons. If everybody carefully observed 
 traffic regulations, there would be few mishaps. Care- 
 lessness is the cause of most accidents. 
 
 Fourth of July Celebrations. We all like to cele- 
 brate the Fourth of July, the birthday of the nation. 
 We have found that the "sane Fourth" is the best 
 
 116 
 
kind of celebration. Formerly the Fourth of July was 
 observed by shooting off firecrackers and pistols. Some 
 of these firecrackers were of immense size and pro- 
 duced almost as loud a report as a cannon. Every 
 Fourth of July a large number of persons, mostly boys, 
 were injured or killed by explosives and many houses 
 were destroyed by fire. The newspapers contained 
 long lists of terrible accidents. In recent years the 
 shooting of pistols and firecrackers has been forbidden 
 in large cities. The result has been that the Fourth 
 of July accidents have nearly ceased while everybody 
 enjoys Independence Day as much as ever. 
 
 Fire Drills. Fire drills are a great protection to 
 schools, as they enable children to leave the building 
 rapidly. When a fire breaks out in a school where the 
 rule for going out quickly has been practiced, the chil- 
 dren almost always leave in safety. 
 
 Firemen's Methods. All city fire departments 
 have a thorough organization for handling fires. Usu- 
 ally a space for some distance about the burning area 
 is roped off and none but firemen are permitted to 
 come within the ropes. This is done for two reasons: 
 citizens, if allowed to come near the burning buildings, 
 would get in the firemen's way; and they would also 
 be in great danger of being killed by falling walls. In 
 order, therefore, to do their work properly and protect 
 the public, firemen have strict regulations. Each fire- 
 man knows just what is expected of him and when the 
 time comes he is able to do his work quickly and 
 effectively. 
 
 Police Regulations. The police enforce many regu- 
 lations for the safety of citizens. In some cities people 
 
 117 
 
are not permitted to cross the streets except at corners, 
 in order to lessen the danger of accidents from % auto- 
 mobiles and street cars. Another law is that fire 
 escapes must not be clogged up. The reason for this 
 is that they may be needed at any moment, and persons 
 have lost their lives on account of the blocking of 
 
 AFTER THE ACCIDENT 
 
 fire escapes with luggage. People are forbidden to 
 spit on the sidewalk, since in this way disease germs are 
 spread, bringing suffering and death to many. 
 
 Railroad Safety. The regulations on railroads are 
 very strict, because the lives of people depend on regu- 
 larity. Why do you suppose that trains leave at cer- 
 tain hours? Partly that people may know when to 
 
 118 
 
go to the station, and partly because a regular schedule 
 has much to do with insuring the safety of trains. The 
 railroad officials and workmen know when each train 
 is expected at each station, and this means that other 
 trains are not likely to be in the way. Train workmen 
 are not allowed to drink alcohol. This regulation was 
 adopted by the railroads years ago, because it was 
 found that drunken engineers were sometimes the cause 
 of terrible accidents. Pedestrians are warned not to 
 walk on railroad tracks and cross railroad bridges; 
 many persons have been killed by getting on the tracks. 
 Likewise, passengers are warned by notices in coaches 
 not to stand on the platform while the train is in motion, 
 as fatal accidents have occurred in this way. Railroad 
 regulations forbid a train to enter a "block," or a cer- 
 tain small section of a road, where a train is standing, 
 until the train already in the block has gone on. 
 This is done to prevent collisions. 
 
 Health Laws. No person is allowed to land from a 
 ship coming into a port of the United States until the 
 passengers have been examined and the health officials, 
 are satisfied that no cases of dangerous epidemic dis- 
 eases are on board. Sometimes a ship is kept in quar- 
 antine for ten days before the officials are certain that 
 there is no peril. When smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet 
 fever, and some other diseases break out in a house, 
 the occupants of that house are kept quarantined until 
 the health authorities are satisfied that the danger of 
 the spread of the disease is past. In every city there 
 are authorities engaged in enforcing laws to protect the 
 health and lives of citizens. 
 
 Theater Regulations. In all cities there are laws 
 
 119 
 
for the protection of people who visit theaters and 
 moving pictures. Theaters are required to have asbes- 
 tos curtains, so that in case a fire breaks out on the 
 stage it can be shut off at once from the audience by 
 the lowering of the curtain. People are not allowed to 
 stand in the aisles of theaters; in many theaters they 
 are not allowed to stand at all. This rule was estab- 
 lished to prevent jams in case of panics caused by fires 
 or other accidents. In some states the law requires 
 moving-picture operators to be licensed, in order to 
 prevent the occurrence of fires from ignorance and 
 inexperience. 
 
 Handling of Crowds. At parades and on all occa- 
 sions where great crowds gather policemen are at hand 
 to protect the public. Mounted policemen usually ride 
 in front of parades to see that no persons are in the way. 
 People attempting to cross a street while a parade is 
 passing are kept back by the police. This is done to 
 prevent accidents. If spectators were allowed to get in 
 the way, especially in circus and automobile parades, 
 they would be in great danger of being killed. Like- 
 wise, at open-air political gatherings policemen are 
 stationed to preserve order and prevent overcrowding. 
 At ball parks, policemen see that the people do not 
 press into the entrances too rapidly. A dense crowd is 
 a dangerous place in which to be, and people have been 
 frequently killed or injured by being caught in jams. 
 
 Safety on Street Cars. In many cities the street 
 cars bear notices warning persons not to get off cars 
 backward and not to step away from cars without 
 watching for oncoming automobiles. These notices also 
 urge passengers not to get on and off cars while in mo- 
 
 120 
 
i 
 
 Photograph by Underwood and Underwood 
 
 (121) A CIRCUS PARADE 
 
tion and not to step across another track on alighting 
 from a car. Many accidents have been caused by dis- 
 regarding these precautions. 
 
 Protection of Employees. In factories and mills 
 great pains are taken to protect employees. In most 
 factories there are notices warning employees to observe 
 measures for their protection. In factories where flying 
 particles cause injury to the eyes or lungs, employees 
 are urged to wear glasses and, in some cases, gas 
 masks, in order to protect themselves. In nearly all 
 manufacturing plants where dangerous work is done the 
 regulations are very strict. Observance of them usually 
 insures the safety of workmen, and violations are fre- 
 quently followed by disaster. 
 
 Safety-First Movement. The whole country has 
 awakened recently to the importance of the "safety- 
 first" movement. This movement was begun some 
 years ago by a group of public-minded citizens who 
 were saddened by the great number of avoidable acci- 
 dents that occur in the United States every year. By 
 posting warnings in dangerous places and by other 
 means they have aroused the people to make efforts 
 to reduce the perils of our daily life. It is a step in the 
 right direction. People in civilized countries should 
 not constantly go about in danger of their lives. 
 
 TEN SAFETY-FIRST RULES 
 
 1. Never cross a street or railroad track without being 
 sure the way is clear. Observe the rules of the traffic depart- 
 ment when crossing streets. 
 
 2. Be careful while working with tools and machines. 
 
 3. Do not play with automobiles. Do not play in the 
 streets. 
 
 122 
 
4. Do not play with firearms or hold in the hand lighted 
 firecrackers. 
 
 5. Keep away from open fireplaces. 
 
 6. Do not play dangerous games, such as "rock bat- 
 tling." Do not dare others to skate on thin ice, to climb 
 high walls, or to jump from low buildings. 
 
 7. Do not venture into deep water either in swimming 
 or boating unless you are a good swimmer. 
 
 8. Do not build fires with kerosene. 
 
 9. Avoid all broken wires that may be charged with 
 electricity. 
 
 10. Do not handle gasoline, dynamite, or other ex- 
 plosives. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Secure for the bulletin board newspaper clippings describing accidents 
 to children and adults. 
 
 2. Mention some state laws that help to prevent accidents on the 
 public highways and on railroad tracks. 
 
 3. Appoint a committee to secure a copy of the traffic laws of your city. 
 Read and discuss the most important of these rules. 
 
 4. Describe in an oral composition how you met with an accident 
 through carelessness. 
 
 5. Find out what protection against fire your community provides. 
 
 6. Discuss and adopt a set of safety-first rules which will prevent 
 accidents at school and in going to and returning from school. 
 
 7. Appoint a committee to make a poster containing these rules for 
 display in your room or in the school corridor. 
 
 123 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 FIRE PREVENTION 
 
 Problems: (1) To study fire prevention; and (2) to 
 learn how you may help in this work. 
 
 The Cost of Fires. Sometimes as you drive along 
 a country highway you see standing in a deserted field 
 or grove a lone chimney. Around it is piled rubbish 
 fringed with rank weeds and shrubs. This dreary spot 
 marks the place where there was once a happy home; 
 but some one grew careless, the house caught on fire, 
 and in a few hours nothing but a naked chimney and 
 blackened ruins remained. There are thousands of 
 such chimneys in America, for we have not yet learned 
 the important lesson of fire prevention. 
 
 A Fire a Minute. Fifteen thousand lives are lost 
 each year in the United States by fire, while the prop- 
 erty destruction reaches the enormous sum of $400, 
 000,000. You can get an idea of what this means by 
 the following illustration: there are 1440 minutes in a 
 day, and there are about 1500 fires every day in the 
 United States. Watch a clock for a few minutes. 
 Every time the long hand passes a minute mark say to 
 yourself, "Another fire has broken out." Besides fac- 
 tories and hotels, eight hundred dwelling houses are 
 destroyed by fire in our country each day of the year. 
 The saddest fact about these fires is that so many of 
 them are due to carelessness. 
 
 Forest Fires. Some of the most disastrous fires that 
 
 124 
 
occur are forest fires. If you live in a wooded section, 
 you must have seen the sky lit up for miles by acres of 
 blazing woods. The great trees were decades, perhaps 
 centuries, in growing, but one careless act, such as a 
 camp fire left burning, laid waste in a few hours what 
 nature was long, long years in perfecting. It is esti- 
 
 A FOREST FIRE 
 
 mated that one third of all the timber in our country 
 is destroyed by forest fires. The United States govern- 
 ment has established a number of forest preserves 
 throughout the country and maintains in each area a 
 fire patrol to put out fires. 
 
 Fire Fighters and Insurance. Loss of life and de- 
 
 125 
 
struction of property are not all that is to be charged 
 against fires; the people of America spend millions of 
 dollars annually in maintaining fire departments and 
 in paying fire insurance. Fire departments are a great 
 comfort; we feel safer when we lie down to sleep, know- 
 ing that brave firemen will come to our help in case of 
 fire. Still, if people were more careful and there were 
 fewer fires, your city would not have to purchase so 
 many engines or employ such a large number of fire 
 fighters. Besides, many millions of dollars paid each 
 year to fire insurance companies would be saved. Few 
 men fail to insure their property against loss by fire, 
 but if fires were infrequent occurrences insurance would 
 cost much less. 
 
 Carelessness. A fire insurance paper gives the fol- 
 lowing incidents to show that carelessness is at the 
 bottom of some of the greatest fires. A woman in 
 Augusta, Georgia, who was using an electric iron, forgot 
 to turn off the current when she went to luncheon. 
 The result of this little piece of carelessness was the 
 burning of a large part of Augusta. Property to the 
 value of $5,000,000 was destroyed, and hundreds of 
 people had to live in tents until their homes were re- 
 built. In Chelsea, Texas, the people thought a " dump " 
 was a good thing until it caught fire and burned them 
 out of their homes. In an Ohio school a stovepipe was 
 too near the ceiling, and one hundred and seventy- 
 three children and three teachers paid the penalty with 
 their lives. A man threw a lighted cigarette into some 
 trash in a shirtwaist factory, and one hundred and forty 
 girls died. A hundred other examples might be given. 
 
 Causes of Fire. If you wish to prevent fires you 
 
 126 
 
must watch the things listed below. With some excep- 
 tions, they are among the most useful things in the 
 world, but, handled carelessly, they cause enormous 
 destruction. Take up each one of these articles sepa- 
 
 Photograph by Underwood and Underwood 
 
 DANGER CLEANING WITH GASOLINE 
 
 rately and tell how it should be handled so as to lessen 
 the danger of fires: 
 
 Matches. Gasoline. 
 
 Bonfires. Electricity. 
 
 Lamps. Waste paper and rags. 
 
 Stoves. Lighted cigarettes and cigars. 
 
 How the Community Works to Prevent Fires. We 
 have many laws to prevent fires. It is against the law, 
 
 127 
 
for instance, to sell kerosene after dark. Nearly every 
 state has laws stating in what way gasoline, gunpowder, 
 and t)ther explosives and inflammable material shall be 
 stored. Cities have codes requiring that buildings of a 
 certain height shall be fireproof; that in certain sections 
 all buildings must be of brick or stone; that buildings of a 
 certain height must be equipped with fire escapes; and 
 that all electric wiring must be done in a thorough man- 
 ner. A person who seeks to erect a building of any kind 
 'must go to the building -inspector's office, file plans, and 
 secure a permit. The law requires that theaters, hotels, 
 and other public buildings shall have a sufficient number 
 of exits, clearly marked with red lights. The law also 
 demands that the doors of public buildings, including 
 schoolhouses, shall open outward. There are other regu- 
 lations of a similar sort. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Inspect carefully your home from cellar to garret, including the 
 back yard, and make a list of the things that might cause a fire. Pay special 
 attention to stovepipes, waste paper, kerosene, matches, and oiled rags. 
 Give this list to your parents and do what you can to remove the dangers. 
 
 2. Appoint a committee of your club to inspect the school for the pur- 
 pose of making a similar list. 
 
 3. Invite a fireman to visit your school and talk to you about fire pre- 
 vention. Have him explain to you how to turn in a fire alarm. 
 
 4. Invite some pupil to bring a fire extinguisher to school and demon- 
 strate how it puts out a fire. 
 
 5. Get the entire school to observe a fire prevention week during whidt 
 cellars, garrets, and back yards are to be cleaned up with the view of lesser- 
 ing fire hazards. 
 
 128 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 Problem: (1) To study the growth of schools; and (2), 
 to find out all you can about the schools of your community 
 and your state. 
 
 Early Schools. Once upon a time there were few 
 schools; the majority of people did not go to school at 
 all. Taxes were not paid, as they are now, in order to 
 provide education for all the children of a neighbor- 
 hood. Men of means would hire a teacher to instruct 
 their children or a teacher would come into a neigh- . 
 borhood and open a school as a business, charging 
 children a certain fee for attending it. Thus education 
 was the property of a few, not the free possession of 
 all. There was a vast difference in every neighborhood 
 between the men of learning and the poor people who 
 could not read or write and who had to make their 
 mark when they signed a legal document. 
 
 Public Schools. In the United States, however, 
 there early arose a feeling that everybody should have 
 some education. It was felt that it was a good invest- 
 ment to found schools which all children might attend 
 free of charge. Property owners in some places were 
 persuaded that it would be to their benefit, as well as 
 to the benefit of others, to pay taxes for free schools. 
 They came to see that the greater intelligence of the 
 people resulting from education increased the wealth 
 of a locality. There was another reason why free 
 
 129 
 
schools were needed. Early in the nineteenth century 
 many of the states of the United States conferred on 
 all male citizens the right to vote; before this time 
 only property owners voted. It would not do to have 
 voters who could not read, for such men would not vote 
 intelligently. Consequently some of the states estab- 
 lished public schools, and gradually the system spread 
 throughout the country. At present every state in the 
 Union has good public schools employing large numbers 
 of teachers and spending millions of dollars. No 
 investment ever brought so rich a return as public 
 schools have tcrthe United States. Partly because of 
 them America is the foremost country on earth. 
 
 Democracy and Schools. The public schools have 
 had much to do with the growth of democracy in the 
 United States. There is no longer the old division 
 between the educated and the illiterate. In modern 
 communities, all the people have some education. 
 Men who work in manual trades are well informed 
 instead of being ignorant and helpless, as they once 
 were. Indeed, there is no great difference between the 
 workmen of today, intelligent, well paid, and well 
 dressed, and business and professional men. The 
 public schools, then, have done much to overthrow 
 the old differences between persons based on difference 
 in knowledge, and to put people who were once poor and 
 ignorant on a level with the educated. This is true 
 democracy. 
 
 Place of the School. The place of the school in the 
 life of the community is constantly widening in scope. 
 Fine buildings replace the cabins that were once 
 schoolhouses. Once the "three R's," reading, writing, 
 
 131 
 
and arithmetic, were all that was taught. Today 
 schools not only give literary instruction, but train 
 boys and girls in ways of making a living. They also 
 serve as community centers, for adults as well as for 
 children. School buildings are used for lectures, 
 amusements, and public meetings. Teachers take an 
 equal part in community affairs with lawyers and 
 preachers. Their knowledge makes them valuable, 
 and they more and more tend to become leaders in 
 local and national affairs. They hold important offices 
 in every city and state, and not many years ago a 
 teacher was President of the United States. In every 
 way the influence of schools is growing, broadening the 
 country and bringing it countless benefits. 
 
 Elementary Education. Elementary education is 
 that period of schooling that extends from the age of 
 six to about fourteen or fifteen. In many states ele- 
 mentary education is enforced by law, and the parents 
 who do not send their children to school are liable to 
 punishment. In this way the government protects 
 children against the possible carelessness of parents. 
 In the elementary schools children learn reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, grammar and composition, geog- 
 raphy, history, and other branches. They also often 
 take up domestic science and manual training. The 
 result of this system is that boys and girls who have to 
 leave school at the end of the elementary period are 
 not unprepared for the duties of life. Yet the benefits 
 of high school are great. Boys and girls who attend 
 high school put a finish on elementary education that is 
 of the utmost importance afterward. It marks the 
 difference between knowing things a little and knowing 
 
 132 
 
them well. High school graduates are able to use 
 English to better advantage than people who have 
 had only elementary education. Their knowledge o'f 
 mathematics is much greater. A further study of 
 history and government broadens their vision and 
 increases their knowledge of geography, while science 
 prepares them to live and work in the modern world. 
 
 A CLASS IN COOKING 
 
 They are ready for the battle of life and therefore their 
 chances of success are good. 
 
 Vocational Education. One of the most important 
 aims of education is to prepare boys and girls for 
 occupations. Many states now provide vocational 
 schools where skilled trades and other callings are 
 taught. Trades, agriculture, business, domestic occu- 
 pations may all be learned in these schools, and in most 
 states colleges for teaching law, educational work, 
 
 133 
 
medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and the various branches 
 of engineering are supported by the government. The 
 opportunities for obtaining education of any sort are 
 now so great that few boys or girls remain ignorant 
 and inefficient except by choice. 
 
 Special Schools. Many boys and girls wish to 
 learn an occupation without being able to give their 
 whole time to the training. Some are obliged to go to 
 work to support themselves on leaving the elementary 
 school or high school. Modern schools provide for the 
 needs of these ambitious workers. Part-time schools 
 give students the opportunity to make a living at their 
 trades while learning; they go to school for a time and 
 also work at their occupations, and continue this until 
 they have mastered their callings. Night schools provide 
 instruction for those who have no opportunity to at- 
 tend part-time schools. Most of the states now support 
 extension work in education. By this method teachers 
 from colleges go from place to place giving instruction 
 in all sorts of subjects; information is also sent out 
 from extension centers to those who desire it. Further, 
 there are correspondence schools which conduct regular 
 courses in almost every branch of learning through the 
 mails, first sending information and then examination 
 questions. There are many other kinds of schools. One 
 of the most interesting is the open-air school, which is 
 intended to strengthen the health of delicate children. 
 
 Control of Education. While the United States 
 government maintains an educational bureau and 
 spends much money in promoting public instruction, 
 control of education is in the hands of the states. In 
 fact, it is the most important function of the states. 
 
 134 
 
In every commonwealth there is a head of the educa- 
 tional system, called state superintendent or commis- 
 sioner of education. In many states there are boards of 
 education, which usually adopt the textbooks to be 
 used in elementary and high schools. Locally, schools 
 are controlled by city and county boards. 
 
 Payment for Education. Schools are largely sup- 
 ported by local taxation usually a part of the tax on 
 real estate and other property goes to them. The 
 state also levies special taxes for education and main- 
 tains educational funds: this money is distributed 
 among the localities in aid of the schools. In some 
 states, for instance, the state government pays a part 
 of the cost of new school buildings while the locality 
 bears the remainder. In this way, better school 
 buildings are constructed now than formerly. It is 
 interesting to note that the amount of money spent on 
 public education is constantly increasing and that 
 taxation for this purpose is borne by the citizens with- 
 out complaint. The benefits of education are so great 
 and so obvious that few people murmur against a 
 system which imposes a small burden on everybody for 
 the good of all. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Find out all you can about compulsory education laws and whether 
 your state has any. 
 
 2. Answer these questions: 
 
 What board has charge of the affairs of your school? 
 
 Are you going to high school? To college? Why? 
 
 Does your state help boys and girls to go to college? Where? 
 
 How? 
 What colleges and universities are there in your state? 
 
 3. Discuss in class this question: Should children be compelled to attend 
 school? 
 
 135 
 
CHAPTER XXH 
 
 LAWS 
 
 Problems: To learn (1) something about the laws; and 
 (2) the penalties for their violation. 
 
 What Laws Are. Laws are regulations made by the 
 government to protect life, property, health, dumb 
 animals, business, institutions, the rights of people, and 
 other things. Many laws permit us to act in certain 
 ways. Many other laws prohibit us from certain actions. 
 To violate laws which prohibit the doing of things is to 
 make oneself liable to penalties. Serious violation is 
 crime, and crime is considered an offense against the 
 community and is punished by it. To act against the 
 law in ways which affect not the community but only 
 private persons, especially the property of persons, is 
 to make oneself liable to civil suits that is, to lawsuits 
 to gain compensation or damages. 
 
 Cases in Court. Cases of petty violation of laws 
 and suits in regard to small debts and small amounts of 
 property are tried in the lowest courts, the justices' 
 courts in the county and the police courts in cities. 
 Cases of graver crime or those involving larger amounts 
 of property come before the circuit court in the county 
 and the circuit or corporation court in the city. Cases 
 tried in these courts are often appealed that is, carried 
 to higher courts. This is especially true of civil suits; 
 there must be special reasons for carrying criminal cases 
 to other courts. The supreme court is the highest state 
 
 136 
 
court, but from its decisions there is an appeal to the 
 United States Supreme Court in certain cases. But 
 since the latter court can only hear cases that concern 
 in some way the powers of the United States govern- 
 ment, most cases go no farther than the state courts. 
 
 Penalties for Crime. Crime is a serious matter. In 
 former times nearly all crimes were punished by death : 
 theft of property of more than a shilling's worth; for- 
 gery; counterfeiting; robbery; housebreaking and bur- 
 glary, and others. Small offenses met with such pen- 
 alties as the pillory, which was a wooden board that 
 held the hands fast, or the stocks, which was a frame 
 that confined the legs. The prisoner in the pillory or 
 stocks had to remain motionless for hours in some public 
 place, exposed to heat or cold and the insults of passers- 
 by. Other offenses were punished by public whip- 
 pings; the whipping post was a prominent feature of 
 every community a century or so ago. 
 
 Improvement in Law. People felt that such laws 
 were too severe, that an effort should be made to re- 
 claim criminals rather than kill or hurt them. In the 
 United States, Thomas Jefferson was among the first 
 to soften the laws: he revised the criminal code of 
 Virginia. About a century and a quarter ago peniten- 
 tiaries began to be built, and criminals were confined in 
 them for a term instead of being hanged or whipped for 
 offenses. Before this time prisoners had been kept in 
 jail awaiting trial or until the payment of their debts, 
 but not as punishment. 
 
 Laws Benefit All. Because of , the laws against kill- 
 ing or injuring people and taking their property from 
 them, the great majority of persons go about their work 
 
 137 
 
ill security. Many crimes are indeed committed, but 
 they are few in comparison with the number of people 
 who go through their lives without criminal injuries. 
 It is the duty of all citizens to teach respect for law by 
 their example. People are often tempted to violate the 
 law in small ways, such as failing to obey the traffic 
 regulations. Small violations of law, however, tend in 
 the long run to weaken the respect of the public for 
 law, and in that way to injure the community. 
 
 Anarchy. The condition when law is generally un- 
 observed, or when there is no such thing as law, is 
 called anarchy. Wherever there is anarchy the suffer- 
 ings of the people are terrible. Murder and robbery go 
 unpunished; the brutal overpower the weak; and 
 human beings become like beasts. Probably the great- 
 est evil that can befall a community local or national 
 is to fall into anarchy. 
 
 Progress and Law. Human progress is to a large 
 extent the result of law. Because the law has protected 
 the lives and property of men they have gone about 
 their work in peace, built homes, saved money, and 
 made disco veTies and inventions. Those countries 
 where the law is enforced are usually prosperous and 
 happy: countries where the law may be broken with- 
 out much danger of punishment are nearly always 
 backward and miserable. In such lands life is never 
 safe, and everyone fears that robbers will take his prop- 
 erty. In the following chapter we shall study the 
 methods of the government in seeking to find the prob- 
 able criminal when a prime has been committed and then 
 to determine whether the accused person is guilty or 
 innocent. 
 
 138 
 
Prison Reform. Confinement in prison has under- 
 gone a great change from early times. Children were 
 kept in prison with older criminals, a practice which 
 Jiardened them in wrongdoing. The inmates were 
 harshly treated by the prison officials : they wore repul- 
 sive clothes; they worked hard, or were kept in solitary 
 confinement; they had almost no recreations to lighten 
 their dark days. Few of them ever reformed, because 
 the treatment they received tended to drive them to 
 despair. But at present imprisonment is very different. 
 Convicts are now kept in prison, not only because they 
 would be 'a danger to the community if they were 
 allowed to run free, but in order to reform them. Many 
 criminals are ignorant men who have had no home train- 
 ing, and who commit crimes without clearly understand- 
 ing the wrongfulness of their acts. In prison they are 
 taught right and wrong, and are frequently led to a 
 better life. They are given good books to read, and 
 they have pleasures and outdoor sports as well as 
 duties. Children are no longer kept in prisons with 
 grown criminals. When they commit crimes, they are 
 sent to reformatories, where they receive a good moral 
 training and are taught trades. Often they become 
 useful citizens when they go out into the world. At 
 present, criminals sometimes have their sentences sus- 
 pended that is, they do not go to prison so long as 
 they live rightly while other criminals are released 
 from the penitentiary after serving a part of their sen- 
 tences, and do not have to go back unless they break 
 the laws again. In the same way, children who have 
 committed offenses are put on probation that is, 
 they are permitted to go at large so long as they 
 
 139 
 
behave themselves and report to the court at regular 
 intervals. The tendency of modern imprisonment for 
 crime is to fit inmates of prisons and reformatories for 
 the struggle of life, so that the weak and ignorant may 
 gain strength and knowledge. The theory is that one 
 who commits a crime is, in a sense, sick and in need of 
 moral and mental treatment of a certain kind which 
 will bring him into harmony with the world. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Appoint a committee to visit your county jail and find out why the 
 prisoners are confined. 
 
 2. Tell what you know of prison improvement. 
 
 3. Debate this question: Resolved, That capital punishment should 
 be abolished. 
 
 140 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 TRIALS 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the various stages of a trial; 
 and () to learn why the forms of the law should be strictly 
 observed. 
 
 Criminal Investigation. When a crime has been 
 committed, the officers of the law at once arrest the 
 person or the persons known or suspected to b.e guilty, 
 if there is knowledge or strong suspicion. Sometimes, 
 however, not only is the identity of the criminal un- 
 known but it is even uncertain whether or not a crime 
 has actually been committed. This often happens in 
 the case of mysterious deaths. The coroner, whose 
 duty it is to investigate all cases of death by violence 
 or from unknown causes, forms a coroner's jury, and 
 this jury decides if there is good reason for suspecting 
 a crime. 
 
 The Grand Jury. In the case of murder and of all 
 other grave crimes, a grand jury, so called because it 
 usually consists of a rather large number of members, 
 sits to consider the evidence. If a murder has been 
 committed and the criminal is unknown, the officers of 
 the law the sheriff and prosecuting attorney with 
 the help of police or detectives, seek to discover clues 
 that will fasten the guilt on some one. If the evidence 
 seems sufficient, a warrant is issued by the officers of 
 the law and the suspected person is arrested and lodged 
 in jail. In less serious offenses, he will be released for 
 
 141 
 
a time if he can find friends to go bail for him. That 
 is, the suspected person is freed when some other 
 persons agree to pay a certain sum of money if he 
 fails to appear for trial at a certain date, and give 
 security for it. Persons suspected of murder are 
 usually not bailed. At a certain time the grand jury, 
 which may be the regular jury that considers all 
 crimes committed within a period of time, or a special 
 jury convened for the case, hears the evidence and 
 decides whether or not the suspected person should be 
 held for trial. 
 
 The Indictment. If the grand jury finds that the 
 evidence points to the guilt of the suspected person, 
 he is held for trial and an indictment is framed. The 
 indictment is a statement of facts about the crime 
 committed and it must be drawn in strict conformity 
 with the law or else the trial that follows may be 
 thrown out by a higher court. The indictment is the 
 act that hands the suspected person from the grand 
 jury to the trial jury. 
 
 The Petit Jury. The trial jury is known as the 
 petit, or little jury, because it is smaller than the grand 
 jury, consisting of twelve men or twelve men and 
 women. Why is a man accused of crime tried by a 
 jury at all? The practice comes down from the distant 
 past of England, when persons on trial often could not 
 depend on judges for right treatment. It was found 
 that a man had a better chance to secure justice when a 
 jury of his neighbors sat to decide if he had com- 
 mitted a crime than when a judge, who might have 
 reasons to be unfair, decided the matter. Conse- 
 quently, trial by jury became fixed in English law and 
 
 142 
 
the usage has descended to us. The jury is chosen by 
 lot from a number of names in a box. Both the prose- 
 cuting attorney and the attorney for the defense have 
 the right to challenge the selection of persons whom 
 they think may not be just to their side of the case. 
 
 Fairness of the Jury. The law lays much stress on 
 getting unprejudiced jurors. Persons called for jury 
 duty are always asked if they have read newspaper 
 accounts of the crime and made up their minds as to 
 the guilt of the person accused. If they have done so, 
 they are not accepted as jurymen. How careful the 
 law is to secure fair-minded juries is illustrated by the 
 famous Chicago anarchist case of 1886. 
 
 In May, 1886, as police officers were dispersing a meeting 
 of strikers in Chicago, some unknown person threw a bomb, 
 killing and wounding a number of tjie policemen. Since the 
 anarchists of Chicago, by means of publications and speeches, 
 had been urging strikers to commit dynamite outrages, they 
 were brought to trial as accomplices, or aiders, in the mur- 
 ders. Public feeling in Chicago ran high against, them. 
 Large numbers of people were examined for jury duty and 
 were not accepted on account of their having formed a posi- 
 tive opinion on the case. Not until weeks had passed and 
 nearly a thousand men had been examined was a jury at 
 length selected. 
 
 The Trial. The prosecuting attorney, or common- 
 wealth's attorney, begins the trial by bringing forward 
 the "witnesses for the prosecution." These are person^ 
 whose testimony tends to prove that the accused has 
 committed the crime. After they have told their 
 stories, the attorney for the defense seeks to break 
 down their evidence by cross-examining them that is, 
 attempting by means of questions to catch them in 
 contradictory statements and so make it appear that 
 
 143 
 
they are mistaken. In the same way, the prosecuting 
 attorney cross-examines the witnesses for the defense, 
 whose statements go to show that the defendant did 
 not commit the crime. When the witnesses on both 
 sides are dismissed, the prosecuting attorney and the 
 attorney for the defense sum up the case in speeches. 
 
 Courtesy of the Philadelphia Public Ledger 
 
 A TRIAL IN PROGRESS 
 
 The judge then reviews the evidence and tells the jury 
 what the law is. The final act takes place when the 
 jury goes to a private room and decides on its verdict. 
 Sometimes hours or days pass before an agreement can 
 be reached, for it is necessary for the decision of a jury 
 in a criminal trial to be unanimous, though not always 
 so in civil suits in some states. When the jury has 
 
 144 
 
agreed on a verdict, it goes back to the court room, and 
 the foreman informs the judge. In case of murder in 
 the first degree, the law usually fixes the punishment at 
 death or imprisonment for life. In other crimes, the 
 judge in some states determines what the prison sen- 
 tence shall be: he has great latitude in this respect. 
 In case the jury reports "Not guilty," the person on 
 trial is at once released and he cannot be tried again 
 for the same crime even though new evidence comes to 
 light. By English law, which in its principles is also 
 American law, a man can be tried only once on a charge 
 unless the jury fails to render a verdict one way or the 
 other. 
 
