elector; it influences the political convention; it advocates public reforms; and frequently, by consolidating public opinion, it compels negligent officials to administer their offices with a view to the public welfare. The press is free, and its freedom is guarded by all of our constitutions; hence public affairs are constantly subject to its scrutiny and criticism, and it thus becomes a valuable aid in helping the people to govern themselves.

91. The Town Meeting.-In the New England town the government is carried on directly by the electors, who come together in what is known as the town meeting. At the annual town meeting the electors determine the amount of money needed to defray the expenses of the town's government, they fix the rate of taxation, appropriate the money necessary for the support of the schools, the care of the roads, the support of the poor and for such other purposes as may be necessary, and elect the town officers.

The town meeting originated in New England, but it existed and flourished in all the colonies in the form of a public assembly.

Of late years, in some sections of the country, the town meeting has assumed new features; frequently, when a public question interests a community for any length of time, a town meeting is called and the question openly discussed. The town meeting thus becomes a living expression of public feeling; it is the voice of public opinion directed to the discussion of current questions, and has a powerful influence in moulding the opinions and actions of those in authority. Such a town meeting is to be distinguished from the town meeting which assembles for the purpose of transacting the civil business of the town.

CHAPTER VI.

THE STATE AND THE TERRITORY.

THE STATE.

92. Its Nature.-A State is a political community of free citizens, occupying a territory of defined boundaries, and organized under a government sanctioned and limited by a written constitution and established by the consent of the governed. Each State or commonwealth maintains a republican form of government.*

* The general form of government in the different States is practically the same. Each State has its executive, legislative and judicial departments and officers, as required by the State constitution, and each has administrative departments and officers, some of which are required by the constitution and some of which have been created by enactments of the State legislature or General Assembly. Local interests in a State will sometimes require the creation of an office unknown in other States, and there will frequently be found variations in the manner and method of accomplishing certain objects, in the number and names of officers and offices and in other minor matters of detail. In one State the title selectman has the significance of councilman or alderman in other States. The courts in which the estates of deceased persons are settled is in one State called the Orphans' Court; in another State it is called the Probate Court, in another the Surrogate's Court. In one State the highest State court is known as the Supreme Court, in another as the Court of Appeals, and in another as the Superior Court. In one State an officer performs a certain duty which in another State is performed by an entirely different officer. What is done in one State by a single officer, in another State may be the duty of a board of officers. A form or custom common in one State may not be found in another State. The study of the causes of these variations usually discloses the fact that they are

93. Its Government.-The government of the State is tripartite, and is vested in three departments, legislative, executive and judicial; it is entrusted by the people of the State, under a written constitution, to law-making, law-executing and law-judging officers.

94. The General Assembly or Legislature.-The legislative department is vested in two independent bodies called respectively the House of Representatives, the lower house, and the Senate, the upper house. The two houses comprise the General Assembly or State legislature. The legislature makes the laws for the State, which must not conflict with the Federal Constitution nor with that of the State, or they may be declared unconstitutional by the courts, and therefore null and void. These laws provide for the dealings of the citizens with each other, such as making contracts and partnerships, buying and selling lands, houses, goods and property of all kinds, making mortgages, deeds, promissory notes, checks, etc., for the organization and government of corporations such as insurance, railroad and telegraph companies, for the prevention and punishment of crime, for the establishment and support of charitable and educational institutions, for establishing and regulating courts, for the government of counties, cities, boroughs and townships, for the method of procedure in courts, for the qualifications of electors and all other matters in which the citizens of the State may have any interest.* It is the duty of the legislature to ancestral in their origin. A section of the country the residents of which are of German descent will show differences in local matters from a section whose residents are of English or Scotch-Irish lineage. It should be remembered that these variations are merely matters of form; they do not conflict with the general plan of government, but, on the contrary, may be taken as evidences of an effort to secure the best form of local government. The details of the government of any State can be disclosed only by a study of the constitution of that particular State, and of the forms and methods in use therein.

* Laws are made by the State legislature practically in the same

make such laws as will promote the general welfare of the people of the State. All the laws of the State are enacted "by the authority of the people of the State.'

The State is divided by the legislature for election purposes into representative or assembly districts, State senatorial districts and congressional districts. The representative districts are the most numerous, and are arranged with reference to local interests. The senatorial districts are arranged with reference to groups of interests, such as those of a county or of a city. The term of service for the House of Representatives is shorter than that for the Senate. The powers of the two houses are generally the same, except that usually the lower house has the exclusive right of impeachment, to levy taxes and to originate bills for the expenditure of money, while the Senate has the exclusive right of trying impeached officers and of confirming appointments made by the governor. The time allowed by law for the meeting of the legislature is called the session. The regular session varies in different States from forty to one hundred and fifty days. The tendency in the later constitutions is to limit the length of the session and to make it biennial. Legislators are paid a salary for their services, and they are allowed a sum of money called mileage to pay their traveling expenses in going to and returning from a session of the legislature; they have also an allowance for stationery and postage.

95. The Executive. The executive is the governor, elected for a term of years. He is required to advise the General Assembly of the condition of the State, and recommend to its consideration such measures as he may deem necessary and expedient. It is his duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed. He represents the unity

manner as by Congress (see page 73, ¶ 132). The essential features arę approval by a majority of both houses and by the governor; or, if the governor does not approve, then subsequent approval by two-thirds of both houses.

and power of the people of the State. He is commanderin-chief of the militia of the State, except when it is called into the service of the United States. He nominates to the legislature, usually to the State Senate, all State officers not elected by the people, and officers to fill vacancies until an election is held. He commissions all officers whom he appoints. He has the power to grant reprieves and pardons, except in cases of impeachment; * he signs bills passed by the legislature if he approve of them, or, if he disapprove, he refuses to sign, which refusal is called a veto. In some States he may disapprove a part of an appropriation bill and approve the remainder. Usually he has the power to call the Senate together for the purpose of transacting executive business, and to call the General Assembly together on extraordinary occasions. 96. The Judiciary. The judicial power of the State is vested in the supreme court, called in some of the States the court of appeals, and in such lower courts as may be established by the constitution of the State or the General Assembly. The State constitution prescribes the mode of election or appointment of the judges and the jurisdiction of the courts. Most of the cases decided in the supreme court are brought before it by appeal from the lower courts, although it also decides cases that originate in the supreme court. The decision of the supreme court of the State is final, excepting for a certain class of cases designated by the Federal Constitution, which cases may be appealed to the United States courts.†

97. Administrative Officers.-The State constitution and the laws of the State provide also for officers connected with the executive department, whose duties are chiefly

* In some States the governor can exercise the pardoning power only on the recommendation of a board of pardons provided for by the constitution of the State.

† In Massachusetts and Rhode Island the term of service of the In Delaware the judges in the supreme court of the State is for life.