 Necessary to Prove Guilt. In some countries of 
 the world, persons on trial have to prove their inno- 
 cence. By English and American law, a man is sup- 
 posed to be innocent until he is proved guilty. Actual 
 proof is necessary : no matter how strong the belief in 
 the prisoner's guilt may be, he is released unless evi- 
 dence is brought forward by the prosecution. This 
 attempt of the law to protect the rights of persons 
 being tried is well illustrated in the famous trial of 
 Aaron Burr for treason in 1807. 
 
 Aaron Burr, who had been Vice President of the United 
 States, was put on trial in 1807 at Richmond, Virginia, before 
 the United States court, with Chief Justice Marshall pre- 
 siding. It was very generally believed that Burr intended 
 to separate the Southwest from the United States and set 
 up another republic or an empire and that he had raised a 
 body of armed men for that purpose. That he had raised a 
 body of armed men for some purpose was certain, but it 
 was not shown that he had actually done anything hostile 
 to the United States. Justice Marshall summed up the 
 evidence in favor of Burr, because the Constitution of the 
 
 145 
 
United States declares that treason consists in making war 
 against the United States or in aiding an enemy to make 
 war and it had not been proved that Burr had done this. 
 Burr was thereupon acquitted, though the jury was so hostile 
 to him that instead of rendering a verdict of "Not guilty," 
 it brought in one of "Not proven." 
 
 Witnesses Must be Allowed to Testify. In another 
 way the law seeks to protect a person on trial. It 
 affords him every opportunity to bring forward testi- 
 mony in his favor. The attorney for the defense has 
 the right to present anybody who has evidence to give, 
 and the prosecuting attorney cannot hinder this. The 
 judge sees that both sides in the case have fair play 
 during the trial. In the one celebrated instance in 
 American history where a judge was notably unfair to 
 the accused, he himself was later brought to trial and 
 narrowly escaped removal from the bench by way of 
 punishment. 
 
 Right of Appeal. In the effort to secure justice, the 
 law permits a person convicted of crime to appeal from 
 the court in which the case is tried to a higher court 
 if any mistake or irregularity has occurred in the 
 trial. If the higher court finds that the case has not 
 been tried in full agreement with the law, it may order 
 a new trial. If this is done, a new jury is drawn and 
 the evidence is once more presented. It often happens 
 that a second trial results in the acquittal of the prisoner 
 or in a lightening of his sentence. Thus while a man 
 who is acquitted cannot be tried a second time for the 
 same offense, a man who has been convicted may be, 
 provided that a court of appeals decides that the 
 trial has not been entirely in agreement with the law 
 or there is some other weighty reason. This is a good 
 
 146 
 
illustration of the intent of the law to prevent innocent 
 persons from being convicted of crime and suffering 
 unmerited punishment. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 Have legal forms an important meaning? Why do you think so? 
 What are some of the safeguards of the law? 
 What legal principle is Illustrated by the Burr trial? 
 Why must the jury agree in a criminal trial? 
 
 2. Describe the process by which a jury is chosen. What instances 
 ' can you give of the care of the law in selecting jurymen? 
 
 3. During the next session of your circuit or corporation court visit 
 the court room and watch the proceedings. 
 
 4. Stage a mock trial, following the procedure of your court. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 CITY GOVERNMENT 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the various forms of city 
 government; and (2) to discuss the best form. 
 
 How a Village Grows into a Town. A village con- 
 sisting of, let us say, a store, a church, and half a 
 dozen homes has no occasion for a government separate 
 from the county or district in which it is situated. 
 When, however, the village grows into a place of a 
 thousand or more inhabitants, it has needs which begin 
 to cut it off from the county: it must have streets, 
 lights, sewers, a water system, policemen, and firemen. 
 The community therefore becomes incorporated; that 
 is, it gets from the legislature a town charter which 
 permits it to have a mayor and council and a few 
 officers of its own. But the town does not separate 
 entirely from the county; it is still, to some extent, a 
 part of the county, having many things in common with 
 the county. 
 
 How the Town Becomes a City. As the years go 
 by, this town or borough may grow into a place of 
 many thousand people, with factories and mills. It 
 needs a government strictly its own and obtains a city 
 charter from the legislature. In many states it then 
 becomes entirely separate from the county within whose 
 limits it lies. The county has one government, the 
 city another and distinct government of its own. In 
 some states, however, a city remains a part of the 
 
 143 
 
county. The city charter enumerates the officers and 
 departments the city is to have, with their powers, and 
 tells how the city laws, or ordinances, are to be made 
 and how the funds are to be raised for the city govern- 
 ment. The powers of this government are strictly 
 defined by the charter; it cannot do anything that is 
 not expressly permitted by the charter. 
 
 The Three Forms of City Government. There are 
 three forms of city government, the council, the com- 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 NEW YORK SKYLINE 
 
 mission, and the city or business manager. In the 
 first form, the council is the chief arm of the govern- 
 ment; in the second, a commission is in authority; in 
 the third, a single person, the city manager, directs 
 affairs. The council is the old form of city govern- 
 ment and most cities are still conducted under it. The 
 commission and city manager types of government 
 came into existence not many years ago; a number of 
 cities have adopted one or the other of these newer 
 systems. 
 
 149 
 
Branches of City Government. City .government, 
 like state and national, has three branches the 
 executive, the legislative, the judicial. In the council 
 system, city government closely resembles state and 
 national government; but in the commission and city 
 manager plans the difference is radical. 
 
 Executive Branch. The mayor is the head of the 
 executive branch of the government in the council 
 plan. His duties are important. He has charge of the 
 city just as the president of a manufacturing company 
 has general control of the factory. He must see that 
 the various departments do their work properly. He 
 usually appoints and removes the heads of departments. 
 He advises the council on the passage of city laws, or 
 ordinances, and the raising of revenue. At one time 
 the mayor was also the judge of the city police court, 
 but this duty has been taken from him. The mayor, 
 however, continues to preside at public meetings and 
 to welcome distinguished visitors to the city. In the 
 commission form of government, the mayor is one of 
 the commissioners and has little more power than his 
 associates. In the city manager government, the 
 mayor has even less power. 
 
 The Departments. Large cities have many de- 
 partments, sometimes, as in the case of New York, 
 employing thousands of clerks. The following is a list 
 of the departments in a certain city of 200,000 people 
 
 Schools. Public Utilities. 
 
 Law. Public Works. 
 
 Finance. Public Welfare. 
 
 The department of law represents the city in suits 
 and gives it legal advice; that of finance collects and 
 
 150 
 
disburses the city's funds; that of public welfare takes 
 care of the purity of the food supply, hospitals, public 
 baths, and street cleaning; that of public utilities 
 manages the gas, water, and electric lighting plants 
 of the city; that of public works cares for the making 
 and upkeep of streets, bridges, playgrounds, parks, and 
 cemeteries; that of schools attends to public education. 
 
 Legislative Branch. In the council government, 
 the legislative branch is the most important. The size 
 of the council varies considerably in different cities, 
 being larger in large cities. The members are not paid 
 and serve from a sense of duty or as a means of bring- 
 ing themselves to public notice. Meetings are usually 
 held every week or two weeks. The council sometimes 
 wields a great power, authorizing public works that 
 cost millions of dollars. In the commission and city 
 manager governments, the council lessens in importance. 
 Cities may not even have a council, since the com- 
 mission may take its place. In city manager govern- 
 ment the council usually passes measures recommended 
 by the city manager. The city council ordinarily con- 
 sists of two bodies, the board of aldermen and the 
 common council. In most cities, the members of the 
 council are elected from wards into which the city is 
 divided; sometimes the whole body of voters elects the 
 entire council. 
 
 How Ordinances are Passed. You may be inter- 
 ested to know how an ordinance is passed. The council 
 is a rather informal body, very unlike legislatures and 
 Congress, which have elaborate rules. Discussion is 
 more or less open, much like the meetings of boards. 
 A member of one branch of the council introduces a 
 
 151 
 
measure, often after getting the advice of the city 
 attorney. The proposed ordinance is then referred to 
 a committee, which considers it and sends it back to 
 the council with a favorable or unfavorable report. If 
 it is passed in this branch of the council, it is then sent 
 on to the other branch, where the same course is 
 followed. After it has passed both branches, it goes to 
 the mayor for approval. The council committees usually 
 correspond to the departments of the city government. 
 Sometimes they are important, because in some cases 
 efforts are made to smuggle improper measures through 
 committees and have them passed as ordinances. 
 
 The City Budget. Many cities now have what is 
 called a budget. The budget shows how much money 
 the city will have for the coming year and divides it 
 among the various departments according to their 
 wants. Each department tries to convince the finance 
 committee, which makes the budget, that it needs more 
 money than is assigned it, and frequent "hearings" are 
 devoted to the budget. 
 
 Judicial Branch. In some cities there is a circuit or 
 district court. Other cities have no circuit court but 
 only the corporation or hustings court. The police 
 court, presided over by the police judge, hears cases in 
 which people are charged with violations of the city 
 ordinances also small crimes, such as petty thefts, 
 and some other cases. The juvenile court tries the 
 cases of children of certain ages. Children are rarely 
 punished by juvenile courts for first offenses; they are 
 put "on probation" that is, they are allowed to go 
 home but are required to appear before the judge at 
 intervals and show that they are behaving properly, 
 
 153 
 
The probation method has sometimes turned reckless 
 boys into good citizens. There are many other city 
 courts. In some cities there are criminal courts dealing 
 only with crimes. The law and equity court handles 
 disputes arising from property and contracts. The 
 orphan 9 s or probate court admits wills to record, settles 
 estates left by deceased persons, and appoints guardians 
 for children. 
 
 The People's Share in City Government. The 
 government of a great city, spending many millions of 
 dollars a year, is a complex and difficult matter. It 
 has been hard, however, to arouse the people of the 
 United States to the importance of city government. 
 For this reason many abuses in the management of 
 municipal affairs have arisen. A few years 'ago cities 
 were frequently governed by small groups of politicians 
 and business men without regard to the public welfare. 
 That was the day of the "boss," who kept his friends in 
 power and had ordinances passed for the benefit of 
 certain interests. But there has been so strong a 
 revolt against this system that in many cities bosses no 
 longer exist. Such organizations as the Chamber of 
 Commerce and the Civic Improvement Association 
 have helped city government by carrying on campaigns 
 for needed changes and improvements. The news- 
 papers, by attacking corrupt methods, have done much 
 to bring about a better era in city government. 
 
 Council Form. As said before, the oldest form of 
 city government and the one followed in most cities is 
 the council form. Its features have been included in 
 the foregoing discussion. 
 
 Commission Form. The commission city govern- 
 
 154 
 
ment grew out of the demand for better administration. 
 It was felt that the councils were usually too large and 
 too busy to do their work properly, for councilmen are 
 not able to devote much time to piublic affairs. People 
 came to believe that city government would be better 
 if it was looked on as business rather than politics, 
 and that trained experts would handle the government 
 more efficiently and economically than politicians. For 
 these reasons the commission government came into 
 existence originally at Galveston, Texas. Under this 
 plan there are three or five commissioners, elected by 
 the people for a certain term of years. They are some- 
 times associated with a council, but in other cases pass 
 the laws as well as carry them out. The commissioners 
 therefore are in complete control of the city for the term 
 of their office, appointing and removing officials and 
 seeing that the departments are rightly conducted. If 
 they do not give satisfaction, they are defeated for 
 another term in the following election. 
 
 City Manager. The city manager government is a 
 kind of compromise between the council and commission 
 plans. The city manager has far greater power than 
 the mayor in the council governiment: his control of 
 the departments is usually absolute and the council 
 ordinarily passes such ordinances as he wishes. But 
 the council is not done away with; it exists and has 
 some power, especially over finances. It thus acts as a 
 sort of check on the city manager. This plan of mu- 
 nicipal government originated in Staunton, Virginia. 
 Dayton, Ohio, and some other important cities have 
 adopted it and it seems to be more popular at present 
 than the commission plan. 
 
 155 
 
CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of the officers of your city who are elected by the people 
 and another list of those who are appointed. 
 
 2. Appoint classmates to make reports on council government; on the 
 city manager plan; on the commission form of government. 
 
 3. Appoint a classmate to report on the form of government in your 
 town. 
 
 4. Vote on the plan of city government which you think best. 
 
 5. Appoint a committee to examine your city charter and report on it. 
 They should tell how the charter can be changed. 
 
 6. Place on your bulletin board all the clippings from the newspapers 
 that refer to new ordinances passed by your city council. Include also 
 clippings that tell of the work of the different city departments. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 COUNTY GOVERNMENT 
 
 Problems: (1) To study county government; and (2) 
 to find out all you can about county officers. 
 
 Importance of the Local Community. When we are 
 about to elect a President, or when we are at war with 
 a foreign country, we hear a great deal about the nation. 
 When a governor and members of the legislature are to 
 be elected, we hear much about the state. After all, 
 however, the most important government to us is that 
 with which we come in closest contact that of our 
 county, town, or city. Every year your father has to 
 pay his taxes. The amount depends largely upon what 
 it costs to conduct the affairs of the county or city. 
 Do you have good roads, streets, and schools? Your 
 county government is good or bad according to the 
 answer made to these questions. It is therefore im- 
 portant to make a careful study of the local govern- 
 ment, so that when you are grown you may know its 
 needs and vote for officers who will attend to them 
 honestly and skillfully. 
 
 Origin of the County. Long before our country was 
 settled the county form of government existed in 
 England. The colonists who settled in Virginia brought 
 this form of local government with them, and gradually 
 each state has been divided into counties. The New 
 England colonies did not have this kind of local govern- 
 ment, but each little settlement or town governed itself. 
 
 157 
 
Although the New England states are now divided into 
 counties, yet the people of this section still cling to 
 their "Town Meeting." It has thus come about that 
 there are different types of counties in different states. 
 The chief difference is that in some states the county 
 government practically controls all important local 
 affairs, while in other states the district or township is the 
 main unit in county government. In Virginia and other 
 states, the different districts of the county are not very 
 important. The taxes are levied and all the county 
 affairs are managed by a board of supervisors or com- 
 missioners who meet regularly at the county seat. . In 
 the New England states, on the contrary, each district 
 or "town" governs itself, and the county has little 
 power. 
 
 "Town Meeting." The "Town Meeting" in New 
 England (which is a district meeting) is a very inter- 
 esting event. The voters come together once a year, 
 vote on the tax rate, choose their selectmen, school 
 trustees, and other officials, and decide all other ques- 
 tions brought up for discussion. The fact that most 
 citizens take part in these meetings and mingle in the 
 discussions has had much to do with training the people 
 in self-government and democratic customs. 
 
 County Supervisors or Commissioners. In many 
 states the most important county officers are the super- 
 visors or commissioners. They come together at the 
 courthouse, just as a town or city council meets in the 
 city hall, and decide all important questions for the 
 county. They fix the tax rate, appropriate money for 
 schools and roads, maintain county hospitals and farms 
 for the sick and for paupers, offer rewards for the 
 
 158 
 
capture of criminals, and pass such laws for the county 
 as the state permits counties to pass. The legislative 
 power of the county government is not large. County 
 government is mainly executive. 
 
 The Sheriff. You are perhaps familiar with the 
 duties of the sheriff of your county. He has charge of 
 the jail, arrests criminals, preserves the peace, and in 
 some states collects the taxes. He is the most respon- 
 
 A MODERN BRIDGE 
 
 sible officer in the county, because the preservation of 
 order depends on him. 
 
 The Superintendent of Schools. This officer has 
 general charge of all the public schools of the county. 
 In many sections of the country the county superin- 
 tendent acts largely as an adviser, because each district 
 or town has a school board on which rests the duty of 
 managing the schools. You should make a careful 
 study of how your schools are conducted. Who makes 
 the rules for pupils and teachers? How are the school 
 
 159 
 
trustees chosen? Do you have a county school board, 
 or does each district have trustees? What does it cost 
 each year to run your school, and where do the funds 
 come from? 
 
 The Clerk of the Court. This officer has many 
 important duties. He records deeds and wills, issues 
 marriage licenses, and keeps the records of all cases 
 tried in the courts. Have you ever visited the clerk's 
 office at the courthouse? It is very interesting to see 
 the great books in which the records are kept and the 
 fireproof cases in which these books are protected 
 against fire. 
 
 The Prosecuting Attorney. This officer is a lawyer, 
 of course, and it is his duty to prosecute all persons 
 charged with crime. If a man commits a crime, the 
 sheriff arrests him and places him in jail until he can 
 be tried. When he is brought to trial, the prosecuting 
 attorney conducts the case against him and tries to 
 convict him, provided the evidence tends to show that 
 he is guilty. 
 
 Other County Officers. Other officers are treasurer; 
 tax assessor; coroner; road engineer; health officer; 
 constable, and justice of the peace. 
 
 How County Officers Are Chosen. The supervisors, 
 sheriff, clerk of the court, and most other county officers 
 are elected by the voters, usually for a term of from two 
 to four years. If they are honest and capable, the 
 county's business will be economically and wisely con- 
 ducted. It is therefore the duty of all grown persons to 
 become voters and help to put into office the most 
 capable men. 
 
 County Courts. Formerly in many states each 
 
 160 
 
county had its own court, which tried all the cases relat- 
 ing to that county. In most states at present there are 
 circuit, or district, courts comprising several counties, 
 or a city and one or more counties. The circuit judge 
 holds court at one county courthouse in his circuit and 
 then goes to another. This system reduces somewhat 
 the cost of maintaining courts. There is also a chancery 
 court, usually presided over by the circuit judge, to 
 hear certain cases; and justices' courts, which try such 
 small offenses as are dealt with in cities by the police 
 court. 
 
 How the County Gets Money. Money is needed to 
 pay the salaries of the officers, and to carry on the work 
 of a county. Thousands of dollars must be spent 
 annually on schools and roads. This money is raised 
 by levying taxes on. each person according to the prop- 
 erty he owns; corporations, such as railroads and 
 mining companies, pay taxes as well as individuals. 
 Some persons give false information about the value of 
 their property in order to escape paying their just 
 share. The good citizen- is willing to do his full part 
 toward paying the expenses of his county or town 
 government. 
 
 The County and the State. The county is a part of 
 the state, and as such must obey all state laws. If the 
 legislature passes a law requiring all children to attend 
 school, the county cannot change this law. The courts 
 in a county are state courts; when a person commits a 
 theft or attempts to kill another person he is violating 
 the state law. Most states now help the counties to 
 support schools and build roads, and in doing so make 
 laws setting forth in what manner schools shall be con- 
 
 161 
 
ducted and how roads shall be built. Some people 
 argue that the state will gradually exercise so much 
 authority that there will be no need for county govern- 
 ment. But this is improbable. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. See how many of these questions you can answer: 
 
 How many counties are in your state? 
 
 How many districts or townships are in your county? 
 
 Are the supervisors or commissioners elected from the county 
 
 at large or by districts and townships? 
 Has your county government a head whose duties are similar 
 
 to those of the mayor of a city or the governor of a state? 
 What officers of your county are not elected by the people? 
 Why is the justice of the peace an important officer? What 
 
 kind of cases does he try? 
 
 How does your county safeguard the health of its citizens? 
 How are your officials paid by fees or salaries? 
 How are roads built and repaired in your county? Does the 
 
 county do this important work or is it left to the districts? 
 
 2. Make a visit to the county seat and report to the class on the uses 
 to which the various buildings are put. 
 
 3. Mention some state laws that must be obeyed in your county, also 
 a law made by the county itself. 
 
 4. Find out all you can about the duties of county commissioners. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 STATE GOVERNMENT 
 
 Problems^ To learn (1) the activities of the various 
 branches of the state government; and (2) the principles of 
 the political parties. 
 
 States and Their Constitutions. When you hear 
 people talk of the governor, the legislature, and the 
 courts, you think of the state, for these things belong 
 to the state government. You think of Tennessee, 
 Massachusetts, Indiana, and other states. How did 
 the states come into being? The original states were 
 colonies of England and were thirteen in number. Each 
 colony had its governor, its legislature, and its. courts. 
 When the American colonies revolted from England, 
 they had to form new governments and to define their 
 exact powers. Such plans of government are called 
 constitutions. As each new state has been formed, it, 
 too, has adopted a constitution. There are forty-eight 
 states in the Union, and therefore forty-eight different 
 constitutions. All of the state constitutions, however, 
 agree in one thing they contain nothing contrary to 
 the Constitution of the United States, which is the 
 supreme law of the land. While the state constitu- 
 tions differ much in details, they are alike in the great 
 principles of government. All of them secure to the 
 people certain rights that have come down from fore- 
 going generations. 
 
 How Constitutions Are Made and Changed. A 
 163 
 
state constitution is made by a constitutional conven- 
 tion composed of delegates elected by the counties and 
 cities. They discuss each clause of the proposed con- 
 stitution day by day for weeks or months and decide 
 what shall be accepted. Thus a constitution grows, 
 little by little, from a few principles until it covers all 
 the subjects that lie within the power of the state. 
 When the convention has framed the constitution, it is 
 usually, but not always, offered to the people for adop- 
 tion or rejection. The constitution may be changed by 
 amendments. In most states an amendment is first 
 accepted by the legislature, and is then voted on by the 
 people at the following regular election. In a few states 
 the people themselves, by a system called the initiative 
 and referendum, change the constitution without action 
 by the legislature. For instance, in Oregon, if eight 
 per cent of the voters of the state sign a petition asking 
 for a certain amendment, the latter is submitted to the 
 vote of the people, and, if approved by a majority at 
 the election, it becomes law without further measures. 
 The initiative and referendum are also used in the case 
 of laws passed by the legislature. By means of them, 
 the people have a direct part in lawmaking. The state 
 government, like that of the city, has executive, legis- 
 lative, and judicial branches. 
 
 The Governor. The highest officer of the state is 
 the governor, the chief executive. He is elected for a 
 term of two or four years, according to the state. In 
 Virginia the term is four years; in South Carolina 
 it is two years. His powers are much the same in all 
 states. The governor's most important duties are as 
 follows : 
 
 164 
 
1. To send a message to the legislature on its meet- 
 ing, recommending the passage of certain laws. In some 
 states the governor draws up a budget outlining the 
 expenses of the state government according to his recom- 
 mendations. This budget shows the people about how 
 much the government should cost and how the money 
 should be spent. 
 
 2. To appoint many officials, including the heads of 
 a number of departments. In some states the adjutant- 
 general, the head of the department of fisheries, and 
 many other officials are appointed by the governor. In 
 some states the governor appoints the judges of the 
 higher courts, or some of them. However, the governor 
 has power of removal in only a few cases. 
 
 3. To veto bills passed by the legislature if they 
 meet with his disapproval, When a bill is vetoed by 
 the governor, it is sent back to the legislature, and may 
 be passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote. 
 
 4. To call out the state militia when local officials 
 cannot protect life and property. 
 
 5. To inspect the different state institutions to see 
 that they are properly managed. 
 
 6. To pardon persons convicted of crime. In some 
 states this power has been taken away from the governor 
 and given to a board of pardons. 
 
 Other State Officers. Other important state officers 
 are: the lieutenant-governor, who presides over the 
 state senate and takes the governor's place when he is 
 sick or absent from the state, and succeeds him in case 
 he dies before the end of his term. The secretary of 
 state, who has certain legal functions to perform. The 
 treasurer, who cares for the state's money, and pays it 
 
 165 
 
out on the auditor's demand. The auditor sometimes 
 there are a first and second auditor who sees to the 
 collection of the state's money. The attorney-general, 
 who has charge of suits brought by the state and defends 
 the state against suits. The adjutant-general, who con- 
 trols the state militia. The superintendent of public 
 instruction, or commissioner of education, who directs 
 the public school system. The highway commissioner, 
 who has control of the state's part in road building. The 
 insurance commissioner, who examines the insurance 
 companies doing business in the state. The commis- 
 sioner of charities and correction, who inspects the 
 state prisons and charitable institutions. In some states 
 there are numerous other officers. 
 
 State Departments. The work of the state is car- 
 ried on by departments presided over by the principal 
 state officers. The number of departments varies 
 greatly in different states, being very large in New York 
 and small in Nevada. 
 
 Department of Education. This department dis- 
 tributes state school funds to the cities and counties; 
 issues teachers' certificates; lays down general rules for 
 the running of the schools; looks after the state normal 
 schools; examines the workings of the public schools; 
 makes recommendations for the improvement of edu- 
 cation; assists in building schools; selects textbooks in 
 some states, and performs many other functions. 
 
 Highway Department. A few years ago each county 
 had to build its own roads without help from the state. 
 At the present time the state aids the communities to 
 better the roads by maintaining state highways and by 
 giving money to counties for the building of improved 
 
 166 
 
roads. Some of the states, particularly New York and 
 Pennsylvania, have made large bond issues for road 
 improvement. The highway department employs 
 trained engineers who plan new roads and grade and 
 straighten old roads that are being improved. The 
 road-building policy of each state is in the hands of the 
 highway commission, which has grown to be one of the 
 
 Photograph by A. M. Black, Tazewell, Va. 
 
 A GOOD ROAD 
 
 most important departments of government. The 
 United States helps the states to build roads, giving an 
 amount of money in proportion to the amount spent by 
 each state. The tendency is for the states to take 
 almost entire charge of road building, as local road 
 making is less efficient. 
 
 Department of Health. This department has done 
 
 167 
 
a splendid work in every state. Not so many years ago 
 each locality had to care for its own health conditions, 
 with the result that there were terrible epidemics of 
 typhoid fever and other diseases. Nowadays inspectors 
 are sent out by the department of health as soon as 
 smallpox, typhoid, diphtheria, hookworm, and other 
 contagious and infectious diseases become serious in any 
 part of the state. Efforts are also made to prevent the 
 occurrence of these diseases by sending warnings and 
 instructions through the mails. Examinations of sus- 
 pected water, and other investigations, are made free 
 of charge by the scientists of the health department, 
 who are always at the service of the public. The great 
 improvement in the public health in recent years is 
 largely due to the health departments. 
 
 Department of Agriculture. In some states the 
 department of agriculture is of great importance; in 
 others it is less so. In agricultural regions it saves the 
 farmers millions of dollars annually by teaching them 
 the best ways of cultivating, harvesting, and marketing 
 crops. In many of the states there are county agri- 
 cultural demonstrators, whose business it is to give 
 lessons in farming; and sometimes agents of the agri- 
 cultural department are sent through the state to 
 lecture on new methods of cultivation and to make 
 known to farmers the discoveries of science in agri- 
 culture. In some states the department of agriculture 
 aids the farmer in fighting pests, such as scales on fruit 
 trees and the boll weevil on cotton. 
 
 The General Assembly or Legislature. The law- 
 making body of the state meets in the capitol -building 
 in the state capital at stated periods, every year or 
 
 168 
 
every two years. The lower house is generally called 
 the house of delegates or representatives; the upper 
 house is always called the senate. The former has a 
 larger representation than the senate, for the districts 
 are much smaller: most counties and cities have at 
 least one representative in the house of delegates. A 
 number of counties usually go to make up a senatorial 
 district, though sometimes, as in South Carolina, a 
 single county composes a district. The first work of 
 the house of delegates is to elect a speaker to preside 
 over the body. It also elects clerks and sergeants-at- 
 arms, as does the senate. The speaker appoints the 
 various committees, and the body settles down to work. 
 The senate does not elect its presiding officer, because 
 the constitution names the lieutenant-governor for this 
 position. This officer appoints the senate committees. 
 Most of the work of legislative bodies is done through 
 committees; the debates on the floor of the house are 
 no longer of as much importance as formerly. Each 
 member of a legislative body is a member of several 
 committees. Men who have been long in the body and 
 have gained influence are members of the principal com- 
 mittees; new members are assigned to less vital com- 
 mittees. The finance, or ways and means, committee 
 is the most important committee of a legislative body, 
 and the chairman of it stands next in power to the pre- 
 siding officer. The principal committees usually are: 
 finance; corporation; education; highways; agri- 
 culture; mining; labor and commerce. 
 
 How a Law is Made. The following are the steps 
 by which a bill becomes an act, or law : 
 
 1. A bill may be introduced in either house, except 
 
 169 
 
appropriation bills, which must be first introduced in 
 the house of delegates. 
 
 2. It must be in written form when presented by 
 the member introducing it. It must also have a title, 
 which is all that is required to be read by the clerk at 
 the first reading. 
 
 3. The bill is then referred to the committee which 
 considers such matters as it relates to. If favored by 
 the committee, it is printed and sent back to the house 
 for its second reading. Many bills, however, "die in 
 committee," that is, are never sent back to the main 
 body. 
 
 4. The next step is the argument on the merits of 
 the bill, pro and con, on the floor of the house. The 
 bill may be, and usually is, amended that is, changed. 
 Sometimes it is so amended that it bears little likeness 
 to its original form. After the amendments have been 
 voted on, and either accepted or rejected, a vote is taken 
 as to whether or not the bill shall pass on to the third 
 reading. The roll of the body is called on this vote, as 
 on most votes. 
 
 5. If the bill passes to its third reading it is on the 
 way to final passage. It is read and a vote is taken as 
 to whether or not it shall pass. Most bills that get so 
 far as the third reading pass. 
 
 6. If passed by the house in which it originated, the 
 bill must be sent to the other house, where it goes 
 through the same course. Usually the other house 
 adds new amendments before it accepts the bill. The 
 newly amended bill is then sent back to the house 
 where it originated. If that body accepts it, it be- 
 comes law unless the governor vetoes it. But if 
 
 170 
 
the first house declines to accept the amendments 
 made by the second house, it fails to pass the bill. 
 Then conference committees are appointed by the two 
 houses to meet and see if an agreement can be 
 reached. A compromise is usually the result. The com- 
 promise bill is then voted on by the two houses, and, if 
 accepted, it becomes an act, provided the governor does 
 not veto it. If he does veto it, it goes back to the 
 houses, which may or may not pass it over his veto. 
 You will see from this that making a law is a long and 
 difficult process. It should be so: otherwise many new 
 laws would be made at every session of a legislature. 
 State Courts. The judicial branch the courts in- 
 terprets and enforces the laws. The number and names 
 of courts differ greatly in different states. The frame- 
 work of the state court system is as follows : 
 
 1. Justices' courts in counties and police courts in cities 
 for trial of small offenses. 
 
 2. County courts. (In some states.) 
 
 3. City courts. (Several kinds in large cities.) 
 
 4. Circuit, or district courts, for the trial of most civil 
 cases and most crimes. 
 
 5. Supreme court, or court of appeals, to try cases 
 appealed from the circuit and city courts. 
 
 6. In New York, and one or two other states, a court of 
 appeals, to hear cases appealed from the supreme court. 
 
 In addition to these ordinary courts, there are 
 special courts outside the regular judicial system. The 
 most important of these is the corporation commission. 
 This court has control of railroad, street railway, steam- 
 boat and other transportation corporations; of tele- 
 graph and telephone companies; of public and private 
 banks (except national and Federal Reserve banks) ; of 
 
 171 
 
trust and loan companies. It enforces the laws in 
 regard to such corporations, or companies, and grants 
 charters of incorporation to various business enter- 
 prises. It has the power to make railroad, steamboat, 
 and other public service rates, and it assesses the taxes to 
 be paid by railways and other transportation companies. 
 
 The People and the State. You will see from this 
 chapter that the government of the state is a large and 
 important undertaking. We speak of the people's gov- 
 erning themselves, but so far we have only heard of 
 state departments, legislature, and courts. What have 
 the people to do with these agencies of government? 
 The answer is that the people elect the governor and 
 most of the other important state officers; the legis- 
 lature; and, in some cases, the judges. Every voter 
 therefore has a voice in the government of the state. 
 When you grow up you will have the right to vote 
 that is, to say who shall hold the important positions 
 in the state government. 
 
 Qualifications of a Voter. All citizens, male or 
 female, twenty-one years of age, have the right to vote 
 unless forbidden for special reasons, or because they 
 have not fully complied with the law regulating voting. 
 The voter must: 
 
 1. Be a resident of the state that is, he must have 
 lived in the state for a certain time. Residents who are 
 not citizens cannot vote. 
 
 2. Be registered in the precinct, or voting district, 
 where he lives. And he must have lived in the district 
 for a certain time. 
 
 3. In some states pay a poll tax, and pay it a certain 
 time in advance of the election. 
 
 172 
 
4. In some states be able to read and write the 
 English language. In other states he must be able to 
 explain a clause in the state constitution to the satis- 
 faction of the registrars. There are also other educa- 
 tional qualifications. 
 
 In all states certain persons, such as lunatics and 
 men convicted of crime, were long without the right to 
 vote, or the hope of having the right restored. There is 
 a growing tendency, however, to give criminals the 
 right to vote after they leave prison. 
 
 Political Parties. Most voters belong to a polit- 
 ical party. Local elections frequently lie not between 
 parties but between individuals, but state elections are 
 always between parties. In some states, however, as 
 in the South, a single party is so strong as to have little 
 opposition. In these states the regular elections are 
 usually a form, and the real elections are what are 
 called primaries, in which candidates offer themselves 
 for nomination by a party. The person nominated is 
 really elected. In other states, where there are two 
 strong parties, primaries are held for both parties, or 
 nominating conventions, and then the nominees of the 
 parties are voted for in the regular election, which is 
 the main election. The two principal parties in the 
 United States are the Republican and the Democratic. 
 The Republican party is usually in control of the federal 
 government, but not always. President Wilson was a 
 Democrat, and at various times the Democratic party 
 has been in control of one or both houses of Congress. 
 In the Southern states, with the exception of one or 
 two, the Democratic party is always in power. In the 
 North and West, the state governments are in the hands 
 
 173 
 
of one and then the other of the parties. Pennsylvania 
 is one of the few states that are nearly always in the 
 hands of the Republicans. Some years ago there was a 
 third party, the Populist, which controlled a number of 
 Western states for a time. Other parties in the country 
 are the Socialist and Farmer-Labor parties, which differ 
 greatly from the two main parties. These latter parties 
 favor the ownership of railroads and other great indus- 
 tries by the government. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of the most important courts of your state and find out 
 whether the judges are appointed or elected. 
 
 2. Write to the state comptroller or auditor and request him to send 
 you a report showing how much money the state spent last year. 
 
 3. Write to the state department of education for a report showing 
 how much money is spent annually on public education. 
 
 4. Invite your representative in the legislature to make a talk before 
 your classroom club on "How Laws are Made." 
 
 5. Answer these questions: 
 
 How many judges compose the supreme court of your state? 
 How are they chosen? 
 
 If the governor of your state should die, who would take his 
 place? 
 
 How many members has the lower body of your state legisla- 
 ture? The upper body? 
 
 How often does your legislature meet? 
 
 What are the two bodies of your legislature called? 
 
 What is the basis of representation in each body? 
 
 What are the committees for each body? 
 
 How is the state highway commissioner chosen in your state? 
 Write to this official for the report showing the cost and 
 location of state highways. 
 
 W T hat are the qualifications for a voter in your state? 
 
 6. Put on the blackboard the answers to the following questions: What 
 are your state offices and who are the present officers? 
 
 174 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 SOME THINGS THE NATION DOES FOR US 
 
 Problem: To discover ways in which the nation helps 
 the people of a community. 
 
 We have seen in our previous studies that the county, 
 city, and state exercise authority over the people and 
 carry on many activities for their benefit. There are 
 certain things, however, that only the national govern- 
 ment has the power to do. In Chapter XIII we con- 
 sidered two of these activities money-making and the 
 post office. Now we shall study some additional things 
 that are wholly in the hands of the United States 
 government. 
 
 Control of Immigration. The national government 
 has complete control of immigration into the United 
 States. Thousands of foreigners come to our shores in 
 the great steamships that leave the seaports of 
 Europe and western Asia. Most of these immigrants 
 land in New York harbor. There they have to go 
 through a thorough examination before they are 
 admitted to the United States; if the quota of immi- 
 grants from a country has already been completed for 
 the year, other newcomers from that country are sent 
 back without examination. The states have nothing 
 whatever to do with immigration. 
 
 Control of Fighting Forces. The United States 
 government declares war and makes peace: the states 
 have no voice in this matter. The regular army and 
 
 175 
 
the navy are entirely in the control of the federal 
 government; but the states maintain militia. This 
 militia is nearly always an exclusively land force; only 
 a few states have a naval militia. The militia is under 
 the states in time of peace but comes under the federal 
 government in war. The United States, in war, also 
 drafts citizens, whether they wish to fight or not, and 
 calls for volunteers. In war the army consists of all 
 males, of certain ages, able to bear arms and not 
 excused from military duty because of having families 
 to support. In peace, the army is small. Most of the 
 troops are stationed in the Philippine Islands, Alaska, 
 and points in the southwestern part of the United 
 States. The marines are largely employed in keeping 
 order in the republic of Haiti, which is more or less 
 under the control of the United States. 
 
 The Army and Navy. The regular army consists of 
 men who join the service for a term of years. Recruits 
 must undergo a rigid physical examination, for the 
 army does not wish weaklings and men with defects. 
 This is also true of the navy. It is usually a difficult 
 matter to secure enough soldiers for the army and 
 sailors for the navy, for, though there are many advan- 
 tages in being in the army and navy, the pay is small 
 and the opportunity of advancement not great. A 
 number of soldiers have become officers in the army 
 by studying in the army schools and passing the 
 examinations for commissions; this is not the case in 
 the navy. Most of the army officers are graduates of 
 the United States Military Academy, naval officers of 
 the Naval Academy. The navy must be kept strong, 
 even in peace time. The tendency now, following the 
 
 177 
 
Armament Conference of 1921-22, is to reduce navies 
 in all the countries of the world. The American 
 navy is divided into two main fleets the Atlantic 
 and the Pacific. The Panama Canal was built partly 
 to enable these two fleets to unite quickly in time 
 of war. 
 
 The Military and Naval Academies. The main- 
 tenance of the Military Academy, at West Point, New 
 York, and of the Naval, Academy, at Annapolis, 
 Maryland, is one of the federal government's most 
 important duties in connection with the army and 
 navy. Youths seventeen years old may enter West 
 Point provided they can secure an appointment from a 
 Congressman and take the entrance examinations or 
 make the highest standing in a competitive exami- 
 nation. General Pershing won an appointment to West 
 Point over another boy by a single question in grammar. 
 His great career is the result of his making the most of 
 his high school opportunities and of knowing just a 
 little more than another boy. On such 'small things 
 men's lives often turn. The cadets at the Naval 
 Academy are appointed in the same way. Both 
 military and naval cadets are paid enough to cover all 
 their expenses while at school and are appointed to 
 places in the army and navy on graduating. 
 
 Navigation. The United States government con- 
 trols navigation along the seacoasts and of the inland 
 rivers of the country. Captains of ships and pilots 
 must get federal licenses before they can do their work. 
 There are rigid rules, laid down by the federal govern- 
 ment for ships, such as carrying a certain number of 
 lifeboats and lifebuoys for the safety of passengers and 
 
 178 
 
doing certain things for the welfare of the crew. Is 
 there a navigable river in your state? If so, the United 
 States government controls the vessels that ply on it. 
 The government spends many millions of dollars yearly 
 in deepening the channel of rivers by dredging, and 
 in maintaining on the seacoast lighthouses and life- 
 saving stations for the rescue of shipwrecked people. 
 During the World War the federal government built 
 
 A COAST GUARD STATION 
 
 hundreds of ships to carry food and other products 
 from this country to Europe. In peace time, however, 
 the United States has few merchant ships except those 
 that sail from port to port along the coast. Nearly 
 all the foreign commerce of the country is carried in 
 European and Japanese vessels. 
 
 Customs. One of the most important duties of the 
 United States government is to regulate the foreign 
 trade of the country, as well as commerce between the 
 
 179 
 
states. It may surprise you to learn that foreign goods 
 may not be brought into this country free. If goods 
 are shipped to the United States from England or some 
 other foreign land, they are examined by officials of 
 the federal government at the port where they are 
 unloaded. The law requires that certain payments, 
 called duties or tariff, be made on these foreign goods. 
 This money goes into the United States treasury. The 
 object of the tariff is to obtain money for the 
 government and, also, to protect American manu- 
 factures by putting a burden on foreign manu- 
 factures. Not having to pay the tariff, American 
 manufacturers need not produce goods at so low 
 a cost as Europeans. American goods often cost 
 more to make than foreign products, but because of 
 the tariff they are sold as cheaply in our stores as 
 European manufactures. 
 
 Copyrights and Patents. Another power vested 
 solely in our national government is that of granting 
 copyrights to persons who write books, plays, and music, 
 and patents to those who invent machines and appli- 
 ances. If an author writes a book he is given the 
 exclusive right, for a certain number of years, to publish 
 .it, and anyone else printing the book is liable to punish- 
 ment. The same thing is true of patents. Some great 
 fortunes have been made from patents, notably that of 
 Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, 
 and that of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric 
 light, the phonograph, and many other marvels. The 
 Patent Office is one of the most interesting buildings in 
 Washington. You must be sure to visit it when next 
 you go to the national capital. Tiny models of thou- 
 
 180 
 
sands of machines are kept there, and it is fascinating to 
 examine them. 
 
 The Weather Bureau. You frequently read the 
 weather forecasts in the local newspaper, especially 
 when you are planning to go somewhere. You have 
 learned to know that if the paper says "Fair and 
 warmer tomorrow," it is likely to be so, and that if the 
 paper 'says "Cloudy, with showers," the day will 
 probably not be a good one. These forecasts are read 
 by thousands of people for business reasons. The 
 farmers wish to learn what sort of weather to expect, 
 so that they will know what to do with their hay and 
 other crops ; the ship captain often stays in port when 
 the weather forecasts tell of a storm on the coast. To 
 many other people it is a matter of importance to 
 know what sort of weather the day will bring forth. 
 It is the business, exclusively, of the federal government 
 to study the weather. Trained men at two hundred 
 regular stations throughout the country observe the 
 condition of the atmosphere and send in their reports 
 to Washington, from which place the forecasts are 
 dispatched by telegraph. 
 
 Railroads. The federal government has control of 
 the railroad rates on railroads that run through two or 
 more states: railroads that are confined to a single 
 state are under the control of that state, as well as the 
 rates for points within the state. In other words, if 
 goods are shipped from one state to another, the 
 freight rate paid on those goods is determined by the 
 United States government. If goods are shipped from 
 one city in a state to another city in the same state, 
 the freight rate is fixed by the state corporation com- 
 
 181 
 
mission. The same thing is true of passenger fares. 
 The body that makes the rates between states and has 
 control of the railways generally is known as the Inter- 
 state Commerce Commission. This board came into 
 existence in 1887, because of complaints that the 
 railroads were not acting fairly, and it has gradually 
 been given more power by Congress until now it exer- 
 cises a large measure of authority over the railways. 
 During the World War the federal government took 
 over nearly all the railway lines in the country and 
 conducted them, but after the war the roads were given 
 back to their owners. 
 
 Other Functions of the Government. The United 
 States government assists the states in many things 
 that are done by each state for itself. Thus the health 
 work of the United States government is very im- 
 portant. The series of experiments conducted by 
 officials of the government determined that yellow fever 
 is conveyed by mosquitoes and bubonic plague by rats. 
 The United States health authorities are in charge in 
 every port of the United States. They take care that 
 no persons suffering from diseases dangerous to other 
 people are allowed to land in the country; and in case 
 of a threatened epidemic they may close a port entirely 
 for a time. The United States Department of Agri- 
 culture has also made many valuable discoveries. 
 Indeed, the state departments of agriculture exist 
 partly for the purpose of making known to the farmers 
 of the individual states the discoveries of the United 
 States government. The federal government owns 
 large forest preserves in various parts of the country, 
 on which it seeks to preserve and improve the trees, 
 
 182 
 
so that the country's supply of timber will not be soon 
 exhausted. In many other ways besides these the 
 federal government is at work for our welfare. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of enlistment in the 
 United States army or navy. 
 
 2. Appoint a classmate to discuss the importance of the airplane as a 
 branch of the military service. 
 
 3. Give some reasons why the national government controls commerce 
 on such inland waterways as the Great Lakes and the Mississippi rather 
 than the different states which border on these waterways. 
 
 4. Give reasons why an inventor should be allowed a patent. 
 
 5. Find out all you can about the Fordney-McCumber tariff act. 
 
 6. Tell why tariff bills are very hotly debated in Congress. 
 
 7. Debate this question: Resolved, That the United States should 
 keep up its navy to the full quota allowed by the Armament Agreement. 
 
 183 
 
PART THREE 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB REORGANIZED 
 Problem: To reorganize your Junior Citizens Club. 
 
 Reorganizing Your Club. This should be the best 
 year of the Junior Citizens Club. You are older and 
 
 Courtesy o Miss Emilie Yunker 
 
 A SCHOOL GARDEN 
 
 can therefore make the meetings more interesting and 
 form better plans for improving your school and com- 
 munity. Discuss the following report of the reor- 
 
 184 
 
ganization of a club like yours and then decide what 
 shall be your plan of work for the year: 
 
 REORGANIZATION OF THE Civics CLUB 
 
 At the first meeting of the Civics Club in Fair- 
 mount School a committee on reorganization was 
 appointed. The next day it made the following report: 
 
 The officers are to be as heretofore : 
 
 President. 
 Vice President. 
 Secretary. 
 Treasurer. 
 
 We suggest the following departments: 
 
 Department of Health. 
 
 Head of department and helpers. 
 
 Department of Public Works. 
 Head and helpers. 
 
 Department of Thrift and Banking. 
 Head and helpers. 
 
 Library Department. 
 Head and helpers. 
 
 News Department. 
 
 Head and helpers. 
 
 Entertainment ^Department. 
 Head and helpers. 
 
 We recommend that the duties of the departments 
 be as follows: 
 
 Department of Health. The "head doctor" and his 
 assistants look at and keep records of finger nails; inspect 
 shoes; ask about brushing teeth; keep the room at the 
 
 185 
 
right temperature; display literature on health; and do 
 various other things which improve the health of the pupils. 
 
 Department of Public Works. This department keeps 
 the room neat. It strives for an "A" rating on the con- 
 dition of the desks. It also looks after blackboards, vases of 
 flowers, and the waste paper basket. 
 
 Thrift Department. For this department the head 
 should be a fine banker, who will help to keep the banking 
 records and percentages, who will count the money and 
 supply the literature on thrift. 
 
 Library Department. The librarians should work out 
 systems for keeping records. 
 
 News Department. Three pupils should look after this 
 department. They should gather up materials of interest, 
 visit the Chamber of Commerce and the banks, and bring 
 literature which describes the city. 
 
 The Entertainment Department. This committee should 
 plan and present several entertainments during the year, 
 besides conducting the morning exercises. 
 
 The report of the reorganization committee was 
 unanimously adopted. After the election of officers, 
 the president appointed the heads of the departments 
 and their helpers. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Reorganize your club. 
 
 2. Appoint standing committees. 
 
 3. Write new songs, new cheers, ami a class slogan. 
 
 180 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 CHOOSING A VOCATION 
 
 Problems: (1) To study various vocations and their 
 contributions to the world; and (2) to consider your life 
 vocation and how to prepare for it. 
 
 Wisdom of Early Choice. When should you choose 
 your vocation or life work? Many young people do not 
 think seriously about this question until they are well on 
 into a high school course and some have no definite 
 plans when they enter college; but it is wise to begin 
 early in life to think about this most important ques- 
 tion. If you are going to high school, as probably you 
 are, you should have at least a general idea of what 
 you wish to do in life. If you expect to be a farmer, you 
 will take up the study of agriculture; if you are plan- 
 ning to go to college, you will study certain foreign 
 languages; if you expect to enter the commercial field, 
 there are studies that will help to equip you for this 
 work. 
 
 Every Girl Should Work. In these times girls as 
 well as boys should think about the vocations they 
 expect to follow, for there is no place in the world now 
 for idlers. There are about ten million women workers 
 in the United States. In 1910 women were found in 
 three hundred and eighty -five of the four hundred and 
 twenty-eight occupations listed by the Census Bureau. 
 The good citizen, whether man or woman, will do some 
 useful work in the world. 
 
 187 
 
Beware of "Blind Alley" Jobs. Many young people 
 accept odd jobs in vacation for the purpose of earning 
 money while out of school. There is no objection to 
 this; but when you complete your education be sure to 
 choose a position of some promise rather than a "blind 
 alley" job that is, a job which has no future such, 
 for instance, as an elevator operator. 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 A RAILROAD ENGINEER 
 
 Main Occupations: Below is a list of the main 
 occupations to be followed: 
 
 Farming Manufacturing 
 
 Farmer. Skilled mechanic. 
 
 Trucker. Office clerk. 
 
 Dairyman. Mechanical engineer. 
 
 Fruit grower. Superintendent of mills. 
 
 188 
 
Professions 
 
 Teacher. 
 
 Physician. 
 
 Druggist. 
 
 Dentist. 
 
 Lawyer. 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 Minister. 
 
 Journalist. 
 
 Transportation and 
 
 Communication 
 
 Railroad employee. 
 Steamship employee. 
 Automobile mechanic. 
 Automobile salesman. 
 Telegraph operator. 
 Telephone operator. 
 Taxi driver. 
 Street car employee. 
 
 Skilled Trades 
 
 Mason. 
 
 Painter. 
 
 Carpenter. 
 
 Plasterer. 
 
 Paper hanger. 
 
 Cement worker. 
 
 Locomotive engineer. 
 
 Structural steel worker. 
 
 Commerce and Finance 
 
 Salesman. 
 Business manager. 
 Stenographer. 
 Secretary. 
 Bank employee. 
 Real estate dealer. 
 Insurance solicitor. 
 Stock broker. 
 
 Teaching. It is wise to make a careful study of a 
 vocation if you are thinking seriously of choosing it. 
 Let us make a brief study of three occupations that 
 many people pursue. First, let us look at teaching, a 
 profession that is followed by more than 600,000 persons 
 in the United States. It is the leading calling for 
 women, at least half a million of whom are engaged in 
 the work. An increasing number of men are also 
 entering this profession as high school teachers, school 
 superintendents, and college professors. 
 
 Advantages and Disadvantages. The advantages 
 of teaching are: the pleasant surroundings; the . high 
 regard in which teachers are held; the pleasure that 
 comes from contact with ambitious and studious young 
 people; the opportunity for study. The disadvantages 
 
 189 
 
are: the low salaries; the difficulty in securing com- 
 fortable living quarters in some places; and the worry 
 over unruly pupils. The preparation for teaching con- 
 sists of graduation from a four-year high school and at 
 least two years of special training. If you wish to 
 achieve the greatest success as a teacher, you should 
 take a full college course. Why not teach? You can 
 render no greater service to the world than by engaging 
 in this useful profession. 
 
 Medicine. Another occupation to which your 
 attention is called is that of medicine. The surgeon 
 who performs difficult operations, the army doctor who 
 follows the battle line ministering to the needs of the 
 wounded, the country physician who drives through 
 the storm to save a life all are true servants of 
 humanity. Do you wish to be a doctor? If so, you 
 must like to study and must graduate from college. 
 No profession requires a longer period of preparation.. 
 After graduating from college you must take a four- 
 year course at a medical school, usually followed by 
 at least one year in hospital work. 
 
 Stenography. A third occupation to consider is 
 that of stenography. The capable stenographer has 
 every reason to be proud of her work: if she takes a 
 genuine interest in the business she helps greatly to 
 make it a success. The work is usually pleasant; and 
 efficient stenographers have an opportunity for ad- 
 vancement to the position of secretary to the president 
 or manager. Do you expect to be a stenographer? 
 If so, you are strongly advised to take a full high school 
 course. There are thousands of stenographers in the 
 country who will always fill minor positions because 
 
 190 
 
they lack the education essential to success in this 
 calling. 
 
 Farming. The most useful and perhaps the most 
 satisfactory of all occupations is farming. The world 
 looks to the farmer for the necessaries of life; he does 
 vital work. Besides, life in the open air gives health 
 .and strength and makes the sturdiest men and women. 
 
 PLOWING 
 
 Business. But perhaps you are thinking of going 
 into business. If so, you will need a somewhat different 
 training. A four-year high school course is strongly 
 advisable, for a trained mind and a good knowledge of 
 mathematics and English are of great importance. 
 After high school, a two years' course in a business 
 college or school of commerce will be of the utmost 
 benefit. The lad who completes such a course is pre- 
 pared to rise much faster than the boy who has to learn 
 
 191 
 
business from the bottom after he goes into it. When 
 you have finished your education, the next thing to do 
 is to choose the branch of business that suits you best. 
 This is a 'difficult matter. The natural tendency is to 
 take the job that pays most money immediately. It 
 is wiser, however, to choose the job which has the 
 
 SCENE IN A COTTON MILL 
 
 greater possibilities. The business man always builds 
 for the future: the profits five or ten years from now 
 are what he thinks of rather than the immediate gain. 
 When you have chosen your business, stick to it. The 
 man who stays in the same occupation or the same kind 
 of business is more likely to succeed than the man who 
 changes from one to another. You may have a hard 
 
 192 
 
time in business at first; but no calling pays such a 
 high rate of interest on knowledge as this, and after you 
 have mastered your branch of it you will find that the 
 money reward comes fast and constantly increases. 
 
 Skilled Trades. Maybe you are thinking of be- 
 coming a locomotive engineer. Do so if your taste runs 
 that way: it is a well-paid occupation. This trade 
 demands physical strength and good nerves. A four- 
 year high school course is also advisable, as an engineer 
 should know something about mechanics. If you wish 
 to be a mason, a carpenter, a plasterer, or a paper 
 hanger, you will find a high school course beneficial. 
 The reason for this is that all these trades are busi- 
 nesses as well as trades, and a student gets business 
 training in high school. Perhaps you wish to be an 
 electrician. No calling has a greater future, but a high 
 school course is necessary to advancement, for the 
 electrician must know much about .physics. In fact, 
 there are no vocations in the modern world, with the 
 exception of unskilled manual labor, in which education 
 is not of great advantage. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Appoint committees to give advantages and disadvantages of 
 different occupations. 
 
 2. Invite representatives of various occupations to talk to the class on 
 the possibilities and opportunities offered by their respective lines of work. 
 
 3. Each of you may make a two-minute speech on "What I Wish to 
 Do When I am Grown." In this you should give reasons for your choice of 
 a vocation. 
 
 4. Give a two-minute talk on "How I Spend My Leisure Time." 
 
 5. Discuss the ways some communities help their people spend their 
 leisure time wisely. 
 
 6. Estimate how much of life is spent in recreation. 
 
 193 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 OUTDOOR LIFE 
 
 Problems: To learn (1) how outdoor life improves one 
 physically; and (2) what the government has done to pro- 
 vide national playgrounds. 
 
 Guard Your Health. "I cannot run because it 
 makes my heart beat," once said a pale, undersized 
 schoolboy who never took open-air exercise. This lad 
 caught cold easily, and when he tried to prepare his 
 home work he became tired and sleepy. How is it 
 with you? Is your weight what it should be for your 
 health and age? Do you enjoy running, hiking, row- 
 ing, and group games? If you wish to be strong and 
 well, you must not only keep clean, eat good food, and 
 sleep with your windows open, but you must spend a 
 good part of your time out of doors. 
 
 What Boys and Girls Should Weigh. A boy or girl 
 from twelve to fourteen years of age should gain twelve 
 ounces each month. If you are not gaining in weight 
 at this rate, you should, perhaps, take more exercise in 
 the open air. The table on page 196 shows what 
 your weight ought to be in proportion to your height. 
 
 The Olympic Games. The ancient Greeks were a 
 strong race because they spent much time under the 
 open sky of their beautiful country. About seven hun- 
 dred years before Christ they inaugurated the Olympic 
 Games, to which gathered athletes from every city in 
 Greece. These games were held every fourth year, and 
 
 194 
 
grew to be the greatest festival of the Greek race. 
 Thousands of people came to witness the events, and 
 the victors were awarded the highest honors, partly 
 because it was thought that the gods loved those who 
 enjoyed health and strength. 
 
 Revival of Olympic Games. With the fall of Greece 
 the Olympic Games were discontinued, but they were 
 
 A ROWING CREW AT PRACTICE 
 
 revived in 1896. In the ancient games none but pure- 
 blooded Greeks could compete, but in the new Olympic 
 Games athletes from the whole world are invited to 
 enter. Our country has always sent a team, and has 
 won more than its share of the contests. The la'st 
 games for some years were held at Stockholm, Sweden, 
 in 1912, and American athletes made more points than 
 
 195 
 
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT TABLE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 
 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 'oys 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 iris 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 t 
 
 ^6 Years 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 & 
 
 [0 Years 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 CO 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 CO 
 
 HH 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 56 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 55 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 58 
 
 59 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 57 
 
 58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 61 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 59 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 62 
 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 65 
 
 67 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 
 
 52 
 
 65 
 
 66 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 68 
 
 69 
 
 70 
 
 71 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 68 
 
 68 
 
 69 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 70 
 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 77 
 
 78 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 78 
 
 79 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 77 
 
 78 
 
 79 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 
 
 57 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 83 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 
 57 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 83 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 
 58 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 58 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 89 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 59 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 89 
 
 90 
 
 92 
 
 94 
 
 96 
 
 59 
 
 89 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 95 
 
 96 
 
 60 
 
 91 
 
 92 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 97 
 
 99 
 
 101 
 
 60 
 
 
 94 
 
 95 
 
 97 
 
 99 
 
 100 
 
 102 
 
 61 
 
 . . . 
 
 95 
 
 97 
 
 99 
 
 102 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 61 
 
 
 99 
 
 101 
 
 102 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 108 
 
 62 
 
 . . . 
 
 100 
 
 102 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 109 
 
 111 
 
 62 
 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 107 
 
 109 
 
 111 
 
 113 
 
 63 
 64 
 
 ... 
 
 105 
 
 107 
 113 
 
 109 
 115 
 
 111 
 117 
 
 114 
 118 
 
 115 
 
 119 
 
 63 
 64 
 
 
 109 
 
 111 
 115 
 
 112 
 117 
 
 113 
 118 
 
 115 
 119 
 
 117 
 
 120 
 
 65 
 66 
 
 ... 
 
 .... 
 
 
 125 
 
 122 
 126 
 
 123 
 127 
 
 124 
 
 128 
 
 65 
 66 
 
 
 
 117 
 119 
 
 119 
 121 
 
 120 
 122 
 
 122 
 124 
 
 123 
 126 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 
 130 
 
 131 
 
 132 
 
 133 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 
 124 
 
 126 
 
 127 
 
 128 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 
 134 
 
 135 
 
 136 
 
 137 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 
 126 
 
 128 
 
 130 
 
 132 
 
 69 
 70 
 
 
 .... 
 
 .... 
 
 138 
 
 139 
 142 
 
 140 
 144 
 
 141 
 
 145 
 
 69 
 70 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 129 
 
 131 
 134 
 
 133 
 136 
 
 135 
 
 138 
 
 71 
 
 
 
 
 
 147 
 
 149 
 
 150 
 
 71 
 
 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 140 
 
 142 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 
 
 152 
 
 154 
 
 155 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 145 
 
 147 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 159 
 
 160 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 
 
 162 
 
 164 
 
 965 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 169 
 
 170 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 174 
 
 175 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 196 
 
those of any other nation. They also distinguished 
 themselves at the Paris games in 1920. At the Inter- 
 national Athletic Meet for Women, held in Paris in 
 1922, the United States ranked second. The world 
 record for the shot put was made by Lucile Godbold, 
 of South Carolina. 
 
 Group Games. A strange feature of the ancient 
 Olympic Games was that the contests were individual 
 that is, there were no group games such as baseball and 
 basket ball, but each athlete competed against the 
 whole field. We cannot live to ourselves, as we have 
 learned in this book, but must form ourselves into com- 
 munities. The games of today are organized on the 
 community plan. The baseball team is a community 
 just as much as is the town or state, and it is by team- 
 work that games are won. 
 
 Advantage of Consolidated Schools. One large ad- 
 vantage of the consolidated school over the one-room 
 country school is that the students are able to organize 
 teams and compete with other schools in baseball, 
 basket ball, tennis, and other games. Has your school 
 a well-equipped playground for students of all ages? 
 If not, your Civics Club should go to work; for nothing 
 adds more to school spirit and to the health of the 
 students than athletics. 
 
 Good Sportsmanship. The ancient Greeks would 
 not permit a person who had committed a crime or who 
 was irreverent to the gods to enter the Olympic Games. 
 They wished every contest to be fair, and were careful 
 that only honorable people competed. Occasionally we 
 hear of a school which permits outsiders, or "ringers," 
 to play on its teams. This should not be allowed. 
 
 197 
 
Sometimes the students of a school will jeer at the 
 members of a visiting team. This is a violation of the 
 laws of courtesy. Frequently when an athletic team is 
 victorious, the cry is raised that the umpire gave bad 
 decisions, or that the victors used unfair methods. 
 Such charges are unsportsmanlike. It is a good thing 
 to be a "good loser." 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 A SWIMMING POOL 
 
 City Playgrounds. Has your city well-equipped 
 playgrounds, athletic fields, and swimming pools? If 
 it lacks these facilities, your club should help in a cam- 
 paign to secure them. 
 
 Story of a Playground. A boy was once arrested for 
 playing in the streets when the city provided no play- 
 grounds. When he grew to be an old man, he provided 
 in his will that $100,000 of his estate should go to the 
 
 198 
 
city for a playground. This is now in operation, and 
 thousands of children are made happy and healthy 
 because a good citizen realized the value of play. 
 
 Camping. Did you ever visit a Boy Scout camp? 
 The camp visited by the writer was ten miles from the 
 city. The tents and dining room were located on a high, 
 forest-clad hill overlooking a beautiful pond, where the 
 boys swam, fished, and went boating. Spending their 
 days in all kinds of outdoor sports, they had appetites 
 like wolves, and when night came they slept like logs. 
 The American flag floated from a tall flag pole, and 
 there were appropriate exercises when it was lowered at 
 sunset. At night the boys gathered around the camp 
 fire and listened to stories. Can you imagine better fun 
 than such camping? 
 
 National Parks Established. In 1920 more than a 
 million people visited the nineteen national parks of our 
 country. Many of these visitors traveled in automo- 
 biles, crossing high mountains and camping each night 
 by the side of some clear stream. Over 25,000 auto- 
 mobile parties camped in Yellowstone Park in 1920. 
 Would you not like to take such a trip? Well, perhaps 
 some day when you are grown you may own a car and 
 spend your vacation in this way; so let us have a few 
 facts about our national parks. They were established 
 by Congress for the following purpose, to use the exact 
 words of the act establishing them: "To conserve the 
 scenery and the natural and historic objects and the 
 wild life therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of 
 the same in such a manner and by such means as will 
 leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future 
 generations." The first national park to be established 
 
 199 
 
was that of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Here are to be 
 found wonderful hot springs, wjth curative properties, 
 believed by some to be the Fountain of Youth for 
 which Ponce de Leon sought. 
 
 Other Parks. Every school child knows about Yel- 
 lowstone and Yosemite National Parks, but there are 
 others almost as interesting. Visit the Mesa Verde in 
 
 Copyright, E. M. Newman 
 
 CAMPING IN A NATIONAL PARK 
 
 Colorado, and you will see the homes of the ancient 
 cliff-dwellers. In the Sequoia Park of California you 
 will find the great trees which are one of the wonders of 
 the world. In far away Hawaii there is a park in which 
 are three active volcanoes and a lake of molten lava. 
 Alaska has the Mount McKinley Park, in the midst of 
 which stands the highest peak of North America. 
 
 200 
 
The Love of Nature. We cannot close this chapter 
 without urging boys and girls to cultivate a love for 
 nature. Do you like to raise vegetables and flowers in 
 your garden? Do you enjoy roaming in the fields and 
 forests, studying the plants, insects, and birds? Is it 
 a great pleasure for you to visit the seashore and moun- 
 tains? The seashore, the mountains, the blue sky, and 
 the birds and flowers are all yours, and add to the joy 
 of living. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Make a list of six Good Health Rules that everybody should follow. 
 
 2. Explain what is meant by a "good loser"; give an illustration. 
 
 3. If you have ever been on a camping trip, tell the class about your 
 experiences. 
 
 4. Debate this question: Resolved, That such natural wonders as 
 Mammoth Cave, Natural Bridge, and the Grand Canyon should be con- 
 verted into national parks by the government. 
 
 ,5. Have a contest at your next meeting to see who can name the 
 longest list of birds that are to be seen in your community. 
 6. Describe the most beautiful spot in your community. 
 
 201 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING 
 
 Problems: (1) To study two important branches of 
 industry; and (2) to learn how they have developed. 
 
 The Greatest of All Occupations. Do you live on a 
 farm? If so, you should be proud of it, for farming is 
 the greatest of all industries. There could be no cities, 
 and no lawyers, doctors, teachers, bankers, or artists, 
 if the farmer did not plant and harvest his crops. 
 Visit a great factory and see the thousands of skilled 
 mechanics busily at work: they could not con- 
 tinue at their labor of converting the raw materials 
 into finished products unless the farmer sowed and 
 reaped. 
 
 Wealth of Agriculture. In the United States more 
 than seventeen millions of people are engaged in agri- 
 culture, and the total value of the farm crops of our 
 country for a year is about ten billions of dollars. This 
 represents one of our greatest sources of wealth. 
 
 Advantages of Country Life. In Chapter XXIX 
 you were told the advantages of different callings, farm- 
 ing included. Let us here consider some further reasons 
 why country boys should decide to take up farming as 
 a vocation. 
 
 The Beauties of Nature. The city, with its bril- 
 liantly lighted streets, tall buildings, and spacious parks, 
 has many elements of beauty, but the boy or girl who 
 has never seen the loveliness that God spreads over 
 
 202 
 
country lanes and meadows has missed a great deal. 
 Who would want to camp on a vacant lot in the city? 
 We enjoy camping because our tents are pitched by the 
 forest's edge. Perhaps a carpet of green spreads before 
 us and in the distance there is a river or lake. We may 
 commune with nature and study the insects, birds, 
 plants, and wild flowers. The farmer lives his life 
 
 
 i 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 A WHEAT FIELD 
 
 amid such surroundings. He loves the birds that 
 visit him at the different seasons, welcomes the buds and 
 flowers of springtime, and rejoices when the corn is 
 shocked in the fields and the autumn leaves deck the 
 trees with their wealth of colors. 
 
 The Farmer is Independent. This statement must 
 not be taken to mean that the farmer lives to and for 
 himself; for we are all members of a community and 
 
 203 
 
should help each other. Nor does it mean that the 
 farmer can fix the prices of his crops: the opposite is 
 usually true. The farmer is independent, however, in 
 the sense that he plans and carries on his own work. 
 In a large factory each worker has his work planned for 
 him. He simply pulls a lever and the machine smooths 
 
 OLD-TIME HARVESTING 
 
 the piece of iron or fashions the wood according to the 
 pattern. Such work becomes monotonous and irksome. 
 But the farmer has a new problem to meet each day, 
 and matches his mind against blight, drought, and frost. 
 He is also independent in the sense that he usually does 
 not have to worry about his daily bread. Even if the 
 
 204 
 
crops are poor, he still has food to eat and a shelter for 
 his family. 
 
 Farming is Profitable. Many boys hesitate to be- 
 come farmers because they think that other vocations 
 give larger returns in money. It is true that no farmer 
 can accumulate such a fortune as Carnegie or Wool- 
 worth had, but he can make a better living than the 
 average city worker. There was a time when the farmer 
 worked too hard, and was so weary at night that he 
 did not care much for reading or recreation. In those 
 days farming was an unprofitable occupation, but with 
 improved machinery and better methods of cultivation 
 agriculture offers the industrious man an opportunity 
 for a good living without so much drudgery. 
 
 How to Improve Farm Life. Although farming has 
 many advantages, there are ways in which the life of 
 the farmer may be improved. 
 
 1. The farmer should strive to increase production. 
 The farmers of European countries raise thirty-five 
 bushels of wheat to the acre, while our average is only 
 twenty-nine bushels. They raise one hundred and 
 ninety-six bushels of potatoes to the acre, and we less 
 than a hundred. When you study agriculture in your 
 high school course, you will learn about crop rotation, 
 the proper use of fertilizers, and improved farm ma- 
 chinery as the means of making land give larger returns. 
 You will also learn about the work of our agricultural 
 colleges and experiment stations in developing new 
 species of grains and vegetables that resist plant dis- 
 ease and give larger yields than the old plants of our 
 grandfathers. You will learn that the manner of pre- 
 paring the seed bed is important. Deep plowing makes 
 
 205 
 
the soil give out its full fertility; shallow plowing results 
 in a small yield. A well- worked surface helps to hold 
 the moisture for the plants instead of letting it run off. 
 The kind of seed sown makes a great deal of difference. 
 It is as expensive to sow poor seed and cultivate the 
 plants growing from it as to use good seed and cultivate 
 good plants. The modern farmer studies seed with 
 great care, and decides on the kind best adapted to his 
 soil. After the planting, the crop must be carefully 
 worked until harvest. If scientific methods are used, 
 the increase in yield will be astonishing. 
 
 2. Better business methods should be employed by 
 the farmer. Merchants employ bookkeepers to keep 
 the account of their purchases, sales, and expenses. In 
 factories trained men study the costs of each article 
 made. Many farmers keep no records of the cost of 
 milk produced, eggs laid, and crops Taised. Another 
 failure of the farmer to use business methods consists 
 in permitting waste. He fails to protect expensive 
 machinery from the weather, and often lets rats and 
 plant disease destroy his crops. Each year thousands 
 of cattle, sheep, hogs, and other animals die because 
 farmers do not take necessary steps to keep disease 
 from spreading among them. In other ways the farmer 
 fails to employ the system that makes manufacturing 
 and commerce profitable. 
 
 3. The farmer needs education. If you expect to 
 follow this calling, you should have a high school edu- 
 cation at least. The educated farmer uses business 
 methods on his farm and increases production. It has 
 been found that farmers with a college education make 
 greater profits than those with a high school training, 
 
 206 
 
and that the latter make twice as much as do farmers 
 who have had only a "reading and writing" education. 
 4. Farm life must be made more attractive for 
 women. At times the farm is a very dull place for the 
 housekeeper. There is a dreary round of work; while 
 the farmer is out on his improved sulky plow, she is 
 washing clothes with an old-fashioned washing machine 
 instead of with, an electric one. The farmhouse should 
 
 MODERN HARVESTING 
 
 be equipped with a furnace, electric lights, running 
 water, and every modern convenience. There should 
 be magazines, musical instruments, and a telephone 
 for the young people, and if possible a car for the 
 family. If all farmhouses were made attractive, a 
 larger number of girls would wish to become farmers' 
 wives. 
 
 Importance of Manufacturing. The first farmer 
 scratched the soil with a sharp stick. He did not have 
 
 207 
 
Photograph by Underwood and Underwood 
 
 STRUCTURAL IRON WORKERS 
 
 (208) 
 
even a hoe or spade. Needless to say, he was a poor 
 farmer. All the implements that help the farmer, 
 such as the plow, reaper, and threshing machine, 
 are made in factories. To understand how necessary 
 factories are, you have only to make an inspection of 
 your school. The stove or furnace was made in a 
 factory. The same thing is true of the iron girders 
 supporting the floors, the doors, the windows, the 
 desks, and the roofing. In fact, we could not get 
 along without the thousands of factories in which 
 are made the numberless conveniences of life. In 1914 
 over ten million people were engaged in the manufac- 
 turing industries of the United States, and the total 
 value of manufactured products was over twenty-four 
 billion dollars. 
 
 Early Stages of Manufacturing. Three hundred 
 years ago, when our country was first being settled, 
 there were no factories. The women made cloth, soap, 
 candles in the house. Shoes were made in the shop of 
 the shoemaker instead of in factories. Ironwork was 
 made by blacksmiths. In those days people were happy, 
 perhaps, but they were not so happy as people are today. 
 We live in steam- or furnace-heated houses, ride in 
 street cars or automobiles, and have scores of conveni- 
 ences unknown to our great-grandfathers. 
 
 The Age of Steam and Steel. The invention of the 
 steam engine by James Watt in 1769 was probably the 
 greatest discovery of the ages. It made the locomotive 
 possible and brought about the age of railways. With 
 the railroad came the spread of factories, which before 
 that time could only be built on swift streams. As 
 factories sprang up, great cities flourished. The dis- 
 
 209 
 
covery of the use of coal increased the manufacture 
 of iron and steel a hundredfold. Thus our modern 
 mechanical civilization arose. 
 
 A Modern Factory. Let us pay an imaginary visit 
 to a large shoe factory. We go to Brockton, Massa- 
 chusetts, and spend the night at the leading hotel. We 
 get an early breakfast the following morning because 
 we wish to reach the factory in time to see the workers 
 
 PICKING COTTON 
 
 arrive. We are at the great building at 6.50 A.M. 
 Hundreds of people are filing through the main entrance, 
 and among them are many women and scores of boys 
 just past the compulsory school attendance age. The 
 whistle blows, and there immediately begin the hum 
 and pounding of numbers of machines. 
 
 Division of Labor. An interesting matter to be 
 noted in the factory is what is called the division of 
 
 210 
 
labor. One machine cuts shoe soles, another makes 
 heels, a third punches eyelets in the uppers, while still 
 another sews the parts of the shoe together. By 
 dividing the labor into small tasks, each of which is 
 done by skilled workmen, thousands of shoes can be 
 turned out daily. As we watch the hundreds of workers 
 running their machines, we see how necessary labor is. 
 Probably the workers in the factory belong to a labor 
 union or unions. If they desire higher wages or shorter 
 hours, a committee of the union waits on the manager 
 of the factory and lays before him their grievances. 
 Sometimes the manager, as the representative of the 
 owners, grants the request of the workers. If the 
 demands are refused, the workers may decide to strike 
 that is, to quit work in an effort to compel the factory 
 owners to grant the requests. When strikes began in 
 this country, they were usually accompanied by acts 
 of violence on the part of the strikers. In recent years, 
 however, strikes have been more peaceful. Frequently 
 they are settled without resort to violence. 
 
 Capital Necessary. One thing that impresses us 
 about a factory is that it must take hundreds of thou- 
 sands of dollars to build it and to purchase the ma- 
 chinery. Money is also needed to buy materials and to 
 pay workmen before the manufactured products are 
 sold. Where does this money come from? It is fur- 
 nished by the stockholders, who invest their savings 
 in the factory. Such money is called the capital of 
 the business, and the persons who contribute it are 
 capitalists. It is well to remember that no factory, 
 store, or other enterprise can be carried on without 
 capital. 
 
CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 Why do so many people leave the country for the city? 
 What means may be employed to keep them on the farm? 
 What are the advantages of a trade union? 
 What is meant by the "union label"? 
 
 2. Debate the following question: Resolved, That farming is more 
 important than manufacturing. 
 
 3. Appoint a classmate to read a paper on "Modern Conveniences in 
 the Farm Home." 
 
 4. Appoint a committee to visit a factory and report on what they see. 
 
 5. Find the average yield per acre of all the crops in your section. 
 
 6. Discuss ways of increasing crop production. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION 
 
 Problems: (1) To study means of transportation and 
 communication; and (2) to trace their development. 
 
 National Growth. One hundred years ago there 
 were no railroads. The people who lived in the back 
 country away from waterways had to haul their goods 
 many miles over bad roads. There were few cities; 
 the states west of the Appalachian highland were 
 sparsely peopled; the western plains were practically 
 unsettled, and the land beyond the Rocky Mountains 
 was a lonely desert. In older parts of the country the 
 roads connecting villages and cities were unimproved 
 and almost impossible of travel in winter. Telephone 
 and telegraph lines did not exist; newspapers were 
 poor. Each little community lived to itself. 
 
 How the Country Became Great. If you were 
 asked to explain how our nation grew in a hundred 
 years from a sparsely settled country east of the Missis- 
 sippi to the greatest nation in the world, extending 
 from ocean to ocean and having more than a hundred 
 million people, you might truthfully answer by naming 
 the following inventions: 
 
 Steamships. Automobiles. 
 
 Canals. Modern roads. 
 
 Railroads. Farming machinery. 
 
 Trolley lines. Telegraphs and telephones. 
 
 These wonderful inventions have broken up the iso- 
 
 213 
 
lation of the small communities in which our great- 
 grandfathers lived and made the United States one 
 vast community or neighborhood. You can now 
 travel from New York to San Francisco in five days, or 
 in less time than it took George Washington to go from 
 Mount Vernon to New York when he was inaugurated 
 as our first President. 
 
 First Methods of Transportation. The history of 
 transportation is the story of human development. 
 The first burdens were borne on the backs of men. 
 Then animals horses, donkeys, and oxen were used 
 for a long period before roads were built: the loads 
 were fastened to the backs of the animals. When our 
 ancestors on the American frontier had to go back to 
 primitive ways of living, because of the absence of 
 roads and other devices of civilization, they carried 
 goods on pack-horses: it was in this way that furs and 
 other valuable articles first crossed the Appalachian 
 Mountains. In Asia and Europe, at a remote period, 
 roads were built, and wagons were used for carrying 
 freight and people. In the northern American colonies 
 at the time of the Revolution there were some good 
 roads. 
 
 Water Transportation. Transportation by water is 
 much easier than by road, and for this reason men, at a 
 very early time, began to navigate rivers and the sea 
 along the coast. For many centuries, however, ships 
 were unsuited for long voyages or rough seas: it was 
 not until the Middle Ages that the art of sailing vessels 
 was really learned and it was not until the discovery 
 of the compass that voyages of months, such as Colum- 
 bus's, became possible. After that time, ships pene- 
 
 215 
 
trated to every part of the globe. Yet transportation 
 by sailing vessels, like transportation on land by wagons, 
 was slow: it took our ancestors who crossed the Atlantic 
 from Europe to America about three months to make 
 the voyage now accomplished in a week. What the 
 world needed and demanded, after the settlement of 
 America, was a quicker method of transportation and 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 A SAILING SHIP 
 
 communication, and, since the demand existed, it was 
 met. 
 
 Improved Transportation. At the close of the 
 eighteenth century land transportation was much the 
 same as it had been for a thousand years. But with 
 the establishment of the factory system, in the last 
 years of that century, and the progress of invention, 
 improvements quickly came. The old dirt roads of 
 
 216 
 
England began to give way to macadamized highways, 
 good in all weathers. Canals were dug in England to 
 connect rivers, so that goods could be shipped by water 
 for long distances. The macadamized road and the 
 canal were improvements, but they were not sufficiently 
 rapid means of transportation to suit vast countries 
 such as America. The demand for a speedier method 
 quickened; and finally George Stephenson adapted 
 the steam engine, invented by James Watt, to hauling 
 loads, and so we had the first locomotive. Railroads 
 were built in England and the United States, and 
 speedy land transportation became a fact. 
 
 The Steamship. About the same time steam was 
 applied to water transportation. The two inventors of 
 the steamship, John Fitch and James Rumsey, failed 
 because they could not obtain sufficient capital to 
 carry out their plans. In 1807 a steamboat built by 
 Robert Fulton ascended the Hudson River to Albany. 
 This showed the world the possibilities of the new 
 system of navigation. By 1812 steamboats were 
 running on the Western rivers, and in 1819 the first 
 steamship that ever crossed the sea sailed from Savan- 
 nah to Liverpool. By the middle of the nineteenth 
 century, steamers traversed every ocean and the time 
 required for voyaging from Europe to America had 
 been cut in half. 
 
 Trolleys and Automobiles. What the railroads did 
 for long distance transportation, trolley lines have 
 done for local service. Every city in the country has 
 its trolley lines, which transport passengers rapidly 
 for low fares and sometimes carry light freight. But 
 another kind of transportation was demanded by the 
 
 217 
 
modern world and that was rapid private transporta- 
 tion. This need was supplied by the invention of the 
 automobile in the last years of the nineteenth century. 
 The automobile gives one or more persons a means of 
 traveling at railroad speed. It has somewhat lessened 
 the value of railways for short distance transportation 
 and has caused such a demand for good roads that 
 
 Photograph by Underwood and Undferwood 
 
 ELECTRIC MOTOR AND TRAIN 
 
 every state in the United States is now constructing 
 improved highways. 
 
 The Railroads. Nothing has contributed so largely 
 to the growth of our great cities and the development 
 of the western part of our country as railroads. The 
 first permanent railroad in the United States was built 
 in 1828. It was only twenty miles long and is now a 
 
 218 
 
part of the Baltimore and Ohio system. Many people 
 objected to the building of railroads. Here are some 
 of the arguments they advanced: 
 
 Railroads will scare the horses to death. 
 
 The noise of the engine will stop hens from laying and 
 cows from giving milk. 
 
 Sparks from the engine will set fire to fields, barns, and 
 dwelling houses. 
 
 Teamsters and other persons employed in the hauling 
 business will be thrown out of employment. 
 
 People will travel too much, to the neglect of their 
 business. 
 
 It will cost too much money to build railroads. 
 
 None of these objections proved true, and railroads 
 slowly spread over the country. A railway entered 
 Chicago from the east in 1852; a few years later the 
 Mississippi River was reached, and last of all came a 
 transcontinental system, the Union Pacific railroad. 
 All along the line of this railway, farm lands were 
 opened to homeseekers and prosperous towns and 
 cities sprang up. 
 
 If Railroads Were to Stop Running. Railroads are 
 as essential to the life and prosperity of a modern 
 nation as the circulation of blood is to the human 
 body. Imagine what would happen if the railroads 
 stopped running! In the farming sections crops would 
 rot in the fields for lack of means to get them to market. 
 A great city such as New York would be without milk, 
 food, coal, all raw materials. In a few weeks the people 
 would be starving and freezing, business would be 
 dead, and the city would be one great desolation. 
 
 Cost of Railroads. It takes an enormous sum of 
 money to run the railroads. Many thousands of 
 
 219 
 
employees have to be paid, new engines and coaches 
 must be purchased, and the tracks and roadbed are 
 kept in good repair so that the lives of passengers may 
 be safe. Where does this money come from? It comes 
 from every family in the United States. The railroad 
 must be paid for transporting all the coal used in your 
 home, most of the food you get from your grocer and 
 butcher, and nearly everything else that you buy in 
 the stores. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission. Who deter- 
 mines the passenger fares and freight rates of rail- 
 roads? Should each railroad be allowed to charge what 
 it wishes or should the government decide upon the 
 rates? The former was the system for many years; 
 the latter plan is now employed. The Interstate 
 Commerce Commission in Washington fixes the rates, 
 so that the railroads may make a fair profit for the 
 stockholders while at the same time the cost of living 
 will be kept down. Each state has a railroad or cor- 
 poration commission to regulate short lines operating 
 wholly within the state. The national government 
 alone has the right to regulate interstate commerce 
 that is, railroads and steamship lines carrying goods 
 from one state to another. 
 
 Government Ownership. Should the government 
 own and manage the railroads or should they be run 
 by private corporations under government supervision? 
 In Europe many of the railroads are under government 
 ownership, and our government took control of the 
 railways during the World War. There are many 
 arguments for and against government ownership or 
 management. At the present time the majority of 
 
 220 
 
people in the United States believe in the private 
 ownership and management of railroads under strict 
 governmental supervision. 
 
 Rapid Transit in Cities. Did you ever stop to 
 consider how the street-car system of your city affects 
 the happiness and well-being of the people? If you 
 have a good system, with enough cars to carry the 
 passengers in comfort, the people living in the suburbs 
 travel rapidly to and from the business section. If 
 the service is poor, they are delayed. The great city 
 of New York has one of the best rapid-transit systems 
 in the world. Millions of people are transported daily 
 on surface cars, on elevated trains built high above the 
 streets, and in subways. New York's subways may 
 well be considered one of the wonders of the world. 
 You enter a station, pass down a flight of stairs, and 
 find yourself some twenty feet below the surface of 
 the street. Here are four tracks, two for local and two 
 for express trains. You board an express train, say, 
 near Grant's Tomb on Riverside Drive, and in a few 
 minutes emerge from the subway in Brooklyn, having 
 gone under East River through a great tube that is a 
 part of the subway. Work was begun on the subway 
 in 1900. At the present time there are about seventy 
 miles of this wonderful system, which was constructed 
 at a cost of $400,000,000. 
 
 Street Railway Franchise. Your street-car system 
 operates under a franchise granted by the city for a 
 certain term of years. This franchise sets forth what 
 streets are to be used by the car company, the fare to 
 be charged, and the schedule on which cars are to be 
 run. If your street-car service is bad, the city officials 
 
should see that improvements are made, for a city can 
 hardly prosper without a rapid-transit system giving 
 all sections good transportation facilities. 
 
 Good Roads. The good citizen believes in good 
 roads and is willing to pay for them. Every school 
 child in America should be a good roads "booster," 
 as good roads and advancing civilization go hand in 
 hand. If you know people opposed to road improve- 
 
 MODERN ROAD BUILDING 
 
 ment, here are some arguments you may present to 
 them: 
 
 1. Good roads help the schools. In counties which 
 have good roads, the one-room school is giving way to 
 consolidated schools, because children are able to travel 
 longer distances. School attendance is also much 
 better, because parents do not keep their children at 
 home on account of muddy roads. 
 
 222 
 
2. Good roads make life more pleasant for every- 
 body. When the roads are hard and smooth, people 
 visit each other with ease, attend church and school 
 entertainments, and even go to distant towns without 
 fear of being stuck in the mud. 
 
 3. Good roads help the farmer in his business. 
 Heavy loads can be hauled over improved highways 
 and more trips can be made in a day. To illustrate 
 one farmer living six miles from the railroad had to 
 haul his grain to the station. On a bad road a truck 
 could not be used, and his team made only two trips a 
 day, carrying on each load a dozen bags of corn. When 
 the road was improved, the farmer purchased a truck 
 that made four trips a day, carrying each time twenty- 
 four bags of grain. You may easily see what a saving 
 this was to the farmer. Good roads increase the value 
 of land. There are many cases where farms located on 
 unimproved roads were sold at prices ranging from 
 $10.00 to $20.00 an acre. These same farms brought 
 from $75.00 to $100.00 an acre after the roads had been 
 improved. 
 
 Road- Working Systems. What is the best system 
 for working the roads of a district or county? Until 
 recent years there was no system. The road overseer 
 would occasionally call out all able-bodied citizens to 
 work the roads. The small sums of money voted for 
 highways were spent in temporary repairs which the 
 next hard rain would destroy. In recent years both 
 the state and national governments have adopted the 
 policy of helping local communities to build roads. 
 This is a good system, because roads are then built 
 under the direction of the best engineers, who see that 
 
 223 
 
the proper grading is observed and the proper materials 
 used in the construction of roads receiving state or 
 national aid. Road building is at present largely in 
 the hands of the state highway commissions, which 
 work rapidly and efficiently. 
 
 The Automobile. The automobile has been one of 
 the most important factors in the good roads move- 
 ment; for the owner of a car or truck is always an 
 advocate of improved highways. Only thirty-seven 
 
 Photograph by Publishers Photo Service 
 
 TRANSPORTATION AIRSHIP AND AUTOMOBILE 
 
 hundred automobiles were manufactured in the United 
 States in 1899; in 1920 the output was nearly two 
 million. There are now nearly eight and a half million 
 passenger cars and one million trucks in use in our 
 country. One third of the cars are owned by farmers. 
 The Airplane. Air navigation bids fair to rival 
 land travel in the near future. It has not been many 
 years since two American inventors, the Wright 
 brothers, of Ohio, made the first successful heavier-than- 
 
 224 
 
air flying machine, driven by a gasoline engine. Since 
 that time flying has developed to a high degree, and at 
 present mail, passengers, and even light freight are 
 carried by airplanes and balloons. More and more 
 people are learning aviation, and it will not be long 
 before airplanes are in common use. Their speed and 
 their comparative freedom from collisions collisions 
 are the main drawback to automobiles offer great 
 advantages. It seems probable that traveling in air- 
 planes at a hundred miles an hour will soon be a 
 commonplace matter. 
 
 Quick Communication. The problem of rapid 
 transportation was, solved by railroads and steamships. 
 These inventions also quickened communication, which 
 for centuries was very slow. The Americans and 
 British fought the battle of New Orleans on January 8, 
 1815, because there was no other means than sailing 
 vessels of carrying the news to the United States that 
 peace had been signed at Ghent, in Belgium, on 
 Christmas Eve of 1814. A hundred years ago it took 
 days for letters and newspapers to come from Boston 
 to Washington. Railroads and steamships greatly 
 reduced the time of communication. 
 
 Telegraphs and Telephones. But some still speed- 
 ier means of communication was called for: people 
 were not willing to wait for news to be brought by 
 trains. This demand led to the discovery of the electric 
 telegraph by Samuel Morse. After years of effort, 
 Congress gave him a small grant of money to establish 
 a telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington 
 the first telegraph line in the world. It was com- 
 pleted in 1844 just about the time that the national 
 
 225 
 
convention of the Democratic party met in Baltimore. 
 When James K. Polk was nominated for President, 
 the news flashed over the wires to Washington, where 
 the people learned of the event a few minutes after 
 it occurred. This introduced the telegraph to the 
 notice of the world. For many years, however, there 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 TELEPHONING FROM A MOVING TRAIN 
 
 was no telegraph across the ocean. Cyrus W. Field 
 long worked to lay a cable containing wires between 
 England and America and succeeded at length in 
 1868. Soon the whole world was connected by tele- 
 graph. Communication by voice was then desired. 
 This was brought about by Alexander Graham Bell, 
 who showed the telephone as a new invention at the 
 
 226 
 
Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876. For 
 the new system of wireless telegraphy we are indebted 
 to Marconi. 
 
 The Radiophone. The latest means of communi- 
 cation is the radiophone, which is a kind of wireless 
 telephone system. The radio machines catch sound 
 waves and reproduce them: thus by means of .the 
 radiophone a concert in New York may be heard a 
 thousand miles away as clearly as by the auditors in 
 the hall. The possibilities of the radiophone are 
 limitless, and we may expect in the next few years to 
 talk across the entire breadth of the United States 
 from any place where we happen to be at home, on 
 trains, or elsewhere. Indeed, we may well wonder 
 where invention will stop, what new marvels of trans- 
 portation and communication the next decade or two 
 will bring forth. The world seems on the threshold 
 of yet greater discoveries than any of the past. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Write a paper on "How Our Street Car System Can be Improved." 
 
 2. Answer these questions: 
 
 Should a city help to build good roads in the country surround- 
 ing it? Why? 
 
 Who made the following inventions: the telegraph; the tele- 
 phone; wireless telegraphy? 
 
 W T hich is more important, the airplane or wireless telegraphy? 
 
 3. Debate the following question: Resolved, That railroads have 
 helped to develop our country more than any other invention. 
 
 4. Mention the ways in which the state is helping to improve the roads 
 of your community. 
 
 227 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 WHERE OUR LIBERTY CAME FROM 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the development of English lib- 
 erty; and (2) to trace its influence on the government of 
 our country. 
 
 England and America. The United States is now 
 the greatest nation in the world. It has not always 
 been so; in fact, it has not always been a nation at all. 
 For more than a hundred and fifty years America 
 belonged to England and owed allegiance to the 
 king of England. . But because the Americans held 
 certain ideas of liberty, handed down to them from 
 their fathers, they turned against the king when 
 he sought to rule as a tyrant and won their inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 The London Charter. Where did these ideas of 
 liberty come from? They were the result of the long 
 growth of the English people. England was con- 
 quered in the year 1066 by William, Duke of the 
 Normans. The Normans were the descendants of 
 Danish sea robbers who had settled in northern France 
 a century before. There they learned Christianity and 
 the French language and customs. Crossing the 
 English Channel in 1066, they gave battle to the 
 English, who were mainly the descendants of German 
 tribes that had settled in England some centuries 
 earlier. The battle of Hastings was won by the Nor- 
 mans, and the English king was killed, but England 
 
 228 
 
was not entirely subdued. Then it was that the city 
 of London, instead of resisting William, invited him to 
 enter it as king. William, in return, gave the people of 
 London a charter granting them certain privileges. 
 William's younger son, Henry I, when he became 
 king, issued a charter to the whole people of England 
 giving them a few rights. This was a great advance 
 in liberty, for in those days the body of the people 
 nowhere in the world had many rights. 
 
 Magna Carta. William's descendants continued to 
 reign. One of them, Richard the Lion-Hearted, needing 
 money and finding that he could obtain it by selling 
 charters such as that of Henry I, granted many of 
 them. These charters, promising certain towns and 
 workers in certain callings special protection, caused 
 the people to murmur when the royal government, in 
 later times, wrung huge taxes from them by force and 
 otherwise violated the charters. When Richard died 
 his brother John, a bad man, came to the throne. 
 King John paid no attention to the charters granted by 
 Henry I and Richard I. He was a brutal tyrant, 
 robbing people of their money and shutting them up 
 in dungeons to die. Finally the nobles, weary of his 
 misrule, rose against him and forced him, in 1215, to 
 sign the Magna Carta, or Great Charter. This docu- 
 ment promised that no taxes were to be laid without 
 the consent of the king's Great Council; that justice 
 was not to be sold in the courts or delayed; that people 
 accused of crime were to be punished in accordance with 
 the laws, not the king's will; and that people were not 
 to be left in prison without trial but were to be tried by 
 juries soon after arrest. This was one of the most 
 
 229 
 
important steps ever taken in the progress of human 
 liberty. 
 
 The English Parliament. King John's son, when he 
 grew up, became as bad a tyrant as his father had 
 been. The nobles rose against him, as they had against 
 King John. One of them, Simon de Montfort, became 
 the ruler of England in the king's place. Montfort 
 enlarged the Great Council, which before had con- 
 sisted only of nobles and clergy, by adding to it two 
 men chosen from every town in England and two men 
 from every county. Thus was formed the English 
 Parliament, the greatest legislative body the world 
 has ever seen. Later Parliament was divided into two 
 chambers: the House of Lords, made up of nobles and 
 bishops, and the House of Commons, composed of men 
 selected by the towns and counties. Parliament came 
 to be the sole power that levied taxes. The king's 
 wishes as to levying taxes were usually followed, but 
 only Parliament had the right to tax Englishmen. 
 Members of the House of Commons were elected by 
 the votes of house owners. 
 
 Parliament and King. The old line of English 
 kings died out and the king of Scotland, James VI, 
 came to the English throne as James I. James I 
 paid little attention to Parliament, which he disliked. 
 His son, Charles I, attempted to levy taxes without 
 the consent of Parliament. This brought on a war 
 in which Parliament was victorious. Charles I lost 
 his life, and for a time there was no king in England. 
 Later Charles's son, Charles II, became king and was 
 succeeded by his brother, James II. James II, like 
 his father, sought to rule without regard to the laws 
 
 230 
 
and customs of England and was driven from the 
 throne in the Revolution of 1688. By this time certain 
 things had become fixed in men's minds as "the rights 
 of Englishmen." These were the sole right of Parlia- 
 ment to levy taxes; -the right of men accused of crime 
 to be tried where the crime was committed, by a jury, 
 and promptly; the right of men to live in their homes 
 undisturbed by soldiers, who were kept in private 
 houses everywhere else in Europe. The Bill of Rights 
 of 1689 confirmed these rights and added others. 
 
 The English Colonies. Meanwhile the English 
 colonies hail come into being and had grown into 
 prosperous communities. The first colony was Vir- 
 ginia, settled in 1607; the next Massachusetts, planted 
 in 1620. The right of the colonists to tax themselves 
 through their representatives, following the example 
 of the English Parliament, was asserted when, in 1619, 
 the first representative body in America met at James- 
 town, in Virginia. Two men were selected from each 
 "hundred," or district, to sit in this tiny Parliament. 
 Afterward, the New England colonies and the other 
 English colonies set up assemblies, which levied taxes 
 on the people of the colonies just as Parliament did on 
 the inhabitants of Great Britain. The settlers enjoyed 
 the other rights of Englishmen, such as trial by jury. 
 
 George III. Still another English king, George III, 
 attempted to rule as absolute monarch. George was 
 able to make himself master of Parliament by bribery, 
 and he then proposed to tax the American colonies. At 
 this time, in 1765, England had just come out of a long 
 and expensive war with France which had ended in the 
 gain of Canada. England was greatly in need of 
 
money and the king made up his mind to tax the 
 colonies for the upkeep of the army in America. Par- 
 liament, at the king's instance, claimed the right to 
 tax the colonies, since they were a part of the British 
 empire. The Americans denied the right of Parliament 
 to tax them because they were not represented in it: 
 their own colonial assemblies took the place of Parlia- 
 ment with them. When Parliament levied taxes on the 
 American colonies, the colonials refused to pay them. 
 When Parliament passed other laws quartering troops 
 in the homes of New England people and ordering men 
 accused of crimes to be sent away from New England 
 for trial, the Americans claimed that their rights as 
 Englishmen were violated. They rose in arms, and the 
 Revolutionary War began in 1775. 
 
 The United States. The thirteen English colonies 
 then formed a league, known as the United Colonies. 
 Each colony had its separate government, but there 
 was a common representative body called Congress. 
 Each colony had an equal vote in Congress. This early 
 Congress, the Continental Congress, raised an army 
 and appointed George Washington commander-in- 
 chief . Afterward it made an alliance with France and 
 directed the war until 1781. In 1776 it issued the 
 famous Declaration of Independence, announcing 
 that the United Colonies had become the United 
 States of America, a league of republics, and giv- 
 ing the reasons for separation from England. But 
 the power of the Continental Congress rested solely 
 on the consent of the colonies; it had no definite 
 authority. Each colony, by the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, was an independent republic; it taxed itself 
 
 232 
 
and gave what money it saw fit to the Continental 
 Congress. This was a poor plan, for so little money- 
 came from the states that the American army almost 
 broke up at Valley Forge for lack of food and clothing. 
 Articles of Confederation. This unsatisfactory 
 state of affairs led to the formation, in 1781, of a govern- 
 ment under a plan which is known as the Articles of 
 Confederation. From 1781 to 1789 this was the govern- 
 ment of the United States. It proved unsatisfactory. 
 There was no President or other head that is, no exec- 
 utive department. Congress could not levy taxes or 
 regulate commerce; consequently, the legislative de- 
 partment had little power; there were no courts or 
 judicial department. Such a government was wholly 
 wanting in force. At the instance of James Madison, of 
 Virginia, and several other noted men, a convention 
 of delegates from the states met at Philadelphia in 1787 
 to alter the Articles of Confederation. The con- 
 vention ended by framing a new plan of government, 
 the Constitution of the United States. We shall con- 
 sider this in the following chapter. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Tell in as few words as possible how our liberty was handed down to 
 us from England. 
 
 2. Answer these questions: 
 
 On what principle did the colonists object to being taxed by 
 
 the British Parliament? 
 What other principles established in England were violated by 
 
 measures imposed by Parliament upon the colonists? 
 
 3. Appoint a committee to give a list of America's reasons for separat- 
 ing from England. 
 
 4. Give two well-known instances in Patrick Henry's life which show 
 American feeling at the time we fought for liberty. Perhaps some of you 
 can give one of his speeches. 
 
 233 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Problems: (1) To study the Constitution; and (2) to 
 learn the powers of the federal government. 
 
 What the Constitution Is. The Constitution is the 
 basis, the foundation, of the government of the United 
 States as.it has existed from 1789 to the present day. 
 Read it; it is brief. 1 By reading it, you will learn the 
 duties of the President, the powers of Congress, the 
 jurisdiction of the federal courts. From it you will 
 learn the scope of the national government in com- 
 parison with that of the individual states. The Con- 
 stitution is the supreme law of the land. No state may 
 pass any law that is contrary to the Constitution. 
 Every officer of the United States from the President 
 down takes an oath to observe it. 
 
 The Convention. The thirteen original states, with 
 the single exception of Rhode Island, sent their wisest 
 leaders to the convention, which met, in 1787, in Inde- 
 pendence Hall, Philadelphia, where the Declaration of 
 Independence had been signed eleven years before. 
 Among the delegates were George Washington, James 
 Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, 
 George Mason, James Wilson, Robert Morris, Charles 
 C. Pinckney, Roger Sherman, and other famous persons. 
 These men met almost daily from May 25 to September 
 17, 1787. Although the Constitution is short and easy 
 
 i See page 314. 
 
 235 
 
to read, you will see that it took nearly five months to 
 complete it. Opinion was greatly divided, and some- 
 times the debates became stormy. Indeed, it is prob- 
 able that the convention would have broken up in 
 failure but for George Washington, who was chairman, 
 and Benjamin Franklin, who acted as peacemaker in 
 bringing together the divided delegates. 
 
 Differences in the Convention. The main disagree- 
 ment between the members of the convention arose over 
 the question of the amount of power to be given the 
 new government. Alexander Hamilton, of New York, 
 wished to have a strong central government, like that 
 of England, together with a lessening of the powers of 
 the state governments. -Some delegates, on the other 
 hand, did not desire to see the states weakened at all. 
 Other delegates wished to have three Presidents instead 
 of one. Some thought that the President should be 
 elected for life instead of for four years. Others con- 
 tended that he should be elected by the whole people, 
 while still others thought that it would be best for him 
 to be appointed by Congress. A section of the conven- 
 tion held that Congress should consist of only one body. 
 The delegates from the small states argued that all 
 states should have the same power in Congress; the 
 large states held that representation should be accord- 
 ing to population. Slavery caused discussion. Some 
 of the northern delegates wished to stop the bringing in 
 of slaves from Africa; delegates from the South and 
 from New England argued that each state should be 
 allowed to decide the question for itself. Another 
 problem was that of foreign commerce. A number of 
 delegates contended that the states should be left the 
 
 236 
 
power to regulate foreign trade to suit themselves; 
 others held that foreign commerce should be wholly 
 in the hands of Congress. 
 
 What Was Done. In most cases these differences 
 were compromised. Much power was given to the 
 federal government, but much was left to the states. 
 It was decided to have but one President, elected for 
 four years, but eligible for reelection. He was neither 
 to be elected by the people nor appointed by Congress, 
 but to be elected by electors chosen in turn by the 
 people of each state the same number of electors as 
 Congressmen. Congress was organized in two bodies: 
 representation in the upper house, the Senate, was to 
 be equal for all states two Senators for each; repre- 
 sentation in the lower body, the House of Representa- 
 tives, was by population. Foreign commerce was to 
 be regulated by Congress: the states were to give up 
 all control of it. The federal government was to have 
 the sole power to make treaties with foreign countries 
 and control of the army and navy. 
 
 Adoption of the Constitution. The next step was to 
 induce the states to adopt, or ratify, the Constitution: 
 unless nine states ratified, it would not become law. 
 Many of the leading men of the country, among them 
 Patrick Henry, opposed it. George Mason, who had 
 helped to make it, refused to sign, and went back to 
 Virginia to lead the fight against it. Each state elected 
 a convention to pass on the new federal Constitution, 
 and the battle was fought out in these conventions. 
 One by one the conventions ratified, until finally the 
 Virginia convention ratified, though by a small majority. 
 This settled the fate of the Constitution. Two states, 
 
 237 
 
Rhode Island and North Carolina, refused to ratify, 
 but when they found themselves alone they, likewise, 
 came into the fold. The government of the United 
 States really existed at last. 
 
 George Washington President. A large part of the 
 American people perhaps a majority opposed the 
 Constitution at the beginning, but when George Wash- 
 ington was elected President they placed confidence in 
 the new government. On April 30, 1789, Washington 
 was inaugurated in New York City, the first capital of 
 the federal government. The seat of government was 
 soon moved to Philadelphia, and, after ten years, to 
 Washington, where it has remained ever since. 
 
 Powers of the Federal Government. Under the 
 Constitution, the United States government has the fol- 
 lowing powers which cannot be exercised by the indi- 
 vidual states: 
 
 To declare war. 
 
 To maintain an army and navy. 
 To coin money. 
 To regulate immigration. 
 
 To regulate commerce with foreign nations and between 
 the states. 
 
 To make treaties with foreign nations. 
 
 To grant patents and copyrights. 
 
 To establish post offices and post roads. 
 
 Amendments to the Constitution. The Constitu- 
 tion, though it is the supreme law of the land, has been 
 amended a number of times. A proposed amendment 
 must be passed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of 
 Congress. Then it must be approved by the legis- 
 latures of three fourths of the states. The first ten 
 amendments, passed shortly after the Constitution had 
 
 238 
 
been ratified, were intended to secure the rights of the 
 people and of the states against the power of the federal 
 government. They are sometimes called the American 
 Bill of Rights. Among other things these first amend- 
 ments secured the right of trial by jury; freedom of 
 speech and of the press; freedom of religion; the right 
 of petition; and the security of the home. The 
 eleventh amendment defined the jurisdiction of the 
 United States courts. The twelfth amendment changed 
 the mode of electing the President. The next three 
 amendments came as a result of the War between the 
 States. The thirteenth abolished slavery; the four- 
 teenth made the negro a citizen; and the fifteenth for- 
 bade the states to deny citizens the right to vote on 
 account of race or color. Then for many years there 
 were no more amendments. The sixteenth amendment 
 gave the federal government the right to levy an income 
 tax. The seventeenth changed the mode of choosing 
 United States senators, making them elective by the 
 people. The eighteenth forbade the manufacture and 
 sale of alcoholic drinks in the United States. The nine- 
 teenth and last amendment gave women the right to 
 vote in elections. 
 
 Secession. One right that the states were believed 
 by many people to have, even after the Constitution 
 was framed, was the right of secession that is, of leav- 
 ing the Union in case of danger from the federal govern- 
 ment. This right of secession was expressly proclaimed 
 by the state of Virginia when it ratified the Constitu- 
 tion, and it was not disputed. For years the right of 
 secession was asserted by many of the public men of 
 the country, especially of New England. But little by 
 
little the powers of the federal government were ex- 
 tended, principally by the decisions of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, until a large part of the 
 country came to deny this right of secession. It was 
 still asserted, however, by the Southern states, which, 
 in 1861, put it to the test by seeking to leave the Union. 
 The War between the States was the result. The South- 
 ern states were forced to return to the Union, and it is 
 now recognized as a principle of our government that 
 no state has the right to leave the Union under any 
 circumstances. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Be able to tell in class by what body and in what way the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States was framed, and how it was adopted. 
 
 2. Discuss the disagreement among the delegates to the convention 
 over the degree of power that should be given to the federal government 
 and that left to the states. 
 
 3. Tell what difficulty arose in later years because the degree of power 
 left to the states was not fully decided by the Constitution. 
 
 4. Give a brief statement of the powers of the federal government and 
 tell how the Constitution is amended 
 
 5. Give the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth amend- 
 ments. 
 
 6. Memorize the preamble of the Constitution. (See page 314.) 
 
 240 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 THE PRESIDENT AND THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 
 
 Problems: To study (1) the work of the President; and 
 (2) the various offices of the executive department. 
 
 How the President is Chosen. By the plan for 
 electing the President, each state selects a certain 
 number of delegates who meet and choose the President 
 and Vice President. These men are called presidential 
 electors, and each state has as many of them as it has 
 Senators and Representatives: the entire group of 
 electors from all the states is known as the electoral 
 college. At first the legislatures appointed the electors 
 because they doubted the wisdom of letting the people 
 have a direct part in the election of such an important 
 officer as the President. Soon, however, the people 
 were permitted to vote for the electors; and the Presi- 
 dent ever since has been really elected by the people. 
 The electoral college is only a form. 
 
 Process of Election. Presidential elections are held 
 on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem- 
 ber of each year divisible by four. Each political party 
 has a full set of electors, and you vote for those repre- 
 senting the party you prefer. The electors of the party 
 which receives the largest number oi votes meet in the 
 state capital on the second Monday in January follow- 
 ing the election and cast their votes for the candidates 
 of their party. They send a record of their votes to the 
 president of the Senate of the United States. On the 
 
 241 
 
second Wednesday in February following the presiden- 
 tial election, the votes of the electors from all the states 
 are counted in the Capitol at Washington in the pres- 
 ence of both houses of Congress: the candidate receiv- 
 ing the majority of votes is declared elected. You may 
 think that this is a very strange way of electing a Pres- 
 ident, but you must remember that the choice is really 
 decided by the votes of the people at the November 
 election. Ordinarily, a few hours after the election closes 
 everybody in the country knows who is to be President. 
 
 The Presidential Succession. The President, as 
 you know, is elected for a term of four years. If he 
 governs according to the wishes of the people he may 
 be reflected for a second term. Washington and 
 Jefferson refused a third term, thereby establishing a 
 kind of unwritten law that no President shall serve 
 longer than two terms. Several of our Presidents have 
 died during their term of office. When this happens, 
 the Vice President succeeds to the presidency. In 
 1886, Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act, 
 which provides that in case of the death of both Presi- 
 dent and Vice President the cabinet officers shall be- 
 come President in the following order; Secretary of 
 State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, 
 Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, Secretary of 
 the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 Inauguration of the President. The inauguration 
 of the President occurs on March 4 following the 
 election, and is an interesting event to the United 
 States. Thousands of people go to Washington to see 
 the ceremonies. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court administers the oath of office, which is as follows: 
 
 242 
 
I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the 
 office of President of the United States, and will, to the best 
 of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States. 
 
 The President must be a native-born citizen, and 
 must have resided in the United States fourteen years, 
 and be at least thirty-five years old. His salary is 
 $75,000 a year. 
 
 President's Appointing Power. The President is 
 the chief executive of the nation. He sees that the 
 laws are faithfully carried out, sends a message to Con- 
 gress in which he recommends legislation, and has the 
 power to call extra sessions of Congress. He appoints 
 the members of his cabinet, ministers to foreign coun- 
 tries, and many other officials, such as judges of the 
 federal courts and postmasters. Except in the case of 
 his cabinet members, appointments by the President 
 must be approved by the Senate. The President also 
 has the power of removing for good cause officers 
 appointed by him except judges, who may be removed 
 after being tried and convicted of misconduct. 
 
 Civil Service. The appointing power of the Presi- 
 dent causes him a deal of worry, as an army of office- 
 seekers is always besieging him for places. There was 
 a time when government offices were considered a 
 reward for party service, and with each change in 
 political power thousands of persons lost their positions. 
 In 1883 the Civil Service Act was passed. Under this 
 law most government employees stand an examination, 
 and when appointed they cannot be removed because 
 of political opinions. 
 
 President as Commander-in-Chief. The President 
 243 
 
is commander-in-chief of the army, and as such must 
 preserve the laws of the United States in all the states 
 and territories. He has the right to send soldiers into 
 any state where violence is interfering with the mails. 
 If disorder breaks out which the militia cannot quell, 
 the governor of the state may call upon the President 
 for military assistance. In case of war, the control of 
 the whole military and naval forces of the country is in 
 his hands. 
 
 Other Presidential Powers. Another power pos- 
 sessed by the President is that of making treaties with 
 other nations, but all such agreements have to be rati- 
 fied by the Senate. The President may also pardon 
 persons convicted of crimes against the laws of the 
 United States. An important power possessed by him 
 is that of vetoing bills passed by Congress. When this 
 power is exercised by the President, as is frequently the 
 case, he returns the bill to Congress with his objections. 
 The bill may be passed over the veto by a two-thirds 
 vote of Congress. 
 
 The President's Cabinet. Just before the President 
 is inaugurated he appoints his cabinet members, who 
 are to assist him in carrying on the weighty affairs of 
 government. Washington had only four members in 
 his cabinet: Secretary of State, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, Secretary of War, and Attorney-General. 
 But the work of the government has grown to such an 
 extent that six other officers have been added: Secre- 
 tary of the Navy, Postmaster-General, Secretary of the 
 Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Com- 
 merce, and Secretary of Labor. Each cabinet officer 
 is the head of one of the departments of government, 
 
 244 
 
and frequently advises with the President about the 
 work for which he is responsible. In fact, cabinet 
 meetings are held regularly for the purpose of discuss- 
 ing questions concerning the welfare of the country. 
 At these meetings important decisions are made as to 
 the policy of the government. 
 
 Departments. TKe State Department, presided 
 over by the Secretary of State, assists the President in 
 dealings with foreign powers. In the offices of thiS 
 department are filed the treaties of the United States 
 with other nations. The Treasury Department con- 
 ducts the loans made by the government, such as the 
 bond issues, and supervises the collection of taxes. It 
 makes the money for the country. It also oversees 
 the national bank system of the country, and performs 
 other services. The Department of Justice, at the head 
 of which is the Attorney-General, prosecutes those 
 guilty of violating the federal laws. Many of the suits 
 brought by the Department of Justice have been 
 against great corporations, or trusts, as they are called, 
 for alleged violations of the federal laws against mo- 
 nopolies for fixing prices. The Department of the 
 Interior has many important bureaus, such as the 
 Reclamation Service, Pension Bureau, Bureau of 
 Mines, and Bureau of Education. Under the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture are: the Bureau of Plant Industry, 
 Bureau of Crop Estimates, Bureau of Animal Industry, 
 the Weather Bureau, and other important govern- 
 mental agencies. The Department of Commerce takes 
 the census every ten years, registers all United States 
 merchant ships, maintains lighthouses, and does many 
 other things for the upbuilding of the commerce of the 
 
 245 
 
United States. The new Department of Labor gathers 
 statistics on the condition of laborers and tries in every 
 possible way to promote the welfare of the workers of 
 the country. There has been recently established in 
 this department the Child's Welfare Bureau. The War 
 Department controls the army; the Navy Department 
 the sea forces. The Postal Department conducts the 
 post-office system. In addition to the ten depart- 
 ments there are a number of special boards or com- 
 missions: the Interstate Commerce Commission, the 
 Civil Service Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, 
 and others. 
 
 Biggest Business in the World. In this chapter we 
 have taken a rapid view of the executive work of our 
 government. Thousands of persons, not only at Wash- 
 ington but all over the land and the world, are working 
 in order that we may have a good government. In 
 nearly every country our nation has ministers, who 
 represent the government, and consuls, who look after 
 our trade interests. At the head of all these workers 
 is the President with his many weighty duties. A 
 study of this chapter should teach us that the biggest 
 business in the world is that of the United States 
 government. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 Why is the President called "The Chief Executive of the 
 
 Nation"? 
 How many votes has the electoral college? What constitutes a 
 
 majority of these votes? 
 What very important treaty was negotiated by President 
 
 Wilson and what action did the Senate take upon it? 
 Which of the Presidents died in office? 
 
 246 
 
2. Compare the appointive power of the governor of your state with 
 that of the President. 
 
 3. Appoint a committee to collect the names and photographs of the 
 cabinet members now in office and to find out what is done at a cabinet 
 meeting. 
 
 4. Appoint a classmate to report for which candidate the electoral 
 votes of each state were cast in the last presidential election. 
 
 5. Explain fully how a treaty is made. 
 
 6. Make a list of the Presidents who served two terms. 
 
 7. What are the duties of a minister to a foreign country? What 
 are those of a consul? 
 
 8. Discuss the value of the Civil Service system. 
 
 247 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 CONGRESS AND ITS WORK 
 
 Problems: To learn (1) about the work of Congress; 
 and (2) the part your Congressmen take in it. 
 
 Why Congress Consists of Two Bodies. The Con- 
 gress of the United States consists of two houses or 
 bodies the Senate and the House of Representatives. 
 When you visit the Capitol in Washington you will be 
 shown the Senate chamber in the north side of the 
 great building, and the hall of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives in the south wing. Why do we have two 
 lawmaking bodies? At the time of the Revolutionary 
 War the legislatures of most of the states were com- 
 posed of two houses an idea borrowed from the 
 British Parliament, which consists of the House of 
 Lords and the House" of Commons. The Continental 
 Congress, on the other hand, was a single chamber. 
 Experience shows that the two-house plan is the better, 
 for under this system each house serves as a check on 
 the other. If the House of Representatives passes an 
 objectionable bill, the Senate has the power to defeat 
 or amend it. In this way there is less chance of 
 passing bad laws than under the one-house plan, where 
 a bill may be rushed through without careful consid- 
 eration. 
 
 Senate More Important. Which house of Congress 
 is the more important? From one standpoint they are 
 both of equal rank, for no bill passed by one house 
 
 249 
 
becomes a law until it is also passed by the other. The 
 framers of the Constitution evidently intended, how- 
 ever, that the Senate should be a more dignified and 
 important body than the House of Representatives, and 
 so it has turned out in actual practice. The Senate is 
 a smaller body than the House of Representatives. 
 The members are usually older, and as a rule have had 
 more experience in legislative matters than Representa- 
 tives. The fact that the Senate confirms appointments 
 of the President and ratifies treaties with foreign nations 
 adds to its power and influence. 
 
 The Senate. The Senate is composed of ninety-six 
 Senators, two from each state. It may seem strange to 
 you that the state of Nevada, with a population of 
 about seventy thousand, should have the same number 
 of Senators as the great state of New York, with more 
 than ten million people. The explanation is that when 
 the Constitution was being made small states such as 
 Maryland and New Jersey refused to approve it unless 
 they were given equal representation in the Senate with 
 the larger states. 
 
 Election of Senators. The Constitution provides 
 that Senators shall be elected by state legislatures, and 
 this was done until 1913, when the Constitution was 
 amended to provide for their election by the people. 
 Senators are chosen for a term of six years. They are 
 not all elected the same year. The terms of one third 
 expire every two years, so that it is impossible for all 
 Senators to be new to their office at any one time. 
 When a Senator dies, the governor of the state appoints 
 a successor until an election is held. The yearly salary 
 of both Senators and Representatives is $7500. The 
 
 250 
 
Senate has equal power with the House of Representa- 
 tives in introducing and passing laws, with this excep- 
 tion, that all bills for raising money must be introduced 
 in the House of Representatives. 
 
 The House of Representatives. In the House of 
 Representatives in the First Congress there sat only 
 sixty-five men; the present House of Representatives 
 consists of four hundred and thirty-five members. The 
 reason for this large increase is that the number of 
 
 THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 
 
 Representatives depends on population, which is con- 
 tinually growing. The lower house has become so large 
 that many persons think the number should not be 
 further increased. Some states have only one or two 
 Representatives; some, thirty or forty. Thus we see 
 that in the House of Representatives, unlike the Senate, 
 the larger states have much greater power than the 
 smaller ones. 
 
 251 
 
Congressional Districts. The term of a Representa- 
 tive is two years. Each state is divided into Congres- 
 sional districts, the number of which depends upon the 
 population. At the present time a district contains 
 about 210,000 people. When a Representative dies or 
 resigns, the governor of the state orders a special elec- 
 tion to choose a successor. 
 
 The Speaker. The presiding officer of the House of 
 Representatives is the speaker. The speaker possesses 
 great . influence. He decides which member shall be 
 allowed to speak when several desire to be heard and 
 appoints the members of the committees. Among the 
 other officers of the House are the clerk, sergeant-at- 
 arms, and chaplain. The clerk keeps a record of all 
 bills introduced and passed and also compiles the Con- 
 gressional Record, containing the speeches made. The 
 sergeant-at-arms preserves order in the House. You 
 would think that the members of Congress would always 
 be calm and dignified, but sometimes in the heat of 
 argument the House of Representatives is thrown into 
 confusion, and it is then necessary for the sergeant-at- 
 arms "to restore order. 
 
 Congressional Committees. You saw in your study 
 of city and state governments that an important feature 
 of lawmaking bodies is the system of committees to 
 which each bill is referred. Some of the important com- 
 mittees of Congress are: Ways and Means, Appro- 
 priations, Foreign Relations, Agriculture, Rivers and 
 Harbors. The principal work of a Senator or Repre- 
 sentative consists in attending the meetings of the 
 committees of which he is a member. 
 
 How a Law is Passed. The course of legislation in 
 
 252 
 
Congress is practically the same as in a state legislature. 
 A member introduces a bill. Its title is read, after which 
 it is referred to the proper committee, where it is fully 
 discussed. If the committee thinks the bill ought to 
 become a law, it is reported back to the house with the 
 recommendation that it pass. It is then read in full and 
 placed on the calendar with hundreds of other bills. 
 Finally, it comes up for the third reading and for 
 debate by those who favor and oppose it. If the 
 bill is passed, it is sent to the other house, where it 
 takes the same course. If the bill is passed by both 
 houses of Congress, it then goes to the President, 
 who may dispose of it in any one of the following 
 ways: 
 
 1. He may sign it, thereby making it a law. 
 
 2. He may keep it for ten days without signing it, 
 in which case it becomes a law without his signature. 
 
 3. He may veto the bill that is, return it to Con- 
 gress with a statement of his objections to it. Congress 
 may pass a bill over the President's veto by a vote of 
 two thirds of its members. 
 
 How Impeachments Are Tried. When the Presi- 
 dent, United States judges, or other officers of the gov- 
 ernment are guilty of treason or other crimes, they may 
 be tried, or impeached, as it is called, by Congress. In 
 impeachment trials, the House of Representatives 
 makes the charges against the person on trial, and the 
 Senate acts as the judge and jury. Impeachment trials 
 are solemn events, Each Senator takes an oath to 
 judge impartially; the person on trial is represented by 
 distinguished lawyers; the testimony is heard, and the 
 Senate holds a secret session to decide the guilt or inno- 
 
 253 
 
cence of the accused. If the President is being im- 
 peached, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pre- 
 sides over the Senate. The most famous impeachment 
 case was that of President Johnson in 1868. He was 
 acquitted by. one vote. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 How many Congressional districts has your state? 
 
 Who is your member of the House of Representatives? 
 
 How is a bill passed over the President's veto? 
 
 What are the duties of the chaplain of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives? 
 
 Can a member of Congress be arrested for a crime? (See 
 Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution.) 
 
 2. Refer to the Constitution and find the qualifications of Senators 
 and Representatives. 
 
 3. Name your Senators. Tell what offices they held before going to 
 the Senate. 
 
 4. Bring to the class newspaper clippings telling what bills are being 
 considered in Congress at the present time. 
 
 5. Refer to Section 8, Article I, of the Constitution, and name the 
 powers possessed by Congress. 
 
 254 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 THE FEDERAL COURTS 
 
 Problems : (1) To learn why federal courts are necessary; 
 and (2) to consider some of the cases they try. 
 
 Why Federal Courts Are Necessary. We have 
 studied about the executive and legislative branches of 
 our national government and now come to the third 
 branch, the judicial. Why is it necessary to have 
 United States courts? There are state courts in every 
 city and county. If a man commits a crime such as 
 murder or theft he is tried in these courts; or if one 
 citizen wishes to sue another at law he brings the suit 
 in a state court. A little thought, however, will con- 
 vince you that there are certain civil cases, as well as 
 crimes, over which the national government alone has 
 authority. If a boat collides with another, the owners 
 of the damaged vessel must bring suit in a United States 
 court, since the federal government controls navigation. 
 If a man is charged with counterfeiting, he must stand 
 trial in a federal court, because the states have no 
 authority over the making of money. Then there are 
 larger questions, such as the meaning of treaties and 
 the interpretation of the Constitution as the supreme 
 law of the land, which make it necessary to have federal 
 courts. 
 
 The Different Federal Courts. The Constitution 
 provides that there shall be one Supreme Court and 
 such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time 
 
 255 
 
establish. Besides the Supreme Court, there are now 
 about thirty Circuit Courts of Appeal and about a 
 hundred District Courts, and a number of special courts. 
 All federal judges are appointed by the President, sub- 
 ject to confirmation by the Senate, and hold office for 
 life or during good behavior. Each judicial district has 
 a United States marshal, whose duties are somewhat 
 similar to those of a sheriff, and a district attorney, 
 whose duties correspond to those of a commonwealth's 
 attorney in state courts. 
 
 The Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is com- 
 posed of nine justices and meets in the Capitol at 
 Washington. It is the highest tribunal in the land 
 The judges are clothed in black gowns, and the pro- 
 ceedings are solemn. One of the judges is called the 
 Chief Justice, and his office is considered by lawyers 
 to be the highest and most honorable of the legal 
 profession. The decisions of the Supreme Court are 
 final, because there is no higher court to which one 
 may go. 
 
 Cases Tried in the Federal Courts. Many wise 
 lawyers have difficulty in deciding at times whether a 
 case should be tried in a state or federal court. But 
 there are certain cases that clearly belong in the United 
 States courts. If an ambassador, for instance, is 
 charged with an offense while in this country, he has 
 the right to go to the Supreme Court for trial. If one 
 state wishes to bring suit against another, it also goes 
 directly to the highest court of the land. It should be 
 remembered, however, that most cases tried by the 
 Supreme Court come up on appeal from lower courts. 
 Cases are often appealed to the Supreme Court on the 
 
 256 
 
ground that decisions of the state courts which tried 
 them violate the United States Constitution. 
 
 Among the kinds of cases tried in the United States 
 District Court are the following: 
 
 1. When the citizen of one state is suing the citizen of 
 another for a sum exceeding $3000. 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL 
 
 2. All admiralty cases that is, law suits arising over 
 disputes between owners of vessels. 
 
 3. Proceedings in bankruptcy. Under the bankruptcy 
 law a person who has failed in business may have his debts 
 canceled, provided he surrenders his property for the 
 benefit of his creditors. The Federal government passed 
 this law to enable a man hopelessly in debt to make a new 
 start in business. 
 
 257 
 
4. Proceedings against trusts or large corporations 
 charged with violating the Sherman Act passed by Congress 
 to prevent large corporations from controlling the prices 
 of the necessities of life. 
 
 5. Criminal cases against smugglers, counterfeiters, 
 moonshiners, and others charged with violating federal laws. 
 Persons whom the federal courts sentence to imprisonment 
 are not sent to state penitentiaries, but are confined in 
 federal prisons. One of the largest of these is located in 
 Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 6. Crimes of all kinds committed on property of the 
 United States. 
 
 The cases that come before the Circuit Courts of 
 Appeal are appealed to it from the District Courts. 
 
 Injunctions and Habeas Corpus. The federal courts, 
 as well as the state courts, frequently issue injunctions 
 and writs of habeas corpus. Let us explain briefly what 
 these writs are. When a court issues a writ of injunc- 
 tion it commands a person not to do a certain thing. 
 To illustrate during strikes, federal judges sometimes 
 order strikers not to place pickets around factories and 
 railroad yards to prevent new men from taking their 
 places. In some cases where these orders have been 
 violated the labor leaders have been found guilty of 
 "contempt of court," and have been sentenced to 
 prison. The writ of habeas corpus is intended to pro- 
 tect the liberty of a person unlawfully imprisoned, and 
 originated over seven hundred years ago when the 
 English people wrung from King John the Magna 
 Carta. Before that time English kings had imprisoned 
 men without a warrant or a trial. In this country, if 
 any man is put in prison without a warrant charging 
 him with a crime, his friends may apply to a court for 
 .a writ of habeas corpus. In the writ the judge orders 
 
 258 
 
the sheriff or marshal to bring the body of the prisoner 
 before him in order that he may determine whether or 
 not the man is unlawfully held in custody. The Con- 
 stitution of the United States provides that "the privi- 
 lege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended 
 unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public 
 safety may require it." 
 
 Deciding on Constitutionality. The most important 
 function of the Supreme Court is to decide if laws 
 passed by Congress are in accordance with the Con- 
 stitution. For instance, in 1894, Congress passed an 
 act putting a tax on incomes. The Supreme Court 
 declared this law to be unconstitutional, and it was 
 necessary to pass an amendment to the Constitution 
 before the federal government could tax the incomes of 
 citizens. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 Where is the nearest federal court to your home located? 
 
 Who was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? 
 
 What is meant by the statement that federal judges hold office 
 
 "for life or during good behavior"? 
 How are your state judges selected? 
 
 Can you think of any objections to electing judges by the people? 
 Why is the Supreme Court composed of an odd number of 
 
 justices? 
 
 2. Bring to your class newspaper clippings telling of cases tried in 
 federal courts. 
 
 3. Give a brief report of a great case in your American history which 
 was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 259 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 MONEY AND CREDIT 
 
 Problems: To study (1) the "medium of exchange"- 
 and (2) the banking system. 
 
 Goods to Exchange. We have seen that everybody 
 in the community who works has a commodity or a 
 service to sell to other people in exchange for the things 
 he needs. Thus the farmer raises more wheat and corn, 
 pumpkins and watermelons, eggs and chickens than he 
 needs himself. The surplus product of his farm he 
 exchanges with merchants for clothes, shoes, and other 
 articles, for medical attention, for legal services, and for 
 various needs. In the same way, the physician gives 
 his professional services to the farmer for food, to the 
 merchant for goods, and to the lawyer for legal aid. 
 
 Exchange in a Primitive Community. In a primi- 
 tive community people sell their goods and services by 
 what is called barter that is, the farmer pays the mer- 
 chant for a suit of clothes with so many bushels of 
 wheat or so many dozens of eggs. He pays the physi- 
 cian in the same manner, and even gives his share to 
 the support of religion in farm products. But this 
 method of direct exchange is difficult and time-wasting. 
 It is not always possible to find a merchant who hap- 
 pens to want foodstuffs at the same time that the farmer 
 wants clothes or other articles ; and it takes a long time 
 to determine the exact number of bushels that a suit 
 of clothes, for instance, is worth. In fact, hundreds, 
 
 260 
 
even thousands, of years ago barter was found to be 
 unsatisfactory, and another method of exchange was 
 invented. 
 
 The Medium of Exchange. The problem was to 
 find some one thing so universally desirable that every- 
 body would be willing to give goods or services for it 
 at any time. Thus the farmer might buy with his food- 
 stuffs this medium of exchange and when he needed 
 clothes could purchase them with the medium instead 
 of with farm products. Many articles have served, at 
 different times and in different countries, as mediums 
 of exchange. 
 
 Various Mediums. The ancient Greeks and 
 Romans, in their early history, used cattle as a medium 
 of exchange. The Norwegians had wheat as their 
 medium; the Britons, tin; the Russians, tea; the 
 American Indians, strings of shells called wampum ; the 
 New England colonists, beaver skins; the colonial Vir- 
 ginia planters, tobacco; and in many parts of Africa to 
 this day salt is the medium of exchange. Why was it 
 that these various products were found so unsatis- 
 factory as mediums of exchange that people no longer 
 use them? For a number of reasons. Take cattle, for 
 instance. To pay for an article with a certain number 
 of cattle, say five, would not do very well, for cattle 
 differ so much in size and worth that five cattle might 
 mean a considerable value or almost no value at all. 
 Then, again, if one wished to buy an article of small 
 value cattle could not be used. Take tobacco, for an- 
 other instance. When a large tobacco crop was raised 
 in Virginia, its value lessened so greatly that many 
 hundredweight of it were required to buy any article 
 
 261 
 
of consequence. On the other hand, in case of a crop 
 failure the value of tobacco rose so high that a certain 
 weight of it purchased two or three times the amount 
 of goods the same weight purchased when tobacco was 
 plentiful. This constant change, or fluctuation, in the 
 value of tobacco made it a bad medium of exchange. 
 There was another objection to its use for this purpose: 
 it was so bulky that it was hard to carry from place to 
 place to use in making purchases. Yet this difficulty 
 was overcome can you guess how? Well, the tobacco 
 was carried to the nearest public warehouse and exam- 
 ined; the inspector then gave the owner a receipt for 
 it, called a "tobacco note." The owner, in buying 
 goods somewhere else, made over this tobacco note to 
 the seller instead of carrying him the tobacco; and the 
 person holding the tobacco note sold it to some ship 
 captain seeking a cargo at the warehouse where the 
 tobacco was stored. In this roundabout way tobaceo 
 was used as a medium of exchange all through the 
 colonial period. 
 
 Coined Money. The experience of thousands of 
 years has taught mankind that the best medium of 
 exchange is metallic money. Silver and gold are the 
 metals now used for money nearly the world over. 
 Why is this? Because silver and gold are beautiful 
 metals and desirable apart from their employment as 
 money. Furthermore, they are much scarcer than other 
 metals, such as copper and iron, and therefore more 
 valuable. For a long period both gold and silver were 
 standard money that is, all other articles were meas- 
 ured by their value both in gold and silver. A gold 
 dollar had a dollar's worth of gold in it, and a silver 
 
 262 
 
dollar had a dollar's worth of silver. But as silver 
 grew to be far more plentiful than gold, its value went 
 down until there was less than a dollar's worth of silver 
 in a coined silver dollar. It was impossible indeed to 
 put a full dollar's worth of silver in a dollar because the 
 coin would be too large, and besides, the value of silver 
 changed or fluctuated rapidly, though with a constant 
 downward tendency. The result was that most of the 
 governments of the world, including the United States, 
 have made gold the single standard money. People 
 accept silver dollars without fear, because they know 
 that the government will redeem them in gold dollars, 
 if need be, though the silver dollars themselves do not 
 contain a full dollar's worth of silver. 
 
 Paper Money. Both gold and silver money are 
 rather heavy and bulky in large amounts. For this and 
 other reasons, governments issue paper money, which 
 consists of the government's promise to redeem paper 
 bills in metallic money if called on. So long as the 
 credit of the government is good, people do not wish to 
 exchange the paper money for gold or silver, because of 
 the convenience of paper; but if the credit of the gov- 
 ernment declines the paper money goes down in value. 
 Thus in the War between the States, the paper money 
 put out by the Confederate government declined almost 
 to worthlessness in the last part of the war when people 
 saw that the South would probably fail to gain its inde- 
 pendence and so be unable to redeem its paper money 
 in gold or silver. At the same time, the paper money 
 of the United States fell to about half the value of 
 gold, as people realized that years must pass before it 
 could be redeemed in metallic money. In Russia at 
 
 263 
 
the present time many people will not accept the paper 
 money of the Bolshevik government because such 
 immense amounts of it have been issued that every- 
 body knows that it will never be redeemed in metallic 
 money. Consequently the people of Russia have gone 
 back to barter for want of a reliable money or medium 
 of exchange. 
 
 Credit. We have spoken of the "credit of the gov- 
 ernment." Credit means faith in the intention and 
 ability of a borrower or purchaser to pay a debt at some 
 date in the future. Most business is based on credit: 
 if it were not for credit, no large business ventures 
 would be possible, because business men are not able 
 to keep great sums of money on hand at all times. 
 Much of retail trade is conducted on credit. Often a 
 buyer gives the seller a demand on a bank for the 
 purchase money, which demand, written on a piece 
 of paper, we call a check. A check, however, hardly 
 comes under the name of credit, as it is usually sent 
 to the bank on its receipt, and the money for which it 
 calls is either immediately paid to the holder or added 
 to his account. 
 
 Banking. For many centuries there were no recog- 
 nized institutions where people could borrow money 
 when they needed it. In Europe during the Middle 
 Ages, Jews took the place of the bankers of the present 
 day: they loaned money, but as they took great risks 
 in lending it, in a period when law was feeble, they 
 charged a high rate of interest. Besides, they frequently 
 had no regular places of business. A better system was 
 needed, and at the beginning of the modern period, . 
 soon after the discovery of America, regular places for 
 
 65 
 
keeping and lending money sprang tip. We call them 
 banks. The first bankers were goldsmiths, to whom 
 money was carried to be kept because they had large 
 and heavy iron boxes in which they stored their gold 
 and jewels. They were the successors of the Jews of 
 the Middle Ages. Gradually the business of keeping 
 money and lending it at interest was separated from 
 the jewelry business, and banks as we know them 
 came into existence. 
 
 Functions of Banks. The importance of banks has 
 steadily grown with the development of business and 
 industry, until at the present time they are necessary 
 to our civilization. They are the sole places for storing 
 money, because people nowadays almost never keep 
 large sums of money in their homes and places of busi- 
 ness: nearly all business is carried on by means of 
 checks. Many banks, called savings banks, pay 
 depositors three per cent (sometimes four) interest on 
 the money they put on deposit, which is loaned out by 
 the banks at six per cent. The banks lend money to 
 business men on their notes, or promises to pay back 
 at a certain time with interest; to purchasers of real 
 estate, with the real estate itself as security for pay- 
 ment of the loan, and in other ways. They also issue 
 paper money, called bank notes. 
 
 United States Banks. There are several kinds of 
 banks United States banks, state banks, and private 
 banks. United States banks are called national banks, 
 and are under the control and supervision of the United 
 States government. In 1913 the national banking sys- 
 tem was greatly extended by the establishment of the 
 Federal Reserve System. By this the country is 
 
 266 
 
divided into twelve districts, with a Federal Reserve 
 bank in the central city in each district: Richmond, 
 Atlanta, and Dallas are among these centers. All 
 national and many state banks are members of the 
 system. The Federal Reserve banks issue paper money 
 based on property held by the banks: 'these notes 
 members of the system put out as needed. In recent 
 years the United States government has established a 
 number of land banks to lend money to farmers. These 
 last banks are of great value to farmers, who have 
 hitherto had trouble in borrowing money. The busi- 
 ness soundness of the country and the prosperity of the 
 people are dependent, in no small measure, on the bank- 
 ing system, which is one of the features of modern life. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 How did people first exchange their products with each other? 
 
 What are some of the objections to this method? 
 What are some things that have been used as "mediums of 
 
 exchange"? 
 What are the principal metals used for money? What other 
 
 metals are used for smaller money? 
 
 Why has gold been selected as the "single standard" money? 
 What is a check? A note? 
 
 2. Give a description of the rise of banks. 
 
 3. Describe a modern bank. 
 
 4. Find out all you can about the Federal Reserve banking system. 
 
 267 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 HOW THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT RAISES REVENUE 
 
 Problems: (1) To ascertain what our national expenses 
 are; and (2) to find out how revenue is raised to meet these 
 expenses. 
 
 The Expenses of the National Government. Did 
 you ever stop to consider how much money is needed 
 to run the United States government? Thousands of 
 government officials and employees are paid by Uncle 
 Sam; ambassadors are sent to foreign countries; post 
 offices, forts, and battleships must be built; the army 
 is supported; interest must be paid on the public debt; 
 and in hundreds of other ways the government is called 
 upon to expend large sums. At the present time it 
 costs the United States several billion dollars a year to 
 run its government. The members of your class could 
 not count such a vast sum of money in a dozen life- 
 times, even if it were in ten-dollar gold coins. Let us 
 consider how the government raises the money it needs. 
 It has three main sources of revenue: the tariff; reve- 
 nue taxes; the income tax. 
 
 Tariff. The Constitution provides that the federal 
 government alone may levy a tax on imports. The 
 states raise the funds they need mainly by taxing real 
 estate and personal property. The founders of the gov- 
 ernment knew that it would not do for the federal gov- 
 ernment to tax these forms of property also, so they 
 decided to raise revenue mainly by means of a tax on 
 
imported goods. A tariff is an excellent form of tax- 
 ation in so far that the average person never realizes 
 that he is paying it. When you buy a piece of ribbon 
 imported from France, you think you are paying the 
 merchant what it costs to make the ribbon plus a 
 profit, but you are really paying much more: a part of 
 its price has already been paid by the importer to Uncle 
 Sam as a duty and is added to the original cost of the 
 ribbon. In your history class you have seen that the 
 tariff question has been an issue in many national elec- 
 tions. Some people believe in a tariff for revenue only, 
 while others favor a tariff that will protect American- 
 made goods against foreign competition. By making 
 the tariff very high, foreign goods are brought into the 
 country under a heavy disadvantage or are kept out 
 altogether. 
 
 Internal Revenue. You know the meaning of the 
 word internal. As applied to revenue, it refers to the 
 money raised by the federal government through taxes 
 on certain articles produced within our country. No 
 doubt you have often seen government stamps on ciga- 
 rette and cigar boxes. Many a battleship has been built 
 with the money paid for these little stamps. Each gal- 
 lon of alcoholic liquors is also heavily taxed by Uncle 
 Sam. However, since it is now unlawful to manu- 
 facture or sell intoxicating liquors as beverages, little 
 revenue comes from this source. 
 
 Paying for a War. In 1916 the national debt was 
 little more than one billion dollars; it is now nearly 
 twenty -three billions. Most of this huge debt was 
 created during the World War. This is an illustration 
 of the fact that war not only kills off thousands of men, 
 
 269 
 
but leaves tremendous financial burdens for future gen- 
 erations to bear. In war times the ordinary methods 
 of taxation do not produce sufficient funds to meet the 
 needs of the government, and special means of raising 
 money must be devised. This is usually accomplished 
 by special taxes, such as taxes on chewing gum, theater 
 tickets, and other luxuries; on business profits; on in- 
 comes; and by loans, or bond issues. The Liberty 
 Loan was the great bond issue of the World War. 
 
 Income Taxes. The largest source of revenue is the 
 income tax. This tax is levied on all incomes above a 
 certain amount, but large incomes pay a much heavier 
 rate than small ones. Much money is also obtained 
 from a tax on estates when they are inherited by heirs 
 at the death of the owner. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Answer these questions: 
 
 What is a custom house? Smuggling? 
 
 What does one mean by "a moonshiner"? 
 
 What taxes, if any, have you ever paid to Uncle Sam? 
 
 Whom would you consider a "slacker" in the matter of taxation? 
 
 2. Explain how you help the government when you buy War Saving 
 Stamps; also how you help yourself. 
 
 3. Appoint some one to bring a Liberty Bond to class for the purpose 
 of reading the exact words it contains. Examine carefully the interest 
 coupons. 
 
 4. Tell what is meant by an income tax. Men whose income is, let 
 us say, $500,000 a year pay a much larger income tax rate than men who 
 make $4,000. Give some reasons for this. 
 
 270 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 POLITICAL PARTIES 
 
 Problems: (1) To learn the history of the great political 
 parties; and (2) to find out how they work. 
 
 Why We Have Political Parties. Your father is 
 probably either a Democrat or a Republican. That is, 
 he is a member of one of the two great parties which 
 contend for the control of the federal and state govern- 
 ments. Why do we have these parties? The answer is 
 that in a country governed by the people it is necessary 
 to have some method of expressing differences of 
 opinion. So the people who think one way about polit- 
 ical matters form one party, and the people who think 
 another way form another party. Each party presents 
 its platform, or statement of principles, on the eve of 
 an election, and the voters decide between them. The 
 party that wins in the election rules the country accord- 
 ing to its principles until the next election, when the 
 voters have an opportunity to change to another party 
 if they so desire. 
 
 Early Parties. The first parties in the United 
 States were the Federalists, who favored the ratification 
 of the Constitution in 1788, and the Anti-Federalists, 
 who opposed it. The Constitution was ratified, and the 
 Anti-Federalist party went out of existence. It was 
 succeeded some years later by the Democratic-Repub- 
 lican party, organized by Thomas Jefferson. The 
 Federalists had come, by this time, to believe in a 
 
 271 
 
strong central government which should override the 
 states. The Democratic-Republicans, on the other 
 hand, believed in maintaining the full rights of the 
 individual states that is, of strong local government. 
 They also wished to give a large share of power to the 
 mass of the people. In the election of 1800, Jefferson 
 and Burr, the candidates of the Democratic-Repub- 
 licans, were successful. Some years later, in 1812, the 
 United States went to war with England over its rights 
 on the sea. The Federalists opposed this war, and 
 made themselves so unpopular that their party came 
 to an end. 
 
 Later Parties. From 1818 to 1832 there was only 
 one party in the country, the Democratic-Republican, 
 or Democratic, as it later came to be called. In 1832 
 Henry Clay founded a new party, the Whig, which 
 resembled the old Federalist party in advocating a 
 strong federal government at the expense of the rights 
 of the states. These two parties opposed each other 
 until 1852: the Democrats were successful in all but 
 two presidential elections. In the latter year the Whig 
 party went to pieces, only to be succeeded a little later 
 by another party, the Republican, which likewise 
 favored a strong central government. The chief issue 
 in politics now came to be the slavery question. The 
 Democratic party opposed interference with slavery: 
 the Republican party desired to break it up. In 1860 
 the Republican party, with Abraham Lincoln as its 
 presidential candidate, carried the election. The 
 Southern states seceded, and the War between the 
 States followed. After the war the Republicans con- 
 tinued in power for many years. In 1884, however, 
 
 272 
 
Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, was chosen President, 
 and since that time the Democrats have won three 
 presidential elections. Besides these great parties, the 
 principal parties have been the Know-Nothing party of 
 1850-1858; the Greenback party of 1875-1880, which 
 advocated the issue of unlimited paper currency by the 
 government; the Populist party, which supported the 
 free coinage of silver; the Progressive party, which split 
 from the Republican party and then went back to it; 
 and the present Farmer-Labor party. Still others are 
 the Socialist and Socialist-Labor parties. 
 
 Party Conventions. Presidential candidates are 
 chosen by nominating conventions. For months before 
 a presidential election the different parties lay plans for 
 success at the polls. The first step is the holding of 
 state conventions to elect delegates to the national con- 
 ventions of the parties. In some states, presidential 
 candidates are voted for in primaries, although the 
 primary election as employed in selecting presidential 
 candidates is not a success as yet. When the delegates 
 are chosen the number for each state is decided by the 
 party managers, ordinarily in proportion to the number 
 of voters they go to the national convention, which is 
 usually held in Chicago, St. Louis, or some other cen- 
 trally located large city. The streets of the city are 
 hung with flags, and the delegates parade behind bands 
 on their way to hotels and the convention auditorium. 
 An air of intense excitement pervades the city and, 
 indeed, the whole country. The convention is held in a 
 hall capable of seating thousands of people. The first 
 important event is the adoption of a platform. A com- 
 mittee draws up the platform, which is brought before 
 
 273 
 
the convention and adopted. Next c^^cs the nomina- 
 tion of a candidate for President. One noted man after 
 another is offered to the convention in speeches that 
 excite the enthusiasm of the delegates. When all the 
 candidates have been brought forward, the delegates 
 vote by states. The voting continues until some man 
 is chosen. In the Republican convention, a bare 
 majority of delegates select the candidate, but in a 
 Democratic convention a two-thirds majority is neces- 
 sary. After a candidate for President has been nomi- 
 nated, a vice presidential candidate is chosen in the 
 same way. Then the convention breaks up. 
 
 Campaign and Election. A great political party 
 spends millions of dollars in presenting its candidate to 
 the people; this presentation is called the campaign. 
 Headquarters are opened, with hundreds of clerks and 
 stenographers; speakers are employed; literature is 
 sent through the mails, and advertisements are dis- 
 played. Election day arrives at last. There is great 
 excitement throughout the country when the voters go 
 to the polls. When night falls and the polls are closed, 
 the excitement grows intense. In the large cities the 
 newspapers flash searchlights of different colors as soon 
 as the election returns begin to come in, to show which 
 candidate is leading. When, at last, it is known who is 
 elected, the enthusiasm reaches a high pitch. In the 
 presidential election of 1920 more than 26,000,000 
 votes were cast. This was the first presidential election 
 in which women" voted in all the states. 
 
 Inauguration. On March 4 following the election, 
 the newly elected President is put in his office. He 
 announces the members of his cabinet on the eve of the 
 
 274 
 
Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 (275) VOTING BY MACHINE 
 
inauguration. He goes to the White House on the 
 morning of March 4 and rides therefrom to the Capitol, 
 usually at the head of a great procession. At the 
 Capitol he takes the oath of office and returns to the 
 White House. Here he meets his cabinet for the first 
 time, and by the evening of the same day one party 
 has gone out of power and another has come in. This 
 peaceful change of government, in obedience to the will 
 of the people, is one of the most remarkable examples 
 of political soundness the world has ever seen. In 
 many countries the party in power holds a nominal 
 election and counts the votes to suit itself. The weaker 
 party then takes up arms, and a war follows. But in 
 the United States the people cheerfully abide by the 
 decision of the majority, and the outgoing President 
 politely greets the incoming President and often rides 
 with him to the Capitol, though the two men may have 
 been opposing candidates in the preceding election. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Name the political parties that put forward candidates in the last 
 presidential campaign. 
 
 2. Appoint a classmate to report on the tariff plank in both the Repub- 
 lican and Democratic platforms in the last election. 
 
 3. Give the qualifications of a voter in your state and find out where is 
 the nearest voting-place to your school. 
 
 4. Explain what is meant by a corrupt election. 
 
 5. In many states candidates who run for ofBce are required to file a 
 sworn statement setting forth all money expended by them in the election. 
 Why is this required? 
 
 6. Tell what you understand is meant by a political "boss." 
 
 7. Debate: Resolved, That every voter should belong to a political 
 party. 
 
 276 
 
CHAPTER XLI 
 
 NATURALIZATION 
 
 Problems: To learn (1) what is meant by "Naturaliza- 
 tion"; and (2) how a foreigner becomes naturalized. 
 
 Ellis Island. If you should go to Ellis Island, in 
 New York harbor, you would witness a singular sight. 
 Ellis Island is the place where foreigners land and are 
 examined before being admitted to America. There 
 you would see people from every country in Europe and 
 from some countries of Asia. Most of them are poor 
 peasants. In many cases the women carry all the 
 belongings of the family tied up in great bundles, for 
 immigrants seldom have trunks and bags. Some of the 
 immigrants wear the peasant costumes of southern and 
 eastern Europe. In a majority of instances the family 
 consists of mother, father, and children. Very seldom 
 do the newcomers speak English: within the radius of 
 a few yards you might hear half a dozen languages. 
 You would be interested in the children. They are 
 bright-eyed and eager, but frequently dirty, for all for- 
 eigners are not accustomed to American cleanliness. 
 
 Restriction of Immigration. By the law of 1920 the 
 various countries of the world are allowed to send only 
 a certain number of immigrants to America each year. 
 This is done to prevent the country from being swamped 
 by, millions of people from the war-wasted lands of 
 Europe, who could not find work here and who would 
 have to be supported by the United States. For years 
 
 277 
 
past immigrants have been compelled to undergo a 
 medical examination before admission, and those suffer- 
 ing from certain diseases are not allowed to enter the 
 -country. Immigrants are also required to have a small 
 amount of money, to show that they are not paupers 
 seeking a land in which to live without work. 
 
 Causes of Immigration. All of the people of the 
 United States, except Indians, are immigrants or de- 
 scendants of immigrants. The first Americans came 
 three centuries ago and for various reasons. They left 
 Europe partly for religious and political liberty, but for 
 the most part, as people do today, to improve their lot 
 in life. For the last half century the immigrants have 
 come largely from backward and oppressed lands; in 
 most cases they have sought to make a better living 
 than was possible at home. Many thousands of Rus- 
 sian Jews, however, came to this country to escape per- 
 secution. Another cause of immigration has been mili- 
 tary service in European countries. Until recently 
 able-bodied young men in all the lands of continental 
 Europe were required to pass two or three years in the 
 army. Thousands of boys who did not wish to go 
 through this long and severe military training and lose 
 several years from their work came to America. An- 
 other cause that has brought many fairly prosperous 
 people to the United States has been the larger oppor- 
 tunities it offers : business men in England particularly 
 move to America for this reason. All of these causes, 
 working together, have drawn to this country millions 
 of people, and the population has grown by leaps and 
 bounds. 
 
 Character of Immigrants. The people who colonized 
 
 278 
 
America were mainly Englishmen, together with Scotch, 
 Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Germans, and French. The Eng- 
 lish, being a large majority, gave the country an English 
 flavor, but the people of other blood also did much to 
 make America what it is. When America threw off the 
 yoke of England and became an independent republic, 
 the Americans were so inspired with the spirit of free- 
 dom and so full of sympathy with the downtrodden 
 people of Europe that they made the land the "asylum 
 of the oppressed" and welcomed all comers to our 
 shores. The immigrants were glad to come and proud 
 to be American citizens: they upheld our institutions 
 enthusiastically. But late in the nineteenth century 
 another class of immigrants began to come to America- 
 people who thought that property should be in common 
 and even that there should be no government at all. 
 Some of these latter immigrants have sought to under- 
 mine our country by awakening discontent, declaring 
 that the people do not have their full rights. They do 
 not value the chance to make a living in a free and happy 
 country that America offers: usually they wish to live 
 without work and at the expense of other people. It 
 is only just to say, however, that immigrants of this 
 sort are not numerous. The great majority of present- 
 day immigrants, like those of the past, welcome the 
 chance to live in the United States, and the number of 
 newcomers who ask entrance to this country is fully as 
 large as the law provides for. 
 
 Danger from the Immigrants. Some of these immi- 
 grants bring a danger to America, and that is ignorance 
 of our methods of government. Many of them come 
 from countries where the people in the past have had 
 
 279 
 
little or no voice in the government. They did not vote 
 for their king, because kings are not elected. The laws 
 were made for them, not by them. It is difficult for 
 these immigrants, then, to learn that they have a voice 
 in the government of the United States, if they become 
 citizens, and that a part of the responsibility of the gov- 
 ernment is theirs. When they become citizens, in the 
 large cities they sometimes vote according to the dic- 
 tation of some "boss" and without much idea as to 
 what they vote for. This makes it possible for corrupt 
 political "machines" to stay in power and misrule some 
 of our greatest cities. A movement is now under way 
 in all parts of the land to Americanize foreign-born 
 citizens of recent arrival and teach them their duty 
 to the country of which they are now a part. In 
 recent years many of them have become thoroughly 
 Americanized and take an important share in our 
 political life. 
 
 Who a Citizen Is. The question may be asked, 
 "Who are citizens?" In the first place, most of the 
 boys and girls in your class are citizens of the United 
 States by right of birth. If you were born in the United 
 States, you are a citizen unless your father was a for- 
 eigner and you wish to claim citizenship in a foreign 
 country. If you are the son or daughter of a citizen 
 you are a citizen, no matter where you were born. If 
 you came with your parents to this country as a baby, 
 and your father has not become a citizen, you are not 
 a citizen and must be naturalized before you can vote. 
 In other words, you must go through the process by 
 means of which foreigners are made citizens. Any resi- 
 dent of the United States may become a citizen if he 
 
 280 
 
has not been convicted of crime. Most of the foreigners 
 who enter America seek citizenship as soon as the law 
 allows. A few people live in the country all their lives 
 without becoming citizens, and they sometimes get into 
 serious trouble by failing to acquire citizenship. In the 
 World War the property of many Germans was seized 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 BECOMING A CITIZEN 
 
 by the government, though in some cases the people so 
 suffering had lived in America for years. 
 
 The Way to Become a Citizen. The manner in 
 which a foreigner becomes a citizen is interesting. He 
 first files a Declaration of Intention showing that he 
 wishes to be a citizen of the United States. The next 
 stage is to file the Second Paper or Petition for Natural- 
 
 281 
 
ization. The last step is for the applicant to appear 
 before the judge of a United States court and prove 
 that he has lived in this country for five years and that 
 he understands something about our government. He 
 then takes the oath of allegiance, in which he solemnly 
 swears to be a true and faithful citizen of this country 
 and to give up allegiance to other lands. When a for- 
 eigner becomes a citizen, his wife and children are 
 made citizens by that act and thus do not need to be 
 naturalized themselves. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Tell a story about a successful foreigner in your community or 
 your nearest town. 
 
 2. Tell a story you have read of a distinguished naturalized citizen. 
 
 3. Find in a newspaper or magazine an incident of Ellis Island. 
 
 282 
 
CHAPTER XLII 
 
 EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Problems: (1) To trace the growth of our country; and 
 (2) to show how this growth was brought about. 
 
 How a Continent Was Won. "Westward the 
 Course of Empire Takes Its Way," is the title of a 
 famous picture that adorns the walls of the Capitol at 
 Washington. In this painting you see the hardy 
 pioneers crossing the mountains the men on horse- 
 back and the women and children in covered wagons 
 in search of new and fertile lands toward the setting 
 sun. How our country grew from thirteen states along 
 the Atlantic coast until it reached the Pacific Ocean is 
 a story that all American boys and girls should know. 
 In this chapter you may read a few of the most stirring 
 parts of this wonderful tale. 
 
 The Country We Desired. In the year 1800 the 
 land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Moun- 
 tains belonged to Spain. What of the wild region 
 beyond the Rockies? It was unknown to the people of 
 our country. Spain also owned the city of New Orleans 
 and a narrow strip of land on the eastern bank of the 
 Mississippi. The fact that the mouth of the Mississippi 
 was held by Spain aroused much dissatisfaction in 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and other states near the Ohio 
 River; for there were no railroads in that day, and the 
 only way in which the people of those states could send 
 their products to the outside world was by the Missis- 
 
 283 
 
sippi River. Spain could close its mouth to our com- 
 merce at any time. This dissatisfaction grew when in 
 the year 1800 Spain turned over the Louisiana Terri- 
 tory to France. Napoleon was at the head of the 
 government in France at that time, and many thought 
 that he wished to conquer the world. Fearing his power, 
 the people of our country demanded that something be 
 done to secure the lower part of the Mississippi. 
 
 The Louisiana Purchase. Thomas Jefferson, who 
 was President of the United States at the time, told 
 Robert R. Livingston, our minister to France, to try to 
 buy a part of the Louisiana Territory; so anxious was 
 he to bring this about that he sent James Monroe to 
 assist Livingston. To the surprise of the government, 
 France agreed to sell the whole territory to us for the 
 sum of $15,000,000. Napoleon realized that England 
 with her great navy could easily conquer the territory, 
 so he wisely decided to take this price, which was con- 
 sidered a very large sum of money at that time (1803). 
 Many people were opposed to the Louisiana Purchase, 
 and claimed that Jefferson violated the Constitution in 
 making it. But when we consider the great states that 
 have been formed out of the vast territory, and the 
 fact that all this fertile land cost less than three cents 
 an acre, we must realize that Jefferson was very wise 
 in buying it. When the Louisiana Purchase treaty had 
 been signed in Paris, Livingston said to Monroe, "We 
 have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our 
 lives." 
 
 The Battle of the Alamo. At San Antonio, Texas, 
 is an old Spanish mission or church, called the Alamo, 
 which is famous in American history because within its 
 
 284 
 
walls American frontiersmen fought one of the bravest 
 battles in all the world's history. As you doubtless 
 know, Texas was once a part of Mexico, but the Ameri- 
 can pioneers who settled the country were unwilling to 
 live under Mexican rule, and began a struggle for inde- 
 pendence. In this war the battle of the Alamo was 
 fought. Santa Anna, the Mexican general, entered 
 San Antonio with an army of several thousand soldiers. 
 The Texan commander, Colonel Travis, decided to hold 
 the Alamo, although he had only one hundred 'and 
 eighty men. Santa Anna demanded a surrender, and, 
 when Travis refused, hoisted a red flag to show that no 
 mercy would be shown the defenders. Attacks were 
 made by the Mexicans through the last days of Febru- 
 ary, 1836, but the brave defenders beat the enemy off. 
 Travis sent out an appeal for reinforcements. His 
 courier could find only thirty-two men, but they an- 
 swered the call, cut their way through the Mexican 
 army, and entered the Alamo just three days before 
 the final assault. These men could have saved their 
 lives by refusing to answer Colonel Travis's call, but 
 like true Americans they went to the help of their com- 
 rades at any cost. On March 6 the last attack was 
 made. Time after time the defenders beat back the 
 enemy, but finally the Mexicans entered the fort, where 
 the Americans met them with bowie knives and pistols 
 in a terrible hand-to-hand fight. Travis, David 
 Crockett, Colonel Bowie, and all the Americans were 
 slain. The. monument erected to their memory bears 
 this inscription: "Thermopylae had her Messenger of 
 Defeat; the Alamo had None." Texas finally freed 
 herself from Mexican rule and joined the United States 
 
 285 
 
in 1845. This brought on a war between Mexico and 
 the United States, in which our country was successful. 
 Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California 
 were added to the United States as a result of it. 
 
 The Forty-Niners. You have studied in your his- 
 tory about the discovery of gold in California in 1849, 
 and you know of the great rush of people who went 
 there seeking fortune. But you do not know, perhaps,- 
 of the hardships suffered by those gold hunters in cross- 
 ing the prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and the deserts 
 of the Far West. There were three ways in which people 
 went to California, in the gold rush. The first was 
 around Cape Horn, the second across the Isthmus of 
 Panama, and the third the overland route. It was the 
 overland route that was especially full of hardships and 
 dangers. The gold seekers usually gathered in large 
 bands before crossing the Rockies. Sometimes there 
 would be several hundred people in a party, and their 
 covered wagons formed a caravan. The men rode on 
 horses with guns swinging over their shoulders ; usually 
 at their head was a famous scout who knew all the 
 trails across the vast stretch of desert between the 
 Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. This scout 
 knew how to avoid hostile bands of Indians, and where 
 to find streams of water; he guided the settlers on their 
 perilous journey. What an interesting trip it must 
 have been, not only for the brave men, but also for the 
 women and children! Hundreds of Forty-niners died 
 in making the journey. Many were killed by hostile 
 Indians; others were lost in the deserts and died of 
 thirst and starvation. The majority, however, made the 
 journey in safety. They opened the Western country 
 
 286 
 
Copyright, Publishers Photo Service 
 
 (287) A SCENE IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 
 
and settled California and the other Pacific coast 
 states, which are now among the richest in the Union. 
 
 The First Continental Railroad. For many years 
 after the Pacific coast was settled, the only method of 
 crossing the immense region from the Rockies to the 
 Sierra Nevada was by stagecoach and wagons. This 
 trip took weeks and was full of peril. When railroads 
 began to be built in the East, people dreamed of a rail- 
 road that would extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 This was such a vast undertaking that Congress was 
 asked to help. Congress therefore passed an act in the 
 year 1862 to aid in the building of a railroad and tele- 
 graph line from the Mississippi River to the Pacific 
 Ocean. The two companies organized to build the rail- 
 road were to receive sections of land on each side of the 
 roadbed, in addition to $16,000 for every mile of track 
 laid. The companies employed thousands of laborers, 
 and engaged in a great race, one working eastward and 
 the other westward. They finally met near Salt Lake 
 City in 1869. The last tie was made of California 
 laurel, and a great crowd gathered to see the last spike 
 driven into it. This spike was of pure gold and was 
 struck by a silver hammer. There was great rejoicing 
 over the completion of the railway. Altogether it cost 
 the government almost a hundred million dollars and 
 a strip of land ten miles wide from the Missouri River 
 to the Pacific coast, but it opened the great West to 
 homeseekers and made possible the building of rich and 
 populous states in a wilderness once uninhabited by 
 man. 
 
 Other Territory. In 1867 the United States ac- 
 quired Alaska. Later the Sandwich Islands joined the 
 
 288 
 
United States. Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands 
 were won in the Spanish-American War. A few years 
 ago the United States bought the Virgin Islands from 
 Denmark. 
 
 The Panama Canal. No one thing shows the great- 
 ness of America more than the building of the Panama 
 
 Copyright, Underwood and Underwood 
 
 GATUN LOCKS, PANAMA CANAL 
 
 Canal. Just as Thomas Jefferson is entitled to the 
 gratitude of Americans for buying the Louisiana Ter- 
 ritory, so President Roosevelt will always be remem- 
 bered for building the Panama Canal. The French first 
 tried to construct a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. 
 They began work in 1879, but after spending a vast 
 sum of money they failed because of inadequate 
 
 289 
 
machinery, malaria, and yellow fever. The United 
 States sought for years to negotiate a treaty with the 
 republic of Colombia securing the right to dig a canal. 
 Finally the state of Panama set up a separate govern- 
 ment, recognized by President Roosevelt, and signed a 
 treaty giving the United States a canal zone across 
 the Isthmus. We paid Panama $10,000,000 for these 
 rights. President Roosevelt then appointed a Canal 
 Commission, whose first task was to decide upon the 
 type of canal to be built. The French had tried to 
 build a sea-level canal; we wisely decided upon a lock 
 waterway. 
 
 Features of the Canal. This mighty piece of work 
 was begun in 1904, and for ten years thirty -seven 
 thousand workmen were busy day and night carrying 
 on the work. The main features of the canal are: 
 
 1. The Gatun Dam near the Atlantic coast. This 
 great dam, one and a half miles long and a half mile 
 wide at its base, was built to hold the waters of the 
 Chagres River, thereby forming a lake twenty-two 
 miles long. 
 
 2. The Culebra Cut. Millions of tons of rock and 
 dirt were removed by great steam shovels from this cut 
 through the highest point on the canal route. There 
 were frequent " slides >? in the cut, which for a time baf- 
 fled the engineers in charge; but finally the required 
 depth was reached. 
 
 3. The Locks. Six great double locks were built for 
 the canal, all operated by electricity generated by the 
 water of Gatun Dam. 
 
 Makers of the Canal. The length of the canal is 
 forty miles from shore to shore, and the total cost in 
 
 290 
 
money was $375,000,000. Most of the laborers were 
 Chinese coolies and seasoned tropical workers from the 
 West Indies. In addition to Theodore Roosevelt, two 
 men acquired fame in the building of the canal- 
 Major G. W. Goethals, the chief engineer in charge, and 
 Colonel William C. Gorgas, who made the Canal Zone 
 sanitary. It is estimated that Colonel Gorgas, by abol- 
 ishing malaria and yellow fever from the Canal Zone, 
 saved thousands of lives and many millions of dollars. 
 You doubtless know the advantages of the Panama 
 Canal in peace and war. Do not forget that this was 
 the crowning act in the winning of a continent for our 
 country and the greatest modern engineering achieve- 
 ment of any nation. 
 
 CLUB ACTIVITIES 
 
 1. Use the following questions for a review game. Add to the list 
 questions which you think important: 
 
 In the year 1800, to whom belonged all the territory from the 
 Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains now embraced 
 in the United States? 
 
 How did the United States acquire this territory? 
 
 Against what country did Texas have to fight to gain its freedom? 
 
 When did it become a part of the United States? 
 
 Who were the "Forty-niners"? 
 
 How was the first transcontinental railroad built? 
 
 2. Describe the Panama Canal and tell how it was built. 
 
 3. Draw a map of the United States showing the original thirteen state* 
 and all the accessions of territory. 
 
 291 
 
CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 AMERICA AND THE WORLD 
 
 The Family of Nations. Columbus made his famous 
 voyage of discovery in three tiny ships, pictures of 
 which you have doubtless seen in your school histories. 
 It took him three months to cross the sea. In 1492 
 there were no steamships or railroads, and while some 
 commerce was carried on, yet each nation lived largely 
 to itself. As there were no newspapers, the people of 
 one nation knew little about what was happening in 
 other parts of the world. Foreigners were looked upon 
 with suspicion, and each country feared and distrusted 
 its neighbors. 
 
 The World Today. How different the world is 
 today! Steamships, railroads, telegraph and cable lines, 
 and daily newspapers have brought the people of Eng- 
 land and China closer to us than Massachusetts was to 
 Georgia in Revolutionary days. You can take up the 
 morning paper and read about the leading events that 
 occurred yesterday in Japan, South Africa, Argentina, 
 and Poland. Each nation carries on an extensive com- 
 merce with the rest of the world, and is, in fact, depend- 
 ent upon other nations for many things that make life 
 pleasant. To realize how extensive international com- 
 merce is just look at the breakfast table. The sugar 
 came perhaps from Cuba, the bananas from Central 
 America, the coffee from Brazil, the pepper from the 
 islands of Asia, the tea from China, and some of the 
 
 292 
 
dishes from European countries. 'The dependence of 
 each nation upon the rest of the world is best appre- 
 ciated during a war. At the breaking out of the World 
 War Germany had merchant, ships on every sea; but 
 when England blockaded her ports, the German people 
 began to feel the pangs of hunger and the nations 
 dependent on her for dyestuffs and other articles found 
 themselves greatly inconvenienced. Almost the entire 
 globe was drawn into the war, because what affects one 
 part of the world affects the whole. It has come about 
 that the world of today is just one large community. 
 No nation can say: "We will live to ourselves and let 
 other nations do likewise." America is a member of 
 the family of nations and, as such, must play a great 
 part not only in the development of its own resources 
 but in the building up of other nations. 
 
 America the Melting Pot. We should feel kindly 
 towards other nations, because our citizens have come 
 from all parts of the world. Burial services were held 
 in some city over the remains of five soldiers who had 
 been killed in the Argonne-Meuse battle. These boys 
 had been buried in an American cemetery in France, 
 where thousands of our soldiers lie, but at the request 
 of their parents their remains were brought back to this 
 country. in a United States battleship for final burial. 
 The newspapers gave the nationality of the fathers of 
 these boys. One was a Greek, another an Italian, the 
 third an Austrian, and the remaining two came from 
 the original stock of early settlers. This incident should 
 impress on us the truth that our country owes a great 
 debt to the millions of immigrants who have come to 
 our shores from every country of Europe. They have 
 
 293 
 
done their part in developing farms, mines, and fac- 
 tories of our land; they and their children are loyal 
 Americans. 
 
 The World War. That America is truly a member 
 of a family of nations is shown by her entrance into the 
 World War. We tried to keep out of the war, but could 
 not; for, as stated before, our welfare is bound up with 
 that of every other nation. We sent two million sol- 
 diers to France, and loaned billions of dollars to our 
 allies, not for the purpose of gaining territory for our- 
 selves, but to make the world "a free and safe place to 
 live in." We came out of the war the strongest and 
 richest nation in the world, and other countries now 
 look to us for help and guidance. 
 
 American Ideals. As an American you should be 
 proud of the ideals of your country and of their world- 
 wide influence. One American ideal is that of political 
 liberty. When Thomas Jefferson penned the Decla- 
 ration of Independence, he wrote it not for our country 
 alone but for all countries. Since his day the principles 
 of the Declaration have been adopted by practically the 
 whole world. Kings no longer rule tyrannically over 
 their subjects, but in nearly every nation the people 
 have the right to decide by their ballots how the affairs 
 of the country shall be conducted. Another ideal that 
 America has given to the world is that of kindness 
 toward other nations. This may be illustrated by our 
 dealings with China. In the year 1900 the leading 
 nations of Europe were seeking to dismember China by 
 taking control of her territory and by obtaining ex- 
 clusive trading rights for themselves in certain areas. 
 The United States induced these nations to adopt the 
 
 294 
 
"Open Door" policy, by which China should be left 
 her whole territory and each nation be given right to 
 trade with all parts of the country. About this time 
 the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and Chinese mobs 
 killed many foreigners. The great powers, including 
 the United States, sent armed forces to China to put 
 down the rebellion. The nations interested immediately 
 demanded a huge indemnity of China. To these 
 
 Copyright, Clinedinst 
 
 THE PAN-AMERICAN BUILDING 
 
 demands our country objected, and the greater part of 
 the indemnity finally awarded America was canceled 
 by an act of Congress. So grateful did China feel 
 toward us that she decided to use the canceled indem- 
 nity to send Chinese students to attend our colleges 
 and universities. 
 
 World Peace. A third noble ideal of America is 
 that of world peace. One of the most beautiful build- 
 
 295 
 
ings in our national capital is that of the Pan-American 
 Union, organized for the purpose of promoting peace, 
 friendship, and commerce among all the nations of the 
 Western Hemisphere. The United States, it is needless 
 to say, was the leading spirit in the launching of this 
 movement. In The Hague, the capital of Holland, there 
 is a beautiful building called the Palace of Peace, where 
 the International Court of Arbitration met to try to 
 settle peaceably disputes that arise between nations. 
 An American gave $1,500,000 for the erection of this 
 building, and the United States has always taken a 
 leading part in the efforts to secure permanent peace. 
 President Wilson at the conference held at Versailles at 
 the close of the World War ably advocated our ideals. 
 The Armament Conference of 1921, held in Washing- 
 ton, was a further effort to secure world peace. It is 
 hoped that the American ideals of justice and fairness 
 to others will prevail throughout the world. 
 
 THE FATHERLAND 
 
 Where is the true man's fatherland? 
 Is it where he by chance is born? 
 Doth not the yearning spirit scorn 
 In such scant borders to be spanned? 
 Oh, yes ! his fatherland must be 
 As the blue heaven wide and free! 
 
 Is it alone where freedom is, 
 Where God is God and man is man? 
 Doth he not claim a broader span 
 For the soul's love of home than this? 
 Oh yes ! his fatherland must be 
 As the blue heaven wide and free! 
 
 297 
 
Where'er a human heart doth wear 
 
 Joy's myrtle-wreath or sorrow's gyves, 
 
 Where'er a human spirit strives 
 
 After a life more true and fair, 
 
 There is the true man's birthplace grand, 
 
 His is a world- wide fatherland! 
 
 Where'er a single slave doth pine, 
 Where'er one man may help another 
 Thank God for such a birthright, brother, 
 That spot of earth is thine and mine ! 
 There is the true man's birthright grand, 
 His is a world- wide fatherland! 
 
 JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 
 
 298 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 I 
 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS 
 
 The familiar maxim, "Learn to do by doing," should 
 probably be applied to the subject of civics more than to 
 any other study. A dry question-and-answer study of the 
 subject brings little result. The only way for children to 
 become good citizens is for them to be good citizens at home 
 and in school. With this thought in view the authors have 
 outlined a plan which they believe will bring about the proper 
 study of citizenship. In the first chapter it is suggested that 
 the class be organized as a civics club. At the end of each 
 chapter certain work is assigned the club. It is expected 
 that the president and the executive committee, with the aid 
 of the teacher, will assign the topics or projects to com- 
 mittees, giving each child in the class something to do. 
 Below a few lessons are worked out which will help an in- 
 experienced teacher plan other lessons. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF A Civics CLUB 
 (See Chapter I) 
 
 i 
 
 This lesson should be read in class silently, the children 
 following directions given by the teacher. At the end of the 
 lesson, after a brief summary of the facts gained, the teacher 
 may say: "We have learned how a club in another school 
 was organized. Would you like to organize a similar club?" 
 (A vote is taken and the question decided in favor of the 
 organization.) 
 
 TEACHER: Have you any suggestions to make? 
 
 299 
 
PUPIL: Committees should be appointed in the school. 
 (There is a full discussion of this question.) 
 
 TEACHER: You agree that committees should be ap- 
 pointed, and upon your suggestion I shall now appoint the 
 following committees. Every child in the class will be 
 appointed on some committee. 
 
 The teacher appoints the following committees: Com- 
 mittee on Name of Organization, Committee on Constitu- 
 tion, Committee on Pledge, Committee on Slogans, Com- 
 mittee on Time and Place of Meeting. These committees 
 are temporary committees and their work will have been 
 finished when the organization has been completed. Per- 
 manent committees will be appointed by the officers of the 
 club after organization and as the need for them is developed. 
 
 TEACHER : The boy or girl whose name appears first upon 
 a committee is chairman of that committee and must be 
 prepared to make the report. It is the duty of a chairman to 
 call his committee together at a certain time. I would 
 suggest that the committees meet in different parts of the 
 room immediately after this period or at the close of school. 
 I shall be at my desk ready to help you in any way if you 
 wish to come to me for suggestions. It may be that some 
 of you may think it advisable to wait and get aid from your 
 father or mother and have another meeting. That is prob- 
 ably a good plan. Remember that a report is expected from 
 every committee when the class meets tomorrow. 
 
 ii 
 
 When the class meets on the second day, the teacher calls 
 for the reports of the committees in the following order: 
 Name of the organization. 
 Constitution. 
 Pledge. 
 Slogan. 
 Time and Place of Meeting. 
 
 300 
 
After these reports have been received and acted on, the 
 class should proceed to the election of officers. 
 
 The teacher should now have a discussion as to the best 
 way in which the newly organized club can further the study 
 of civics. The children may be led to the conclusion that 
 committees comprising the whole class should be appointed 
 each day by the president and the teacher, to report 
 on the topics or projects at the end of each lesson in the 
 textbook, these reports to be given at the beginning of each 
 period. 
 
 The teacher then assigns Chapter Two for study and 
 appoints committees to report on the various topics at the 
 end of the chapter. After this the president confers with the 
 teacher each day as to the appointment of committees. 
 
 COMMUNITY STUDY 
 (See Chapters II and III) 
 
 The teacher should call for the reports of the various 
 committees. Each report should be followed by a full dis- 
 cussion in which the whole class participates. The lessons 
 will fail of their purpose if they merely end with a report on 
 what can be done for the community. Steps should be taken 
 to carry out the suggestions made. Perhaps a committee 
 might be appointed to appear before the town council to 
 urge the adoption of some measure for the welfare of the 
 community. . 
 
 In Chapter III the teacher has a chance in appointing 
 committees to improve the school to organize real projects 
 which will probably keep several committees busy during 
 the entire year. Once a week, on Friday perhaps, these 
 committees should make reports. They should make posters 
 and do everything which will promote the work of their 
 committees. In this way they will be live, working com- 
 mittees. 
 
 301 
 
A question is given at the end of Chapter III for class 
 discussion. Of course the teacher must skillfully lead the 
 children to right conclusions. The following brief outline 
 may serve as a suggestion: 
 
 TEACHER: Should children receive a weekly allowance 
 for chores done at home? 
 
 FRANK: I don't think they should. My father takes care 
 of me, gives me food, and sends me to school. I think it is 
 my duty to do everything I am called upon to do at home 
 without pay. 
 
 MARY: I don't agree with Frank. I have to go to my 
 father for spending money. I should not have to ask him for 
 a nickel every time I need one. If he would give me a regular 
 allowance it would enable me to plan how to spend my 
 money. 
 
 SARAH: I agree with Mary. I know my father loses 
 patience sometimes when I ask him for money. I really am 
 afraid to ask him at times. It would certainly be much 
 better if I knew beforehand what I am to get. 
 
 JOHN : Some boys and girls do not do any work at home 
 at all. Should they be paid for doing nothing? 
 
 JAMES : One advantage of the plan is that every boy and 
 girl is required to do certain things for the benefit of the 
 home. I agree with the girls that the plan is a good one. 
 
 TEACHER : We will now write upon the blackboard some 
 of the advantages and disadvantages of receiving a weekly 
 allowance for chores done. 
 
 Advantages 
 
 1. It makes every child a helper in the home. 
 
 2. It does away with the need of asking parents for 
 money. 
 
 3. It makes the child a responsible spender. 
 
 4. It tends to promote thrift 
 
 302 
 
Disadvantages 
 
 1. Children should feel it their duty to do chores without 
 expecting a reward. 
 
 2. In some homes there are no chores to do. 
 
 TEACHER : We will leave this question for your consider- 
 ation until tomorrow, when we will take a written vote on it. 
 
 THE PLAYGROUND COURAGE AND FAIR PLAY 
 (See Chapters V and VI) 
 
 By having the pupils to work out the suggestions offered 
 at the end of these chapters, the teacher will be training boys 
 and girls in leadership. She should be on the alert and see 
 that timid children take some part in the general activities. 
 Aside from the civic value of the work, there is the good which 
 comes to the school. Working committees make a live, 
 dynamic school. 
 
 HEALTH 
 (See Chapters VII, XVI, and XXX) 
 
 That " Charity begins at home " is a proverb which applies 
 most forcefully here. The teacher should look after the 
 sanitary conditions of her school or schoolroom. She should 
 see that the room is clean and well ventilated, and if she is 
 in a country school she should see that the grounds are well 
 kept and that sanitary conditions prevail in all outhouses. 
 In her own classroom she should look carefully into the 
 physical condition of her pupils, especially as to their eye- 
 sight and hearing. 
 
 Organize a clean-up squad for the school and for the 
 streets. Perhaps the boys can secure the use of an unsightly 
 vacant lot and turn it into an attractive playground, in this 
 way performing two civic duties. Boys and girls may take def- 
 inite steps toward planting flowers and having school gardens. 
 
 In connection with the lesson in Chapter XVI, a cam- 
 
 303 
 
paign against flies and mosquitoes should be inaugurated. 
 The following outline may help in an anti-mosquito cam- 
 paign: HQW to F . ght the Mogquito 
 
 1. Know all the facts concerning breeding: that mos- 
 quitoes breed in rain barrels, guttering of houses, and in any 
 standing water. Wiggletails are usually found in such 
 places, and where there are wiggletails there will be mos- 
 quitoes. 
 
 2. Make a survey in the neighborhood to locate breeding 
 places. Draw a map which shows these. (These surveys 
 may be made in the winter when no active work can be done.) 
 
 3. Learn the different methods of getting rid of the pests. 
 By a simple experiment you can find out the easiest way. 
 Put a mosquito netting over a glass of water which contains 
 wiggletails and watch them develop. You will see that they 
 come to the surface of the water to breathe. Pour oil on 
 top of the water and the mosquito will die. If oil is poured 
 in rain barrels and on other standing water, the mosquitoes 
 will be exterminated. If the surface is too great for this 
 treatment, the water should be drained. 
 
 4. See that steps are taken to exterminate mosquitoes in 
 your community. Take your map to your health officer and 
 offer your services in the campaign. 
 
 A similar campaign should be planned for the extermi- 
 nation of flies. The children can make a survey of a block in 
 the winter and locate breeding places stables, uncovered 
 garbage, compost, etc. and take steps to have these 
 removed. 
 
 THE COUNTY 
 (See Chapter XI) 
 
 Through the County Field Day, the County Fair, or 
 through other county contests the teacher should arouse 
 interest in county affairs. 
 
 304 
 
VOCATIONAL STUDY 
 (See Chapters XV and XXIX) 
 
 It is not too early for children to be thinking of their 
 life work, and the teacher should make this lesson a vital one. 
 This is the time for vocational guidance. 
 
 II 
 MEETING OF A JUNIOR CITIZENS CLUB 
 
 The following is a partial report of a meeting of an eighth 
 grade class which had organized itself as a town meeting. 
 The account is self-explanatory. It will be found very 
 suggestive. 
 
 Irvington School. 
 
 8-B Grade. January 27, 1921. 
 
 MARGARET COOK (MAYOR OF ROWEN) : The meeting 
 will please come to order. We will rise and say the oath. 
 
 THE MAYOR: Will the minutes of our last meeting now 
 be read? 
 
 THE SECRETARY : The last meeting of the citizens of 
 Rowen was held in Room 9, December 17, 1920. 
 
 The meeting, as usual, was opened with the oath. Our 
 Mayor next announced that the subject for discussion was 
 "Light." Mr. Winders spoke of the advantage of electric 
 light. Miss Piersol argued that gas was cheaper for light, 
 giving as one advantage that it had been found in sufficient 
 quantities near Rowen. The floor was open for general 
 discussion. Immediately afterward a vote was taken by 
 which it was decided we should use electricity from a plant 
 to be built in Rowen. 
 
 Mr. Pritchard spoke of bridges and pointed out the 
 advantages of different kinds. The meeting then adjourned 
 by motion. 
 
 305 
 
Unfinished business was taken up at a special meeting, 
 Monday, January 3, 1921. The question of a bridge was 
 again introduced. Miss Layman recommended a public 
 bridge, and following her Mr. Burnett spoke in favor of a 
 private bridge owned by a share-selling concern. The floor 
 was opened for general discussion on bridges. Following that 
 a vote was taken and it was decided that we build a public 
 bridge with a concrete foundation. 
 
 Adjournment on motion. 
 
 THE MAYOR: Are there any corrections of these minutes? 
 If not, they will stand approved as read. 
 
 As this is our last meeting we have planned a program 
 showing the origin and development of the town of Rowen. 
 We have with us today some of Rowen's former citizens, to 
 whom we wish to show the improvement and advancement 
 of our town since they left. We have also some of Rowen's 
 future citizens with us, to whom we are leaving the town, 
 and we are very glad to see so many visitors with us today. 
 I have asked Miss Nordstrom to tell us the purpose of this 
 town meeting and the way in which these meetings started. 
 Miss Nordstrom. 
 
 PHYLIS NORDSTROM: I have been asked to tell you 
 something about our town meetings. This town was trans- 
 mitted to us from an 8-B class. It is transmitted from 
 one 8-B class to another, and in that way each class has 
 a chance to learn how to carry on and conduct these town 
 meetings. I think we have made them interesting and 
 profitable. 
 
 In planning our town we inquired of other small towns in 
 the state how business is carried on. One citizen wrote to her 
 aunt to find out about lights, so it is by inquiry and obser- 
 vation that we try to make our town as modern and beautiful 
 as any other town in our state. We citizens of Rowen are 
 proud to say we transmit this city more beautiful than it was 
 
 306 
 
transmit! 3d to us, and we hope the incoming citizens will do 
 the same thing. 
 
 THE MAYOR: There were many things to be considered 
 in planning this town. Miss Brenton will tell us something 
 of this. 
 
 FLORA BRENTON : When we began this Miss B , our 
 
 teacher, suggested that instead of studying civics in the 
 usual way we plan a town and run it the way a small town 
 is run to-day. All the pupils approved of this, so the town 
 was planned and named. When it came to choosing a site, 
 ten pupils were sent to survey Indiana and find a site for the 
 town. After several days' survey, a vote was taken and the 
 site where Rowen now stands was chosen. There are many 
 reasons for this site. One is that the soil is very fertile and 
 there are maple and oak trees near it. Then Indianapolis is 
 only a few hours ride, and Shelbyville only ten miles away. 
 
 Next a name must be given to this beautiful city, and a 
 committee was appointed and several names brought before 
 it; and as the name "Rowen" received the most votes that 
 was the name given the town. 
 
 But a place for a city, a plari and a name is not enough; 
 there must be some way by which traffic can be handled. 
 The checker-board plan, which is that of most cities in the 
 United States was chosen that is, a plan with all the streets 
 crossing at right angles, and with few or no diagonal streets. 
 This does away with all crooked and irregular streets. 
 
 We are glad, in transmitting Rowen, to see some pioneers 
 and former citizens here, and also to see the incoming citizens. 
 We know you will do your part well while running the town 
 and when it comes time for you to move you will hate to 
 move as much as we hate to leave today. 
 
 THE MAYOR: The former citizens of Rowen laid a 
 good foundation for our work. Miss Gray will tell us what 
 they accomplished. 
 
 307 
 
BERNICE GRAY: Present and future citizens of Rowen: 
 I shall endeavor to make you realize all the inhabitants 
 before us have done to make our town what it is to-day. In 
 the pioneer work the selecting of a site so conveniently near 
 the interurban line was a great advantage. Then the planning 
 of the streets in Rowen required great thought and skill also. 
 Another aid in the development was Main Street, which was 
 put in first as a gravel road. The pioneers contributed books 
 for a day library, which affords better education for our 
 children, and also is a great pleasure for the grown-ups. 
 
 They established an adequate fire department consisting 
 of fifty buckets, a twenty-five gallon chemical can and a 
 ladder. 
 
 All those who leave the town plan to leave it with some 
 improvements, so that all former citizens will be very proud 
 of their town. 
 
 THE MAYOR: We have done our best to carry on the 
 work so well started, and there are several improvements 
 we have made since we have lived in the town. One of these 
 was an arrangement for the education of our children. Miss 
 Gray will tell of this. 
 
 BERNICE GRAY: Citizens of Rowen; I have been asked 
 to talk on a subject which ought to be of the greatest interest 
 to every member of any community, and that is the question 
 of schools. When we were boys and girls living in Irvingtoii 
 we used to study civics from a book called Our America, and 
 in that we were told that the purpose of education is to so 
 train and equip an individual that he can take care of himself; 
 earn a living, and live in the fullest enjoyment possible; 
 second, it should train the individual to perform his duties of 
 citizenship and help manage the affairs of this city with 
 intelligence. That education might occupy an important 
 place, at the first meeting after the pioneers had moved into 
 their new home they decided on a school. The discussion 
 
 308 
 
was whether they would send their children to a consolidated 
 township school two miles away, or whether they would 
 establish a private school. This was a hard -fought subject 
 but it was finally decided that they would send their children 
 to the township school. This consolidated school is situated 
 on a very beaiutiful piece of ground which includes many 
 acres. It is made of red brick and has eleven rooms. The 
 basement consists of a good shop, a very attractive gym with 
 much apparatus, and also a fine swimming pool. The 
 ground floor is wholly schoolrooms, and there are two grades 
 to each room. The second floor has five rooms for the high 
 school, and we have also sewing and cooking rooms. All 
 the rooms are supplied with fine school furniture and the 
 blackboards are of the best quality. The playground is 
 supplied with all kinds of games and a basket-ball stand. The 
 school was furnished with three wagons in which to carry the 
 country children to and from school. This seems very con- 
 venient for them. We have splendid teachers at our school. 
 They not only meet the requirements of the law of Indiana 
 as to scholarship, but they are especially fine. Then our 
 principal, whom we all love, is Miss Koontz. 
 
 We hope the future citizens of Rowen will enjoy this work 
 as much as we have in our beautiful town of Rowen. 
 
 THE MAYOR : Most of you remember the great flood that 
 washed away the bridge which was put up by our former 
 citizens. This was a great loss to Rowen, but we have 
 already put up a new structure. Mr. Pritchard will tell us 
 about this bridge. 
 
 HARMON PRITCHARD: Friends, Future Citizens, and 
 Citizens of Rowen : I am asked to talk about the bridge which 
 we have put in since we came into the city. It is across the 
 river which runs through the northwest part of town. We 
 had quite a discussion whether it should be a public or a 
 private bridge, but we finally decided it should be public. 
 
 309 
 
We also decided, since we had just put in electric lights, that 
 at present we could not afford a whole bridge, so we just put 
 in a good concrete foundation with temporary sides. The 
 bridge is made of the best material and by the best workmen. 
 A contracting firm of Rowen put in this bridge and it is very 
 beautiful. I feel sure that the future citizens of Rowen will do 
 their be^t to finish the bridge in as fine a way as it has 
 already been started. 
 
 MiS MASON: I would like to ask the Mayor what sort 
 of amusements you are planning for your people. 
 
 THE MAYOR: There is a park in Rowen which is open 
 every day in the summer time, and there are good amuse- 
 ments in this park, swings and Maypoles, and the children 
 go there in the summer. In the winter they have outside 
 games in the schoolyard. 
 
 Miss MASON: Do you have picture shows? 
 
 THE MAYOR: Yes, we have a picture show run by Miss 
 Gray. It is named the "Strand," and they have very good 
 pictures. Some are educational pictures and we enjoy them 
 very much. 
 
 Reports were presented by different pupils on the 
 following subjects: lights, library, fire department, contract- 
 ing, dairying, storekeeping and banking. 
 
 THE MAYOR: If there is no further business the meeting 
 is adjourned. 
 
 Ill 
 
 PROBLEMS AND PROJECTS 
 
 The following lists are merely suggestive, but they 
 contain details that may be worked out by the teacher: 
 
 1. Dramatization and Pageantry. Several excellent 
 dramatizations can be found in Dramatized Scenes from 
 American History by Augusta Stevenson. 
 
 a. Signing of the Mayflower Compact. 
 
 310 
 
b. Second Continental Congress. (Four episodes.) 
 
 i. Continental Congress in session. 
 
 ii. Committee appointed to draw up Declaration, 
 
 iii. Thomas Jefferson's midnight inspiration, 
 
 iv. Report of the committee. 
 
 c. A meeting of state legislature or general assembly. 
 
 d. A meeting of the city council. (Part of the class may 
 be organized as a council and a part to represent a com- 
 mittee appearing before the council in regard to an ordinance 
 for paving streets or some other local project. 
 
 e. A court of naturalization. The following plan may be 
 used. Let the classroom represent the courtroom. The 
 teacher or a pupil may act as judge and two pupils as re- 
 porters. Applicants for naturalization may take out either 
 first or second papers. 
 
 f. Makers of the flag. A large flag should be suspended 
 at the back of the stage with a girl dressed as Liberty con- 
 cealed behind it. Pupils who have performed some act of 
 service to their community pass before it and are greeted by 
 the flag. 
 
 g. Constitutional convention. Let the class represent 
 the convention of 1787. Have various pupils represent the 
 leading delegates, presenting in speeches the points of view 
 of Washington, Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton on the 
 great question at issue. 
 
 h. The immigrant gateway. This should be a repre- 
 sentation of the entrance of the immigrants into the United 
 States and of the examination conducted by the officials of 
 the immigrant service who determine their fitness to enter. 
 (Reference : Reuben Greed, The Congressional Home Mission 
 Society, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City.) 
 
 i. A cabinet meeting in Washington's, Jackson's, or Lin- 
 coln's administration. Costumes appropriate to the period 
 should be used, if possible. 
 
 311 
 
j. A Red Cross play. 
 
 k. Plymouth Rock Pageant. 
 
 2. Student organizations which exemplify the working 
 of civic bodies. 
 
 a. A town meeting. For a full stenographic report of 
 such a meeting, see page 305. 
 
 b. A meeting of a park board. 
 
 c. A meeting of a board of health. 
 
 d. A meeting of a board of public works. 
 
 e. A meeting of a board of county commissioners. 
 
 f . A meeting of a school board. 
 
 g. A presidential election, 
 h. A primary election. 
 
 i. A self-government council. 
 
 j. A literary society. 
 
 k. A staff meeting of the school paper. 
 
 1. A meeting of the directors of the school bank. 
 
 3. Participation of pupils in adult activities. 
 
 a. Junior Red Cross. 
 
 b. Relief and charitable societies. 
 
 c. Junior Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 d. Fire prevention or clean-up campaign. As a part of 
 such campaign, have each pupil appointed an inspector to 
 inspect his own premises. The following blank form may be 
 used : 
 
 FIRE PREVENTION INSPECTION AND PLEDGE CARD 
 Pupil's Pledge 
 
 I pledge myself to cooperate in every way I can to make 
 
 a cleaner, safer, and healthier city in which to 
 
 live. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address 
 
 312 
 
Parent's Pledge 
 
 I understand the serious costs to life and property from 
 fire, and will do my utmost to comply with the rules for the 
 prevention of fire in my own home as requested by the Fire 
 Prevention Committee. * 
 
 Parent's Name 
 
 You are appointed fire inspector for your home in co- 
 operation with the - Fire Prevention Campaign. 
 
 Make a record of your inspection by answering each of 
 the following questions Yes or No. 
 
 Is your home and yard kept clear of rubbish? 
 
 Are ashes always put in noncombustible containers? 
 
 Are all matches placed in covered metal boxes beyond 
 the reach of small children? 
 
 Do you burn trash in noncombustible containers fitted 
 with wire top? 
 
 Are chimneys and stoves in your home regularly exam- 
 ined, repaired, and cleaned? 
 
 Have you and your parents read the fire prevention card 
 and are you complying with it? 
 
 Do you know the location of the nearest fire-alarm 
 box? 
 
 Are you obeying the request of the fire chief not to follow 
 the Fire Department to fires? 
 
 4. Visits to and study of community organizations. 
 
 a. Visit to a Boy Scout or summer camp. 
 
 b. Visit to a public market. 
 
 c. Visit to a water works. 
 
 d. Visit to a gas works. 
 
 e. Visit to an electric light and power plant. 
 
 f . Visit to a public park. 
 
 g. Visit to a fire station. 
 
 h. Visit to a public library. 
 
 313 
 
i. Visit to a city council meeting, 
 j. Visit to a session of the state legislature, 
 k. Visit to any available local factory or large retail 
 establishment. 
 
 1. Visit to a laundry. 
 m. Visit to a dairy. 
 
 n. Visit to an ice plant. 
 
 IV 
 THE TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
 union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
 defen e, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
 ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for 
 the United States of America. 
 
 ARTICLE I 
 
 Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
 Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 Section II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
 members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and 
 the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors 
 of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. 
 
 2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to 
 the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United 
 States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in 
 which he shall be chosen. 
 
 3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
 several States which may be included within this Union, according to their 
 respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
 number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
 and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The 
 actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting 
 of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
 ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of repre- 
 sentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
 shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be 
 made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 3; Massa- 
 
 314 
 
chusetts, 8; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 1; Connecticut, 
 5; New York, 6; New Jersey, 4; Pennsylvania, 8; Delaware,!; Maryland, 
 6; Virginia, 10; North Carolina, 5; South Carolina, 5, and Georgia, 3. 
 
 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
 the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
 vacancies. 
 
 5. The House of Representatives shall choose then* speaker and other 
 officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 
 
 Section III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
 of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six 
 years; and each senator shall have one vote. 
 
 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
 first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. 
 The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of 
 the second year, of the second class at the expiration -of the fourth year, and 
 of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may 
 be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or 
 otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
 thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the 
 legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 
 
 3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the 
 age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and 
 who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he 
 shall be chosen. 
 
 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the 
 Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 
 
 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President 
 pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise 
 the office of President of the United States. 
 
 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
 When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When 
 the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside; 
 and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
 the members present. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
 to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office 
 of honor, trust or profit under the United States : but the party convicted 
 shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and 
 punishment, according to law. 
 
 Section IV. 1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
 senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legis- 
 
 315 
 
lature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such 
 regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 
 
 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
 meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
 appoint a different day. 
 
 Section V. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns 
 and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute 
 a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
 day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
 in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. 
 
 2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
 members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
 expel a member. 
 
 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time 
 to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment 
 require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on 
 any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on 
 the journal. 
 
 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
 consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
 place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 
 
 Section VI. 1. The senators and representatives shall receive a 
 compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of 
 the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, 
 felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
 attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
 returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they 
 shall not be questioned in any other place. 
 
 2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was 
 elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United 
 States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall 
 have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office 
 under the United States shall be a member of either House during his 
 continuance in office. 
 
 Section VII. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
 House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with 
 amendments as on other bills. 
 
 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
 and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President 
 of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return 
 it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who 
 
 316 
 
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider 
 it. If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that House shall agree to 
 pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
 House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- 
 thirds of that House it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of 
 both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
 persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of 
 each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President 
 within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
 him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
 the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
 not be a law. 
 
 3. 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 him, or being 
 disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the 
 case of a bill. 
 
 Section VIII. 1. The Congress shall have power: To lay and collect 
 taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the 
 common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, 
 imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 
 
 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
 States, and with the Indian tribes; . 
 
 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
 the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and 
 fix the standard of weights and measures; 
 
 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
 current coin of the United States; 
 
 7. To establish post offices and post roads; 
 
 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for 
 limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective 
 writings and discoveries; 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
 seas, and offenses against the law of nations; 
 
 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
 rules concerning captures on land and water; 
 
 317 
 
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to 
 that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 
 
 13. To provide and maintain a navy; 
 
 14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
 naval forces; 
 
 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the 
 Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasions; 
 
 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
 and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of 
 the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment 
 of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the 
 discipline prescribed by Congress; 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such 
 district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
 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, dockyards, and other needful 
 buildings; and 
 
 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
 into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this 
 Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department 
 or officer thereof. 
 
 Section IX. 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any 
 of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
 by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
 but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
 dollars for each person. 
 
 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
 unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 
 
 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 
 
 4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion 
 to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 
 
 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 
 
 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev- 
 enue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound 
 to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 
 
 7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence 
 of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of 
 the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from 
 time to time. 
 
 318 
 
8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no 
 person holding any office, of profit or trust under them, shall, without the 
 consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, 
 of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 
 
 Section X. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 
 federation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills 
 of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
 debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the 
 obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 
 
 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts 
 or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary 
 for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and 
 imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the 
 Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the 
 revision and control of the Congress. 
 
 3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
 tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agree- 
 ment or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in 
 war, unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of 
 delay. 
 
 ARTICLE II 
 
 Section I. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of 
 the United States of America. He shall hold office during the term of four 
 years, and together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be 
 elected, as follows: 
 
 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof 
 may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and 
 representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no 
 senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under 
 the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 
 
 The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot 
 for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
 State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted 
 for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and 
 certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
 States, directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the Senate 
 shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
 the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having 
 the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a 
 majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more 
 than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then 
 
 319 
 
the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them 
 for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest 
 on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
 choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation 
 from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of 
 a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all 
 the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of 
 the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors 
 shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who 
 have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice 
 President. 
 
 3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and 
 the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 4. 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. 
 
 5. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, 
 resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said 
 office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may 
 by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both 
 of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as 
 President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be 
 removed or a President shall be elected. 
 
 6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
 compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
 the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
 within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any 
 of them. 
 
 7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the follow- 
 ing oath or affirmation: '*! do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- 
 fully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the 
 best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
 United States." 
 
 Section II. 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army 
 and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when 
 called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the 
 opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive depart- 
 ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and 
 
 320 
 
 
he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the 
 United States, except in cases of impeachment. 
 
 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; 
 and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
 judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, 
 whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
 be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of 
 such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
 courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 
 
 3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
 happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which 
 shall expire at the end of their next session. 
 
 Section III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress in- 
 formation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration 
 such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 
 extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case 
 of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, 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 commission all the officers of the United States. 
 
 Section IV. The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the 
 United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for. and con- 
 viction 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 Congress may from 
 time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and 
 inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior and shall, at 
 stated times, receive for their services, a compensation which shall not be 
 diminished during their continuance in office. 
 
 Section II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
 and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, 
 and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all 
 cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; to all 
 cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the 
 United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more 
 States between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of 
 different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
 
 321 
 
grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, citizens or subjects. 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
 and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have 
 original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme 
 Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such 
 exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 
 
 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of 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 committed within any State, the trial 
 shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 
 
 Section III. 1. Treason against the United States, shall consist only 
 in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them 
 aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
 testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
 court. 
 
 2. 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 prescribe the manner in which such acts, 
 records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 
 
 Section II. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi- 
 leges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 
 
 2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, 
 who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand 
 of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up 
 to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
 thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
 therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up 
 on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 
 
 Section III. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
 this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the juris- 
 diction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two 
 or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of 
 the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful 
 
 322 
 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging 
 to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed 
 as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 
 
 Section IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in 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 domestic violence. 
 
 ARTICLE V 
 
 The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it 
 necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the appli- 
 cation 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 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 
 
 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
 adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States 
 under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 
 
 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
 be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be 
 made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
 of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
 in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 3. 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 
 affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be 
 required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
 States. 
 
 ARTICLE VII 
 
 The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient 
 for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying 
 the same. 
 
 323 
 
Done in Convention by the unanimous consent 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 independence of the United 
 States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto sub- 
 scribed our names. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 President and Deputy from Virginia. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 John Langdon 
 Nicholas Oilman 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Nathaniel Gorham 
 Rufus King 
 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 William Samuel Johnson 
 Roger Sherman 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 Alexander Hamilton 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 William Livingston 
 David Brearley 
 William Paterson 
 Jonathan Dayton 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Benjamin Franklin 
 Thomas Mifflin 
 Robert Morris 
 George Clymer 
 Thomas Fitzsimons 
 Jared Ingersoll 
 James Wilson 
 Gouverneur Morris 
 
 DELAWARE 
 
 George Read 
 Gunning Bedford, Jr. 
 John Dickinson 
 Richard Bassett 
 Jacob Broom 
 
 MARYLAND 
 
 James McHenry 
 
 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer 
 
 Daniel Carroll 
 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 John Blair 
 
 James Madison, Jr. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 William Blount 
 Richard Dobbs Spaight 
 Hugh Williamson 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 John Rutledge 
 Charles C. Pinckney 
 Charles Pinckney 
 Pierce Butler 
 
 GEORGIA 
 
 William Few 
 Abraham Baldwin 
 
 Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. 
 
 324 
 
AMENDMENTS 
 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 U 
 
 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 quartered in any house, without 
 the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed 
 by law. 
 
 ARTICLE IV 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
 and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
 lated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported 
 by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
 and the persons or things to be seized. 
 
 ARTICLE V 
 
 No person should be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise in- 
 famous 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 the time of war or public danger; nor shall any person 
 be subject for the same offense 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. 
 
 ARTICLE VI 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
 speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
 wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have 
 been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and 
 cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; 
 to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to 
 have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 
 
 325 
 
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 reexamined in any court of the United States, 
 than according to the rules of the common law. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, or excessive fines im'posed, nor 
 cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 ARTICLE IX 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be con- 
 strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 
 
 ARTICLE X 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
 nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, 
 
 or to the people. 
 
 ARTICLE XI 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
 extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one 
 of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects 
 
 of any foreign State. 
 
 ARTICLE XII 
 
 The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot 
 for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an 
 inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their 
 ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
 voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
 voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of 
 the number of votes for each, which 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 the 
 presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates 
 and the votes shall then be counted; The person having the greatest number 
 of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority 
 of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such ma- 
 jority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding 
 three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives 
 shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
 President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
 
 326 
 
State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
 or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
 shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall 
 not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
 them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President 
 shall act as President, as in the case of 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 number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, 
 then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the 
 Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the 
 whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be 
 necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
 of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII 
 
 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment 
 for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within 
 the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
 legislation. 
 
 ARTICLE XIV 
 
 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to 
 the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State 
 wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 
 abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor 
 shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
 process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
 protection of the laws. 
 
 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
 according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
 in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at 
 any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the 
 United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial 
 officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any 
 of the male inhabitants of such States, being twenty-one years of age, and 
 citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation 
 in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be re- 
 duced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear 
 to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 
 
 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector 
 
 327 
 
of President 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 Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
 insurrection or rebellion against the same : or given aid and comfort to the 
 enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House 
 remove such disability. 
 
 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by 
 law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
 service in suppressing insurrection 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 
 debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 
 
 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis- 
 lation, the provisions of this article. 
 
 ARTICLE XV 
 
 1. 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. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
 legislation. 
 
 ARTICLE XVI 
 
 The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, 
 from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several 
 States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 
 
 ARTICLE XVII 
 
 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators 
 from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each 
 senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the quali- 
 6cation requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State 
 legislature. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, 
 the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such 
 vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the 
 executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the 
 vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. 
 
 3<28 
 
ARTICLE XVIII 
 
 Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the 
 manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the 
 importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States 
 and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, for beverage purposes is 
 hereby prohibited. 
 
 Section 2. The Congress and several States shall have concurrent power 
 to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 
 
 ARTICLE XIX , 
 
 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 sex. Congress 
 shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 
 
INDEX 
 
 adjutant-general, of state, 166 
 
 advertisements, unsightliness of, 114 
 
 agriculture, see farming; state departments 
 of, 168; United States department of, 182 
 
 airplane, development of, 224 
 
 Alamo, battle of, 285 
 
 Alaska, acquired, 288 
 
 America, the melting-pot, 293 
 
 American ideals, what are, 294 
 
 American nation, how made up, 28 
 
 American Revolution, beginning of, 36; his- 
 tory of, 232 
 
 anarchy, what is, 138 
 
 appeal, right of, 146 
 
 Armament Conference, 297 
 
 army, of United States, how constituted, 176 
 
 Articles of Confederation, government under, 
 234 
 
 athletics* meet for women, 197 
 
 attorney-general, of state, 166 
 
 auditor, of state, 166 
 
 automobile, increase in manufacture of, 224; 
 invention of, 218 
 
 B 
 
 bail, what is, 142 
 
 banking, history of, 264-265 
 
 banks, functions of, 266 
 
 barter, what is, 260 
 
 baseball, rules in, 29 
 
 basket ball, 32 
 
 bathtub, 98 
 
 beauty, how children can help to create, 115; 
 
 in American cities, 110; in yards, 112; of 
 
 trees, 113 
 Bell, Alexander Graham, invents telephone, 
 
 226; patents telephone, 180 
 Bill of Rights, 231 
 blind nlley jobs, 188 
 boss, in city government, 154 
 Boy Scouts, at Manila, 11, 12, 13; camping, 
 
 199 
 
 Brockton, factory at, 210 
 
 bubonic plague, 182 
 
 budget, of city, 153; value of private, 106 
 
 Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 81 
 
 Burr, Aaron, trial of, 145 
 
 business, occupation of, 191 
 
 cabinet, of President, how composed, 244-245 
 
 California, and the gold rush, 286; ways to 
 reach in 1849, 286 
 
 campaign, what is, 274 
 
 Camp Fire Girls, 12 
 
 camping, pleasure oi, 199 
 
 capital, distinguishes civilization, 52; neces- 
 sity of, 211 
 
 Capitol, of United States, 80 
 
 captain, the, in games, 31 
 
 Cardwell, Mary, story of, 46 
 
 Carnegie, Andrew, succeeded by thrift, 104 
 
 Catskill Mountains, supply New York 
 water, 102 
 
 Central Park, in New York, 66 
 
 Chamber of Commerce, 154 
 
 Charles I, wars with Parliament, 231 
 
 Chicago anarchist case, 143 
 
 Chief Justice, of Supreme Court, administers 
 presidential oath, 242 
 
 China, and American ideals, 294 
 
 church, importance as community, 25 
 
 citizen, how one becomes, 280; the good, 56; 
 the good at school, 56; the good, how dis- 
 tinguished, 57 
 
 city, charter of, ,148; forms of government of, 
 149-155; parts of, 60 
 
 city hall, seat of city government, 61 
 
 city manager government, 149, 150, 152, 154 
 
 Civics Club, organization of, 299-303 
 
 Civic Improvement League, 154 
 
 Civil Service Act, what is, 243 
 
 cleanliness, and health, 98; importance of to 
 health, 47 
 
 coinage, function of United States govern- 
 ment, 80 
 
 331 
 
colonial life, in United States, 40 
 
 colonies, American, deny right of Parliament 
 to tax, 232 
 
 commission government, of city, 149, 150, 
 152, 154 
 
 commissioner of charities and correction, 166 
 
 community, as an athletic team,27; at James- 
 town and Plymouth, 20; health of, 47; how 
 works to prevent fires, 127; idleness in. 44; 
 importance of local, 157; larger kinds of, 
 73; natural mode of human life, 21; of 
 county and town 27; of home, 23; of the 
 nation, 28; on Robinson Crusoe's island, 
 20; place of schools in, 131; position of 
 teachers in, 132; the church. 25; the school, 
 26; thrives by cooperation, 44 
 
 Congress, 28; committees of, 252; how con- 
 stituted, 80; how it passes a law, 252, why 
 composed as it is, 249 
 
 consolidated schools, 20; advantages of, 197 
 
 constitution, of states, 163; how made, 163 
 
 Constitution, of United States, amendments 
 to, 238, 239; compromises of, 237; debates 
 over, 236; how made, 235-237; made in 
 Philadelphia, 234; ratified, 237; supreme 
 law of land, 163; text of, 314-329; what is, 
 235 
 
 cooperation, as shown by Manila fire, 12; 
 before it was learned in occupations, 40; 
 depends on rules, 29; in athletics, 27; in 
 modern occupations, 43 
 
 copyrights, issued by national government, 
 180 
 
 coroner, who is, 141 
 
 corporation commissions, 181; functions of, 
 171 
 
 council government, in city, 149, 150, 152, 154 
 
 counterfeiters, make money, 81 
 
 country life, advantages of, 68 
 
 county, as a community, 27; courts of, 160; 
 how raises money, 160; officers of, 158-160; 
 origin of, 157; the, and schools, 69; the, 
 officers of, 69; the, what it does, 68; varie- 
 ties of government of, 158 
 
 courage, in games, 35 
 
 courthouse, capital of county, 70 
 
 courts, cases tried in, 136; circuit, 136, 153, 
 160, 171; corporation, 153; county, 136, 
 160, 171; justices', 171; juvenile, 153; of 
 state, 77, 171; of United States, cases tried 
 by, 256-257; what are, 256; why needed, 
 255; police, 153; supreme, 136, 165 
 
 credit, what is, 264 
 
 crime, investigation of, 141; penalties for,137, 
 
 what is, 136 
 crowds, safety regulations for, 120 
 
 D 
 
 Dead Letter Office, 83 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 80; made by 
 
 Congress, 232 
 
 democracy, promoted by public schools, 131 
 Democratic party, history of, 272; in states, 
 
 173 
 departments, of United States government, 
 
 245 
 
 diphtheria, 168 
 District of Columbia, 28 
 division of labor, 211 
 Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, 66 
 dust, danger of, 98 
 
 Edison, Thomas, patents appliances, 180 
 
 education, for bread- winning, 97; part of 
 United States government in,134; study of, 
 129-135; supported by state, 73-74 
 
 Ellis Island, place where immigrants land, 
 277 
 
 English Parliament, taxes America, 79 
 
 exchange, what is, 260 
 
 exercise, importance of to health, 193 
 
 factories, modern, 210; safety regulations in 
 122 
 
 fair play, need of in games, 37 
 
 Farmer- Labor party, rise of, 273 
 
 farming, study of, 202-207; greatest of call- 
 ings, 202; how to improve, 205-207; im- 
 provement of as occupation, 93; independ- 
 ence of, 203; occupation of, 191; profit of, 
 205; wealth of, 202 
 
 Federal Reserve banks, 171 
 
 Federal Reserve System, what is, 267 
 
 Federalist party, history of, 271 
 
 Field, Cyrus W., lays cable, 226 
 
 filth, as a promoter of typhoid fever, 46 
 
 fire company, at Manila, 11 
 
 fire department, of modern cities, 64; regu- 
 lations of, 117 
 
 fire prevention, importance of, 124 
 
 fires, causes of, 127; community works to pre- 
 
vent, 127; cost of in United States, 124; 
 forest, 124; induced by carelessness, 124; 
 insurance against, 125; number of in 
 United States, 124 
 
 Fitch, John, invents steamboat, 217 
 
 flies, importance of killing, 100 
 
 football, cooperation in, 33; rules in, 30; in- 
 cidents in Harvard- Yale game, 32, 35 
 
 franchise, of street railway, 221 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, establishes post offices, 
 82; peacemaker in constitutional conven- 
 tion, 236 
 
 Fulton, Robert, builds steamboat, 217 
 
 Galveston, originator of commission govern- 
 ment, 155 
 
 games, benefits of, 33; cooperation in, 29-31; 
 fair play in, 37; Olympic, 193, 195 
 
 George III, taxes colonies, 231 
 
 Girl Scouts, 12 
 
 Godbold, Lucile, 197 
 
 Goethals, Major G. W., and Panama Canal, 
 291 
 
 good roads, aided by state, 75; arguments for, 
 222-223; built by counties, 68; highways 
 departments and, 167 
 
 Gorgas, Colonel William C., and Panama 
 Canal, 291 
 
 government, 22; springs from home, 25 
 
 governor, duties of, 75, 164-165 
 
 Greenback party, history of, 273 
 
 H 
 
 habeas corpus, what is, 258 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, in constitutional con- 
 vention, 236 
 
 Health Chores, 50 
 
 health department, of state, 47, 48; of in 
 states, 167 
 
 health, depends on cleanliness, 47; impor- 
 tance of cleanliness to, 98; promoted by 
 outdoor exercise, 194; safeguarded by reg- 
 ulations, 119 
 
 Henry I, grants charter to England, 229 
 
 Henry, Patrick, moral courage of, 36; op- 
 poses Constitution, 237 
 
 highway commissioner, of state, 166 
 
 home, the rst community, 23-25 
 
 hookworm, 168 
 
 hospitals, supported by state, 74 
 
 Hot Springs, 200 
 
 House of Burgesses, of Virginia, 36 
 
 House of Representatives, districts of, 251; 
 
 how composed, 251; where it sits, 249 
 houses, clean, 98 
 housing, improvement in, 113 
 hundreds, in Virginia, 21 
 
 I 
 
 idleness, in every community, 44 
 
 immigrants, character of, 279; danger from, 
 279; how they come, 277; law to restrict, 
 277 
 
 immigration, causes of, 278; controlled by 
 national government, 175 
 
 impeachments, how tried, 253 
 
 imprisonment, function of state, 75; improve- 
 ment of methods of, 139 
 
 inauguration, description of, 274 
 
 indictment, what is, 141 
 
 initiative, 164 
 
 injunctions, what are, 258 
 
 insurance commissioner, of state, 166 
 
 interest, what is, 105 
 
 internal revenue, what is, 269 
 
 International Court of Arbitration, at Hague, 
 297 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission, duties of, 
 182; fixes railroad rates, 220 
 
 James I, dislike Parliament, 230 
 
 James II, overthrown, 231 
 
 Jamestown, community at, 20; first assembly 
 at, 231 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, acquires Louisiana Terri- 
 tory, 284; writes Declaration pf Independ- 
 ence, 80 
 
 Jerry, and the governor, story of, 76 
 
 John, forced to grant Magna Carta, 229 
 
 Johnson, Owen, story from, 37 
 
 Junior Citizens Club, discussion of savings 
 system, 53; meeting of, 305-310; organiza- 
 tion of, 13-17; reorganized, 85-90; again re- 
 organized, 184-186; should beautify school 
 grounds, 100 
 
 jury, fairness of, 143; grand, what is, 141; in 
 trial, 144; petit, what is, 142 
 
 K 
 
 Keep Your City Clean Club pledge, 103 
 Know-Nothing party, history of, 273 
 
 333 
 
laws, for fire prevention, 128; how benefit 
 people, 137; how made, 168-170; how pro- 
 tect persons on trial, 145, 146; how they 
 originate, 22, 25; improvement in, 137; of 
 United States, how made, 252; part of in 
 human progress, 138; what are, 136 
 legislature, branch of state government, 77; 
 
 committees of, 168; of state, 168 
 lieutenant-governor, duties of, 165 
 Livingston, Robert R., buys Louisiana, 284 
 London Charter, what was, 229 
 Louisiana Territory, how acquired, 284 
 
 M 
 
 Madison, James, suggests constitutional con- 
 vention, 234 
 
 Magna Carta, granted by King John, 229 
 Manila, fire at, 11 
 
 manufacturing, early stages of, 209; impor- 
 tance of to farming, 207; modern, 210; pro- 
 moted by steel and steam, 309 
 
 manufacturing section, of city, 60 
 
 Marconi, invents wireless telegraphy, 227 
 
 Mason, George, refuses to sign constitution, 
 237 
 
 Massachusetts, founded, 231 
 
 medicine, occupation of, 190 
 
 medium of exchange, what is, 261 
 
 Mesa Verde, 200 
 
 Mexico, United States acquires territory 
 from, 286 
 
 Military Academy, of United States, 178 
 
 militia, controlled by national government in 
 war, 176 
 
 minting money, 81 
 
 mints, 81 
 
 Modern Health Crusade, 50 
 
 money, as medium of exchange, 262-263 
 
 Money Order, of post office, 83 
 
 Monroe, James, and Louisiana Purchase, 284 
 
 Montfort, Simon de, founds Parliament, 230 
 
 Morse, Samuel, invents telegraph, 225 
 
 mosquito extermination, 304 
 
 Mount McKinley Park, 200 
 
 N 
 
 nation, American, what it does, 175; as a com- 
 munity, 28 
 
 naturalization, what is, 280 . 
 nature, beauties of, 202; love of, 201 
 
 Naval Academy, of United States, 178 
 
 navy, of United States, 178 
 
 New England, local government in, 158 
 
 New Orleans, battle of, 225 
 
 New York City, water supply of, 102 
 
 o 
 
 occupations, before cooperation began, 40; 
 
 business, 191; choice of, 187; farming, 93, 
 
 191; few at one time, 92; for women, 187; 
 
 indoor, 95; in modern life, 42; main, 188; 
 
 making up one's mind as to following, 91; 
 
 medicine, 190; great variety of modern, 93; 
 
 outdoor, 94; skilled, 95; skilled trades, 193; 
 
 stenography, 190; teaching, 189; unskilled, 
 
 96; unwise, 188 
 office building section, 60 
 Olympic Games, history of, 193; revival of, 
 
 195 
 ordinances, of city, how passed, 152 
 
 Panama Canal, building of, 289-291 
 
 paper money, where made, 81 
 
 Parcel Post, 83 
 
 parks, in city, 65; national, establishment of, 
 
 199 
 Parliament, of England, controlled by king, 
 
 231; founded, 230 
 parties, history of, 271-273; in states, 173; 
 
 Democratic, 173; Farmer-Labor, 174; 
 
 Federalist, 171; Whig, 172; Populist, 174, 
 
 273; Republican, 173, 272: Socialist, 174 
 party conventions, account of, 273-274 
 Patent Office, contains marvels, 180 
 patents, issued by national government, 180 
 penitentiaries, institutions of state, 74 
 Philadelphia mint, 81 
 Philippine Islands, acquired. 289 
 playgrounds, importance of, 34; in city, 65; 
 
 story about, 198 
 Plymouth, community at, 20 
 police departments, regulations of, 117 
 police, work of, 63 
 Populist party, history of, 273 
 Porto Rico, acquired, 289 
 post office, controlled by United States gov- 
 ernment, 82; origin of in United States, 82 
 Postal Savings Bank, 83; explained, 54 
 Postal Savings stamps, 108 
 President, appointing power of, 243; cabinet 
 
 334 
 
of, 244; certain powers of, 244; commander- 
 in-chief, 244; inauguration of, 242; how 
 chosen, 241; succession of, 242 
 
 presidential electors, how chosen, 241 
 
 primaries, in states, 173 
 
 prisons, in the old times, 189; modern, 139 
 
 probation, children put on, 153; what is, 139 
 
 projects, 310-314 
 
 prosecuting attorney, how investigates crime, 
 141; part of in trials, 143, 144 
 
 public duty, performance of test of citizen- 
 ship, 57 
 
 public libraries, 64 
 
 R 
 
 radiophone, possibilities of, 227 
 
 railroads, built, 217, 218; cost of building, 
 219; government ownership of, 220; how 
 care for safety of passengers, 118; trans- 
 continental, 288 
 
 rapid transit, in cities, 221 
 
 referendum, 164 
 
 Republican party, history of. 173, 272 
 
 residential section, of city, 61 
 
 Richard the Lion-Hearted, grants charters, 
 229 
 
 rights of Englishmen, what were, 231 
 
 Robinson Crusoe, a jack-of-all-trades, 40; on 
 desert isle, 18-20; respects Friday's rights, 
 23 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, builds Panama Canal, 
 289 
 
 Rumsey, James, invents steamboat, 217 
 
 Rural Free Delivery, 83 
 
 public, 129; savings bank in, 53; special, 
 133; supported by the county, 69; sup- 
 ported by taxation, 135; vocational, 133 
 
 secession, right of asserted, 239 
 
 secretary of state, 165 
 
 Senate, approves appointments, 243; more 
 important body of Congress, 250; where it 
 sits, 249 
 
 senators, of United States, how elected, 250 
 
 Sequoia Park, 200 
 
 service, law of, 44 
 
 sheriff, duties of, 69; importance of, 159; part 
 of in investigating crime, 141 
 
 shopping district, 60 
 
 skilled trades, occupations of, 193 
 
 smallpox, 168 
 
 speaker, of Congress, 251; of legislature, 169 
 
 state, aids good roads, 75; aids public schools, 
 74, constitution of. 163; courts of, 77; leg- 
 islature of, 77; maintains hospitals. 74; 
 supports higher education, 73; as a com- 
 munity, 27 
 
 Staunton, originator of city manager govern- 
 ment, 155 
 
 stenography, occupation of, 190 
 
 Stephenson, George, invents the locomotive, 
 217 
 
 Stockholm, Olympic Games at, 195 
 
 street cars, safety on, 120; 
 
 streets, cared for by city, 62; kept clean, 98 
 
 superintendent of public instruction, 166 
 
 Supreme Court, of United States, extends 
 power of government, 240; how composed, 
 256; protects citizens, 83; where sits, 80 
 
 safety, and Fourth of July celebrations, 116; 
 factory regulations for, 122; health regu- 
 lations for, 118; in handling crowds, 120; 
 in theaters, 120; on street cars, 120; police 
 regulations for, 117; promoted by fire de- 
 partments, 117; promoted by fire drills, 
 117; railroad regulations for, 118; regula- 
 tions for, 116 
 
 safety-first movement, 122; rules, 122 
 
 Sandwich Islands, acquired, 288 
 
 savings bank, 53 
 
 schoolhouses, as indices to city, 61 
 
 schools, consolidated, 197; early, 129; ele- 
 mentary, 132; how promote democracy, 
 131; place in community life, 131; rise of 
 
 tariff, what is, 179, 268 
 tax, income, 270; inheritance, 270 
 teachers, position of in community, 132 
 teaching, occupation of, 189 
 Texas, struggle of for independence, 285 
 theater, safety regulations of, 120 
 thrift, easiness of, 107; maxims of, 54; mean- 
 ing of, 104; good reason for, 108; reason for 
 to secure return, 105; the savage lacks, 52; 
 the way to wealth, 109; universal need of, 
 106; ways to practice, 108 
 town, as a community, 27; charter of, 148; 
 
 government of, 148 
 Town Meeting, in New England, 158 
 towns, in New England, 21 
 
 335 
 
transportation, first methods of, 215; im- 
 portance of, 218; improvement in, 216 
 treasurer, of state, 165 
 trees, importance of to cities, 113 
 trials, procedure in criminal, 141-145 
 trolleys, for local transportation, 217 
 typhoid fever, conveyed in impure water, 
 101; combated by health departments, 168; 
 story of, 46 
 
 u 
 
 Uncle Sam, meaning of, 79 
 
 Union Pacific railroad, building of, 219, 288 
 
 United States, how made up, 79; wins inde- 
 pendence, 80 
 
 United States government, additional func- 
 tions of, 175-183; belongs to people, 83; 
 beginning of, 232; coins money, 80; con- 
 trols post office, 82; departments of, 245; 
 expenses of, 268; part of in education, 134; 
 powers of, 238 
 
 V 
 
 Valley Forge, American army at, 234 
 
 veto, of President, 253 
 
 Vice President, becomes President, 242; how 
 
 chosen, 241 
 
 Virgin Islands, acquired, 289 
 Virginia, county in, 157, 158; founded, 231 
 
 vocational schools, 132 
 vocations, see occupations 
 voter, qualifications of, 172 
 
 w 
 
 warrant, what is, 141 
 
 Washington, beauty of, 110; capital of United 
 States, 80 
 
 Washington, George, chairman of constitu- 
 tional convention, 236; elected President, 
 238; leads United States to liberty, 80 
 
 waste, needlessness of, 107 
 
 water, pure, importance of, 101 
 
 Watt, James, invents steam engine, 209 
 
 weather bureau, functions of, 181 
 
 weight, of girls and boys, 193, 196 
 
 Whig party, history of, 272 
 
 William, Duke of the Normans, 228, 229 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow, 173; at Versailles confer- 
 ence, 297 
 
 Woolworth Building, how built, 52 
 
 World W r ar, America in, 294; expenses of, 269 
 
 yards, importance of keeping clean, 
 
 yellow fever, 182 
 
 Yosemite National Park, 200 
 
 THE END 
 
 336 
 
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